Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2005-12-19/Semi-protection

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Semi-protection policy passes

By Ral315, 19 December 2005

After a straw poll gained an overwhelming 96% approval, and Jimbo Wales lent his support to the issue, a new semi-protection policy is set to be enacted once the MediaWiki software is updated to allow it.

The idea for a semi-protection policy had been brought up previously. Bug 675, started by Elian in October 2004, proposed protecting pages from IP addresses only. Mysekurity first created the policy page last month, in response to vandalism on George W. Bush. The original idea was to require a minimal amount of edits in order to edit oft-vandalized pages. However, the policy as enacted would allow administrators to lock pages to the newest users, likely the newest 1% of accounts.

It was stressed that the policy is not meant to be used indefinitely. Rather, it would be used in cases such as articles linked from high-traffic sites like Slashdot, which are mostly vandalized by new users and IP addresses. Interestingly, Slashdot publicized this new policy, helping spur some premature media coverage and forcing Wales to post a notice downplaying its significance. He explained that it was part of the broader effort to add quality-related features to Wikipedia, such as article ratings and stable versions of articles.

Also this week: Semi-protection — ArbCom election — Wikipedia quality — Steward elections — News and notes — Press coverage — Features and admins — B.R.I.O.N. — T.R.O.L.L.