Wikipedia:Semi-protection policy

) in its upper right hand corner, it is because that particular Wikipedia page is currently semi-protected in accordance with this policy.

Pages that are semi-protected cannot be edited by unregistered users or from accounts less than 4 days old.

A page can be temporarily semi-protected by an Administrators in response to serious vandalism, in which the page is getting a large number of vandalism edits from so many different anonymous or newly-created accounts that blocking them individually is not a solution. It can also be used to stop banned or blocked users who are using multiple IPs or accounts from editing an article. Semi-protection is a temporary measure used to stem vandalism on a page until the attack of vandalism is regarded as over. Some articles with a history of vandalism, such as George W. Bush or Jew, may be semi-protected on a continuous basis. "Proposal: limited extension of semi-protection policy", Jimmy Wales, WikiEN-l, May 19, 2006

Pages that are semi-protected are indicated with and listed at Protected page#Semi-protection and Category:Semi-protected. To request that semi-protection be lifted, leave a note on the protecting admin's talk page, on the article's talk page, the Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents, or Requests for page protection.

When to use semi-protection

Semi-protection should be considered if it is the only option left available to solve the problem of vandalism of the page, if the amount of vandalism is difficult for editors to keep up with. Like full protection, it is usually a last resort, not a pre-emptive measure.

Jimbo Wales has suggested that semi-protection may be used in the cases of "minor bios of slightly well known but controversial individuals" which are not widely watchlisted, if they are "subject to POV pushing, trolling ^* vandalism." In such cases, semi-protection "would at least eliminate the drive-by nonsense that we see so often."

When not to use semi-protection

Semi-protection should not be used:

as a pre-emptive measure against the threat or probability of vandalism before any such vandalism has occurred;
as a response to regular content disputes, since it may restrict some editors and not others (see Protection policy for how to deal with this);
in the case of a few static IP vandals hitting a page (blocking the vandals is a much better option than semi-protection);
on the day's Featured article, which should almost never be protected;
to prohibit anonymous editing in general.

Talk pages are not protected as a rule, except in special circumstances. User talk pages subject to persistent vandalism or trolling may be semi-protected or protected on request.

How

Semi-protection can be requested at Requests for page protection, the article's talk page or, in cases where a very fast response is needed, Administrators noticeboard/Incidents.

Administrators:

In the protection interface, choose "Block new and unregistered users" for editing
The tag should be added to the top of the page, which automatically adds the article to Category:Semi-protected.
List the page at List of protected pages#Semi-protection. Remember to remove the listing when you unprotect.
When protecting a user or user talk page, may be used instead.

Tools

While the recent history of an article should be checked before semi-protecting, this tool is useful for tracking vandalism on a particular page over a longer period. It's not perfect, however, and can be misleading. For instance, it will show a high vandalism rate if a low-traffic page gets just one instance of vandalism per day.

Notes

Wikipedia vandalism

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When to use semi-protection

When not to use semi-protection

How

Tools

See also

Notes