Blocking is the means by which an administrator prevents a user account or IP address/range from editing the Aerican Empire Wiki. Blocks are preventive rather than punitive measures used to prevent damage by dealing with vandalism and enforcing the Wiki's policies. Block duration may vary, depending on the severity and longevity of vandalism, but in most instances a block can be lifted if the editor agrees to stop the damaging behavior.
Because of the dynamic nature of IPs, and the related risk of collateral damage, most blocks should be in the range of twenty-four hours to one month, with exceptions noted below. Only in very rare cases should non-proxy IPs be blocked for more than three months.
When considering blocking, it is important to remember the axiom "Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity" — article blanking or addition of inaccurate information may be just a well-meant attempt to remove inaccurate information or expand the encyclopedia. Always assume good faith, but remember that the rules apply to everyone equally.
Grounds for blocking
- Vandalism - Vandalism is defined as any bad-faith edit made with the intent to lower the quality of the wiki or disrupt the functioning of the community. The blocking policy for vandalism is outlined in Aerican Empire Wiki:Vandalism.
- Spam - Posting irrelevant spam links in articles, or creating articles which are entirely spam is grounds for an infinite block (for registered users) or a shorter-term IP block.
- Move vandalism - Page move vandalism (moving an article to a nonsensical or inappropriate title) is grounds for immediate indefinite bans.
- Inappropriate account naming - Creating an inappropriate account name - be it in terms of user impersonation or insult, or general rudeness or obscenity, is also grounds for a no-warning infinite block.
- Disruption - Users who disrupt the wiki (be it via changing other people's comments, making misleading edits, or harassing other users) may also be blocked.
- Copyright violations - Users who continually post copyrighted material despite being warned should be blocked so as to prevent further violations.
- Blanking pages - Users should typically be warned prior to being blocked for page blanking, except in extreme cases where the blanking is obviously being done with malicious intent.
- Personal attacks - Users attacking other editors personally (in regards to anything) should be given one warning prior to a cool-off ban. The length of the ban is dependent on the severity of personal attacks.
- Posting personal information - The posting of personal information regarding other people (their home address, phone number, etc.) is unacceptable, and will be enforced with an immediate block. Where the posting of such information is illegal in the offending user's jurisdiction, their internet service provider will be notified.
- Editing only user pages and not articles - Users that consistently edit and add to their user pages and subpages without contribution to the main article namespace will be warned and then blocked. As this is a sensitive issue, good judgement should be made pertaining to the user in question and whether or not it is likely that they will actually contribute to the main article space after a warning and a block.
- Abuse of the file upload function - Images should only be uploaded if they are to be included on pages. The Aerican Empire Wiki is not a file hosting site. Uploading or posting of child pornography or other illegal images will be reported to the internet service provider of the offending user.
- Sockpuppetry - Per our sockpuppetry policy, use of multiple accounts to have multiple vanity userpages, influence votes, or evade blocks will all result in a block.
Other Blocking Policies
The Aerican Empire Wiki has many policies which must be followed. Many of these policies have their own blocking policies, and those should be considered alongside this one.