 | This page documents one of Memory Alpha's policies. |
It describes a widely accepted standard that all editors should normally follow. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. |
Although the vast majority of Memory Alpha contributors act in good-faith and follow the policies and guidelines, there are some cases in which it is necessary to block a user from making further contributions to Memory Alpha. This measure should only be taken as a last resort after all other attempts to contact the user and discuss the matter have failed.
Policy
Users may be blocked under the following circumstances:
- Vandalism. If a user has vandalized Memory Alpha, that user should first receive a warning. If, after the warning, the user continues to vandalize pages, the user may be blocked. Admins may exercise discretion in determining block duration.
- Inappropriate usernames. There are two types of inappropriate usernames governed by this policy:
- Usernames deemed offensive under the username policy should be blocked. (Note that the IP which the user is registered to should be unblocked in order to permit them to contribute under a more appropriate username.)
- Users who register names that are designed to impersonate other members may be blocked immediately, and the IP block may be left in place.
- Personal attacks. If a user makes repeated personal attacks against other archivists in violation of the no personal attacks policy, that user may be blocked for up to three days to enforce a "cooling off" period.
- Archivists who call for violence or make death threats will be blocked indefinitely. These users can request to have the block removed, but lifting such blocks will be at the administrators' discretion.
- Disruptive users. If a user makes continuously disruptive or counterproductive edits, and if all attempts to contact the user have failed, that user may be blocked at the administrators' discretion, either temporarily (until contact with the user is made) or indefinitely.
- Circumventing policy. If a user attempts to circumvent policy (by registering a sock puppet account, for example), that user may be blocked at the administrators' discretion, either temporarily or permanently.
- To gain a user's attention. In this case, the block should be short and request that the user respond on their talk page. Once that response occurs, the block should be removed.
If a user has been blocked previously, any subsequent blocks may be longer.
In general, blocks should only be considered a last resort action, not as a punishment, but simply as a means of protecting the community from harmful edits. By the same token, indefinite blocks should only be considered a last resort after temporary blocks fail to resolve the problem.
How blocks work
Blocks are implemented as part of the MediaWiki software system. Administrators have the power to both block and unblock both user accounts and IP addresses.
Blocked users will still be able to read pages on Memory Alpha, but they will not be able to submit changes to articles – the Edit this page link brings up a message stating that "User is blocked," which explains the reason behind the block and provides information about how to request an unblocking.
The scope and effects of the block depend on whether the block is for an account or an IP address:
- IP address blocks
- the block expires automatically after 24 hours, and
- accounts that share the IP address are automatically blocked, preventing someone from simply creating a new account to avoid the block.
- User account blocks
- the block is permanent, until an administrator explicitly unblocks the account, and
- the IP address is automatically blocked, to prevent someone from simply creating a new account to avoid the block.
Accidental blocks
Many users operate from non-static IP addresses, which can lead to legitimate users being prevented from editing if their IP address was blocked while being used by a different individual. If this happens, contact an administrator.
Automatic blocks
Certain actions are automatically prevented and logged by the AbuseFilter. Some of these, such as attempted page blanking or certain forms of vandalism, result in an automatic block being placed on the user attempting to perform the prohibited action. If you were blocked in such a manner and believe it to have been a false-positive, you may appeal the block on your talk page.
Unblocking
The block list provides a list of all currently blocked users and IP addresses. Administrators will also see a link to [unblock] next to each blocked user. To unblock a user, click this link, then provide a reason why the user is being unblocked (for the block log), then click the "unblock this address" button.
A user can be unblocked if:
- they were originally blocked in violation of this policy,
- the reason why the user was blocked no longer applies,
- contact has been established with the user (for disruptive users),
- the block has lasted too long, or
- other appropriate cases (at the discretion of the administrator).
Otherwise, there are no specific rules for when a user should be unblocked. However, remember that any block is considered harmful to the community (because it prevents members from contributing), and that blocks are only instituted because they cause less harm than the disruptions caused by the offending user.
In controversial cases, it is always better to err on the side of caution and leave a user unblocked pending discussion with other administrators.
Range blocks
Range blocks are a way to block more than one IP address at once. This feature can be important when dealing with a vandal changing their IP often to circumvent single blocks.
- Note: This section only deals with the basics of range blocks. For more detailed information, please see the Meta-Wiki article about range blocks. Use range blocks only if you are sure what you are doing!
IP addresses are typically written as a set of four numbers, each ranging from 0 to 255. A first step to determine a good range to block is to compare all used IP addresses and find out which parts stay the same.
Suppose a vandal is using the addresses "1.2.3.23", "1.2.3.42", and "1.2.3.201". While the last number changes, the first three stay the same. In this case, you might want to block all addresses of the form "1.2.3.x", with "x" being any number between 0 and 255, basically ignoring the last number.
- To do so, use "1.2.3.0/24" as the address to be blocked in the utility. Be aware that this will block 256 addresses at once!
Similarly, you might find out that the first two numbers stay the same while the last two change.
- To ignore the latter two numbers while blocking, enter "1.2.0.0/16" in the block utility. Attention: This will block more than 60,000 addresses at once and should only be used in extreme cases of repeated vandalism.
There are ways to restrict the block to a smaller set of addresses, if you are willing to deal with binary math – see the article linked to above for more information. Because many innocent contributors could be blocked by a range block, these should normally not last longer than 24 hours. If you are not sure if the range block you implemented was correct, place a message on Ten Forward, listing the IP addresses that should have been blocked.