The Summer Hikaru Died Wiki:Blocking Policy

This is the Summer Hikaru Died Wiki's Blocking Policy. Here you will find descriptions of all forms of behavior not tolerated on the Wiki and how it is dealt with.

Overview

Blocking, also known as banning, is an administrative action that prevents an IP account or registered user from editing on the wiki. The duration of blocks may vary, depending on the severity of the offense committed. These guidelines should be used as the general standards for determining block durations, but administrators should use their own discretion on a case-by-case basis.

Blocks are not to be discussed by the community. The administrative team will decide on whether or not a block is necessary.

Blocks apply to everyone equally, and are appropriately given to any user on the Wiki regardless of status or position.

Official Warnings

The Summer Hikaru Died Wiki leads with the assumption of good faith, so users won't face disciplinary action for minor, isolated mistakes and infractions. In these cases, an administrator is always encouraged to inform a user of what they did wrong without issuing an official warning.

However, if a user persistently fails to follow the policies of the Wiki and shows no obvious dedication to abiding by the policies, then an official warning should be issued. The warning should explain what rules were broken and alert the user that repeating the warned behavior will eventually result in a block. If said users continue to violate the Wiki's policies, blocks of increasing durations may be used in place of more warnings (see below).

Certain offenses are considered more serious than others and may result in direct blocks, with no prior warning.

Unacceptable block reasons

• Disagreeing with the administrator(s) – Conflicts of opinion or interest are not valid reasons to block a user. Doing so is considered an abuse of administrative power. As long as they abide by the Wiki's rules, any user is allowed to disagree with an administrator.
• "Time out" or "Cool down time" – Assuming the user has not broken any Wiki rules, an administrator may not use a block as "time to cool down" after a disagreement or a user has expressed discontent about a situation.

Guidelines

Unless the offending account was clearly only made for the purpose of breaking Wiki rules, then administrators should always try to communicate civilly and allow the offender to rectify their behavior before a block is given.

1. Vandalism and/or spamming – Vandalism is defined as any edits made in bad faith. This includes adding inappropriate or nonsensical words to articles, blanking pages, creating spam pages, purposefully changing correct information, and uploading inappropriate, pornographic, or spam images. Users who commit vandalism should be warned first, and then blocked for at least three days if the nonconstructive edits continue. Repeat offenders may be blocked for two weeks, one month, and then one year, for the second, third, and fourth infractions, respectively. Vandalism of other Wikis in this Wiki's name will also result in a block here, even if the user was not blocked on the Wiki they vandalized.
2. Personal attacks and/or harassment – Wikipedia defines harassment as "a pattern of repeated offensive behavior that appears to a reasonable observer to intentionally target a specific person or [group of] persons." Personal attacks of any kind are not permitted on the Wiki. Inciting or participating in flame wars is considered a violation of this rule. Administrators should give a stern warning prior to a block. If the personal attacks continue, the user should be blocked for at least one week. Users who are blocked for personal attacks more than five times are subject to an indefinite block without advance warning. Note that personal attacks can vary in severity, so administrators should use discretion when determining a block's duration.
3. Copyright infringement – Users who upload leaked or copyrighted files to the Wiki should be warned prior to blocking. Continuing to upload these types of files after warnings will result in a block of at least three weeks.
4. Inappropriate username - Usernames that impersonate or strongly resemble another user, intend to mock another user, contain profanity, contain erotic or obscene language, or falsely portray one as being a third-party representative or organization, may be blocked indefinitely with no warning.
5. Sock puppetry – Sock puppetry is the act of using a new IP address or account in order to bypass a block given to another account/IP. If you have been blocked, it is strongly prohibited to make a second account to access the Wiki. If caught committing sock puppetry, the original user and the puppet account(s) are subject to an indefinite block without advance warning.
6. Edit warring – According to Wikipedia, edit warring "occurs when editors who disagree about the content of a page repeatedly override each other's contributions." Edit warring feeds hostility between members of the community, and adds clutter to the Wiki's activity and the page's history. All users who participate in edit warring should receive a stern warning followed by a block of one week if they persist. All users should make an effort to avoid edit wars by leaving a message on the conflicting user's talk page, and trying to reach an agreement in a respectful manner.

Block type and duration

Block duration can and should vary based on the severity of the offense and the likelihood that it will be repeated. Admins may choose to use longer or shorter blocks at any time depending on the circumstances and their own discretion. Blocks can be extended if additional offenses are discovered after the fact. Blocks may be shortened or removed in the case of accidents, misunderstandings, or if the user is proven to be innocent or unfairly judged (see below for the appeal process).

Administrators should generally try to abide by these guidelines.

• Anonymous user IP blocks should not last more than two weeks, unless they have already been blocked consecutively. When placing an IP block, the duration should be be no more than a year. Since it is possible that multiple people are using the same IP address, IP blocks should never be indefinite.
• The first block should be relatively short in length, and if further blocks must be issued to the same user, then the duration should increase.
  • When intent to vandalize is not completely evident, or for cases of non-vandalism that still require disciplinary action – start with three days for the first block, a week for the second, a month for the third, and so on.
  • For registered users that are blatantly malicious with clear intent to continue vandalizing the Wiki – start with a week for the first block, a month for the second, six months for the third, and a year for the fourth. However, in these situations, administrators should use their discretion on a case-by-case basis; if necessary, registered users may be blocked indefinitely after they have received numerous timed blocks.

Requesting or appealing a block

Any user can request a block on an active administrator's message wall for major cases of vandalism or other breaks of policy. When doing so, users should present credible evidence of the situation warranting a block. The length of a block is completely up to the administrator's discretion, and users should not make suggestions about the duration. Administrators are never obligated to block another user and they should investigate the matter themselves rather than taking the request at face value. Since blocks can be reviewed and appealed, active administrators should communicate with one another whenever they block a user.

Blocked users can appeal their block by making a statement on their own message wall or talk page. Unless there has been an unambiguous error, an administrator should not remove other administrators' blocks without prior communication.