Help:Page protection

When it becomes necessary to partially or fully lock a page because of the number of problem edits, this page provides instructions on how to do so. It supplements/clarifies the Help text automatically included at the bottom of the page.

Protection levels
Pages can be protected from being edited and/or moved. Protection levels for both are:


 * Allow all users
 * Block new and unregistered users
 * Administrators only

By default, all pages have "Allow all users" set for both editing and moving. The next level is "Block new and unregistered users". This level prevents anonymous users (including those with an account who have not logged in) and newly-registered users from from editing/moving the page. Four days after registration, the user is no longer considered a new user.

The highest level is "Administrators only", which means only those with admin rights will be able to edit/move the page.

The Edit setting and Move setting are tied together. When one level is chosen in Edit, the same level is also selected in Move, and vice versa. To set a different protection level for Move than for Edit, put a check mark in the box in the Move section, then make your selection.

The duration to protect the page is set with the "Expires" option. To select a time not listed in the drop-down menu, choose "other time" and enter the ending time in the "Other time" line. The time format is as follows:


 * 2011-06-13T21:06:49Z

In this example, the end time is June 13, 2011 at 21:06 and 49 seconds, Zulu (UTC) time. Spaces should not be used when setting the end time.

Cascading protection
Cascading protection allows you to protect additional pages that are referenced on the current page. The Help Wiki's Page protection page (which is auto-included below) says that this allows for "protection of a page from editing by a non-admin, as well as any other pages on the wiki linked to on the page". However, this may not be correct. It is a good practice to have each page link to at least one other, which, using this definition, would mean that protecting one page could theoretically protect the entire wiki.

The correct definition of cascading protection is likely the one found on Community Central, which reads as follows: "Cascading protection is a form of page protection which allows you to protect a page so that all templates and images on the page will also be protected without needing to protect them one at a time."

Though cascading protection allows for quickly protecting several pages at one time, it should not be used casually and may have the effect of protecting more pages, templates or images than is necessary. In most cases, it is better to protect single pages without using cascading protection.

Setting the page protection
A reason should always be given for protecting a page. Use the "Reason" drop-down menu to select the main description of the protection. The current list of reasons are:


 * Other reason &mdash; a general-purpose description
 * Excessive vandalism
 * Excessive spamming
 * Counter-productive edit warring
 * High traffic page

The "Other/additional reason" line should be used to give a more detailed explanation. Examples:


 * Same user vandalizing page from multiple IPs.
 * Setting cooling-off period for the edit war.

"Follow this page" may be checked if the administrator needs a reminder to come back to the page at a later time to review the edits or change the protection level.

Preventing a deleted page from being re-added
When returning to a page that has been deleted, administrators have the option to protect the page from being created again.

In the drop-down menu next to the Create button, click on "Protect". Select the protection level, duration and reason, then click on Confirm.


 * Note: This option is not present on all ways of viewing a deleted page. For example, if you click on a red link in the Deletion log, the pop-up window will usually appear to help you create it as a new article. The option will also not appear if the link has "&action=edit&redlink=1" in it. (Hover the cursor over the link and look in the status bar of your browser to see the full URL where that link will go to.)


 * The option will be present when you are viewing a deleted page and see the boilerplate message "This page needs content. You can help by adding a sentence or a photo!"

Additional information

 * Full Moon o Sagashite Wiki:Protection policy
 * Page protection on the Help Wiki. (This page is auto-included below.)
 * Protection on Community Central: other examples of why pages might be protected.
 * A local copy of this page is automatically created at the time a wiki is created. Community Central's page will always contain the most current version of this information.
 * The ProtectSite extension can be temporarily enabled (for no more than 12 hours) by Wikia staff to lock an entire wiki so that admins may recover from a sustained or massive vandalism/spam attack. For a long-term solution, contact Wikia staff for alternatives and other options.