Wikipedia:Update/1/Enforcement policy changes during May 2009


  • Wikipedia:Banning policy
    • Changed [indefinitely site-banned users] "are not permitted" to "may be restricted" [from editing their user talk page or using e-mail if they are disruptive.]
    • Added: [Indefinitely site-banned users] "may" [lose the right to edit any page].
    • Added to See also: Wikipedia:Editing restrictions




  • Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines
    • Added some waffling to lead section: "... policies should be generally, but not always, followed before guidelines, and guidelines before processes."
    • Added: [Policies and guidelines] "apply to all editors."
    • Added to WP:POL#Policy and guideline pages: [If a guideline appears to conflict with a policy, then the policy should] "in most cases" [take precedence over the guideline.] "However, this does not mean that it is appropriate to ignore guidelines simply because they are guidelines; like the policies, they exist for good reasons."
    • In WP:POL#Changes to guideline and policy pages, changed "Policies and guidelines are supposed to state what most Wikipedians agree upon, and should be phrased to reflect the present consensus on a subject." to "Policies and guidelines state what most Wikipedians agree upon, and should reflect the present consensus on a subject."
    • In WP:POL#How are policies enforced?, added: "Although all editors therefore have an equal say over the content of our articles ..."


  • Wikipedia:Protection policy
    • Moved up "Semi-protection should not be used as a pre-emptive measure against vandalism that has not yet occurred, nor should it be used solely to prevent editing by anonymous and newly registered users."
    • Added link to Wikipedia:Rough guide to semi-protection.
    • Removed "The essay Wikipedia:Rough guide to semi-protection contains further information."
    • Added subsection, WP:PROT#Deceased users: "In the event of the confirmed death of a user then their user page, but not their talk page, should be fully protected as detailed at Wikipedia:Deceased Wikipedians/Guidelines."
    • In WP:PROT#Permanent protection, added "usually permanently protected" to the examples [main page, etc.]
    • In WP:PROT#Creation protection, changed "Non-existent pages may be protected, for limited periods of time, if they are repeatedly re-created after deletion in line with the deletion policy. Administrators may apply protection to non-existent pages with the same procedure as with all other pages. ... Administrators should not use creation protection as a pre-emptive measure, but only in response to actual events." to: "Administrators can also prevent the creation of a page through the protection dialog. This is useful for articles that have been deleted but repeatedly recreated by an editor. ... Administrators should avoid using creation protection as a pre-emptive measure, as it is intended to be a response to actual events."