Bulbapedia:Protection

This article is a proposed guideline for Bulbapedia. Please discuss the proposed guideline and suggest possible changes on the article's talk page.

As part of the MediaWiki software, pages on Bulbapedia can be protected from editing by users below a certain rank for reasons described below. In some cases, also detailed below, the entire wiki can be locked to editing.

Some page protections apply to non-autoconfirmed users; other page protections apply to anyone who is not staff. Protection can be done on a limited-duration or indefinite/infinite timeframe, depending on the reason and rationale. This policy outlines the various instances where protection may be applied to a page.

Types of protection

The Mediawiki software allows Bulbapedia staff to apply the following variations of protection to a page:

• Edit protection protects the page from being edited or altered.
• Move protection protects the page from being moved or renamed.
• Creation protection protects the page or specific page title from being created

Additionally, protection may be set at two levels:

• Full protection protects the page from editing by users below the Junior Administrator level.
• Semi protection protects the page from editing by newer users who are not Autoconfirmed.

Reasons for protection

Pages may be protected for multiple reasons, described in detail below.

Vandalism or spamming

Pages experiencing regular vandalism or spamming may be protected to prevent defacement from outside actors/groups. This may occur, for instance, if a character becomes the subject of a popular meme, or if there are other external events which dramatically increase the attention paid to a single page. This protection may occur for as long as needed to keep the page vandalism-free, but should typically not be indefinite.

Edit warring

Pages that are the subject of an edit war may be temporarily protected to stop the edit war and reduce the number of edits occurring. This protection should last long enough for the edit war to subside.

High traffic page

Pages that are very high-traffic may be protected (either from edits or moves) to proactively reduce the impact of vandalism, or prevent disruptive changes which would affect users' experience on the wiki. This may occur, for instance, for notable Pokémon or for pages like the Main Page. This protection is typically indefinite.

Major revamp

Pages experiencing a major revamp can be protected for the duration of the editing to prevent confusion or edit conflicts. This may also be used during bot operations to prevent the bot from encountering an issue with a page. This protection should be lifted after the revamp is complete.

Policy

Policy pages are protected indefinitely; only staff can modify wiki policy. For discussion of policy or to propose changes, please use the talk page.

Speculation prevention

Pages may be protected to prevent speculation, either proactively or in response to edits from users. This most commonly occurs near or after a major announcement about a new Pokémon release of some type, but can be implemented at any time. This protection should be lifted after more information becomes available.

Templates

High-use templates may be protected to prevent an edit to the template breaking many pages across Bulbapedia. This type of protection is typically indefinite. For discussion of templates or to propose changes, please use the talk page or make a draft template in your userspace for discussion.

Locking Bulbapedia

In certain circumstances, Bulbapedia may be locked by the staff and prevent all editing - by staff and users alike. This can occur when, for instance, a major software or hardware upgrade is being performed. It may also occur if there are significant template updates which need to be processed by BulbaBot that create significant load on the server. When the entire wiki is locked, a Messages from the Editor should be posted to announce the planned lock and estimated duration to users (if possible). In any regard, an announcement should be posted announcing the lock once it begins until the lock is lifted.

Impact on users

Protected pages cannot be edited by normal users; however, the source wikicode of the page can be viewed. This allows users to learn about template design and other wikicode features. If you are unsure why a page is protected, please contact a admin.

If there is something on a protected page that should be added or changed, leave a message on the talk page. If nobody has replied to the message or made the change after several days, ask an active admin on their talk page.

There are two levels of protection from editing of a page, applying to two categories of users. First, pages can be protected from moving or editing. These protection levels can apply to users who are not autoconfirmed, or apply to all who are not on Bulbapedia's staff. The protection from autoconfirmed users is mainly to keep users who have not been around long from editing a page and inserting information which will have to be cleaned up; usually this is not used due to the relatively short time between registration and becoming autoconfirmed.

Administrator guidelines

Pages protected with an expiration time are preferred in most instances, such as the case of edit warring or vandalism, though indefinite protection is often afforded to the high-use templates that appear on many of our pages, as well as to pages which should only be edited by administrators, such as pages on policy. Administrators can protect for any of the default times, or for arbitrary amounts of time; best judgement should be used when setting a protection duration.

Pages can be separately protected from moving as well as from editing. All Pokémon species pages should be protected from moving, while protection for editing them should expire one year or less from the point of protection.

Always explain why the page has been protected in the protection log. It is important for users to see a clear and concise explanation for why a page is protected.