WikiNames:Policy

This page documents current policy and is subject to change.

Accounts
Using only one account is recommended. If you absolutely have to have more than one, please indicate it on your user page. Abusing multiple accounts is strictly prohibited and will result in a block.

Deletion
Administrators have the technical ability to delete pages. The following is the criteria for deleting pages.

Immediate deletion
Administrators may immediately delete a page if it meets the immediate deletion criteria. Non-administrators can request immediate deletion by using the template Template:ID.

Any page may be deleted immediately if it meets any of the following criteria:


 * Vandalism or nonsense
 * Pages with offensive or gibberish content, including hoaxes
 * Copyright violation
 * Pages that contain copyrighted content
 * Spam or advertising
 * Pages with spam links to external sites or promotional material
 * Attack
 * Pages created solely to harass or threaten someone
 * Author request
 * May only be requested if the page has not been edited by anyone else
 * Test
 * Page testing editing ability or wiki markup — use the sandbox instead

Pages in the mainspace (article space) may be deleted immediately if it meets any of the following criteria:


 * No content
 * Page that has little or no meaningful content
 * Foreign language content
 * Content in another language other than English
 * Out of scope
 * Articles that are not about names

Pages in the user space may be deleted immediately if it meets any of the following criteria:


 * User request
 * Page within a certain user's space may be deleted if requested by that user
 * Nonexistent user
 * Page within the user space may be deleted if the user does not exist

Deletion discussion
If a page does not meet the immediate deletion criteria, it may still be deleted if there is consensus to do so. To start a deletion discussion, add the template Template:DD to the top of the page. Users may then discuss on the talk page if the page should be deleted. After consensus has been developed, an administrator may close the discussion and delete the page, if necessary.

Blocking
Administrators have the technical ability to block users. The following is the criteria for blocking users.


 * Vandalism or nonsense
 * Adding vandalism or gibberish to pages in any namespace
 * Spamming or advertising
 * Adding spam links to external sites or promotional material
 * Persistent disruption
 * Repeatedly adding copyrighted material or attacks
 * Abusing multiple accounts
 * Creating multiple accounts for the purpose of disruption (e.g. vandalism, spam, edit warring, etc.)
 * Edit warring
 * Repeatedly reverting other users — does not apply if reverting obvious vandalism

Before blocking, it is highly recommended that you warn the user at least once. However, accounts that are spamming may be blocked without warning.

Blocks should only last long enough to stop the disruptive editing. Blocks should never be used for punishment.

Non-administrators can report a disruptive user by contacting an administrator on his/her talk page. See the List of administrators.

Blocked users
Even though blocked users cannot edit any page, he/she may use the e-mail feature to contact an administrator to request an unblock. Users may be unblocked if it seems that they will not cause any further disruption.

However, if the user abuses the e-mail feature, an administrator may disable his/her ability to send e-mails.

Page protection
Administrators have the technical ability to protect pages. There are two levels of page editing protection: semi-protection and full protection. Additional types of page protection include create protection, move protection, and upload protection.

Pages should be protected for the least amount of time necessary. Indefinite protection should only be used after multiple short term page protections have been unsuccessful.

The following is the criteria for protecting pages. If necessary, high traffic pages and high use templates may also be indefinitely semi-protected, fully protected, or move protected after only one instance of disruption.

Semi-protection
Semi-protection only allows autoconfirmed users to edit a page. A page may be semi-protected if it meets any of the following criteria:


 * Persistent vandalism, spam, and/or disruption
 * Multiple instances of vandalism, spam, and/or disruption in a short period of time by non-confirmed and unregistered users
 * Edit warring (sometimes)
 * Edit warring by non-confirmed and unregistered users — use full protection instead if the dispute involves autoconfirmed users.

Full protection
Full protection only allows administrators to edit a page. A page may be fully protected if it meets any of the following criteria:


 * Edit warring
 * Edit warring by autoconfirmed users

Create protection
Create protection only allows autoconfirmed users (or administrators, depending on the level of protection) to create a page with a specific title. A page may be create protected if it meets any of the following criteria:


 * Persistent disruptive page creation
 * Multiple instances of users creating a page that meets the immediate deletion criteria — adjust the level of protection appropriately

Move protection
Move protection only allows administrators to move a page to a different title. A page may be move protected if it meets any of the following criteria:


 * Persistent disruptive page moving
 * Multiple instances of users moving a page to a title that is associated with vandalism, spam, attacks

Upload protection
Upload protection only allows administrators to upload a file with a specific title. Because local images (besides the logo) are not permitted on WikiNames, upload protection should not be necessary. However, if a file is repeatedly uploaded with a certain title, it may be indefinitely upload protected.

Local files
Do not upload files locally to this wiki. Besides the logo, locally stored files are not permitted.

External files
External files may only be used in the user space. External files should be relevant and should be used minimally, since external files cannot be used in the same way that local files can be used. Any files that are added to the mainspace (or any other namespace besides the user space) may be removed.

Only files from websites listed at MediaWiki:External image whitelist are allowed through technical means. At this time, this list includes shoutwiki.com (ShoutWiki) and upload.wikimedia.org (Wikimedia Commons).

Talk pages
Talk pages are pages that allow users to discuss improvements to be made to a certain page. All pages (articles, templates, categories, project pages, help pages, and user pages) have a corresponding talk page.

All users should sign their posts by typing four tildes, which adds the user's name and a timestamp. This helps keep track who said what and when it was said. On the other hand, never sign your username on non-discussion pages (e.g. articles), since the page history already lists all contributors.

Do not remove other users' comments, unless it is obvious vandalism, spam, attacks, or out of scope. Talk pages of articles are meant for discussion about improvements to the page, not general discussion about the name itself. Any comments not related to improving the page should be removed.

User talk pages are used to contact a specific user. The user will receive a notice when someone else leaves him/her a message on his/her talk page. Users may remove any comment that is posted on their user talk page. Removing a comment generally means that you have read the comment, even though you might not have responded.