Xeno Series Wiki:Block guidelines

This is a guideline, a principle that all users should be aware of and try to follow. Do not edit this page unless you have consensus about it on the talk page.

Inevitably, the wiki will come upon people with enough disregard for the rules or others that they must be blocked from editing. These are the guidelines for deciding whether to block problematic users, and for how long.

Block reasons

There are many ways that someone could earn a block. This includes but is not limited to:

• Vandalism (intentionally making bad-faith edits, such as deleting content or filling sections with spam)
• Refusal to comply with policies despite reminders
• Being rude to other users
• Edit warring (constantly reverting a page to their preferred version)
• Evasion of an existing block, or otherwise using multiple accounts

Block warnings

Usually, a user should not be blocked unless an admin has warned them first. A three-strike rule for talk page notices is recommended:

1. do not do this
2. do not do this, you will be blocked if you continue
3. you have been blocked because you keep doing this

Users that are not admins are free to do step 1 as many times as they wish, but should avoid step 2 and instead bring the issue to an admin's attention. Only admins should be giving explicit block warnings. When a user does get blocked, the blocker (and no one else) should explain on their talkpage why (this is step 3).

Sometimes however, the three-strike process is not a good idea. A user that's already vandalised five pages before an admin sees it is unlikely to respond to warnings, and excessively obvious/blatant actions may deserve being blocked without warning or without explanation. It is the job of an admin to apply the guideline with context.

Block durations

There are no hard-and-fast rules for deciding how long a block should be; it is entirely at the discretion of the staff member carrying it out.

• Short blocks of less than a week are used for minor or first-time offenses. A good yardstick to start with is 3 days.
• Medium blocks of a week to a month are used for severe first-time offenses, or when a short block for the same behaviour did not dissuade it.
• Long blocks of a few months to a year are used for oft-repeated offenses that show no sign of stopping.
• Indefinite blocks are used if staff believe that a user has become a lost cause and cannot be reformed into a useful contributor. Sockpuppets and other alternate accounts should also be blocked indefinitely.

Generally, block length should extend for the same offense being repeated, rather than stay the same.

IP addresses change over time, and thus can be assigned to other people that have nothing to do with the person that was causing problems. As a result, staff should be very careful applying long blocks on them, and may never block them indefinitely.

Block appealing

Blocked users may still edit their own talk page, and this is their means of appealing their block. Users who wish to appeal should respond to the block message and explain their case. They must be careful to remain civil, or they may risk the block being extended, or modified to lose talk page privileges and thus lose appeal rights. The staff member who made the block should respond. Perhaps other staff members may respond, as well as other users that were directly invovled, but this is not an "everyone discuss this" situation.

Users with a history of abusing talk page privileges may lose their right to appeal immediately upon being blocked.

Range blocks

A "range block" is when a single block covers a large chunk of IPs that share the first two or three of their four numbers. This is something generally reserved for when a bum is constantly vandalising or spamming from various different but similar IPs, so we can try and block future problems without having to guess which IP is coming next. Like normal IP blocks, a range block should be capped in duration, and only made for long periods for persistent and serious offenses.