Wikiversity:Blocking policy

From Wikiversity

This page is a proposed Wikiversity policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption. References or links to this page should only describe it as a "proposal".

Shortcut: WV:BLOCK

Blocking is the means by which a Wikiversity Custodian may prevent an IP address or user account from editing for a specified length of time. Blocking does not prevent people from being able to read the content of pages at Wikiversity.

Contents 1 When to block 2 Vandalism 3 Reverting good faith edits 4 Professionalism 5 Open proxies 6 Requests for unblock 7 Expiry times 8 See also

[edit] When to block

A participant may be blocked from editing whenever a block is felt necessary to protect Wikiversity's content or to prevent disruptive behavior from continuing. Most reasons for blocking are stated in Wikiversity policies and processes that have been established by community discussion and consensus. In the absence of policy or processes, the community can also discuss problems and, if consensus is established, block for other reasons.

In cases that require immediate attention, such as obvious cases of vandalism, custodians can block participants without warning. In all other cases a clear warning must first be left on the participant's talk page. The warning must be specific about what needs to stop or change, and why. The warning must include links to the edits or actions that the custodian feels needs to stop or change. The warning must link to the Wikiversity policies or processes that have been violated and explain why or how the edits or actions can result in a block if continued. The purpose of the warning is to make sure that the participant is aware that a problem exists, to give the participant a chance to address the issue, and to give the community a chance to examine the situation if the warning or potential reason for blocking seems inappropriate. Remember blocking is not to punish, but to prevent further disruption to Wikiversity. The ideal outcome is for the issue to be resolved without needing to block anyone.

Blocks may be escalated, without further warnings, if the same behavior continues. If you disagree with a Custodian's assessment, you may request a community review of the issue in question (however, the participant must stop the behavior while the review is under way in order to avoid the possibility of a block).

Custodians must avoid the appearance of favoring participants that they agree with over participants they disagree with when using custodian tools. Custodians must never block or threaten to impose a block as a means of ending or influencing discussions. To avoid the appearance of favoritism or imposing blocks as a means of ending or influencing discussions, Custodians must do their best to ensure all participants that have acted or behaved in a similar manner receive equal treatment (e.g. warned, blocked for the same amount of time if the same behaviors persist, and escalating blocks equally).

[edit] Vandalism

Custodians may block the IP addresses or user accounts of users who repeatedly vandalize Wikiversity after having been warned to stop.

Custodians may also exercise discretion to block users without warning, if they believe that the user has no intention to cease vandalizing (see also: Wikiversity:No shrines for vandals ).

[edit] Reverting good faith edits

A participant who intentionally undoes or reverts another participants good faith edits only to have the same edits added back to the same page must not do so again. This is to prevent participants from reverting each other endlessly until the end of time.

There are many ways a conflict can be resolved without reverting. Some possible options are:

• Further improve or rewrite the text in a way that resolves the conflict.
• Discuss what you agree and disagree with on the discussion page and seek a compromise or consensus.
• Let other participants work on a solution, while you seek a compromise on the discuss page, take a break or focus on something else.

Participants who decide to continue to add back or revert each other's good faith edits may be blocked, if no reasonable argument for doing so is provided in the edit summary or included on the talk page, and no consensus to revert has been established.

[edit] Professionalism

Blocks may be placed on accounts or IP addresses which have consistently demonstrated a lack of professionalism and respect for the editing environment on Wikiversity. This includes lack of respect for or ignoring policies, guidelines and processes that have community support. IP addresses should never be blocked indefinitely, unless they are open proxies.

To get a block log entry modified or removed please contact a sysadmin.

[edit] Open proxies

Wikimedia Foundation policy limits the ability of users to edit from open proxies. See: Wikiversity:Open Proxies.

[edit] Requests for unblock

Blocked users can still edit their user talk page and send emails to custodians. A blocked user can request to be unblocked by adding {{unblock|reason}} to their user talk page or by sending an email to the blocking custodian (see Category:Requests for unblock for a list of users requesting to be unblocked).

Custodians can disable email for blocked users and the use of their user talk page for the duration of their block, if abused.

Examples of abuse are:

• Edits to talk pages that require meta:Oversight
• Edits that violate Wikiversity policy or process
• Edits that got the blocked user blocked in the first place
• ...

Editors can determine that their edits require Oversight by .

[edit] Expiry times

Blocking periods range from one hour to "infinite" - as a general rule, first offences can be blocked for a short 'cooling off' time, unless the severity of the offence merits a longer block. Repeated offenders should be blocked for longer periods - as a general rule, doubling the last block time works well. When blocking IP addresses and ranges, special care has to be taken to determine if the address or range is allocated dynamically. In such cases, blocks with expiry times exceeding an hour or two are likely to cause more damage than do good because addresses are constantly reallocated to different users.

If a participant is blocked "indefinitely", the blocking custodian must be sure to distinguish between blocks intended to be permanent and blocks intended to last until certain conditions are met. If the block is intended to last until certain conditions are met, the conditions that must be met must be included in the block reason.

[edit] See also

• Wikiversity:Blocking
• Wikiversity:Custodianship#User blocks