User:Thedreamdied/Policy

All permanent blocks should be explained clearly by the blocking administrator(s) on the talk page of the blocked user.

Why?
Unexplained blocks or blocks that are poorly explained make Wikipedia appear unaccountable and secretive, and enforces the belief among some people that Wikipedia simply blocks anyone who disagrees with policy. Blocking Administrators should have to produce a short, properly reasoned and properly evidenced reasoning for any permanent or long term block that is initated. The one line "WP:THIS" or "WP:THAT" in the block log is not sufficient.

The line 'Please review the banning policy before commenting or unblocking.' is no help at all in determining the specific reason that anyone was blocked.

Examples?
1. User_talk:Zordrac - "By fiat, this user has been banned indefinitely (for the same reasons Wikipedia banned User:Daniel Brandt, among other things)"
 * What does this tell us? Nothing - 'among other things' is so vague it could be anything.

2. User_talk:Daniel_Brandt - "This user has been blocked indefinitely because it is suspected that they have used one or more accounts abusively."
 * This tells us what he did wrong - wheres any evidence? Its all very well that it was suspected, and no doubt some admins had a secretive conversation about it, but the community should be told why the decision was taken.

3. User:Lukas19 - Only a small indication at the bottom of the talk page as a reason for blocking, and then you have to wade through a long arbcom ruling, which is far from ideal.

And...
I also notice that archive pages are often removed or deleted, such as here, where you can see the archives have been removed, or this edit,, where a normal user attempted to remove easy access to archives. This makes tracing the reasons people were deleted very difficult.

Overall
Let me make it clear I dont want pages of explanation when vandal-only accounts are deleted. Instead, I would like to see administrators provide clear and 'sourced' reasons for permanent or long term blocks of active, non-obvious-vandal user accounts. It will make Wikipedia seem more open, and reduce the amount of 'ammunition' for 'wikibashers', and it really wouldn't take much time. Please leave any opinions or thoughts on the talk page!