Administrators on The Sims Wiki can protect and unprotect pages. Protection of a page or image means that a non-admin cannot modify it. Administrators can also semi-protect a page, which prevents unregistered users and new users from editing it, but allows longer-term users to edit it.
Almost all pages on The Sims Wiki are not protected. Pages may, however, be temporarily or permanently protected for various reasons.
Uses of full protection[]
- Protecting the wiki's policy pages from vandalism.
- Preventing vandalism to templates used on a significant number of pages.
- Maintaining the integrity of the site's logo and favicon.
- Maintaining the integrity of key copyright and license pages.
Uses of semi-protection[]
- Protecting the main page and templates used on the main page.
- Protecting complex or widely-used templates from edits by inexperienced users.
- Protecting individual pages that have been repeatedly or severely vandalized by numerous unregistered users.
Cases when protection is not used[]
The application of page protection or semi-protection typically falls to the administrators. However, there are some instances where page protection should not be used. Page protection should not generally be used to:
- Prevent edits to talk pages. Talk pages should remain open to all edits, especially if the parent article is locked.
- Protect user pages, especially user pages of administrators.
- Preserve a particular version of a page that an administrator prefers or feels is valid, over other possibly valid versions.
- Protect pages that do not have a history of vandalism.
What to do if a page is protected?[]
Editors wishing to edit a protected page may suggest edits through that page's talk page. If an editor is unsure of why a particular article is protected, they may ask a member of the administrative team, preferably the person who issued the protection in the first place. If an editor cannot determine the reason why a page was protected or believes a page should be unprotected, they can propose page unprotection on the administrators' noticeboard.