Grendlefuzz

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RE: Vandalism & 206.173.167.194

Latest comment: 17 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

You wrote on my talk page:

User 206.173.167.194 recently vandalized the chicken (food) article, and viewing his/her talk page, I noticed they had many warnings, the most recent of which was from you. As a relatively new wikipedia editor, I don't know how to block them. If you could look at their recent vandalism, and block them if you see fit (as you said would happen if they continued such behavior), I'd appreciate it.

Thank you for the message.

I'll certainly keep an eye on that user's talk page (probably the best way to watch for vandalism activity). But the way vandal-fighting works at Wikipedia, we pretty much have to catch the person as vandalism is occurring (that's because anonymous (i.e., IP address) user IDs like 206.173.167.194 can be associated with different people). If you find someone recently vandalized a page, you can add a warning to their talk page (see WP:UTM for details about the warning messages and how to use them). Generally, a person is entitled to the benefit of the doubt (i.e., start with Level 1 or 2 messages), and moving on to Level 3 or 4 if vandalism continues. When someone continues to vandalize after a Level 4 (final) warning (i.e., they have multiple "final" warnings in a short time), they should be reported on WP:AIV. An administrator, who has the privileges to actually block the user, will decide whether and for how long to do so. BTW, once a user starts to vandalize after taking a break (e.g., several hours, overnight, or days), we don't start back with Level 1 warnings. In that case, I usually pick up again at Level 3.

I know that probably sounds like a lot of effort to get someone blocked, but the consensus is that we'll give people a chance to stop vandalizing and start making helpful edits.

If you don't want to get involved with sending warning messages (and maybe dealing with the backlash you'll get from some vandals), send me a message and I'll post the warnings if I'm around. Also, Kuru is an excellent administrator I know who is heavily involved with vandal-fighting, and who's often willing to jump in and put a stop to persistent or particularly offensive vandalism.

Please let me know if you have any questions, or if I can help you with anything.

--JFreeman ^(talk) 15:04, 9 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

RE: Thanks!

Latest comment: 17 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

You wrote on my talk page:

Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for the great information you gave on how to stop vandals. I've encountered a few annoying ones in the past few weeks, and being able to easily find the links to report serious & repeated vandalism as well as templates for warning messages has been useful. I appreciate it! Keep up the good work with helping new wikipedians!

Thank you for the kind words, and for your efforts in the ongoing battle against Wikipedia vandalism. If there's anything I can do to help you, please let me know. --JFreeman ^(talk) 16:36, 22 March 2007 (UTC)Reply