Administrators protect pages and images to prevent vandalism and assist in resolving content disputes, for example. The key principle to remember here is that Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that "anyone can edit". Protecting pages defeats that goal and so page protection should be avoided when possible and kept as short as possible.
In general, the length of time used to protect a page is based on how long you think it will take for the contributor(s) to cool down and resume proper contributions. A 24 hour page protection is typical. If problems resume, the protection might be increased to 36 hours for example. The page protection history might help you figure out how long to protect the page by what has worked in the past for that page.
Protecting etiquette is very lax. Generally, you do not need to consult with the original page protecting admin and there usually is no reason to notify them after you modify a page protection. A log of protections and unprotections is available at Special:Log/protect.
Below are more detailed instructions for protecting and unprotecting pages. For this guide we will use the protection form provided by the MediaWiki software. However in practice you may more often use semi-automated tools to protect pages – namely Twinkle – which can make the process considerably easier.
The above is how to manually protect pages, but it is highly recommended you take advantage of Twinkle's protect module, which is accessible via the "PP" link. This will make the task of protecting and tagging pages considerably easier. In addition, it offers batch protection, where you can protect numerous pages at once. The batch protect looks for all links on a page, and you can selectively choose which of those pages to protect. An example might be protecting a page and all of its subpages, such as those in your userspace, in which case you would use Special:PrefixIndex to generate the list of links.
Occasionally, administrators also need to protect non-existent pages to prevent them from being created/recreated. This is known as salting, after the process of salting the earth. For example, in the case of an article that went through a deletion discussion, the consensus was to delete and it is continually remade after the AfD, the page will need to be protected from recreation. Another example where salting is required is when vandals continue to create a disruptive page. Administrators should not use creation protection as a pre-emptive measure, but only in response to actual events. Salting is typically done for an indefinite duration, but any duration may be used.
The way to protect a non-existent page is very similar to protecting a regular page. We will use the test page Protect & salt test page.
To unprotect the page, follow the same steps you would to unprotect an existing page.
A lesser level of protection, called "semi-protection", can be applied to pages. In this mode, anonymous users and very recently-joined named users (who do not yet have confirmed status) are prevented from editing the page but longer-term signed-in users may still edit the page as usual. This mode of protection is commonly applied to pages that continually attract drive-by vandalism by anonymous editors.
|
Extended confirmed protection is a moderate level of protection that aims to prevent registered users who are confirmed but not extended confirmed from editing, as well as unregistered users. It is usually used for specific content disputes or edit warring involving confirmed editors.
|
Administrators may temporarily fully-protect pages which disables editing for everyone except administrators. This level of protection is commonly applied (sparingly) to pages that result in content disputes and repeated edit warring. The protection should be of a limited duration but long enough in order to resolve perceived conflicts.
|
When considering protection on pages such as policy pages and noticeboards, look through the pages' protection log first and the user(s) leading up to the previous page protections. You may find a pattern that leads you to consider blocking to be less harmful to the project than another page protection of one of these special pages.
|
Occasionally, the legal officers of the Wikimedia Foundation will protect a page against editing; this is referred to as an "office action". When this is done, a template will be placed on the page so that administrators will be aware of this action. Do not reverse this protection or remove the template! Only the officers may reverse such protection. See Wikipedia:Office actions for more details.
|
Administrators protect pages and images to prevent vandalism and assist in resolving content disputes, for example. The key principle to remember here is that Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that "anyone can edit". Protecting pages defeats that goal and so page protection should be avoided when possible and kept as short as possible.
In general, the length of time used to protect a page is based on how long you think it will take for the contributor(s) to cool down and resume proper contributions. A 24 hour page protection is typical. If problems resume, the protection might be increased to 36 hours for example. The page protection history might help you figure out how long to protect the page by what has worked in the past for that page.
Protecting etiquette is very lax. Generally, you do not need to consult with the original page protecting admin and there usually is no reason to notify them after you modify a page protection. A log of protections and unprotections is available at Special:Log/protect.
Below are more detailed instructions for protecting and unprotecting pages. For this guide we will use the protection form provided by the MediaWiki software. However in practice you may more often use semi-automated tools to protect pages – namely Twinkle – which can make the process considerably easier.
The above is how to manually protect pages, but it is highly recommended you take advantage of Twinkle's protect module, which is accessible via the "PP" link. This will make the task of protecting and tagging pages considerably easier. In addition, it offers batch protection, where you can protect numerous pages at once. The batch protect looks for all links on a page, and you can selectively choose which of those pages to protect. An example might be protecting a page and all of its subpages, such as those in your userspace, in which case you would use Special:PrefixIndex to generate the list of links.
Occasionally, administrators also need to protect non-existent pages to prevent them from being created/recreated. This is known as salting, after the process of salting the earth. For example, in the case of an article that went through a deletion discussion, the consensus was to delete and it is continually remade after the AfD, the page will need to be protected from recreation. Another example where salting is required is when vandals continue to create a disruptive page. Administrators should not use creation protection as a pre-emptive measure, but only in response to actual events. Salting is typically done for an indefinite duration, but any duration may be used.
The way to protect a non-existent page is very similar to protecting a regular page. We will use the test page Protect & salt test page.
To unprotect the page, follow the same steps you would to unprotect an existing page.
A lesser level of protection, called "semi-protection", can be applied to pages. In this mode, anonymous users and very recently-joined named users (who do not yet have confirmed status) are prevented from editing the page but longer-term signed-in users may still edit the page as usual. This mode of protection is commonly applied to pages that continually attract drive-by vandalism by anonymous editors.
|
Extended confirmed protection is a moderate level of protection that aims to prevent registered users who are confirmed but not extended confirmed from editing, as well as unregistered users. It is usually used for specific content disputes or edit warring involving confirmed editors.
|
Administrators may temporarily fully-protect pages which disables editing for everyone except administrators. This level of protection is commonly applied (sparingly) to pages that result in content disputes and repeated edit warring. The protection should be of a limited duration but long enough in order to resolve perceived conflicts.
|
When considering protection on pages such as policy pages and noticeboards, look through the pages' protection log first and the user(s) leading up to the previous page protections. You may find a pattern that leads you to consider blocking to be less harmful to the project than another page protection of one of these special pages.
|
Occasionally, the legal officers of the Wikimedia Foundation will protect a page against editing; this is referred to as an "office action". When this is done, a template will be placed on the page so that administrators will be aware of this action. Do not reverse this protection or remove the template! Only the officers may reverse such protection. See Wikipedia:Office actions for more details.
|