User:Bluefalcon07/Dealing with Vandalism

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1 Notes
- 1.1 Detection, reversion, and warning
- 1.2 Stopping vandals
2 Defcon

[edit] Notes

There are many ways and places to fix/deal with vandalism on Wikipedia. However, a major risk in combating vandalism is forgetting not to bite newcomers. For non-severe vandalism, users should be warned with appropriate warning templates. See the list of warning templates. You can transclude an abbreviated version of this to a personal user page with {{TestTemplates}}.

The template {{TestTemplates}} is deprecated. Please use {{WP:UTM}} instead.

These templates should always be used with the subst: keyword, as suggested on Wikipedia:Template substitution. They are shown without subst: here to reduce the space occupied by this large table. For example, type {{subst:test}}, not {{test}}, to warn common first-time vandals.

Level:	0: New user, AGF	1: Factual note	2: Could be seen as vandalism	3: Warning to stop	4: Final warning	5: Blocked	6: Block & severe warning
Category	Experimenting and vandalism
Generic Hover over the template syntax to see a summary of the contents.	{{warn}} {{uw-selfrevert}}	{{test}} {{tests}} {{test0}}	{{test2}}	{{vand3}} {{test3}}	{{test4}}	{{test5}} {{test5i}}	{{test6}} {{vblock}} {{Vbc}} {{genblock}} {{uw-voablock}}
Obvious vandalism Hover over the template syntax to see a summary of the contents.		{{vw}}			{{blatantvandal}} {{longterm4im}} {{test4im}} {{anon vandal}}
Removing content Hover over the template syntax to see a summary of the contents.		{{test1a}}	{{test2del}} {{test2a}}	{{uw-delete3}} {{test3a}}	{{uw-delete4}} {{uw-vandalism4}}
Blanking pages Hover over the template syntax to see a summary of the contents.		{{blank}}	{{blank2}}	{{blank3}}	{{blank4}}	{{blank5}}
Page moves and naming conventions	{{NC0}}	{{uw-move1}}	{{uw-move2}}	{{uw-move3}}	{{uw-move4}}
Anonymous vandals	{{sharedwelcome}}	{{sharedIP}}		{{test3ip}} {{Anon vandal}}
Image vandalism		{{image1}}	{{image2}}	{{image3}}	{{image4}}
Use of multiple IPs				{{multipleIPs}}		{{MIPblock}}
Vandalizing userpages	{{tpv0}}	{{tpv1}}	{{tpv2}}	{{tpv3}}	{{tpv4}}	{{tpv5}}
Creating inappropriate pages		{{Test1article}}	{{Test2article}}	{{Test3article}}	{{Test4article}}	{{uw-block1}}
Category	Other problems with content
Level:	0: Assuming good faith	1: Factual note	2: Possible rule violation	3: Warning to stop	4: Final warning	5: Blocked	6: Block & severe warning
Adding spam/advertising material	{{spam-warn}} {{spam-warn-deletion}}	{{uw-advert1}} {{resume}}	{{uw-advert2}}	{{advert3}}	{{uw-advert4}}	{{advert5}}
Adding spam links	{{spam0}} {{Welcomespam}} {{Spam (good faith)}}	{{spam}} {{spam note}}	{{spam2}} {{spam2a}}	{{spam3}}	{{spam4}} {{spam4im}}	{{spam5}} {{spam5i}}
Conflict of interest (Vanity)/user pages in article space	{{uw-coi}}	{{userfy warning}}
Adding non-notable material	{{nn-test}}	{{nn-warn}} {{nn-warn-deletion}} {{empty-warn}}
Not adhering to NPOV Hover over the template syntax to see a summary of the contents. (Up to level 2.)	{{welcomenpov}} {{NPOV0a}} {{talkinarticle}}	{{NPOV0}}	{{comment2}}	{{comment3}}	{{comment4}}	{{uw-block1}}
Introducing material without proper citations	{{needsource}} {{OR-note}}		{{needsource2}}	{{speculationwarning}}
Adding unreferenced negative information to biographies of living persons		{{blp0}}		{{blp1}}	{{blp2}}	{{blp3}}
Introducing factual errors		{{verror}}	{{verror2}}	{{verror3}}	{{verror4}}
Adding copyrighted text	{{nothanks}} {{nothanks-add}} {{nothanks-drm}} {{nothanks-sd}}		{{uw-copyright}} {{uw-recreated}} {{Usrcvtext}}		{{uw-copyright}}
Posting off-topic messages	{{talkinarticle}}	{{mess1}}	{{mess2}}
Using improper humor		{{behave}} {{uw-joke1}}	{{Silly}}	{{funnybut}}	{{uw-vandalism4}}
Category	Other editing issues
Level:	0: Assuming good faith	1: Factual note	2: Possible rule violation	3: Warning to stop	4: Final warning	5: Blocked	6: Block & severe warning
Violating three-revert rule			{{3RR4}}	{{3RR}}		{{uw-3block}}
Removing/censoring explicit material	{{Not censored}}		{{Not censored 2}}
Introducing stylistic problems	{{Mos0}} {{uw-italicize}} {{uw-spellcheck}} {{lang0}}	{{Grammar1}}	{{Mos2}} {{dates2}} {{lang2}}	{{Mos3}} {{dates3}} {{lang3}}	{{lang4}}	{{uw-block1}}
Royalty stylistic problems			{{rn2}} {{styles2}}	{{rn3}} {{styles3}}	{{rn4}} {{styles4}}
Edit summaries Hover over the template syntax to see a summary of the contents.	{{uw-minor}} {{uw-preview}} {{summary}}	{{Edit summary personal}} {{editsummary}} {{summary2}} {{uw-wrongsummary}}	{{wrongsummary2}}	{{Edit summary personal 3}} {{wrongsummary3}}	{{Edit summary personal 4}}
Other editing-related warnings	{{tilde}} {{Google bug}} {{cutpastemove}} {{Moving pages}} {{seelink}} {{notyours}} {{badcat}} {{pagemove}} {{c&pmove}}	{{Notenglish0}}	{{mcn2}} {{attack}}	{{TestTalk}} {{TestTalk-edit}}
Category	Behaviour messages
Level:	0: Assuming good faith	1: Factual note	2: Possible rule violation	3: Warning to stop	4: Final warning	5: Blocked	6: Block & severe warning
Personal attacks			{{uw-npa2}}	{{npa3}}	{{npa4}} {{npa4im}}	{{uw-block1}}	{{uw-block2}}
Defamation of other users				{{ladnav}}	{{defwarn}}		{{defban}}
Assuming bad faith		{{agf1}}		{{uw-agf3}}
Posting other users' personal information					{{uw-pinfo}}	{{pinfo5}}
Threatening legal action against other users			{{threat2}}				{{uw-lblock}}
Inappropriate username				{{UsernameWarn}}		{{uw-ublock}}
Other		{{canvass}}				{{sockblockdodge}}
Category	Process-related and clerical messages
Level:	0: Informative	1: Factual note	2: Possible rule violation	3: Warning to stop	4: Final warning	5: Blocked	6: Block & severe warning
Removing {{afd}} templates		{{uw-afd1}}	{{uw-afd2}}	{{uw-afd3}}	{{uw-afd4}}	{{uw-block1}}
Removing speedy deletion templates		{{drmspeedy}}	{{drmspeedy2}}	{{drmspeedy3}}	{{drmspeedy4}}	{{uw-block1}}
Recreating deleted articles	{{repost}}		{{uw-recreated}}
'Block clerical' tags	{{vandalism watch}} {{blocknumbers}} {{Request accepted}} {{request denied}}				{{repeat vandal}}		{{arbcom}} {{block}} {{blocked user}} {{sockblock}} {{indefblockeduser}}
Category	Miscellaneous
Level:	0: Assuming good faith	1: Factual note	2: Possible rule violation	3: Warning to stop	4: Final warning	5: Blocked	6: Block & severe warning
Image, fair use and tagging (see also image vandalism)	{{badfairuse}} {{image copyright request}} {{image source}} {{name your images}} {{nothanks}} {{nothanks-sd}}				{{Image no source last warning}} {{insertimage4}}
Sandbox	{{Off-sandbox}}	{{Sandbox-head}}
voting related	{{newvoterip}}
IP bots				{{NoIPbots}}		{{IPbotblock}}
Miscellaneous Please do not add a template here unless it does not match any other category above.	{{uw-subst}} {{Sofixit}}	{{Nothere}}

To coordinate numbers, the previous blanking 2, 3, and 4 templates have been moved because they were out of sync with the numbering usage with other templates. The old templates, though not listed, can still be used as they redirect to the new name and number.

The numbering system being used across the templates is simple:

0. Good faith edit

1. General note

2. Could be seen as vandalism

3. Warning to stop

4. Final warning

5. Blocked

6. Blocked plus severe warning

If you are creating new templates, please follow the numbers above, even if you are not creating templates using all the numbers. That way, by using the right number, users will be able to know automatically what category of message the template refers to.

[edit] Detection, reversion, and warning

The following several are tools and methods useful for detecting and reverting vandalism as well as applying appropriate warning templates:

RC Patrol is the manual analysis of recent changes for suspicious edits.
There are several bots that automatically process the Special:Recentchanges feed and determine what may be vandalism, such as Tawkerbot2. Note that the bots are not 100% accurate in detecting vandalism.
VandalProof is a downloadable application under development by AmiDaniel which allows to revert a page, warn the vandal appropriately and put them on a "black" list with just one click. Also allows the revert of all of a user's contributions at once. Requires the author's permission to use.
CryptoDerk's Vandal Fighter (CDVF) is an open-source program that displays a live feed of recent changes (RC) but contains extra functionality to assist in vandal fighting. The bot works on all language Wikipedias, though some features currently only work on the English Wikipedia (see changelog). This tool is available to both administrators and users.
The IRC Bot, pgkbot, by Pgk runs on the IRC channels above.
Lupin's Anti-Vandal Tool catches what CDVF and IRC bots miss. It monitors the RSS feed for recent changes, checks those edit diffs for common vandalism terms, and lists them for reversion if they contain flagged terms. It also now contains a live spellcheck feature. This tool is available for both admins and users. Note that the latest version is considerably more resource-efficient than the original version.
RC birds is an IRC-aware program which auralizes recent changes using the metadata "about changes", and regular expressions. It both shows color-coded output from the IRC bot, and maps each RC diff onto a bird-call or other nature sound. Both admins and non-admins can use this to view RC.
RC patrol script gives non-admins revert, filter, and popup tools while using the (default) monobook skin .
Godmode adds reversion options to the browser for non-admins.
User:Adam1213/warn is a page which simplifies the process of warning vandals by allowing warnings to be submitted to specific users directly from the page.
See the list of Wikipedia's most vandalized pages.
- The related changes link will display recent changes to all pages listed on Wikipedia:Most vandalized pages, for those who wish to follow vandalism on Wikipedia but who are unable or do not desire to use IRC bot tools.
Check a vandal's other contributions when reverting vandalism. There may be other recent vandalism by the same user which has not yet been reverted.
List of suspected vandalised articles created by Vilerage – still being worked on.
Young Orphans – a new tool made by Interiot to find newly uploaded orphaned images. This is useful for finding various copyright violations and people who are using Wikipedia merely as an image hosting service.
- How to use it:
  1. Look for images which mention "copyrighted", "fair use" or "public domain" in the edit summary column; these are the most frequently abused.
  2. Look for edit summaries in any language other than English; these images are typically webspam/vanity.
  3. Look for edit summaries which mention an image hosting services like Imageshack, Flickr, etc.; typically these images are uploaded with the intent of using Wikipedia as an alternative image hosting service.
  4. Use common sense; if an image is uploaded without an edit summary by a red-linked (no user page) user, check it out.
VandalSniper is a feature-wise port of VandalProof to Mono/Gtk#, bringing its featureset to Linux users. A beta is available.

[edit] Stopping vandals

Vandalism
Dealing with vandalism
Obvious vandalism Long term abuse Open proxies
Resources & assistance
Counter-vandalism tools Cleaning up vandalism Counter-vandalism unit IP WHOIS tools
Further information
Blocking IP addresses Vandalism studies ISP contact information Do not provoke vandals v • d • e

Reporting vandals directly to administrators, especially on the IRC channels mentioned earlier. This will likely earn you the fastest results, as there are generally admins available to block vandals. However, you might consider viewing the block log for the account/IP before reporting, as people on the IRC channels monitor Wikipedia closely and the account may be blocked already. Additionally you can report more complicated, less blatant acts of vandalism to Wikipedia:Requests for investigation to request a prompt admin inspection.
See the Wikipedia list of administrators if you want to make direct contact with administrators via their talk pages.

Do not insult the vandals -- because that won't make them stop being vandals. True vandals and trolls often want regular users to become angry and start shouting. By deriding or insulting vandals you may simply be giving them the attention they were seeking to begin with.

Trolling is not necessarily the same as vandalism (although vandalism may be used to troll). A vandal may just enjoy defacing a webpage, insulting random users, or spreading some personal views in an inappropriate way. A troll deliberately exploits weaknesses of human nature or of an online community to upset people.