Wookieepedia:Protection policy


Page protection is a technical feature in the MediaWiki software (which powers Wookieepedia) that enables administrators to restrict who can edit, move, or create a particular page. Although the nature of a wiki is that articles and other pages should be open to editing by all, it is sometimes necessary to protect pages for various reasons. All protections and unprotections are logged and viewable by anyone. The different levels of protection and why they might be applied are detailed below.

Full protection


Pages which are fully protected can only be edited or moved by administrators; additionally, files that are full-protected also can only have new versions uploaded by administrators. These pages will usually display a red padlock in the upper right corner that links to this page. Full protection may be applied for reasons including but not limited to the following:

Permanent


  • In order to protect the integrity of the site, pages in the MediaWiki: namespace are automatically fully protected and cannot be unprotected. These pages control the interface and other high-visibility portions of the site and so unwanted edits to these pages would be highly disruptive. Additionally, some messages are in plain HTML, which opens up the possibility that users could insert malicious scripts, and a few messages can cause the software to stop working if they are changed.
  • The Main Page is permanently protected, as it is highly visible and changes to it generally should only be made with community consensus.
  • Many policies are fully protected, as changes should only be made with community consensus.
  • Past press releases are protected to preserve their integrity.
  • Heavily used templates should be protected, as vandalism to such templates would be highly visible and could remain visible even after being removed due to caching.

Temporary


  • Articles may be fully protected to stop an "edit war" and encourage the users involved to discuss the matter on the associated talk page. In such cases, protection is not an endorsement of the current version.
  • User pages may be fully protected if a user persists in violating the user page policy or if a user whose page was replaced with {{Inactive}} reverts back to their old user page without actually returning to active editing.
  • Administrators may protect their own user pages and/or user subpages at their leisure.

Semi-protection


Pages which are semi-protected can only be edited by "autoconfirmed" users (meaning that your account is at least four days old). These pages will usually display a gray padlock in the upper right corner that links to this page. Semi-protection may be applied for reasons including but not limited to the following:

  • Articles which are frequently vandalized or frequently have fanon added to them are semi-protected either temporarily or permanently to stop the vandalism and fanon. Note that articles generally should not be preemptively semi-protected simply to ward off vandalism that may or may not actually occur without a good reason to do so.
  • Pages where voting takes place are often semi-protected to prevent sockpuppet votes. These include the Wookieepedian of the Month voting pages. In processes where voting is done on subpages (such as Trash compactor discussions and Featured, Good, and Comprehensive article nominations), the individual subpages are generally not protected at first, but may be semi-protected at the first sign of trouble.
  • Pages which should only have changes made to them in certain circumstances but where non-administrators have reason to edit the page, such as the featured and good article randomizers used on the Main Page, are typically semi-protected.
  • Users may request unconditional semi-protection of their own user page and/or user subpages (but not their user talk page). The protection may be removed if {{Inactive}} is applied to the relevant pages pursuant to the user page policy.

Super-semi-protection


Pages which are super-semi-protected can only be edited by users who both are autoconfirmed and have an Fandom-wide edit count of at least 150. These pages will usually display a gold padlock in the upper right corner that links to this page. Unlike the other forms of protection described on this page, super-semi-protection is not applied solely via the MediaWiki protection function, but rather through the AbuseFilter extension in combination with ordinary semi-protection. An unavoidable downside to this is that autoconfirmed users who do not have the necessary number of edits will not be notified that they are unable to edit until after they attempt to save their edit.

Super-semi-protection can be used in the same circumstances as semi-protection, but only when unhelpful edits persist even with regular semi-protection alone is applied.

Move protection


Pages which are move-protected can only be moved to a new title by administrators. This may be applied by itself or in combination with semi-protection. These pages will usually display a green padlock in the upper-right corner that links to this page. Move protection may be applied for reasons including but not limited to the following:

  • High-profile articles and other pages can and should be move-protected to prevent malicious page moves. Unlike semi-protection, preemptive move protection is accepted and encouraged, as pagemove vandalism requires an administrator to clean up.
  • Articles that are being moved back and forth between two or more different titles as part of a dispute should be move-protected until the matter is discussed and resolved. In such a case, protection is not an endorsement of the current title.
  • All files are automatically move-protected by the MediaWiki software and cannot be unprotected. Users wishing to have a file moved to a new name can request this with {{FTBR}}.
  • Users may request unconditional move-protection of their own user page, user subpages, and/or user talk page. The protection may be removed if {{Inactive}} is applied to the relevant pages pursuant to the user page policy.

Creation protection


If a title is create-protected, a new page can only be created at that title by adminstrators (or, in some case, autoconfirmed users). Creation protection may be applied for reasons including but not limited to the following:

  • Pages deleted as vandalism or fanon where the title is highly unlikely to be used for anything except vandalism or fanon may be fully create-protected.
  • Pages repeatedly deleted as fanon or unverified where the title is that of a plausible or known canonical subject may be semi-create-protected. If fanon persists, full creation protection may be used except where the title is known to be that of a canonical subject (in such a case, administrators are encouraged to create the canonical article themselves or encourage other editors to do so promptly).
  • Pages deleted via consensus in a Trash compactor discussion that are repeatedly recreated in violation of the consensus to delete may be fully create protected.

Upload protection


Files which are upload-protected can only have new versions uploaded by administrators. This may be applied by itself or in combination with semi- or full protection. These pages will usually display a purple padlock in the upper-right corner that links to this page. Upload protection may be applied for reasons including but not limited to the following:

  • Highly visible images, such as those used in the interface or permanently located on the Main Page, can and should be upload-protected to prevent disruption.
  • Files where there is a dispute between two versions may be temporarily upload-protected while the dispute is resolved. In such cases, protection is not an endorsement of the current version.
  • Files subject to frequent upload abuse/vandalism may be upload-protected temporarily or permanently.
  • Files selected via community consensus in an {{ImageVote}} may be protected if there are persistent reversion or upload disputes in order to preserve the vote's chosen outcome.
  • Files used in an Interactive Map approved via community consensus in a {{MapVote}} should be protected to preserve the vote's chosen outcome.

Requesting protection


To request that a page be protected, follow the instructions at Wookieepedia:Requests for protection. Alternatively, protection requests can be left in the #admin-help channel of the Wookieepedia Discord server.

Appearances