Bigbluefish (talk | contribs) it's a padlock now |
Brian Kendig (talk | contribs) clarify: make it clear that "serious" vandalism involves a lot of vandalism over at least a few days, and that this protection should be lifted soon |
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'''Please note''': If you've arrived here from a link on a page displaying a protection message and/or a small 'padlock' icon ( [[Image:Padlock.svg|16px]] ) in its upper right hand corner, it is because that particular Wikipedia page is currently '''semi-protected''' in accord with the following policy: |
'''Please note''': If you've arrived here from a link on a page displaying a protection message and/or a small 'padlock' icon ( [[Image:Padlock.svg|16px]] ) in its upper right hand corner, it is because that particular Wikipedia page is currently '''semi-protected''' in accord with the following policy: |
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Pages that are '''semi-protected''' cannot be edited by unregistered users or from accounts less than 96 hours old. |
Pages that are '''semi-protected''' cannot be edited by unregistered users or from accounts less than 96 hours (four days) old. |
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A page can be temporarily semi-protected by an [[Wikipedia:Administrators|administrator]] in response to serious vandalism, |
A page can be temporarily semi-protected by an [[Wikipedia:Administrators|administrator]] in response to serious vandalism, in which the article has a large number of vandalism edits per day over at least a few days. It can also be used to stop banned users with dynamic IPs from editing an article. Semi-protection is intended to be a temporary measure, to stem vandalism against a high-profile article until it is no longer such a target, and this protection should generally be removed within hours or days. |
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Semi-protection should not be used as a pre-emptive measure against the threat or probability of vandalism before any such vandalism occurs, such as when certain pages suddenly become high profile due to current events or being linked from a high-traffic website. It is also not an appropriate solution to content disputes since it may restrict some editors and not others. Jimbo has suggested that semi-protection may be used in the cases of "minor bio[graphie]s of slightly well known but controversial |
Semi-protection should not be used as a pre-emptive measure against the threat or probability of vandalism before any such vandalism occurs, such as when certain pages suddenly become high profile due to current events or being linked from a high-traffic website. It is also not an appropriate solution to content disputes since it may restrict some editors and not others. Jimbo has suggested that semi-protection may be used in the cases of "minor bio[graphie]s of slightly well known but controversial |
Revision as of 15:47, 25 June 2006
Please note: If you've arrived here from a link on a page displaying a protection message and/or a small 'padlock' icon ( ) in its upper right hand corner, it is because that particular Wikipedia page is currently semi-protected in accord with the following policy:
Pages that are semi-protected cannot be edited by unregistered users or from accounts less than 96 hours (four days) old.
A page can be temporarily semi-protected by an administrator in response to serious vandalism, in which the article has a large number of vandalism edits per day over at least a few days. It can also be used to stop banned users with dynamic IPs from editing an article. Semi-protection is intended to be a temporary measure, to stem vandalism against a high-profile article until it is no longer such a target, and this protection should generally be removed within hours or days.
Semi-protection should not be used as a pre-emptive measure against the threat or probability of vandalism before any such vandalism occurs, such as when certain pages suddenly become high profile due to current events or being linked from a high-traffic website. It is also not an appropriate solution to content disputes since it may restrict some editors and not others. Jimbo has suggested that semi-protection may be used in the cases of "minor bio[graphie]s of slightly well known but controversial individuals" which are not widely watchlisted, if they "are subject to POV pushing, trolling [or] vandalism".[1]
In general, though, semi-protection should only be considered if it is the only option left available to solve the problem of vandalism of the page. In other words, just like full protection, it is a last resort, not a pre-emptive measure. In the case of one or two static IP vandals hitting a page, blocking the vandal is a much better option than semi protection.
Articles that are semi-protected are indicated with {{sprotected}} and listed at Wikipedia:Protected page#Semi-protection and Category:Semi-protected. To request that semi-protection be lifted, leave a note on the protecting admin's talk page, on the article's talk page, the Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents, or Wikipedia:Requests for page protection. Semi-protection should generally be lifted as soon as possible, but some very high profile articles with a history of vandalism (e.g., George W. Bush, Jew) may be semi-protected on a continuous basis.[1]
When not to use semi-protection
Semi-protection is intended to allow good edits to be made while preventing vandalism of the page. There are some situations in which it should not be applied. It is:
- not to be used to deal with regular content disputes. See the protection policy for how to deal with this;
- not intended for pre-emptive protection with the exception of some biographies of living people
- not for the day's Featured Article, which should almost never be protected;
- not intended to prohibit anonymous editing in general.
Article-talk pages are not protected as a rule, except in special circumstances. User-talk pages subject to persistent vandalism or trolling may be semi-protected or protected on request.
Semi-protection should only be considered if it is the only option left available to solve the problem of vandalism of the page. In other words, just like full protection, it is a last resort. Remember to lift the semi-protection after a brief period if appropriate.
How
Semi-protection can be requested by asking at Wikipedia:Requests for page protection, the article's talk page or, in cases where a very fast response is needed, the administrators' noticeboard.
Administrators:
- In the protection interface, choose "Block new and unregistered users" for editing and/or moving the page as appropriate.
- The tag {{sprotected}} should be added to the top of the page, which automatically adds the article to Category:Semi-protected.
- List the page at Wikipedia:List of protected pages#Semi-protection. Remember to remove the listing when you unprotect.
- When protecting a user or user talk page, {{usertalk-sprotect}} may be used instead.
Tools
- While the recent history of an article should be checked before semi-protecting, this tool is useful for tracking vandalism on a particular article over a longer period. It's not perfect, however, and can be abused. For instance, it will show a high vandalism rate if a low-traffic article gets just one instance of vandalism per day.
See also
- Wikipedia:Protection policy, which deals principally with full-protection, but contains much of Wikipedia's philosophy regarding protection.
- m:Protected pages considered harmful.
- Template:Editprotected, process for protected edit requests applicable to protected pages of any level.
Notes
- ^ a b "Proposal: limited extension of semi-protection policy", Jimmy Wales, WikiEN-l, May 19, 2006