The Sims Wiki:Lockout

If you have been linked to this page, it is because editing on The Sims Wiki is currently disabled for unregistered contributors. Note that this page will not be updated to the present status of the Wiki; if you found this page by accident or were not directly linked here, then the wiki is likely not under lockout.

What is lockout?
One unfortunate aspect of an online interactive encyclopedia is spam and vandalism. The vast majority of the time, local Administrators are able to address spam and vandalism and handle the users that create/spread it, through the use of revert tools, page protection, blocks, etc. However, on very rare occurrences the wiki might be "attacked" by one or more vandals who are able to evade normal block techniques. In these situations the Volunteer Spam Task Force is contacted. The VSTF may choose to implement a protection of all pages on the wiki; this is what we call a lockout. These lockouts are usually temporary and cannot be overridden by local administrators. They are implemented to put a stop to spam or vandal attacks when local administrators are unable to.

What should I do in a lockout
Lockouts do not prevent registered users from editing the wiki; only unregistered users are locked out. Due to the nature of the protection used by VSTF members during lockout, an unregistered contributor cannot register and immediately begin editing - users have to be "auto-confirmed" before they can bypass semi-protections such as those used during a lockout, and newly-registered users typically are not auto-confirmed. However, registering an account is still a good idea, because users that have registered and are auto-confirmed can still edit normally during lockouts.

Remember that lockouts are very rare incidents. Under normal circumstances, unregistered contributors are able to edit the wiki just as registered contributors are.

How do I know if the Wiki is locked-out?
Administrators will usually post a notice of wiki lockout on Community Corner on the Wiki Activity page or on the Main Page. If a notice on the Community Corner or the Main Page led you here, there's a good chance that the wiki is currently under lockout.

If you attempted to edit the wiki and received an error, but there was no lockout notice posted, then the issue is likely either 1) you received a block from the wiki, usually for violating a wiki rule, or 2) editing on the wiki is fully disabled, usually for Wikia software or server updates or other internal problems - in this case, full edit capabilities should return in a few minutes.

If all else fails and you still do not know whether the wiki is locked-out, you can join The Sims Wiki's IRC Channel and ask one of the administrators present there.