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	This is a Wiktionary policy, guideline or common practices page. It should not be modified without a VOTE.
	Policies: CFI - ELE - BLOCK - REDIR - BOTS - QUOTE - DELETE - NPOV - AXX

Contents 1 Wiktionary Editor Blocking Policy 1.1 Who and when to block 1.1.1 Vandalism Blocks 1.1.1.1 Do Block 1.1.1.2 Don't Block 1.2 Block duration 1.3 Range Blocks 1.4 Block letters sent

Wiktionary Editor Blocking Policy

A blocking guideline for Wiktionary is listed below, but remains unofficial.

Blocking is the second to last line of defense, followed only, in extreme circumstances, by contact with vandal's ISPs. As such it is important to have a comprehensive and standardized guideline for what constitutes blockable behavior, what duration blocks should have, and what alternative measures are available. This policy is intended to lay down in writing the working methods the Wiktionary admins already employ, for the benefit of new users, new admins, as well as the community as a whole.

The flow of this document should be from less to more technical, and should be understandable for the average user while still providing comprehensive guidelines for more technical aspects of the blocking tool.

Who and when to block

Vandalism Blocks

Do Block

• blatant vandalism: This would include any edits which are obviously by someone who has no wish to edit productively, posting offensive images, inappropriate page moves, malicious content additions, etc. Simple "Dave is a dork!" edits probably don't merit a block unless they are persistent.
• pure stupidity: Unlike user tests, stupidity should be blocked, especially if it is persistent.
• random spam: Those who go around pasting a plethora of strange links; only if recent. Usually by the time anyone notices and rolls back their changes they are long gone, so they may not be worth blocking.
• vandalism only accounts Any account which, after a few edits has done nothing but vandalize, can be blocked indefinitely.
• impersonators: Any account which appears to take the form of an existing account should be blocked indefinitely. These accounts frequently use non-ASCII character sets to create near identical names, refer to the URL of their userpage to confirm this.
• invalid account names: Punctuation is prohibited on the sign up page, and users must overlook those warning to enter a username containing an "@" or "!" etc.
• e-mail address names: Immediate blocks should be instated for e-mail address usernames, as they are entered in an effort to feed spam harvesters. Oddly, this technique does not seem to work, but the attempt is often made, nevertheless.
• bad sockpuppets discovered from Special:Checkuser being used disruptively, as well as the corresponding IP addresses. By WT:CU policy, these blocks can only be performed by the Checkusers, as they can't reveal detailed results.

Don't Block

• the testers: Often, newcomers get to a blank edit screen, without even knowing how they got there (perhaps from following a redlink). After pressing a few buttons on the edit toolbar (thinking one of them might be a cancel button, which none of them are) they press [Save page] giving a glorious rendtion of eighteen copies of Image:Example.jpg sprinkled with various other wikimarkup elements. In these cases, a block is completely inappropriate. Use the {{subst:welcomeip|~~~~}} template on their talk page, or possibly one of the user warnings if necessary. They may not speak English, they may be learning how to use a computer—who knows? Many visitors from other language Wiktionaries drop in to enter translations of the week and get confused by the English Wiktionary's enhancements.
• reverters: Blocking according to some nebulous "three revert rule"...watch out. This is not Wiktionary policy, nor even a recommendation. If you are getting into a heated revert war, try protecting the page in question for 24 hours...that usually pushes the conversation to the Beer brawl parlor where things can usually be clarified to everyone's mutual dissatisfaction.

Block duration

NOTE: These are guidelines. You won't be shot for blocking in the wrong manner.

Logged in accounts:		Anonymous editors only	Prevent account creation
infinite	Blatant or confirmed sockpuppets created for the purpose of vandalism or block evasion. Abuse, plagiarism, persona non grata type blocks, based on community consensus. Bad username accounts, including: email addresses, exploitative names, copycats, offensive names, etc. Checkuser identified bad sockpuppets.	N/A	N/A
> 1 month	Third blocks for persistent offenders.	N/A	N/A
7-31 days	Second blocks for persistent offenders.	N/A	N/A
1-7 days	Primary blocks for behavior which is counter to policy, productivity or community.	N/A	N/A
1/4-24 hours	These blocks should rarely be given out, but if attempts to communicate with another community member fail, a very short term block can be issued.	N/A	N/A

For anonymous IP addresses, the 99% case is non-recurring stupidity. Don't waste your time doing research on the IP if the IP has not been blocked before: block one day, anon-users/prevent-creation only. If it recurs (block log has entries), then look closer:

Anonymous contributors: static or semi-static vs. dynamic IPs		Anonymous editors only	Prevent account creation
infinite	Open proxies and zombies only! no other IPs should be permanently blocked.	NO!	YES!
> 1 month	IPs which have been blocked for shorted durations before, and return: probable static IPs.	No	YES
7-31 days	Vandalism which would be blocked for this duration on a registered account, on what is probably a static IP.	No	Yes
1-7 days	Most anonymous vandalism which is from DSL/Cable ISP (SBC/Comcast/RR) IPs.	Yes	Yes
.25-24 hours	Large ISP (AOL/BT) IPs engaged in any sort of vandalism.	Yes	No

Range Blocks

Glossary: IP, CIDR, subnet, range-block, netmask, ARIN, RIPE, AfriNIC, LACNIC, DoDNIC, InterNIC

It is a very good idea to consult with other sysops when implementing a range block (e.g. 129.130.0.0/16) as this blocks an enormous segment of the internet entirely. Usually, to block a university, a smaller segment can be identified (such as the library's subnet.)

Blocks of such an enormous range should be much shorter. For universities especially, the vandals eventually either graduate or drop out. Better is to block for one month and send a block letter as soon as possible (as it takes most schools a few weeks to effectively deal with it.) Within that time, you can often identify the smaller subnets that need to be blocked. Aim for the end of the next trimester. Do not exceed one year on range blocks.

If possible, use several n.n.n.n/24 blocks rather than one n.n.n.n/16 block.

Very few /8's are problems. These must be blocked by the offending /16 segments.

When using a CIDR notation range block, it is best to use the range given by http://www.arin.net/ as those tend to be specific enough. (e.g. /28 or /22.) Remember to follow the link to RIPE or APNIC (or one of the others) if indicated. Blocking all of Europe may appeal to you during a particularly nasty vandal storm, but I promise the results of doing so, are much worse.

See also: Wiktionary:Range blocks

Block letters sent

See Wiktionary:Abuse reports.