AHWiki:Protection policy

sysops can protect a page to restrict editing or moving of that page, and remove such protection. Such protection may be indefinite, or expire after a specified time.

• Sysops Only disables editing for everyone except sysops. These files cannot be overwritten by new uploads.
• Block Unregistered Users disables editing for users who have not logged into an account. Account creation is done at the "HiTech Creations Bulletn Board".

Changes to protected pages should be proposed on the page's discussion page, and carried out once there is consensus to do so. A log of protections and unprotections is available at Special:Log/protect.

Sysops may unprotect a page if the reason for its protection no longer applies, a reasonable period has elapsed, and there is no consensus that continued protection is necessary. Contacting the sysop who originally protected the page is advised in unclear circumstances.

Sysops Only

A fully-protected page may only be edited by sysops. The protection may be of a limited duration, such as seven or 14 days, or may expire at a certain time.

Any modification to a fully-protected page should be discussed on its talk page or another appropriate forum. Once consensus has been established for the change, any administrator may make the necessary edits to the protected page.

Content disputes

Pages experiencing "edit warring" as the result of a dispute may be temporarily protected, with an appropriate expiration date, and involved parties asked to settle the dispute through discussion. Isolated incidents of edit warring, and persistent edit warring by particular users, may be better addressed by blocking, so as not to prevent normal editing of the page by others.

When protecting a page because of a content dispute, sysops normally protect the current version, except where the current version contains content which clearly violates content policies, such as obvious vandalism or copyright violations. Pages protected due to content disputes should not be edited except to make changes unrelated to the dispute, or to make changes for which there is clear consensus. Sysops should not protect or unprotect a page to further their own position in a content dispute.

"History only" review

If a deleted page is undergoing "deletion review", only sysops are normally capable of viewing the former content of the page. If they feel it would benefit the discussion to allow other users to view the page content, sysops may restore the page, blank it or a similar notice, and fully protect the page to prevent further editing. The previous contents of the page are then accessible to non-admins via the page history.

Talk-page protection

Sysops may fully-protect the "user talk page" of a blocked user if the page is being used for continued inappropriate editing. The protection should be timed so as not to exceed the length of the block. If the block is of indefinite duration, then the protection may be likewise.

Office actions

Pages may be protected by HiTech Creations staff in response to issues such as copyright or libel. Sysops should not edit or unprotect such pages without permission from HiTech Creations staff.

Block Unregistered Users

"Block Unregistered Users" prevents edits from anonymous users (IP addresses), or from accounts which are not confirmed. Sysops may apply indefinite protection to pages which are:

• Subject to heavy and persistent vandalism.
• Biographies subject to persistent violation.
• User pages, but not user talk pages, when requested by the user and when the pages are subject to heavy vandalism.

In addition, sysops may apply temporary semi-protection on pages which are:

• Subject to significant but temporary vandalism or disruption, for example due to media attention, when blocking individual users is not a feasible option.
• Article discussion pages, when they have been subject to persistent disruption. Such protection should be employed sparingly as it prevents anonymous and newly registered users participating in discussions. A page and its talk page should not both be protected at the same time.
• Talk pages of blocked IP addresses which are being used for continued inappropriate editing, or continued uncivil or offensive remarks.

"Block Unregistered Users" should not be used as a pre-emptive measure against vandalism that has not yet occurred, nor should it be used solely to prevent editing by anonymous and newly registered users. In particular, it should not be used to settle content disputes.

Other notes

Cascading protection

Cascading protection fully protects a page, and extends that full protection automatically to any page that is transcluded onto the protected page, whether directly or indirectly. This includes images and other media.

Cascading protection should be used only to prevent vandalism to particularly visible pages such as the Main Page.

Cascading protection is only available for fully protected pages; it is disabled for other pages as it represents a security flaw.