BlockingGuidelines
Contents
Block Policy
Blocks are used to deal with vandalism, bots, and inappropriate account names.
There are three types of blocks:
- accounts
- Anonymous IPs
- IP ranges.
Administrators have the technical ability to block any of these for any period of time, but such blocks should follow our blocking policy.
When blocks may be used
Blocks are most frequently used to deal with vandalism. There are several other less common situations where blocks are appropriate, which are listed below.
Vandalism
Administrators may, at their judgement, block IP addresses that vandalize the Wiki. For dynamic IPs, such blocks should last at least 24 hours. For static IPs, such blocks should initially last 24 hours, but repeat violators may be blocked for longer periods; there are various rules of thumb that administrators follow in how much to extend the blocks of habitual vandals, none of which are formal policy. In general, casual vandals should be warned before being blocked, though warnings are not usually given for deliberate vandalism intended to discredit the Wiki or serve an activist agenda.
People that do essentially nothing but vandalism may also be blocked for the same time periods. However, accounts that perform a mixture of valid edits and vandalism should not be blocked in this manner, but be warned with the Template:tl template.
Disruption
Administrators may, at their judgement, block IP addresses that disrupt the normal functioning of the Wiki. Such disruption is to be objectively defined by specific policies, and may include changing anothers signed comments or making deliberately misleading edits. People should be warned that they are violating standards before they are blocked. For accounts, such blocks should initially last 24 hours, but repeat violators may be blocked for longer as conditions merit.
Administrators may also block new accounts that make lots of disruptive edits, for any length of time or permanently, at their discretion. "Sockpuppets" that were created to violate Wiki policy should be blocked permanently. However, blocks should not be used against isolated incidents of someones account that make a mixture of disruptive and useful edits.
Reincarnations of blocked disruptive users will be reblocked if they continue being disruptive, or if they edit in a way which suggests they are likely to continue being disruptive; such as "YOU CANT BLOCK ME!!11!!" or "JOIN ME IN MY FIGHT TO DESTRY THE WIKI!1!!1!!"
Account Names
Inflammatory, deliberately confusing, and other inappropriate names are not allowed, and in certain circumstances, sysops may block accounts with such names.
Administrators can force a name change by blocking the username (with an expiry time of infinite). The blocking Administrators should include a note regarding the username violation in the "reason" field, along with a link to the user talk page where the matter was discussed. If an account has already been created, any person may add an explanation of why the person was blocked and a link to the talk page on the blocked persons PersonalPage. It is not advisable to create personal pages or talk pages for people with offensive account names.
Impersonation
Account names that are designed to impersonate legitimate people may be blocked immediately and indefinitely. Accounts that illegitimately use another account's name in the signature should be warned first, and then can be blocked.
Please be sure that the account is a malicious impersonator before blocking it; someone might choose a name similar to that of another person without any ill intent. Use common sense. If the suspected impersonators are vandalizing, flaming others, or otherwise acting with malice, then they should be blocked immediately. If they are making legitimate edits, they should be told of the possible confusion and encouraged to change account names.
Bots
Bots are currently not allowed (except by developers, of course).
Effects of being blocked
Blocked accounts can still see all Wiki pages, but the "edit" link brings up a "Person is blocked" page which explains the reason behind the block and gives information on how to request unblocking. This page includes the "reason" message supplied by the administrator who placed the block. Links and template includes all work as normal in the "reason" section.
The duration of the block depends on the expiry time that was entered at the time of the block, which may be "indefinite" or "infinite" (ie, until explicitly unblocked).
Note that blocking does not in any way restrict any feature other than normal article editing: normal users can still read articles, as well as adjust their watchlists and preferences. Administrators and bureaucrats can continue to use all of their respective features: add and remove blocks, roll back vandalism, make someone a administrator, etc.
Accidental blocks
How to block
Administrators may go to Special pages and select the "Block a user/IP address" link. This takes them to Special:Blockip, which has further instructions. Special:Blockip is also accessible via the [block] link that appears next to each non-logged in user on recent changes.
The "reason" that the administrator fills in will be displayed to the blocked user when they attempt to edit, as well as appearing in the block log and the block list.
Expiry times are entered in the GNU standard format, which is described in the tar manual. Alternatively, a block may be "indefinite" or "infinite", meaning the block is permanent, until a sysop explicitly unblocks the account.
If a administrator does not enter an expiry time, he or she will see an error message.
Range blocks
Range blocks are sometimes used when a vandal or disruptive user has been IP blocked on several occasions but responds by using a different IP address. In most cases, range blocks will affect at least some legitimate users. Therefore, range blocks should only be used when the disruptive behavior is frequent and severe enough to make other methods ineffective. This is a matter of judgement, and the likely number of legitimate users that might be affected should be considered.
When used, range blocks should be as brief as possible.
The range block feature is difficult to use correctly because it requires an understanding of binary arithmetic. It has certain limitations inherent in its implementation, requiring the starting and ending addresses to be an exact multiple of the distance between them, which must be a power of two. For details, see range blocks.
Unblocking
Special:Ipblocklist contains a list of all currently blocked users and IPs. Sysops will see a link to [unblock] next to each user. After clicking this, you should type in the reason that you are unblocking the user and then click the Unblock this address button. Sysops are able to unblock themselves by following this procedure.
Sysops may unblock users if:
- They were blocked in violation of this policy.
- The reason for blocking no longer applies.
- The block has lasted too long.
- In other appropriate cases
There are no hard and fast guidelines on unblocking, hence the "in other appropriate cases" guidance. Sysops must use their common sense and good judgement.
See also
- Special:Ipblocklist (a list of currently blocked accounts)
- Block log
