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If you've come across vandalism as a new member of Recent Changes (RC) patrol, but you're trying to work out what messages to send in response, this article will offer some tips to help.
Edit Steps
- 1Rollback the edit! Before you can track down the culprit, you need to undo any damage done to a wikiHow article. Rollback the edit if possible before taking further steps.
Rollback that edit! - 2Check their History! You can access most users' history from their userpage. Click the 'History' tab and check through their recent edits. If you notice a string of dodgy-looking edits, there's more reason to class it as vandalism.
- 3Look closely! If the edit is a string of nonsensical characters then the edit is quite likely to be a test, unless their history suggests this has been done very often.
- 4Deletion? If a huge tract of the article has been wiped out, this is not necessarily clinching proof of vandal intent, but if they have done this repeatedly, it becomes a likely hypothesis. Sometimes a new user, however, may mistakenly do this to a page, so in this event, it's best to start off with sending the message {{blank}}.
- 5Profanity! If a page or part of a page has been replaced by profanity, it's a fairly good indicator that the editor responsible is not merely testing. In this case, it may merit sending a {{test}} message. Reserve {{warning}} for when you're convinced they're vandalizing the page.
- 6Comments! Sometimes a user will place a negative comment on a page. This is not likely to be vandalism, but it may be worth sending them a friendly message to encourage them to be more temperate with their comments. Comments like 'i hate this page' or some such may merit this. Profane comments may merit a {{profane}} type message. Uncivil comments may instead merit a {{mean}} type message.
- 7Adverts! Sometimes people upload advertisements onto wikiHow. Send them an {{nfd|adv}} message and nominate any new page they create for deletion. Usually, advertisers will back down after a careful warning.
Edit Tips
- Always keep a clear mind when checking out bad edits. It's very easy to get wound up by vandals, but this can blind you to their real intentions. Sometimes, a friendly tip or hint is all that's needed to resolve the situation.
- Never antagonise someone just because they're repeatedly editing something badly. For one thing, it's a bad example. For another, this will only make them more likely to do it again.
- Do not attempt to warn trolls. Trolls will lap up your warnings, as these are precisely what they want. In the event of a suspected troll, contact an admin for advice and support.
- Only submit names for the list of people to block on the admin notice board if you have solid and unquestionable ground for believing the person is a repeated and determined vandal.
- Don't be hurt by any retaliatory comments in response to rolling back vandalism. Everybody in RC Patrol gets them from time to time, and they only make your case easier to make should you feel it necessary to nominate them for a block. Most importantly, don't leave a mean comment in response!
Edit Warnings
- Remember that this is only a guide for beginners. For more detailed instructions, you should really contact an administrator.
- Remember to be friendly when giving warnings out, or a well-meaning tester may become offended and actually take to vandalism as a response.
- If you're still not sure of what to do after reading this article, contact an admin or take a break from RC patrol. It's important to be clear on how to do the job. You're representing wikiHow!
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Article Info
Last edited:
August 26, 2011 by JKL1234
Categories:
Pages Needing Attention | Patrolling | WikiHow User's Manual
Recent edits by: Andrew, Harri, Mark Potter (see all)
