Wikipedia:Update/1/Enforcement policy changes, July 2009 to December 2009


 * Administrators
 * New subsection: WP:ADMIN


 * Harassment
 * This page is now in Category:Wikipedia enforcement policies.
 * New section: WP:HARASS


 * Protection policy, previous selected version
 * In WP:PROTECT, changed: "Retired users follow the same rule as deceased users." to: "Retired users may have their user pages protected upon request."
 * In WP:PROTECT, added: [In extreme cases of] "abuse, such as" [abuse of the unblock template, the talk page may be protected ...]


 * Vandalism
 * This page is now in Category:Wikipedia enforcement policies.
 * In WP:Vandalism, changed: [If most or all of these are obvious vandalism,] "and there seems an urgent need to block that user, you may report the user immediately at Administrator intervention against vandalism." to: "you may report the user immediately at Administrator intervention against vandalism, though even in this case you may consider issuing a warning first, unless there is an urgent need to block the user."
 * In WP:Vandalism, removed: "Since anonymous user talk pages may be shared by many users, removal of warnings is generally not appropriate."


 * Administrators
 * In WP:ADMIN, added: [Administrators are expected to respond promptly and civilly to queries about their] "Wikipedia-related conduct and" [administrator actions and to justify them when needed.]


 * Banning policy
 * Renamed WP:BAN to WP:BAN, and made substantial changes since October


 * Harassment
 * Imported new section, WP:HARASS, verbatim from another policy page, WP:No legal threats


 * Protection policy, selected version
 * Added to the introduction: "Upload protection protects the file from reupload, does not protect the file page from editing."
 * New section: WP:PROTECT
 * New subsections: WP:PROTECT, WP:PROTECT


 * Administrators, previous selected version, no significant changes this month


 * Banning policy
 * In WP:BAN, removed: [Administrator-imposed bans should be appealed at] "the administrators' noticeboard, or" [the arbitration enforcement.]
 * In WP:BAN, added: "Except as noted above, individual users, including admins, may not directly impose bans."


 * Blocking policy
 * New section, WP:BLOCK


 * Protection policy
 * In WP:PROTECT, added: "All requests are submitted at Requests for page protection."
 * New section, WP:PROTECT
 * In WP:PROTECT, changed: [editors should not automatically add a protection template] "to a template they make, especially in userspace." to: "when working on templates. It is preferable to place the protection template on a template's documentation page (if available), rather than on the template page itself."
 * In WP:PROTECT, added: "Note: All editnotice templates (except those in userspace) are protected via MediaWiki:Titleblacklist."


 * Administrators, selected version
 * Removed most of the text, with minor changes, from the recently added section, WP:ADMIN


 * Blocking policy, previous selected version
 * In WP:BLOCK, removed: [The Checkuser should then add short blocks to the new account to denote each entry in the user's old account log.] "The short blocks should be described as "previous account block log" in the block summary."


 * Protection policy
 * Moved several sections down: WP:PROTECT, WP:PROTECT and WP:PROTECT.
 * Renamed WP:PROTECT to WP:PROTECT. Created a new WP:PROTECT section: "Templates are like all pages in regard to protection, and are not protected unless there is a special reason to do so. Highly visible templates or templates in use on many pages are usually protected. Protection may be semi-protection or full protection, based on the degree of visibility, use and other factors. In view of this, editors should not automatically add a protection template to a template they make, especially in userspace."


 * Administrators
 * Substantial changes throughout from the July 31 version


 * Banning policy
 * In the introduction, moved one sentence, and removed: "Bans are social constructs, and are not enforced by the MediaWiki software."
 * In WP:BAN, changed "If a user has exhausted the community's patience to the point where an administrator has indefinitely blocked the user and ..." to "If a user has been indefinitely blocked and through community discussion it is determined that ..."
 * In WP:BAN, changed "As with enforcement of other Wikipedia policies, no individual editor is obligated to help enforce any ban." to "While all editors are expected to respect the enforcement of policies by not undermining or sabotaging them, no editor is personally obligated to help enforce any ban."
 * In WP:BAN, removed "Users are generally expected to refrain from reinstating edits made by banned users in violation of the ban, and such edits may be viewed as meatpuppetry."
 * In WP:BAN, removed "legal, physical, or blackmail"


 * Blocking policy, selected version
 * Renamed WP:BLOCK to WP:BLOCK, and some subsections were renamed, but with no changes to the text.
 * Made minor changes to WP:BLOCK, and added: [Unblocking will almost never be acceptable: ...] "when the block is explicitly enforcing an active Arbitration remedy and there is not a "clear, substantial, and active community consensus to do so" (Arbcom motion)"


 * Protection policy
 * Added to WP:PROTECT: "... or confirmed." [Such users can request edits to a semi-protected page by proposing them on its talk page, using the  template if necessary to gain attention.]  "They may also request the confirmed userright by visiting Requests for permissions"
 * In WP:PROTECT, removed "Administrators should avoid using creation protection as a pre-emptive measure, as it is intended to be a response to actual events."


 * Administrators
 * Added to WP:ADMIN: "A modern clarification of this statement as of 2009 would be to say that while the correct use of the tools and appropriate conduct is considered very important, being an administrator should not be considered a big deal."
 * New subsection, using existing text: WP:ADMIN
 * Added link to WP:ADMIN: Administrators' noticeboard: Incidents
 * Added to WP:ADMIN: Miniguide to requests for adminship
 * Added Category:Wikipedia enforcement policies


 * Banning policy
 * Substantial changes to the whole page since the June 30 version


 * Blocking policy
 * Added subsection, WP:BLOCK: "Sometimes people request that their account be blocked, for example to enforce a wikibreak. Typically, such requests are refused. There is a JavaScript-based "wikibreak enforcer" which may be used instead."


 * Bot policy
 * In WP:BOTPOL, removed: "Adminbots running from their owners' main accounts at the time of this policy's adoption are also covered by the policy. When the policy is adopted, those admins should initiate BRFAs within about two months to move their bots to new accounts. Those adminbots may continue running from their masters' accounts until their BRFAs close."
 * Added Category:Wikipedia enforcement policies


 * IP block exemption
 * Added Category:Wikipedia enforcement policies


 * Protection policy
 * In WP:PROTECT, changed "A fully protected page can be edited only by administrators, who must limit their edits as described below." to "A fully protected page can be edited only by administrators."


 * Enforcement policy changes, December 2008 to June 2009