User:Omni Flames/CVUA/Tasks

Hello, and welcome to your very own counter-vandalism academy page! We'll be using this page for everything related to your training. That means I'll be posting questions, information, and tests here, but don't worry, I'll teach you everything :).

This page will be built-up over your time here at the academy, and I'll add new sections as we go along. If I post something here, please reply directly below my message. If something is in bold it means I want you to reply directly underneath it. Please do so.

In some exercises I will ask you to provide "diffs". See Help:Diffs for how to do this.

Many of these tasks have been taken from Callanecc until I get time to make my own. Thanks Callanecc.

Tools
Before we start, I wanted to show you some useful tools for counter-vandalism work which can be used by any editor. You can use all of these, none of these, or some of these. I don't mind, these links are just for your convenience. You may have already installed some of these in the past.

Twinkle
Twinkle is a very popular gadget which is helpful for a variety of tasks. To install it, go here and tick the box that says Twinkle. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "save". When you refresh the page, a "TW" tab will be available on every page, next to the "More" tab. Scrolling over the TW tab will show a list of modules you can use on the particular page. Twinkle has a large number of useful modules, including but not limited to, one which can be used to warn users, one which can be used to request page protection, one which can be used to suggest a page is deleted, and many many more helpful features. It also adds a non-admin "rollback" feature on all diff pages. I highly suggest you enable Twinkle, as it's incredibly useful and poses no risk of harming your account.

Lupin's Anti-vandal tool
Lupin's Anti-vandal tool is extremely helpful for monitoring recent changes in real time. To install it, simply add the following to your common.js. Refresh the page and you'll find 5 new links on your toolbar (on the left side of the page, underneath "interaction"). These links can be used to better monitor recent changes for possible vandalism.

IRC channels
IRC is an internet chat program. There are several channels on IRC that can be used to monitor vandalism. is probably the most useful. Visit IRC/Tutorial for information on how to connect to channels.

Navigation Popups
Navigation popups allow you to hover over links and see a brief preview of the page being linked to. One feature of navigation popups is that when you're at recent changes and hover over "diff" links, you'll have the ability to revert the most recent edit, useful for undoing vandalism. To install navigation popups, go here and tick the box that says Navigation popups. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "save". Refresh the page and navigation popups will be enabled.

'''Now that you've read these, reply below with which scripts you installed/what you signed up for. I don't mind how many you installed, or if you installed none, it's just so I know and can set tasks using those scripts. Also note that there are many more advanced scripts out there, but they'll only be available to you when you have more experience.'''

Vandalism vs Good Faith
Please read WP:VAND, and note the different types of vandalism. Take a look at WP:VANDNOT to see what isn't vandalism. Then read WP:AGF and answer the following questions.

What is the different between vandalism and a good faith edit?

Why is it important to assume good faith?

'''Please provide 3 diffs of a user vandalizing below. You may choose to revert it if you wish. Note that if it's already reverted, it doesn't matter, you can still provide it.'''

'''Please provide 3 diffs of an edit which was made in good faith, but was unhelpful. The same rules apply as with the vandalism edits.'''

User Warnings
Read WP:WARN and WP:UWUL. In short, user warnings are templates used to notify users that their edits have been problematic. Once you've read and thoroughly reviewed those pages, please answer the following questions.

Why and when should warnings be used?

'''Should warnings be substituted? If so, how would you do this?'''

When would a 4im warning be appropriate?

If a user who has already received a 4/4im level template vandalizes again, what would you do?

'''Please give examples of three warnings that you might need to use while vandal patrolling and explain what they are used for. You can use to do this.'''

Theory in practice

 * Find and revert some vandalism. Warn each user appropriately, using the correct kind of warning and level. Please include at least two test edits and at least two appropriate reports to AIV. For each revert and warning please fill in a line on the table below

Shared IP tagging
There are a number of IP user talk page templates which show helpful information to IP users and those wishing to warn or block them. There is a list of these templates


 * Shared IP - For general shared IP addresses.
 * ISP - A modified version specifically for use with ISP organizations.
 * Shared IP edu - A modified version specifically for use with educational institutions.
 * Shared IP gov - A modified version specifically for use with government agencies.
 * Shared IP corp - A modified version specifically for use with businesses.
 * Shared IP address (public) - A modified version specifically for use with public terminals such as in libraries, etc.
 * Mobile IP - A modified version specifically for use with a mobile device's IP.
 * Dynamic IP - A modified version specifically for use with dynamic IPs.
 * Static IP - A modified version specifically for use with static IPs which may be used by more than one person.

Each of these templates take two parameters, one is the organisation to which the IP address is registered (which can be found out using the links at the bottom of the IP's contribution page. The other is for the host name (which is optional) and can also be found out from the links at the bottom of the IP's contribution page.

Also, given that different people use the IP address, older messages are sometimes refused so as to not confuse the current user of the IP. Generally any messages for the last one-two months are removed, collapsed, or archived. The templates available for this include:
 * OW for when the messages are deleted from the talk page.
 * Old IP warnings top and Old IP warnings bottom for collapsing the user warnings and leaving them on the talk page.
 * Warning archive notice for when the messages are archived, and that archiving follows the usually naming sequence (that is, /Archive 1).

NOTE: All of the templates in this section are not substituted (so don't use "subst:"). '''Nothing to do in this assignment, except for reading it. Once you've seen it let me know below.'''

Dealing with difficult users
Occasionally, some vandals will not appreciate your good work and try to harass or troll you. In these situations, you must remain calm and ignore them. If they engage in harassment or personal attacks, you should not engage with them and leave a note at WP:ANI. If they vandalise your user page or user talk page, simply remove the vandalism without interacting with them. Please read WP:DENY.


 * Why do we deny recognition to trolls and vandals?


 * How can you tell between a good faith user asking why you reverted their edit, and a troll trying to harass you?

Protection and speedy deletion
Protecting and deleting pages are two additional measures that can be used to prevent and deal with vandalism. Only an administrator can protect or delete pages; however, anyone can nominate a page for deletion or request protection. If you have Twinkle installed, you can use the Twinkle menu to request page protection or speedy deletion (the RPP or CSD options).

Protection
Please read the protection policy.


 * In what circumstances should a page be semi-protected?


 * In what circumstances should a page be pending changes level 1 protected?


 * In what circumstances should a page be pending changes level 2 protected?


 * In what circumstances should a page be fully protected?


 * In what circumstances should a page be creation protected ("salted")?


 * In what circumstances should a talk page be semi-protected?


 * Correctly request the protection of one page (pending, semi or full); post the diff of your request (from WP:RPP) below.

Speedy deletion
Please read WP:CSD.


 * In what circumstances should a page be speedy deleted, very briefly no need to go through the criteria?


 * Correctly tag two pages for speedy deletion (with different reasons - they can be for any of the criteria) and post the diff and the criteria you requested it be deleted under below.

Usernames
Wikipedia has a policy which details the types of usernames which users are permitted to have. Some users (including me) patrol the user creation log to check for new users with inappropriate usernames. There are four kinds of usernames that are specifically disallowed:
 * Misleading usernames imply relevant, misleading things about the contributor. The types of names which can be misleading are too numerous to list, but definitely include usernames that imply you are in a position of authority over Wikipedia, usernames that impersonate other people, or usernames which can be confusing within the Wikipedia signature format, such as usernames which resemble IP addresses or timestamps.
 * Promotional usernames are used to promote an existing company, organization, group (including non-profit organizations), website, or product on Wikipedia.
 * Offensive usernames are those that offend other contributors, making harmonious editing difficult or impossible.
 * Disruptive usernames include outright trolling or personal attacks, include profanities or otherwise show a clear intent to disrupt Wikipedia.
 * For more information, read the username policy.
 * Describe the what you would about the following usernames of logged in users (including which of the above it breaches and why).


 * DJohnson


 * LMedicalCentre


 * Fuqudik


 * Phil from Coles




 * 172'295'64'27


 * Bieberisgay


 * ImASysop


 * Jumbo Whales


 * nSkdjsnDLo834e784%76


 * edit

Progress test
Congratulations, now have mastered the "basics" so we can move on. Please complete the following progress test, and I'll tell you what's next.

The following 8 scenarios each have 2-5 questions that are based on WP: VANDAL, WP:3RR, WP: REVERT, WP: BLOCK, WP: GAIV, WP: WARN, WP:UAA, WP:CSD, WP:PP, and WP:UN. Good Luck!

Scenario 1
You encounter an IP vandalising Justin Bieber by adding in statements that he is gay.
 * Would this be considered vandalism or a good faith edit, why?


 * Which Wikipedia policies and/or guidelines is it breaching?


 * What would be an appropriate warning template to place on the IP's user talk page?


 * The user has now added offensive words to the article 3 times. You have reverted three times already, can you be blocked for violating the three revert rule in this case?


 * Which of the following reporting templates should be used in this case: IPvandal or vandal?


 * What would you include as the reason for reporting the editor?

Scenario 2
You see a new account called "Hi999" that has added random letters to one article.
 * Would this be considered vandalism or a good faith edit, why?


 * What would be an appropriate warning template to place on the user's talk page?


 * Which of the following Twinkle options should be used to revert these edits: Rollback-AGF (Green), Rollback (Blue) or Rollback-Vandal (Red)?


 * The user now has a level 3 warning on their talk page. They make a vandal edit, would it be appropriate to report this user to AIV? Why or why not?


 * If this user keeps on vandalizing, can this user be blocked indef.?


 * Which of the following reporting templates should be used in this case: IPvandal or vandal?


 * What would you include as the reason for reporting the editor?

Scenario 3
You see a new account called "LaptopsInc" which has created a new page called "Laptops Inc" (which only contains the words "Laptops Inc" and a few lines of text copied from the company's website). The user also added "www.laptopsinc.com" on the Laptop article. You research Laptops Inc on Google and find that is a small company.
 * Should you revert the edit to Laptop, if so which Twinkle option would you use?


 * If you do revert which warning template would you use?


 * Would you tag the article they created with a speedy deletion tag(s). If so which speedy deletion criteria apply to the article?


 * Would you leave a template on the user's talk page regarding their username? If so which one and with which parameters?


 * Would you report the user to UAA? If so what of the four reasons does it violate?

Scenario 4
You come across an account named "JohnIsAFag". You find that it's created the page "John Simmonds", which reads "John Simmonds is a guy born in 1991. He is still alive today, unfortunately, because he is an idiot. ahsjjdshhsd".
 * Would you tag the article they created with a speedy deletion tag(s). If so which speedy deletion criteria apply to the article?


 * Would you leave a template on the user's talk page regarding their username? If so which one and with which parameters?


 * Would you report the user to UAA? If so what of the four reasons does it violate?

Scenario 5
A user creates his userpage with the content "wsjhbw,e3y4y3q7463t43". This is the user's first and only edit to date.
 * Would you tag the article they created with a speedy deletion tag(s). If so which speedy deletion criteria apply to the page?

Scenario 6
You come across a page on which three different IPs are performing some blatant vandalism. In total, there have been 14 vandalism edits in the past 2 days. 1 of the IPs is blocked, the other two are not. The most recent vandalism edit was 2 hours ago.
 * Do you request protection of the page?


 * If so, for how long, and at what level?

Scenario 7
The page Great Britain is being vandalized by 2 IPs. Neither have been blocked, but the two have made a total of 7 vandalism edits in the 15 hours. Meanwhile, there's another IP making constructive edits to the page, and even reverting the other IPs.
 * Do you request protection of the page?


 * If so, for how long, and at what level?

Scenario 8
A page was recently repeatedly vandalized by a single non-autoconfirmed editor. The user made over 60 vandalism edits in under 20 minutes, but was them promptly blocked. No other vandalism has taken place in the past month.
 * Do you request protection of the page?


 * If so, for how long, and at what level?

Results
Your Score:

Rollback
Congratulations now for the next step. The rollback user right allows trusted and experienced vandalism fighters to revert vandalism with the click of one button. Please read WP:Rollback.


 * Describe when the rollback button may be used and when it may not be used.

Tools
There a number of tools which assist users with reverting vandalism. I primarily use two of them WP:HUGGLE & WP:STIKI. These tools can only be used by those with the "rollback" user right.

Huggle
Huggle is a countervandalism tool which, as well as having options for reverting and warning, has features such as the ability to tag a page for speedy deletion and blocking users (the latter of which can only be used by admins). It also contains a way of checking page history and the user's talk page. Some of the useful features in Huggle include the ability to setup shortcuts, and use custom edit summaries.

STiki
STiki is another popular tool for fighting vandalism. It contains fewer options than Huggle but it has an easy-to-use layout which allows for quick reverting. It also has options for good faith reverts and sending 4im level warnings. It's hit rate is around 25%-30%.


 * Would you like to learn to use either of these tools?

Monitoring period
Congratulations! You have completed the first section of the anti-vandalism course, well done. Now that we've been through everything that you need to know as a vandal patroller, you will be given a 5 day monitoring period. During this time, you are free to revert vandalism (and edit Wikipedia) as you normally do; I will monitor your progress in anti-vandalism. If there are any issues, I will raise them with you and if you have any problems, you are free to ask me. After five days, if I am satisfied with your progress, you will take the final test; passing this will mean you graduate from the CVUA. Good luck!

If you have any problems or trouble along the way please leave a message on my talk page. If you make any difficult decisions feel free to post the diff below and I'll take a look.

Final Exam
When responding to numbered questions please start your response with "#:" (except where shown otherwise - with **). You don't need to worry about signing your answers.

GOOD LUCK!

Part 1 (25%)

 * For each of these examples, please state whether you would call the edit(s) described as vandalism or good faith edit, a reason for that, and how you would deal with the situation (ensuring you answer the questions where applicable).
 * 1) A user inserts 'ektgbi0hjndf98' into an article. What would you do if it was their first warning? What about after that.
 * 2) A user adds their signature to an article after one being given a Uw-articlesig warning. What would you the next time they did it? What about if they kept doing it after that?
 * 3) A user adds 'John Smith is the best!' into an article. What would you do the first time? What about if they kept doing it after that?
 * 4) A user adds 'I can edit this' into an article. The first time, and times after that?
 * 5) A user removes sources information from an article, with the summary 'this is wrong'. First time, and after that? What would be different if the user has a history of positive contributions compared with a history of disruptive contributions?
 * 1) A user adds 'I can edit this' into an article. The first time, and times after that?
 * 2) A user removes sources information from an article, with the summary 'this is wrong'. First time, and after that? What would be different if the user has a history of positive contributions compared with a history of disruptive contributions?
 * 1) A user removes sources information from an article, with the summary 'this is wrong'. First time, and after that? What would be different if the user has a history of positive contributions compared with a history of disruptive contributions?
 * 1) A user removes sources information from an article, with the summary 'this is wrong'. First time, and after that? What would be different if the user has a history of positive contributions compared with a history of disruptive contributions?

Part 2 (15%)

 * Which templates warning would give an editor in the following scenarios. If you don't believe a template warning is appropriate outline the steps (for example what you would say) you would take instead.
 * 1) A user blanks Cheesecake.
 * 2) A user trips edit filter for trying to put curse words on Derek Jeter.
 * 3) A user trips edit summary filter for repeating characters on Denis Menchov.
 * 4) A user puts "CHRIS IS GAY!" on Atlanta Airport.
 * 5) A user section blanks without a reason on David Newhan.
 * 6) A user adds random characters to Megan Fox.
 * 7) A user adds 'Tim is really great' to Great Britain.
 * 8) A user adds 'and he has been arrested' to Tim Henman.
 * 9) A user blanks Personal computer, for the fifth time, they have had no warnings or messages from other users.
 * 10) A user blanks Personal computer, for the fifth time, they have had four warnings including a level 4 warning.
 * 11) A user blanks your userpage and replaced it with 'I hate this user' (you have had a number of problems with this user in the past).
 * 12) A user adds File:Example.jpg to Taoism.
 * 1) A user adds 'Tim is really great' to Great Britain.
 * 2) A user adds 'and he has been arrested' to Tim Henman.
 * 3) A user blanks Personal computer, for the fifth time, they have had no warnings or messages from other users.
 * 4) A user blanks Personal computer, for the fifth time, they have had four warnings including a level 4 warning.
 * 5) A user blanks your userpage and replaced it with 'I hate this user' (you have had a number of problems with this user in the past).
 * 6) A user adds File:Example.jpg to Taoism.
 * 1) A user blanks Personal computer, for the fifth time, they have had four warnings including a level 4 warning.
 * 2) A user blanks your userpage and replaced it with 'I hate this user' (you have had a number of problems with this user in the past).
 * 3) A user adds File:Example.jpg to Taoism.
 * 1) A user adds File:Example.jpg to Taoism.
 * 1) A user adds File:Example.jpg to Taoism.

Part 3 (10%)

 * What CSD tag you would put on the following articles (The content below is the article's content).
 * 1) Check out my Twitter page (link to Twitter page)!
 * 2) Josh Marcus is the coolest kid in London.
 * 3) Joe goes to [[England]] and comes home !
 * 4) A Smadoodle is an animal that changes colors with its temper.
 * 5) Fuck Wiki!
 * 1) A Smadoodle is an animal that changes colors with its temper.
 * 2) Fuck Wiki!
 * 1) Fuck Wiki!
 * 1) Fuck Wiki!

What would you do in the following circumstance:
 * A user blanks a page they very recently created.


 * After you have speedy delete tagged this article the author removes the tag but leaves the page blank.

Part 4 (10%)

 * Are the following new (logged in) usernames violations of the username policy? Describe why or why not and what you would do about it (if they are a breach).
 * 1) TheMainStreetBand
 * 2) Poopbubbles
 * 3) Brian's Bot
 * 4) sdadfsgadgadjhm,hj,jh,jhlhjlkfjkghkfuhlkhj
 * 5) Bobsysop
 * 12:12, 23 June 2012
 * 1) PMiller
 * 2) OfficialJustinBieber

Part 5 (10%)

 * Answer the following questions based on your theory knowledge gained during your instruction.
 * 1) Can you get in an edit war while reverting vandalism (which may or may not be obvious)?
 * 2) Where and how should vandalism-only accounts be reported?
 * 3) Where and how should complex abuse be reported?
 * 4) Where and how should blatant username violations be reported?
 * 5) Where and how should personal attacks against other editors be reported?
 * 6) Where and how should an edit war be reported?
 * 7) Where and how should ambiguous violations of WP:BLP be reported?

Part 6 - Theory in practice (30%)

 * 1. Find and revert three instances of vandalism (by different editors on different pages), and appropriately warn the editor. Please give the diffs the warning below.


 * 2. Find and revert two good faith edits, and warn/welcome the user appropriately. Please give the diffs of your warn/welcome below.


 * 3. Correctly report two users (either AIV or ANI). Give the diffs of your report below.


 * 4. Correctly request the protection of two articles; post the diffs of your requests below.


 * 5. Correctly nominate one articles for speedy deletion; post the diffs of your nominations below.


 * 6. Correctly report one username as a breache of policy.

Completion
''Congratulations from both myself and all of the instructors at the Counter Vandalism Unit Academy, on your successful completion of my CVUA instruction and graduation from the Counter Vandalism Unit Academy. You completed your final exam with x% and no issues came up during your 5 day monitoring period; well done.''

As a graduate you are entitled to display the following userbox (make sure you replace your enrollee userbox) as well as the graduation message posted on your talk page (this can be treated the same as a barnstar). :