Bulbapedia:Blocking policy

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This article is an official policy on Bulbapedia.

Its contents are strongly binding and can be considered law on Bulbapedia.

Blocking is one way to actually enforce bans on Bulbapedia. There are three targets that can be blocked:

  • User accounts
  • IP addresses
  • IP address ranges

Please note that blocking is not always the only way for a situation to be resolved. A user may simply be asked by an administrator to refrain from editing a certain type of article or a certain article for a period of time, between 48 and 96 hours. If the user follows these instructions, then no block will be instituted. Failure to comply with this rule will result in a temporary block.

How to block

Any administrator can place a block by accessing Special:Blockip, or by using the [block] link next to a username on an edits list.

When to block

Blocking will be put in effect if any of the following circumstances are met:

Ignoring bans

If a user deliberately ignores a ban, the ban will be forcibly enforced using a block. Be sure to inform a user of their ban - assume good faith if the user has not been properly notified - otherwise, after (repeated) notification, issue a block.

Edit flood

If a user is judged as having made many edits in a short timespan that contradict prevailing trends, a "cooldown" block may be issued depending on the number of edits made. The length of the block is to be judged by the blocking administrator, but should not exceed 3 hours unless the situation is exceptionally severe. Additionally, the block length may be contested by other administrators if it is felt to be unfair or biased. During that time, the edits will be reviewed and any unacceptable ones will be reverted. As with other short term blocks, this can not be appealed.

Vandalism

If pages are vandalized, the offending user will be blocked for a sysop-determined amount of time based on the severity of the incident. Blocks for vandalism can last anywhere from 24 hours to an indefinite or permanent amount of time; serious vandalism will be cause for a very long block.

Deliberately inserting false information to mislead is classed as a major act of vandalism (even if only a few articles are affected) and will result in severe penalties. However, unless clear evidence of malice exists, assume good faith.

Repeated and pointless page creation/modification can be grounds for blocking. Creating a page entitled "MAGIC PEEKACHU", and then another called "MAGIC RAICHOO", and so on, is grounds for a temporary blocking, because it's quite simply unwanted. Anything that clutters Bulbapedia like that will be removed and any user that creates it will be blocked for 24 hours on the first offense. Repeat offenders will be blocked for longer periods of time.

Link spam

The nature of a wiki is such that its Google PageRank tends to be a little higher than usual. Advertisers try to take advantage of this by adding their own links to pages, hoping that some of the PageRank will be passed on to their sites.

This sort of link spam cannot be tolerated, and the offending accounts will be blocked indefinitely. (However, it is more likely that they will never be used again after the initial attack.) The contaminated revisions of articles should also be deleted, however, this is not required.

Threats and edit/revert wars

Harassment in Talk pages or editing wars can be grounds for a block. Harassing other users in talk/discussion pages is simply not permitted. Active, vibrant discussion quite obviously is wanted and necessary; however, when it descends into flaming, it will be put to a stop by temporary blocking of the offending party/parties. Also, all parties involved in an editing or reverting war will be blocked; for help on someone modifying a page via a revert or edit, contact one of the administrators. Taking matters into the user's own hands will result in the temporary blocking of both parties involved, typically for 24 to 72 hours. Taking part in an edit war will result in being blocked for one day per reverted edit.

Usernames

Usernames can lead to immediate blockings under special circumstances. Usernames that are inflammatory or insulting to will be blocked; that's the rule. The "insulting" factor of a username will determined by a panel of 3 Bulbapedia staff members if there is any doubt as to the content of a username. Bots that are not approved by the Bulbapedia staff may also be banned, as they have the potential to add clutter in excess to the Bulbapedia site. Appeals on the grounds of decency will be considered by a larger panel of Bulbapedia staff members. See: Username policy

Additional accounts

Unauthorized sockpuppets, that is, accounts created for the sole purpose of hiding one's identity to conduct fraud, are not permitted on Bulbapedia. Additional accounts created to evade bans are blocked indefinitely, and may result in an extension or institution of a block on the primary account.

There are legitimate reasons for creating new accounts when you already have one, for example, if you have strong reasons to want to be dissociated from your past. This does not mean that accounts can be created for the sole purpose of starting fresh. To ensure that the reason is valid, an application must be submitted to a member of the editorial board, detailing full reasons. Only after the application is approved, a new account may be created, and the old account must become inactive as soon as possible.

Please contact a member of the Editorial Board to obtain permission to create additional accounts.

Uncivil behavior

A user who does not behave civilly to fellow contributors who are acting in good faith may be blocked to enforce a Wikibreak. Such behavior includes and is not limited to:

  • Always assuming bad faith.
  • Use of abusive language.
  • Personal attacks on other contributors.

Such behavior is to be avoided in a collaborative project such as this, thus should be punished. A contributor that fails to change their behavior after being warned several times may be blocked temporarily, or even permanently if need be.

Extended blocks

Some users who are known to be counterproductive may have their Bulbanews or Bulbagarden Archives accounts blocked as well. This is done on a case-by-case basis, but users should be warned that if these accounts are left unblocked, they should not use them to get around the block that has been enforced.

Similarly, blocked users may not use the Bulbawiki forum to circumvent their block. Users who do this, particularly users who have been permanently banned from the Bulbawiki system, will have their access to this area of the forums removed.

An extended block on another Bulbawiki site is performed at the discretion of the Editorial Board based on circumstances related to the user's original block and any subsequent communications that have taken place.

Appeals

Appeals against a block decision may be sent to the Editor-in-Chief or another member of the Editorial Board. Any email sent should be titled Bulbapedia block appeal, include a reason why the block should be overturned, and also include any additional information that would factor into an appeal process. Appeals will be processed as promptly as possible by the Bulbapedia staff; if you feel that your message was not received, contact the Editor-in-Chief on Bulbagarden forums via private messaging. Decisions handed down by an appeals committee are final and no further appeals will be entertained.

Temporary blocks of less than a week cannot be appealed.
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