Blocking is the means by which an administrator prevents a user account or IP address/range from editing the wiki. Blocks are preventive rather than punitive measures used to prevent damage by dealing with vandalism and enforcing the 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 behaviour.
All users may post block requests on the message walls of the various wiki administrators.
Because of the dynamic nature of IPs, and the related risk of collateral damage, most blocks should be in the range of 24 hours to 1 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 fanon may be just a well-meant attempt to remove inaccurate information or expand the encyclopaedia. 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. In most cases, users should be warned prior to blocking, though final discretion is left to the administrators.
- 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/insult, or general rudeness/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.
- 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 - e.g., 4 articles blanked in one minute.
- 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.
- Not meeting the age requirement – Users are required to be at least 13 years of age (and 16 years of age in the European Economic Area, and the State of California) in compliance to the COPPA and Fandom's Terms of Service. Any user revealed to be under the minimum age requirement will be blocked depending on the user's age at the time of blocking.
Block length guidelines
With the exceptions noted above, any administrator may block any user that they determine is a detriment to the project. Final discretion is left to the blocking administrator on a case-by-case basis.
Appeals
According to the announcement Staff blog, the policy sets out a system of appealing blocks as well. If a user has been unfairly blocked on a wiki, they can rightfully message the blocking or any other wiki admin from the said wiki on Community Central. However, the admin must be given at least 24 hours of time to respond, after which the issue can be escalated to Fandom Staff through Zendesk if needed. If the blockee does not meet the above criteria, the block may not be reviewed by Fandom Staff.