User blog:Forestpaw13/Guide to the Wiki: On Dealing With Vandals

I stole this from Kitsufox, and although she scares the heck out of me when she's yelling, I must admit that she's an awesome admin and leader. So I'm stealing this from her. :)

Vandals are a part of being on the Wiki. Unfortunately they're inevitable, particularaly in a fandom with such a high concentration of immature members in it such as the Warriors Community. These people generaly crave attention and are going about getting that attention in a negative fashion. While it is best to Assume Good Faith, there are going to be times when that faith is violated and people have malicious intents. This essay is geared towards how different levels of users should go about dealing with vandals.

Standard Contributors

 * A standard contributor is anybody who edits here. They make up the bulk of the people here on the Wiki.

Advice

 * Don't Panic: The more you freak out, the more success and encouragement you give the vandal.
 * Don't Dwell on It: The more time you spend talking about it, the more successful you have made the vandal.
 * Don't Confront Them: Confronting the vandal only gives them attention. Leave the confrontation stages to people with the power to do more than talk. Sysops don't just say "you'll get in trouble", they can actually issue punishments.

How to Attend to Vandalism
When the form pops up, make sure the subject you select is 'this page has been vandalized'. Describe the vandalism.


 * Once that is done, you should revert the vandalism. Start by clicking the 'history' button at the top of the article. There will be the word undo (the 'rollback' you see will only appear for Rollback and Administrator users). Click this button, make sure all vandalism has been removed, and save the page.




 * When a Sysop has an opportunity, they will attend to the problem request you filled and deal with warning and/or punishing the vandal.

Rollbacks

 * A Rollback is a user who has been given the ability to use the Rollback tool, which is much like undo, only better. It will revert the page all the way back to the last edit by another contributor. This is particularaly handy when dealing with pages in which the vandal has made multiple edits.


 * Rollback users should take all the advice given to normal contributors, and remember to make problem reports when they find vandals.

Sysops

 * System Operators, or Administrators, have the ability to deal with the punishment of vandals. In addition to reverting vandalism, they attend to the punishment of vandals. When vandalous behavior is noted a Sysop should use the Vandal template to apply a warning to the user's talk page.

Kitsu's Suggested Guidelines

 * Unintentional Vandalism over an extended period of time is best punished by a 1 day ban, and only if they do not respond to requests to stop. If they continue following the ban, address it as if it is malicious vandalism.


 * Malicious vandalism done to intentionally damage the wiki must be punished harshly. Always give 2 warnings before the first ban, after that they can be assumed to be fully aware they are violating rules.
 * First Offense - 1 Week (Technically 3rd offense, because 2 warnings should precede this Ban)
 * Second Offense - 1 Month
 * Third Offense - Life: If you won't learn, we won't take you back