Xenharmonic Wiki:Protection policy
In some circumstances, pages may need to be protected from modification by certain groups of editors. Pages are protected when there is disruption that cannot be prevented through other means, such as blocks. The Xenharmonic Wiki is built on the principle that anyone can edit, and therefore aims to have as many pages open for public editing as possible so that anyone can add material and correct issues. This policy states the protection types and procedures for page protection and unprotection, and when each protection should and should not be applied.
Protection is a technical restriction applied only by administrators, although any user may request protection. Protection can be indefinite or expire after a specified time. The various levels of protection can be applied to the page edit, page move, page create, and file upload actions. Even when a page is protected from editing, the source wikitext of the page can still be viewed and copied by anyone.
Levels of page protection
- Semi-protection prevents a page from being edited or moved by users whose accounts are not confirmed
- Full protection prevents a page from being edited or moved by everyone except administrators.
Semi-protection
Semi-protection is useful when there is a significant amount of disruption or vandalism from new users, or to prevent sockpuppets of blocked or banned users from editing, especially when it occurs on biographies of living persons who have had a recent high level of media interest.
New users can request edits to a semi-protected page by proposing them on its talk page, using [[Category:Todo:feedback request]] if necessary to gain attention. If the page in question and its talk page are both protected, the edit request should be made at Xenharmonic Wiki:Cross-platform dialogue instead.
Administrators may apply temporary semi-protection on pages that are:
- Subject to significant but temporary vandalism or disruption (for example, due to media attention) if blocking individual users is not a feasible option.
- Subject to edit warring if all parties involved are new editors. This does not apply when autoconfirmed users are involved.
- Subject to vandalism or edit warring where editors are engaging in IP hopping by using different computers, obtaining new addresses by using dynamic IP allocation, or other address-changing schemes.
- Article discussion pages, if they have been subject to persistent disruption. Such protection should be used sparingly because it prevents newly registered users from participating in discussions.
- Protection should be used sparingly on the talk pages of blocked users, including IP addresses. Instead the user should be re-blocked with talk page editing disallowed. When required, or when re-blocking without talk page editing allowed is unsuccessful, protection should be implemented for only a brief period not exceeding the duration of the block.
In addition, administrators may apply indefinite semi-protection to pages that are subject to heavy and persistent vandalism or violations of content policy (such as biographies of living persons, neutral point of view).
A page and its talk page should not normally be protected at the same time. In exceptional cases, if a page and its talk page are both protected, the talk page should direct affected editors to Xenharmonic Wiki:Cross-platform dialogue, to ensure that no editor is entirely prevented from contributing.
Semi-protection should not be used as a preemptive measure against vandalism that has not yet occurred or to privilege confirmed users over new users in (valid) content disputes.
The following pages and templates are usually semi-protected for an indefinite period of time:
- Highly visible pages related to the Main Page.
- Pages that should not be modified for legal reasons, such as the general disclaimer or the local copy of the site copyright license.
- Pages that are transcluded very frequently, to prevent vandalism or denial of service attacks. This includes images or templates used in other highly visible or frequently transcluded pages. See Wikipedia:High-risk templates for more information.
A protected highly visible page should display Template:High priority at the top of its talk page.
Full protection
Modifications to a fully protected page can be proposed on its talk page (or at another appropriate forum) for discussion. Administrators can make changes to the protected article reflecting consensus. Placing [[Category:Todo:feedback request]] on the talk page will draw the attention of administrators for implementing uncontroversial changes.
While content disputes and edit warring can be addressed with user blocks issued by uninvolved administrators, allowing normal page editing by other editors at the same time, the protection policy provides an alternative approach as administrators have the discretion to temporarily fully protect an article to end an ongoing edit war. This approach may better suit multi-party disputes and contentious content, as it makes talk page consensus a requirement for implementation of requested edits.
When protecting a page because of a content dispute, administrators have a duty to avoid protecting a version that contains policy-violating content, such as vandalism, copyright violations, defamation, or poor-quality coverage of living people. Administrators are deemed to remain uninvolved when exercising discretion on whether to apply protection to the current version of an article, or to an older, stable, or pre-edit-war version.
Fully protected pages may not be edited except to make changes that are uncontroversial or for which there is clear consensus. Editors convinced that the protected version of an article contains policy-violating content, or that protection has rewarded edit warring or disruption by establishing a contentious revision, may identify a stable version prior to the edit war and request reversion to that version. Before making such a request, editors should consider how independent editors might view the suggestion and recognize that continuing an edit war is grounds for being blocked.
Administrators who have made substantive content changes to an article are considered involved and must not use their advanced permissions to further their own positions. When involved in a dispute, it is almost always wisest to respect the editing policies that bind all editors and call for input from an uninvolved administrator, rather than to invite controversy by acting unilaterally.
The following pages and templates are usually fully protected for an indefinite period of time:
- The Main Page.
Protection by namespace
Article talk pages
Talk pages are not usually protected, and are semi-protected only for a limited duration in the most severe cases of disruption.
Templates
Highly visible templates – those used on a large number of pages or frequently substituted – are often protected based on the degree of visibility, type of use, content, and other considerations.
Protected templates should normally have the {{Documentation}} template. It loads the unprotected /doc page, so that non-admins can edit the documentation, categories and interwiki links.
Sandboxes
Sandboxes should not ordinarily be protected since their purpose is to let new users test and experiment with wiki syntax. Those who use sandboxes for malicious purposes, or to violate policies such as no personal attacks, civility, or copyrights, should instead be warned and/or blocked.
User pages
User pages and subpages within their own user space can be protected upon a request from the user, as long as a need exists. Pages within the user space should not be automatically or preemptively protected without good reason or cause. Requests for protection specifically at uncommon levels (such as full protection) can be granted if the user has expressed a genuine and realistic need.
In the event of the confirmed death of a user, the user's user page (but not the user talk page) should be fully protected.
User talk pages
User talk pages are rarely protected. However, protection can be applied if there is severe vandalism or abuse. Users whose talk pages are protected may wish to have an unprotected user talk subpage linked conspicuously from their main talk page to allow good-faith comments from users that the protection restricts editing from.
A user's request to have their own talk page protected is not a sufficient rationale by itself to protect the page, although requests can be considered if a reason is provided.
Blocked users' user talk pages should not ordinarily be protected, as this interferes with the user's ability to contest their block through the normal process. It also prevents others from being able to use the talk page to communicate with the blocked editor.
In extreme cases of abuse by the blocked user, re-blocking the user with talk page access removed should be preferred over applying protection to the page. If the user has been blocked and with the ability to edit their user talk page disabled, they should be informed of this in a block notice, subsequent notice, or message, and it should include information and instructions for appealing their block off-wiki.
When required, protection should be implemented for only a brief period, not exceeding the duration of the block.
Confirmed socks of registered users should be dealt with in accordance with Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry; their pages are not normally protected.