Difference between revisions of "Powerbase:Vandalism"

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This is '''not''' the place to post notices of vandalism. Please email you report to management AT spinprofiles.org and sysop AT spinprofiles.org.
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{{Powerbase:Help}}
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This is '''not''' the place to post notices of vandalism. Please email your report to management AT Powerbase.info and sysop AT Powerbase.info.
  
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'''Vandalism''' is any addition, removal,  or change of content made in a ''deliberate'' attempt to compromise the integrity of SpinProfiles. The most common types of vandalism include the addition of obscenities or crude humor, page blanking, or the insertion of nonsense into articles.
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'''Vandalism''' is any addition, removal,  or change of content made in a ''deliberate'' attempt to compromise the integrity of Powerbase. The most common types of vandalism include the addition of obscenities or crude humor, page blanking, or the insertion of nonsense into articles.
  
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Any [[SpinProfiles:Assume Good Faith|good-faith]] effort to improve SpinProfiles, even if misguided or ill-considered, is not vandalism.  Even harmful edits that are not explicitly made in bad faith are not considered vandalism. For example, adding a personal opinion  to an article once is not vandalism — it's just not helpful, and should be removed or restated.  Not all vandalism is obvious, nor are all massive or controversial changes vandalism; careful attention needs to be given to whether changes made are beneficial, detrimental but well intended, or outright vandalism.
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Any good-faith effort to improve Powerbase, even if misguided or ill-considered, is not vandalism.  Even harmful edits that are not explicitly made in bad faith are not considered vandalism. For example, adding a personal opinion  to an article once is not vandalism — it's just not helpful, and should be removed or restated.  Not all vandalism is obvious, nor are all massive or controversial changes vandalism; careful attention needs to be given to whether changes made are beneficial, detrimental but well intended, or outright vandalism.
  
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Committing blatant vandalism violates SpinProfiles policy.  If you find that another user has vandalized SpinProfiles, you should revert the changes and warn the user (see below for specific instructions).  Users who vandalize SpinProfiles repeatedly, despite warnings to stop, should be reported to the editors by emailing management AT spinprofiles.org and sysop AT spinprofiles.org, and administrators may block them.  
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Committing blatant vandalism violates Powerbase policy.  If you find that another user has vandalized Powerbase, you should revert the changes and warn the user (see below for specific instructions).  Users who vandalize Powerbase repeatedly, despite warnings to stop, should be reported to the editors by emailing management AT Powerbase.info and sysop AT Powerbase.info, and administrators may block them.  
  
 
==How to respond to vandalism==
 
==How to respond to vandalism==
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If you see vandalism, please do the following:
 
If you see vandalism, please do the following:
  
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# Check the article's History page to identify all vandalism edits.  Usually, if the most recent edit by a particular user is vandalism, then all recent edits by that user are also vandalism.  It is then necessary to revert to the last version before that user started editing.
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*  Check the article's History page (located at the top of the articles page) to identify all vandalised edits.  Usually, if the most recent edit by a particular user is vandalism, then all recent edits by that user are also vandalism.  It is then necessary to revert to the last version before that user started editing.
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## For a new article, if all versions of the article are pure vandalism, mark it for '''[[SpinProfiles:Speedy Deletion|speedy deletion]]''' (see 'warnings' below).
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#For a new article, if all versions of the article are pure vandalism, email management AT Powerbase.info to alert the Managing Editor.  
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## Otherwise, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Revert revert] the edits. If you are viewing the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Diff diff] between the current version and the preceding version, you can click "undo" to undo the edit automatically.  Otherwise, please explain in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Edit_summary edit summary] that you have reverted vandalism.
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#Otherwise, revert the edits. Explain in the edit summary that you have reverted vandalism. Remember to keep/reinstate any useful information that has been added since the vandalism!
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# Leave a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:WARN warning message] on the user's '''talk page'''
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* Leave a message on the user's [[Powerbase:Talk Page|'''talk page''']] reminding them that vandalism contravenes Powerbase policy. Their talk page can be found by clicking on their name in the articles '''History''' page and then click '''Discussion''' at the top of their user page.
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# Check the vandal's other contributions (click "User contributions" on the left sidebar of the screen).
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* Check the vandal's other contributions (click "User contributions" on the left sidebar of the screen).
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# If the vandal continues to cause disruption after being warned, please report him or her at [[SpinProfiles:Administrator Intervention Against Vandalism|Administrator Intervention Against Vandalism]]. An administrator will decide whether to [[SpinProfiles:Blocking|block]] the vandal.
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* If a vandal continues to cause disruption after being warned, please report him or her by emailing sysop AT Powerbase.info. The Powerbase Sysop will make the decide of whether an individual who vandalises should be blocked.
 +
* If you're not sure if something constitutes vandalism email management AT Powerbase.info for clarification.
  
 
==How not to respond to vandalism==
 
==How not to respond to vandalism==
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When responding to vandalism remain polite and do not engage in insulting language. It may well be that a user has made a mistake but was acting in good faith. Blatant and repeated vandalism will be dealt with by the Sysop. They can be alerted by emailing sysop AT Powerbase.info
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Do not nominate an [[SpinProfiles:Articles for Deletion|article for deletion]] because it is being vandalized.  That's like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and simply empowers vandals further.
 
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==Warnings==
 
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''Note: Do '''not''' use these templates in content disputes; instead, write a clear message explaining your disagreement.''
 
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There are several templates used to warn vandals. Though some people vandalizing are incorrigible returning vandals and may be blocked quickly, vandals can be stopped by a simple warning and go on to become productive contributors.
 
  
 
== Types of vandalism ==   
 
== Types of vandalism ==   
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SpinProfiles vandalism may fall into one or more of the following categorizations:
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Powerbase vandalism may fall into one or more of the following categorizations:
  
 
;Blanking: Removing all or significant parts of pages' content without any reason, or replacing entire pages with nonsense.  Sometimes important verifiable references are deleted with no valid reason(s) given in the summary. However, significant content removals are usually ''not'' considered to be vandalism where the reason for the removal of the content is readily apparent by examination of the content itself, or where a non-frivolous explanation for the removal of apparently legitimate content is provided, linked to, or referenced in an edit summary.  
 
;Blanking: Removing all or significant parts of pages' content without any reason, or replacing entire pages with nonsense.  Sometimes important verifiable references are deleted with no valid reason(s) given in the summary. However, significant content removals are usually ''not'' considered to be vandalism where the reason for the removal of the content is readily apparent by examination of the content itself, or where a non-frivolous explanation for the removal of apparently legitimate content is provided, linked to, or referenced in an edit summary.  
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:An example of blanking edits that could be legitimate would be edits that blank all or part of a biography of a living person. SpinProfiles is especially concerned about providing accurate and non-biased information on the living, and this may be an effort to remove inaccurate or biased material.
 
  
 
;Page lengthening: Adding very large (measured by the number of bytes) amounts of content to a page so as to make the page's load time abnormally long or even make the page impossible to load on some computers.
 
;Page lengthening: Adding very large (measured by the number of bytes) amounts of content to a page so as to make the page's load time abnormally long or even make the page impossible to load on some computers.
Line 38: Line 32:
 
;Spam:  Continuing to add external links to non-notable or irrelevant sites (e.g. to advertise one's website) to pages after having been warned is vandalism.  
 
;Spam:  Continuing to add external links to non-notable or irrelevant sites (e.g. to advertise one's website) to pages after having been warned is vandalism.  
  
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;[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Vandalbot Vandalbots]: A script or "robot" that attempts to vandalize or spam ''massive'' numbers of articles (hundreds or thousands).
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;Vandalbots: A script or "robot" that attempts to vandalize or spam ''massive'' numbers of articles (hundreds or thousands).
  
 
;Silly vandalism: Adding profanity, graffiti, random characters, or other nonsense to pages; creating nonsensical and obviously non-encyclopedic pages, etc. Please note that the addition of random characters to pages is a common way that new users test edit and may not be intentionally malicious.  
 
;Silly vandalism: Adding profanity, graffiti, random characters, or other nonsense to pages; creating nonsensical and obviously non-encyclopedic pages, etc. Please note that the addition of random characters to pages is a common way that new users test edit and may not be intentionally malicious.  
Line 44: Line 38:
 
;Sneaky vandalism: Vandalism that is harder to spot. This can include adding plausible misinformation to articles, (e.g. minor alteration of dates), hiding vandalism (e.g. by making two bad edits and only reverting one), or reverting legitimate edits with the intent of hindering the improvement of pages. Some vandals even use edit summaries such as "rv vandalism" to mask their changes.
 
;Sneaky vandalism: Vandalism that is harder to spot. This can include adding plausible misinformation to articles, (e.g. minor alteration of dates), hiding vandalism (e.g. by making two bad edits and only reverting one), or reverting legitimate edits with the intent of hindering the improvement of pages. Some vandals even use edit summaries such as "rv vandalism" to mask their changes.
  
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;Userspace vandalism: Adding insults, profanity, etc. to user pages or user talk pages (see also [[SpinProfiles:No Personal Attacks]]).  
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;Userspace vandalism: Adding insults, profanity, etc. to user pages or user talk pages.  
  
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;Image vandalism: Uploading shock images, inappropriately placing explicit images on pages, or simply using any image in a way that is disruptive. Please note though that SpinProfiles is not censored for the protection of minors and that explicit images may be uploaded and/or placed on pages for legitimate reasons.
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;Image vandalism: Uploading shock images, inappropriately placing explicit images on pages, or simply using any image in a way that is disruptive.  
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;Abuse of tags: Bad-faith placing of tags on pages that do not meet such criteria. This includes removal of long-standing policy and related tags without forming consensus on such a change first.
 
  
 
;Page-move vandalism: Changing the names of pages (referred to as "page-moving") to disruptive or otherwise inappropriate terms.  
 
;Page-move vandalism: Changing the names of pages (referred to as "page-moving") to disruptive or otherwise inappropriate terms.  
Line 54: Line 46:
 
;Link vandalism: Modifying internal or external links within a page so that they appear the same but link to a page/site that they are not intended to (e.g an explicit image; a shock site).
 
;Link vandalism: Modifying internal or external links within a page so that they appear the same but link to a page/site that they are not intended to (e.g an explicit image; a shock site).
  
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;Avoidant vandalism: Removing tags in order to conceal deletion candidates or avert deletion of such content. Note that this is often mistakenly done by new users who are unfamiliar with AfD procedures and such users should be given the benefit of the doubt and pointed to the proper page to discuss the issue.
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;Discussion page vandalism: Blanking the posts of other users from talk pages other than your own is generally considered vandalism. Editors are granted considerable latitude over editing their own userspace pages (including talk pages), and blanking one's own user talk page is specifically not prohibited. Users removing warnings from their own talk pages is prohibited on the grounds that it would create more issues than it would solve.
  
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;Modifying users' comments: Editing other users' comments to substantially change their meaning (e.g. turning someone's vote around), except when [[SpinProfiles:No Personal Attacks|removing a personal attack]] (which is somewhat controversial in and of itself). Signifying that a comment is unsigned is an exception. Please also note that correcting other users' typos is discouraged.
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;Repeated uploading of copyrighted material: Uploading or using material on Powerbase in ways which violate [[Powerbase:Copyrights|Powerbase copyright policies]] after having been warned is vandalism. Because users may be unaware that the information is copyrighted, or of Powerbase policies on how such material may and may not be used, such action ''only'' becomes vandalism if it continues after the copyrighted nature of the material and relevant policy restricting its use have been communicated to the user.
  
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;Discussion page vandalism: Blanking the posts of other users from talk pages other than your own, SpinProfiles space, and other discussions, aside from removing spam, vandalism, etc., is generally considered vandalism. An obvious exception is moving posts to a proper place. Removing personal attacks is often considered legitimate, and it is considered acceptable to archive an overly long talk page by creating an archive page and moving the text from the main talk page there. '''Note:''' The above rules ''do not'' apply to a user's own talk page.  Editors are granted considerable latitude over editing their own userspace pages (including talk pages), and blanking one's own user talk page is specifically not prohibited. Users removing warnings from their own talk pages is prohibited on the grounds that it would create more issues than it would solve.
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;Edit summary vandalism: Making offensive edit summaries in an attempt to leave a mark that cannot be easily expunged from the record (edit summaries cannot simply be "reverted" and remain visible when viewing a page's history).  
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;Repeated uploading of copyrighted material: Uploading or using material on SpinProfiles in ways which violate [[SpinProfiles:Copyrights|SpinProfiles copyright policies]] after having been warned is vandalism. Because users may be unaware that the information is copyrighted, or of SpinProfiles policies on how such material may and may not be used, such action ''only'' becomes vandalism if it continues after the copyrighted nature of the material and relevant policy restricting its use have been communicated to the user.
 
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;Malicious account creation: Creating accounts with usernames that contain deliberately offensive or disruptive terms is considered vandalism, whether the account is used or not. SpinProfiles requires users to use their real names. See also [[SpinProfiles:Sock Puppets|Sock Puppets]].
 
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;Edit summary vandalism: Making offensive edit summaries in an attempt to leave a mark that cannot be easily expunged from the record (edit summaries cannot simply be "reverted" and remain visible when viewing a page's history). Often combined with malicious account creation.
 
  
 
;Hidden vandalism: Any form of vandalism that makes use of embedded text, which is not visible to the final rendering of the article but visible during editing.
 
;Hidden vandalism: Any form of vandalism that makes use of embedded text, which is not visible to the final rendering of the article but visible during editing.
  
 
== What vandalism is not ==
 
== What vandalism is not ==
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Although at times incorrectly referred to as such, the following things are not considered "vandalism" and are therefore treated differently:
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The following actions are not considered "vandalism" and are therefore treated differently:
−
 
 
−
;Tests by experimenting users: New users who discover the "edit this page" button sometimes want to experience editing a page and may add something unhelpful to a page (e.g., a few random characters) as a test. Such edits are not done in bad faith and are therefore ''not'' vandalism. Rather than be warned for vandalism, these users should be warmly greeted, and given a reference to the [[SpinProfiles:Sandbox|sandbox]] where they can continue to make test edits without being unintentionally disruptive.
 
−
;Using incorrect [[SpinProfiles:How To Edit A Page|markup]] and [[SpinProfiles:Manual of Style|manual of style]]: Inexperienced users often are unfamiliar with SpinProfiles's formatting and grammatical standards (e.g. how to create internal and/or external links, when certain words should be bolded or italicized, etc.) Rather than label such users as vandals, just explain to them what our standard style is on the issue at hand - perhaps pointing them towards our documentation at [[SpinProfiles:How To Edit A Page]], and the like.
 
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;[[SpinProfiles:Neutral Point of View|NPOV violations]]: The neutral point of view is a difficult policy for many of us to understand, and even SpinProfiles veterans occasionally accidentally introduce material which is non-ideal from an NPOV perspective. Indeed, we are all affected by our beliefs to a greater or lesser extent. Though inappropriate, this is not vandalism in itself unless persisted in after being warned.
 
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;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Be_bold_in_updating_pages Making bold edits]: SpinProfilesns often make sweeping changes to pages in order to improve them - most of us aim to be bold when updating articles. While having large chunks of text you've written removed or substantially rewritten can be frustrating, simply making edits that noticeably alter the text or content of a pages should not be immediately labeled vandalism.
 
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;Unintentional misinformation: Sometimes a user will add content to an article that is factually inaccurate, but in the belief that it is accurate. By doing so in good faith, they are trying to contribute to the encyclopedia and improve it rather than vandalize. If you believe inaccurate information has been added to an article in good faith, ensure that it is, and/or discuss its factuality with the user who has submitted it.
 
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;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Patent_nonsense Unintentional nonsense]: While intentionally adding nonsense to pages is a form of vandalism, sometimes honest editors may not have expressed themselves correctly (there may be an error in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntax syntax], particularly for SpinProfilesns who use English as a second language). Also, sometimes connection errors or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Edit_conflict edit conflict] unintentionally produce the appearance of nonsense or malicious edits. In either case, [[SpinProfiles:Assume Good Faith|assume good faith]].
 
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;Stubbornness: Some users cannot come to agreement with others who are willing to talk to them about an editing issue, and repeatedly make changes opposed by everyone else. This is regrettable, you may wish to see our [[SpinProfiles:Dispute Resolution|dispute resolution pages]] to get help. Repeated deletion or addition of material may violate the [[SpinProfiles:Three Revert Rule|three-revert rule]], but this is not "vandalism" and should not be dealt with as such.
 
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;Harassment or personal attacks: We have a clear policy on SpinProfiles of [[SpinProfiles:No Personal Attacks|no personal attacks]], and harassing other contributors is not allowed. While some forms of harassment are also clear cases of vandalism, such as user page vandalism, or inserting a personal attack into an article, harassment in itself is not considered "vandalism" and should be handled differently.
 
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;Policy/guideline/essay/other project namespace page alteration: Editors are encouraged to be bold in updating pages. Making edits to policy pages (such as this one), guideline pages, etc. does require some knowledge of the consensus on that issue. If people misjudge consensus, this is not vandalism. Rather, it's an opportunity to discuss with those people, and get them to understand the consensus.
 
  
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If a user treats situations which are not clear vandalism as such, then it is he or she who is actually harming SpinProfiles by alienating or driving away potential editors.
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===Tests by experimenting users===
 +
New users who discover the "edit this page" button sometimes want to experience editing a page and may add something unhelpful to a page (e.g., a few random characters) as a test. Such edits are not done in bad faith and are therefore ''not'' vandalism. Rather than be warned for vandalism, these users should be warmly greeted, and given a reference to the [[Powerbase:Sandbox|sandbox]] where they can continue to make test edits without being unintentionally disruptive.
 +
===Using incorrect [[Powerbase:How To Edit A Page|markup]] and [[Powerbase:Manual of Style|style]]===
 +
Inexperienced users often are unfamiliar with Powerbase's formatting and grammatical standards (e.g. how to create internal and/or external links, when certain words should be bolded or italicized, etc.) Rather than label such users as vandals, just explain to them what our standard style is on the issue at hand - perhaps pointing them towards our guidelines on [[Powerbase:How To Edit A Page|how to edit a page]] and the like.  
  
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==How to spot vandalism==
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===Edits===
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The best way to detect vandalism is through [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:RC_patrol recent changes patrolling], using the [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes]] link to spot articles with edits, or keeping an eye on your watchlist. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:What_links_here what links here] pages is also a good place to find many test edits and/or vandalism. Any vandalism found should be reverted to an earlier version of the page; remember to include any good edits that have happened since then! The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Automatic_edit_summaries auto-summary feature] can help users detect vandalism.
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Changes are often made to pages in order to improve them. While having large chunks of text you've written removed or substantially rewritten can be frustrating (and without good reason can constitute vandalism), simply making edits that noticeably alter the text or content of a pages should not be immediately labeled vandalism. It is best practice to be sensitive to the efforts that other users have put into creating articles/pages and only make sweeping changes if it will substantially improve a page. See Powerbase guidelines on [[Powerbase:Etiquette|etiquette]] for more information. 
 +
===Unintentional misinformation===
 +
Sometimes a user will add content to an article that is factually inaccurate, but in the belief that it is accurate. By doing so in good faith, they are trying to contribute to the encyclopedia and improve it rather than vandalize. If you believe inaccurate information has been added to an article in good faith, discuss its factuality with the user who has submitted it using the [[Powerbase:Talk Page|talk page]].
 +
===Unintentional nonsense===
 +
While intentionally adding nonsense to pages is a form of vandalism, sometimes honest editors may not have expressed themselves correctly (there may be an error in the syntax, particularly for those who use English as a second language). Also, sometimes connection errors or edit conflict unintentionally produce the appearance of nonsense or malicious edits. In either case, assume good faith.
  
 +
===Harassment or personal attacks===
 +
We have a clear [[Powerbase:Etiquette|etiquette]] policy on Powerbase and the harassment of other contributors is not allowed. While some forms of harassment are also clear cases of vandalism, such as user page vandalism, or inserting a personal attack into an article, harassment in itself is not considered "vandalism" and should be handled differently. Powerbase [[Powerbase:Dispute Resolution|dispute resolution]] offers some useful advise.
  
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[[Category:SpinProfiles Help]]
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''Keep in mind that we do not want to alienate or drive away editors by treating them as vandals when they have been acting in good faith''.
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[[Category:SpinProfiles policy and guideline pages]]
 
  
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Acknowledgement: the content of many of the help pages in SpinProfiles have been adapted from Wikipedia.
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[[Category:Powerbase Help]]

Latest revision as of 23:45, 12 July 2010

Help Guide

How do I do that?

Getting in touch

Information and resources for contributors

This is not the place to post notices of vandalism. Please email your report to management AT Powerbase.info and sysop AT Powerbase.info.

Vandalism is any addition, removal, or change of content made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of Powerbase. The most common types of vandalism include the addition of obscenities or crude humor, page blanking, or the insertion of nonsense into articles.

Any good-faith effort to improve Powerbase, even if misguided or ill-considered, is not vandalism. Even harmful edits that are not explicitly made in bad faith are not considered vandalism. For example, adding a personal opinion to an article once is not vandalism — it's just not helpful, and should be removed or restated. Not all vandalism is obvious, nor are all massive or controversial changes vandalism; careful attention needs to be given to whether changes made are beneficial, detrimental but well intended, or outright vandalism.

Committing blatant vandalism violates Powerbase policy. If you find that another user has vandalized Powerbase, you should revert the changes and warn the user (see below for specific instructions). Users who vandalize Powerbase repeatedly, despite warnings to stop, should be reported to the editors by emailing management AT Powerbase.info and sysop AT Powerbase.info, and administrators may block them.

How to respond to vandalism

If you see vandalism, please do the following:

  • Check the article's History page (located at the top of the articles page) to identify all vandalised edits. Usually, if the most recent edit by a particular user is vandalism, then all recent edits by that user are also vandalism. It is then necessary to revert to the last version before that user started editing.
  1. For a new article, if all versions of the article are pure vandalism, email management AT Powerbase.info to alert the Managing Editor.
  2. Otherwise, revert the edits. Explain in the edit summary that you have reverted vandalism. Remember to keep/reinstate any useful information that has been added since the vandalism!
  • Leave a message on the user's talk page reminding them that vandalism contravenes Powerbase policy. Their talk page can be found by clicking on their name in the articles History page and then click Discussion at the top of their user page.
  • Check the vandal's other contributions (click "User contributions" on the left sidebar of the screen).
  • If a vandal continues to cause disruption after being warned, please report him or her by emailing sysop AT Powerbase.info. The Powerbase Sysop will make the decide of whether an individual who vandalises should be blocked.
  • If you're not sure if something constitutes vandalism email management AT Powerbase.info for clarification.

How not to respond to vandalism

When responding to vandalism remain polite and do not engage in insulting language. It may well be that a user has made a mistake but was acting in good faith. Blatant and repeated vandalism will be dealt with by the Sysop. They can be alerted by emailing sysop AT Powerbase.info

Types of vandalism

Powerbase vandalism may fall into one or more of the following categorizations:

Blanking
Removing all or significant parts of pages' content without any reason, or replacing entire pages with nonsense. Sometimes important verifiable references are deleted with no valid reason(s) given in the summary. However, significant content removals are usually not considered to be vandalism where the reason for the removal of the content is readily apparent by examination of the content itself, or where a non-frivolous explanation for the removal of apparently legitimate content is provided, linked to, or referenced in an edit summary.
Page lengthening
Adding very large (measured by the number of bytes) amounts of content to a page so as to make the page's load time abnormally long or even make the page impossible to load on some computers.
Spam
Continuing to add external links to non-notable or irrelevant sites (e.g. to advertise one's website) to pages after having been warned is vandalism.
Vandalbots
A script or "robot" that attempts to vandalize or spam massive numbers of articles (hundreds or thousands).
Silly vandalism
Adding profanity, graffiti, random characters, or other nonsense to pages; creating nonsensical and obviously non-encyclopedic pages, etc. Please note that the addition of random characters to pages is a common way that new users test edit and may not be intentionally malicious.
Sneaky vandalism
Vandalism that is harder to spot. This can include adding plausible misinformation to articles, (e.g. minor alteration of dates), hiding vandalism (e.g. by making two bad edits and only reverting one), or reverting legitimate edits with the intent of hindering the improvement of pages. Some vandals even use edit summaries such as "rv vandalism" to mask their changes.
Userspace vandalism
Adding insults, profanity, etc. to user pages or user talk pages.
Image vandalism
Uploading shock images, inappropriately placing explicit images on pages, or simply using any image in a way that is disruptive.
Page-move vandalism
Changing the names of pages (referred to as "page-moving") to disruptive or otherwise inappropriate terms.
Link vandalism
Modifying internal or external links within a page so that they appear the same but link to a page/site that they are not intended to (e.g an explicit image; a shock site).
Discussion page vandalism
Blanking the posts of other users from talk pages other than your own is generally considered vandalism. Editors are granted considerable latitude over editing their own userspace pages (including talk pages), and blanking one's own user talk page is specifically not prohibited. Users removing warnings from their own talk pages is prohibited on the grounds that it would create more issues than it would solve.
Repeated uploading of copyrighted material
Uploading or using material on Powerbase in ways which violate Powerbase copyright policies after having been warned is vandalism. Because users may be unaware that the information is copyrighted, or of Powerbase policies on how such material may and may not be used, such action only becomes vandalism if it continues after the copyrighted nature of the material and relevant policy restricting its use have been communicated to the user.
Edit summary vandalism
Making offensive edit summaries in an attempt to leave a mark that cannot be easily expunged from the record (edit summaries cannot simply be "reverted" and remain visible when viewing a page's history).
Hidden vandalism
Any form of vandalism that makes use of embedded text, which is not visible to the final rendering of the article but visible during editing.

What vandalism is not

The following actions are not considered "vandalism" and are therefore treated differently:

Tests by experimenting users

New users who discover the "edit this page" button sometimes want to experience editing a page and may add something unhelpful to a page (e.g., a few random characters) as a test. Such edits are not done in bad faith and are therefore not vandalism. Rather than be warned for vandalism, these users should be warmly greeted, and given a reference to the sandbox where they can continue to make test edits without being unintentionally disruptive.

Using incorrect markup and style

Inexperienced users often are unfamiliar with Powerbase's formatting and grammatical standards (e.g. how to create internal and/or external links, when certain words should be bolded or italicized, etc.) Rather than label such users as vandals, just explain to them what our standard style is on the issue at hand - perhaps pointing them towards our guidelines on how to edit a page and the like.

Edits

Changes are often made to pages in order to improve them. While having large chunks of text you've written removed or substantially rewritten can be frustrating (and without good reason can constitute vandalism), simply making edits that noticeably alter the text or content of a pages should not be immediately labeled vandalism. It is best practice to be sensitive to the efforts that other users have put into creating articles/pages and only make sweeping changes if it will substantially improve a page. See Powerbase guidelines on etiquette for more information.

Unintentional misinformation

Sometimes a user will add content to an article that is factually inaccurate, but in the belief that it is accurate. By doing so in good faith, they are trying to contribute to the encyclopedia and improve it rather than vandalize. If you believe inaccurate information has been added to an article in good faith, discuss its factuality with the user who has submitted it using the talk page.

Unintentional nonsense

While intentionally adding nonsense to pages is a form of vandalism, sometimes honest editors may not have expressed themselves correctly (there may be an error in the syntax, particularly for those who use English as a second language). Also, sometimes connection errors or edit conflict unintentionally produce the appearance of nonsense or malicious edits. In either case, assume good faith.

Harassment or personal attacks

We have a clear etiquette policy on Powerbase and the harassment of other contributors is not allowed. While some forms of harassment are also clear cases of vandalism, such as user page vandalism, or inserting a personal attack into an article, harassment in itself is not considered "vandalism" and should be handled differently. Powerbase dispute resolution offers some useful advise.

Keep in mind that we do not want to alienate or drive away editors by treating them as vandals when they have been acting in good faith.

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