Wikipedia:Vandalism - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to content
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This page is a
policy
on the Simple English Wikipedia.
Many people agree with it. They see it as a standard idea that all users
should
normally
follow. When changing this page (except for minor errors like typos), please check that other people agree with your changes. Use the
talk page
when you are not sure or when you want to suggest a change.
Shortcuts
WP:VD
WP:VD
WP:VAN
WP:VAN
WP:VAND
WP:VAND
WP:VANDALISM
WP:VANDALISM
WP:VANDAL
WP:VANDAL
This page in a nutshell:
Making bad changes to Wikipedia on purpose will result in being
blocked
This screenshot of Wikipedia shows a user replacing a whole section of an article with an insult. This is an example of what vandalism is.
On Wikipedia,
vandalism
is when a user makes
bad changes
to Wikipedia on purpose. They might do any or all of the things listed below. Vandalism is a very bad problem, and people who keep doing it may be
blocked
from making changes. Test edits, like those made in the
sandbox
are usually not vandalism. But in some cases, it can be, especially if the content is
offensive
or
attacks other people
There are two Wikipedias in Modern
; the
Simple English Wikipedia
and the regular
English Wikipedia
. Sometimes, vandals from the English Wikipedia will come here to vandalize. Vandalizing from multiple wikis is called cross-wiki vandalism and can lead to
being unable to log into the account
(basically blocking them from editing) on all
Wikimedia
websites. This is known as a global lock.
Stewards
(a type of user with high privileges across all Wikimedia websites) have the ability to apply these global locks.
How to fight vandalism
You can help
"fight" vandalism. This means getting rid of bad changes by other users. It's very easy, and you don't even need to
make an account or log in
! Here's how:
Go to the
"New changes" page
. This shows you the most recent changes that any user makes to any page. You can also find a link to this page near the top left corner while you are on Wikipedia, under
the globe logo
Click on one of the "
diff
" links to see the change made by the user on the page listed on the new changes page. To help you choose which "diff" to see, here are some things to look out for:
Anonymous users
or new accounts —most vandalism is done by someone who is not logged in or is new. However if they are anonymous user, you will see their IP address instead of a username.
Big changes to the article size
- the green or red number tells you how much content the user added or removed from the page. If it's a very large number (which may also appear as
bold text
), there's a good chance that it could be vandalism.
Change summary
- this is meant to tell other users what has been changed. Many vandals do not write anything, but if they do, it appears in
brackets
"(" and ")" and in
italics
. Look especially for common sentences like "Fixed typo" or "Added content" - these are called
"canned" summaries
and can often be "misleading", or in other words, not tell the
truth
. It may look to be any other normal change, but could be vandalism.
Tags
- Wikipedia has
automatic filters
that try to stop users from making changes if they do not seem to be good, such as if there is a
slang
or
swear word
. In this case, you could see a "tag" that says something like "blanking", "repeating characters", or even "possible vandalism". Also, keep in mind that test changes are also more likely to be made from a
mobile device
or using the "
visual editor
", in which case you would see a "mobile edit" or "visual edit" tag.
Once you see the change, you have to decide whether it is vandalism or not. If you aren't sure, don't do anything, and ask someone for help—remember the
old saying
, "better safe than sorry". If you are sure that an edit is vandalism, then you should remove it immediately. What you should do depends on whether the vandalism was done on a new page or not (to find out, click on "View history" at the top of the page):
If the vandalism was done on a new page that meets the
quick deletion policy
(nobody else has made or changed it except the vandal(s)—there may be more than one), put the code
{{QD|reason}}
on it and replace "reason" with why it should be
deleted
. If an
administrator
agrees with you, they will delete the page and everything on it.
If the vandalism was done on a page that is not new (other people have made or changed the page but are not vandals),
revert (that is, undo) the change
, if it has not been done already. You can usually do this by clicking "undo" beside the word "change" beside "Latest revision" and then saving the page (if you see "Revision" but not "Latest revision", the change may have already been reverted, and you should click "Newer diff" until you see "Latest revision" to make sure). Make sure that after you revert the change, there is no more vandalism on the page. You may have to revert more than one change (which is where
the "rollback" feature
becomes very helpful for).
Once the vandalism is gone, it is a good idea to give the vandal a warning that they should not do it again. To do this, go to their talk page (by clicking "talk" beside their username or IP address) and put a warning
template
(a message that has already been set) on it. There are many ways to warn these users; some of them
are listed below
. You should always look at what is already on that page as well as the user's other changes (you can check them by clicking on the "changes" link next to the username on the new changes page, or, for an anonymous user, you can click on their IP address).
If users continue to vandalize pages (look out for other contributions that have been reverted, or other warning templates on their talk page), go to
Vandalism in progress
and follow the instructions there to report the vandal to "administrators". They are able to
block and ban
users who do not follow the
rules of Wikipedia
, and this includes vandalism. If the request is urgent, please ping administrators in the
IRC
#wikipedia-simple
connect
channel using !admin@simplewiki or in the
Discord
channel #simple-english-wikipedia using @SimpleEnglishAdmins
That's it! If you want to know more about how to help fight vandalism, you can always ask questions at
Wikipedia:Simple talk
Warnings and notices
Multi-level templates
Level 1 (General Note) –
Assumes good faith
. Generally includes "Welcome to Wikipedia" or something similar.
Level 2 (Caution) – Does not assume whether or not the editor is acting in good faith.
Level 3 (Warning) – Assumes bad faith; warns editor to stop what they are doing.
Level 4 (Final Warning) – Assumes bad faith; a strong, final warning to the editor to stop what they are doing.
Level 4im (Only Warning) – Assumes bad faith; a strong, first and only warning to the editor to stop what they are doing. This should only be used in extreme cases.
Contents
Different types of unhelpful changes
Adding spam, such as promotions of objects or ideologies (collections of beliefs)
Behavior towards editors and articles
Hover over the template syntax to see a summary of the contents.
Don't forget to
substitute
these templates
Description
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 4im
Different types of nonconstructive changes
Negative unsourced changes to
biographies of living persons
subst:
uw-biog1
subst:
uw-biog2
subst:
uw-biog3
subst:
uw-biog4
subst:
uw-biog4im
Making bad pages
subst:
uw-create1
subst:
uw-create2
subst:
uw-create3
subst:
uw-create4
subst:
uw-create4im
Breach of copyright
subst:
uw-copyright1
subst:
uw-copyright2
Not applying the
Manual of Style
subst:
uw-mos1
subst:
uw-mos2
subst:
uw-mos3
subst:
uw-mos4
subst:
uw-mos4im
No
neutral point of view
subst:
uw-npov1
subst:
uw-npov2
subst:
uw-npov3
subst:
uw-npov4
subst:
uw-npov4im
Changing tests
subst:
uw-test1
subst:
uw-test2
subst:
uw-test3
subst:
uw-test4
subst:
uw-test4im
Vandalism
subst:
uw-vandalism1
subst:
uw-vandalism2
subst:
uw-vandalism3
subst:
uw-vandalism4
subst:
uw-vandalism4im
Removing content from pages
subst:
uw-delete1
subst:
uw-delete2
subst:
uw-delete3
subst:
uw-delete4
subst:
uw-delete4im
Deliberately adding wrong information
subst:
uw-error1
subst:
uw-error2
subst:
uw-error3
subst:
uw-error4
Adding unsourced information
subst:
Uw-unsourced1
subst:
Uw-unsourced2
subst:
Uw-unsourced3
subst:
Uw-unsourced4
Unacceptable page moves
subst:
uw-move1
subst:
uw-move2
subst:
uw-move3
subst:
uw-move4
subst:
uw-move4im
Adding spam, such as promotions of objects or
ideologies
Adding
spam links
subst:
uw-spam1
subst:
uw-spam2
subst:
uw-spam3
subst:
uw-spam4
subst:
uw-spam4im
Using Wikipedia for advertising or promotion
subst:
uw-advert1
subst:
uw-advert2
subst:
uw-advert3
subst:
uw-advert4
Behavior towards editors and articles
Not assuming good faith
subst:
uw-agf1
subst:
uw-agf2
subst:
uw-agf3
Personal attack directed at a specific editor
subst:
uw-npa1
subst:
uw-npa2
subst:
uw-npa3
subst:
uw-npa4
subst:
uw-npa4im
Changing others' talk page comments
subst:
uw-tpv1
subst:
uw-tpv2
subst:
uw-tpv3
subst:
uw-vandalism4
Description
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 4im
Single-level notices
Hover over the template syntax to see a summary of the contents.
Notices
Warnings
Description
Template
Description
Template
Adding incorrect categories
subst:
uw-badcat
Creating or changing articles to attack
people
subst:
uw-attack
Biting
" newcomers
subst:
uw-bite
Project disruption
subst:
uw-disruption
Starting empty or underpopulated categories
subst:
uw-emptycat
Removing
quick deletion
templates from articles
subst:
uw-qd
Direct copying of article from
English Wikipedia
subst:
uw-encopypaste
Removing
deletion requests
from articles
subst:
uw-rfd
Information on cross-wiki attribution
subst:
uw-encopyright
Userpage or subpage is against policy
subst:
uw-userpage
Making inappropriate jokes
subst:
uw-joke
Change warring
subst:
uw-3rr
Changing between national types of English without a good reason
subst:
uw-lang
Conflict of interest
subst:
uw-coi
Tips on creating new articles
subst:
uw-newarticle
Making bad changes using more than one IP
subst:
uw-multiip
Use "Other websites", not "External links"
subst:
uw-otherweb
Removing the sandbox header
subst:
uw-sandbox
Reverting self tests
subst:
uw-selfrevert
Not making changes in
simple English
subst:
uw-simple
Not making changes in English
subst:
uw-notenglish
Check spelling, grammar, punctuation,
etc.
subst:
uw-spellcheck
Remember to
subst:
templates
subst:
uw-subst
Not signing posts
subst:
uw-tilde
Image uploads not allowed in Simple English Wikipedia
subst:
uw-upload
Not warning vandals
subst:
uw-warn
Use "Related pages", not "See also"
subst:
uw-relatedpages
Adding false claims to userpage
subst:
uw-claims
Blocks
Hover over the template syntax to see a summary of the contents.
Don't forget to
substitute
these templates.
Block templates are for admin use only.
Description
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3 (Indefinite)
Blocks
subst:
uw-block1
subst:
uw-block2
subst:
uw-block3
Username
block
subst:
UsernameBlocked
Username hard block
subst:
UsernameHardBlocked
Username and vandalism block
subst:
Uw-vaublock
Other
Hover over the template syntax to see a summary of the contents.
Page headers
New user
Deletion notifications
ISP
|ISP Name
SharedIP
|Organization
SchoolIP
|Organization
anonblock
|Optional comments
schoolblock
|Optional comments
unblock
|Reason
pp-semi-usertalk
pp-usertalk
subst:
welcome
subst:
welcomeg
subst:
welcomeip
|Your username
subst:
welcomespam
subst:
firstarticle
Quick deletion
nominations
subst:
article too short
|Article
subst:
testarticle
|Article
subst:
QD-notice
|page=Article|cat=Criteria
subst:
QD-notice-multiple
|page=Article
Note:
Not all of these warning templates are for vandalism.
Tracing IP addresses
For repeated vandalism by anonymous IP addresses, it is helpful to
trace the IP address
and add
{{SharedIP|Name of owner}}
to the user talk page of the address.
The owners of IP addresses can be found using:
ARIN
North America
RIPE NCC
Europe
, the
Middle East
and
Central Asia
APNIC
(Asia Pacific)
LACNIC
(Latin American and
Caribbean
AfriNIC
Africa
If an address is not in one, it might be in a different one.
Anti vandalism tools
Twinkle
Twinkle
is a script that allows autoconfirmed users to
revert
and warn vandals.
Vandal Warner
Vandal Warner
is a
gadget
you can use to warn the vandals more easily. In order to use it, you should click on the
my settings
link and go to the "Gadgets" tab. Then you should select
Vandal Warner
and save the settings. Of course, you can use gadgets only when you are logged in.
Navigation popups
Navigation popups
has a revert script in it that lets you revert to a specific version, to add this:
Go to My Settings
Go to Gadgets
Check Navigation popups (API)
Click save
After that, you will need to flush your old monobook.js from your
cache
. Pressing Ctrl+F5 on some browsers might work, or Ctrl-R on some others. Then it will work, if not ask for help. There are other anti-vandalism gadgets there besides these.
Related pages
Wikipedia:Spam
Vandalbot
Wikipedia:Vandalism in progress
Anti-vandalism ideas
#cvn-simplewikis
an
IRC
channel dedicated to fighting vandalism on Simple English Wikipedia and Wiktionary
Retrieved from "
Category
Wikipedia policies
Hidden category:
Wikipedia semi-protected project pages
Wikipedia
Vandalism
Add topic