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This page documents an English Misplaced Pages policy.It describes a widely accepted standard that editors should normally follow, though exceptions may apply. Changes made to it should reflect consensus.
This page is about vandalism to Misplaced Pages. For vandalism outside Misplaced Pages, see vandalism.
Vandalism is any addition, deletion, or change to content made in a deliberate attempt to reduce the quality of the encyclopedia. The most common type of vandalism is the replacement of existing text with obscenities, page blanking, or the insertion of bad jokes or other nonsense. Fortunately, this kind of vandalism is usually easy to spot.
Any good-faith effort to improve the encyclopedia, even if misguided or ill-considered, is not vandalism. Apparent bad-faith edits that do not make their bad-faith nature inarguably explicit are not considered vandalism at Misplaced Pages. For example, adding an opinion once is not vandalism — it's just not helpful, and should be removed or restated.
Committing vandalism is a violation of Misplaced Pages policy; it needs to be spotted, and then dealt with — if you cannot deal with it yourself, you can seek help from others.
A 2002 study by IBM found that most vandalism on the English Misplaced Pages is reverted within five minutes (see official results); however, vandals persist as a problem for all users, and it is a good idea when editing an article to check its recent history to see if recent vandalism has gone unnoticed. In addition, the popularity and readership of Misplaced Pages has skyrocketed since the 2002 study, and there is no recent data corroborating the "five minute" expectation.
Not all vandalism is blatant, nor are all massive or controversial changes vandalism; careful attention needs to be given to whether the new data or information is right or whether it is vandalism.
Edits that blank all or part of a biography of a living person may not be vandalism, but instead an effort by the subject of the article to remove inaccurate or biased material. Even when such edits are inappropriate, they should be treated as content disputes, not vandalism. In particular, vandalism warning messages should not be left on the talk page of the editor.
If you see vandalism (as defined below), revert it and leave a warning message on the vandal's talk page using the system below. Check the page history after reverting to make sure you have removed all the vandalism; there may be multiple vandal edits, sometimes from several different IPs. Also, check the vandal's other contributions — you will often find more malicious edits.
Warning templates
Note that these templates need not be used sequentially. If the edit is clearly vandalism, consider using {{blatantvandal}} or starting with {{test2}}. For continuing severe vandalism, {{test3}} may be skipped and a {{test4}} given straight after a test2. If, however, you are not sure that the edit is vandalism, always start with {{test}}. For extreme or extensive cases of vandalism committed by users with who have received no prior warnings, {{test4im}} may be used. The ~~~~ in the templates below cause the time and your signature to be added to the warning.
{{subst:test}} ~~~~ (use if an edit appears to have possibly not been an intentional act of vandalism)
Thank you for experimenting with Misplaced Pages. Your test worked, and has been reverted or removed. Please use the sandbox for any other tests you want to do. Take a look at the welcome page if you would like to learn more about contributing to our encyclopedia.
{{subst:blatantvandal}} or {{subst:testblatant}} or {{subst:bv}}~~~~ (use if an edit is clearly vandalism)
Welcome to Misplaced Pages. We invite everyone to contribute constructively to our encyclopedia. Take a look at the welcome page if you would like to learn more about contributing. However, unconstructive edits are considered vandalism, and if you continue in this manner you may be blocked from editing without further warning. Please stop, and consider improving rather than damaging the hard work of others. Thank you.
This is your last warning. The next time you vandalize a page, you will be blocked from editing Misplaced Pages.
{{subst:test4im}} ~~~~ (used as a first warning for extreme cases of vandalism)
This is the only warning you will receive. Your recent vandalism has shown you to be intent on doing harm to Misplaced Pages. The next time you vandalize a page, you will be blocked from editing Misplaced Pages.
to explicitly state which articles were vandalized (suffix -n stands for named) and to add your signature. For example:
{{subst:test-n|France}}
Thanks for experimenting with the page France on Misplaced Pages. Your test worked, and has been reverted or removed. Please use the sandbox for any other tests you want to do. Take a look at the welcome page if you would like to learn more about contributing to our encyclopedia. Thanks.
The "subst" causes the template text to be pasted into the talk page as if you had typed it out, instead of leaving {{subst:test}} visible when editing the page. This makes the messages more personal to the user, and thus, more friendly. Also, if someone vandalizes the template, then the vandalism will not affect every page that uses the text from the template.
You have been temporarily blocked from editing for vandalism of Misplaced Pages. If you wish to make useful contributions, you may do so after the block expires.
Remember to sign and timestamp your warnings by leaving four tildes (like this: ~~~~).
Trace IP Address
Also, consider tracing the IP address. Find owners by using:
(If an address is not in one, it will probably be in another registry.) Then add {{vandalip|Name of owner}} to the talk pages of users who vandalize.
If the IP address continues to vandalise and is registered to a school or other kind of responsive ISP, consider listing it on Misplaced Pages:Abuse reports. Follow the instructions there and read the guide to see if it applies. If it does, list it.
Types of vandalism
These are the most common forms of vandalism on Misplaced Pages:
Blanking
Removing all or significant parts of articles (sometimes replacing the removed content with profanities) is a common vandal edit.
Adding inappropriate external links for advertisement and/or self-promotion.
VandalBot
A script or "robot" that attempts to vandalize or spam massive numbers of articles (hundreds or thousands), blanking, or adding commercial links. Another type of VandalBot appears to log on repeatedly with multiple random names to vandalize an article.
Users will sometimes create joke articles or replace existing articles with plausible-sounding nonsense, or add silly jokes to existing articles (this includes Mr Pelican Shit). A better place for content that is intentionally of a joking or nonsensical nature is the Uncyclopedia or WP:BJAODN (Bad Jokes and Other Deleted Nonsense).
Sneaky vandalism
Vandalism which is harder to spot. Adding misinformation, changing dates or making other sensible-appearing substitutions and typos.
Uploading provocative images, inserting political messages, making malicious animated GIFs, etc. Repeatedly uploading images with no source and/or license information after notification that such information is required may also constitute vandalism.
Abuse of tags
Bad-faith placing of {{afd}} or speedy-deletion tags on articles that do not meet such criteria, or deceptively placing protected-page tags on articles.
Template vandalism
Any vandalism to templates.
Page move vandalism
Moving pages to offensive or nonsense names. The most infamous example was Willy on Wheels. However, Misplaced Pages now only allows users with 25 edits or above to make page moves, and the reason must be stated.
Redirect vandalism
Redirecting articles or talk pages to offensive articles or images. One example is the Autofellatio redirect vandal. Some vandals will try to redirect pages to nonsense titles they create this way. This variation is usually performed by vandals whose accounts are too new to move pages. It is also often done on pages that are protected from moves.
Link vandalism
Rewriting links within an article so that they appear the same, but point to something completely different or ridiculous (e.g. France).
Avoidant vandalism
Removing {{afd}}, {{copyvio}} and other related tags in order to conceal or avoid entries to risk deletion.
Random character vandalism
Replacing topical information with random characters, or just adding random characters to a page. "aslkdjnsdagkljhasdlkh," for example. Be careful: only in extended cases is this vandalism; it could also potentially be a new user test.
Changing people's comments
Editing signed comments by another user to substantially change their meaning (e.g. turning someone's vote around), except when removing a personal attack (which is somewhat controversial in and of itself). Signifying that a comment is unsigned is an exception. e.g. (unsigned comment from user)
Improper use of dispute tags
Dispute tags are an important way for people to show that there are problems with the article. Do not remove them unless you are sure that the dispute is settled. As a general rule, do not remove other people's dispute tags twice during a 24 hour period. Do not place dispute tags improperly, as in when there is no dispute, and the reason for placing the dispute tag is because a suggested edit has failed to meet consensus. Instead, follow WP:CON and accept that some edits will not meet consensus. Please note that placing or removal of dispute tags does not count as simple vandalism, and therefore the reverting of such edits is not exempt from the three-revert rule.
Talk page vandalism
Deleting the comments of other users from article Talk pages, or deleting entire sections thereof, is generally considered vandalism. Removing personal attacks is often considered legitimate, and it is considered acceptable to archive an overly long Talk page to a separate file and then remove the text from the main Talk page. The above does not apply to the user's own Talk page, where users generally are permitted to remove and archive comments at their discretion, except in cases of warnings, which they are generally prohibited from removing, especially where the intention of the removal is to mislead other editors.
Official policy vandalism
Deleting or altering part of a Misplaced Pages official policy with which the vandal disagrees, without any attempt to seek consensus or recognize an existing consensus. Improving or clarifying policy wording in line with the clear existing consensus is not vandalism.
Copyrighted material vandalism
Knowingly using copyrighted material on Misplaced Pages in ways which violate Misplaced Pages's copyright policies is vandalism. Because users may be unaware that the information is copyrighted, or of Misplaced Pages policies on how such material may and may not be used, such action only becomes vandalism if it continues after the copyrighted nature of the material and relevant policy restricting its use have been communicated to the user.
Account creation vandalism
Creating accounts with deliberately offensive terms in the username is considered vandalism, whether the account is used or not. This also includes making accounts with nomenclature similar to usernames of known vandals; Willy on Wheels is the most infamous example, however more commonly seen today is a vandal who creates accounts similar to the sentence "I'm the motherfucking juggernaut bitch".
What vandalism is not
Although sometimes referred to as such, the following things are not vandalism and are therefore treated differently:
New User Test
New users who discover the "Edit this page" button sometimes want to know if they can really edit any page, so they write something inside just to test it. This is not vandalism! On the contrary, these users should be warmly greeted, and given a reference to the Sandbox (e.g. using the test template message) where they can keep making their tests. (Sometimes they will even revert their own changes; in that case, place the message {{selftest}} on their talk page.)
Learning Wiki Markup and Manual of Style
Some users require some time to learn the wiki-based markup, and will spend a little time experimenting with the different ways to make external links, internal links, and other special characters. Rather than condemning them as vandals, just explain to them what our standard style is on the issue in hand — perhaps pointing them towards our documentation at Misplaced Pages:How to edit a page, and the like.
The neutral point of view is a difficult policy for many of us to understand, and even Misplaced Pages veterans occasionally accidentally introduce material which is non-ideal from an NPOV perspective. Indeed, we are all blinded by our beliefs to a greater or lesser extent. While regrettable, this is not vandalism.
Wikipedians often make sweeping changes to articles in order to improve them — most of us aim to be bold when updating articles. While having large chunks of text you've written deleted, moved to the talk page, or substantially rewritten can sometimes feel like vandalism, it should not be confused with vandalism.
Mistakes
Sometimes, users will insert content into an article that is not necessarily accurate, in the belief that it is. By doing so in good faith, they are trying to contribute to the encyclopedia and improve it. If you believe that there is inaccurate information in an article, ensure that it is, and/or discuss its factuality with the user who has submitted it.
Bullying or Stubbornness
Some users cannot come to agreement with others who are willing to talk to them on an article's talk page, and repeatedly make changes opposed by everyone else. This is a matter of regret — you may wish to see our dispute resolution pages to get help. However, it is not vandalism.
Harassing or Making Personal Attacks
We have a clear policy on Misplaced Pages of no personal attacks, and harassing other contributors is not allowed. Some forms of harassment are also clear cases of vandalism, such as home page vandalism. However, harassment is not in general vandalism.
If a user treats these situations as simple vandalism, then he or she is actually damaging the encyclopedia by driving away potential editors.
