Pin Eight:Protection

This is a guideline on how this wiki uses the page protection and namespace protection features of MediaWiki software as well as common MediaWiki extensions to combat wiki vandalism.


 * Pages other than talk pages are semi-protected.
 * To gain the ability to edit main namespaces, you need to create an account and then confirm it. See Pin Eight:Users for details.


 * Talk pages are unprotected.
 * Each page has a corresponding talk page. An IP (editor identified by his IP address) or a user who is not yet autoconfirmed can discuss changes to any page on the talk page. Some redirects and soft redirects in talk space, created through page moves, may be protected against IP vandalism, but they redirect to an unprotected page. Vandalism of talk pages is generally dealt with using the ABUSE filter, as most of these vandals appear to be members of a large botnet, making IP address blocking ineffective. The only talk pages that get blocked are the user talk pages associated with blocked users who have abused the appeal process.


 * A few pages are fully protected.
 * The Main Page, some other highly visible pages, all user interface messages in the MediaWiki: namespace, and some highly used templates are editable only by administrators. These pages are protected from "sleepers", or vandals who register, make a few edits to become autoconfirmed, and then start spraying their spam.


 * We use a CAPTCHA.
 * Users who have not provided a valid e-mail address cannot add external links or create an account without solving a trivia question. They can, however, add interwiki links to whitelisted sites.


 * We use an ABUSE filter.
 * Some automated vandalism processes (also called "spambots") can be recognized by their editing patterns. The ABUSE filter decides whether each edit or new user account meets a known pattern of unconstructive editing.