Editing Incubator escapee wiki:Protection policy (section)

=== Semi-protection<span class="anchor" id="semi"></span><span class="anchor" id="semi-user"></span><!--former tag allows section referencing while accommodating section name changes. DO NOT REMOVE IT.--> ===
{{See also|Wikipedia:Rough guide to semi-protection}}
[[File:Semi-protection-shackle.svg|64px|upright=0.4|right|alt=Silver padlock|link=]]
{{Policy shortcut|WP:SEMI|WP:SILVERLOCK}}

Semi-protected pages cannot be edited by [[Wikipedia:User access levels#Unregistered users|unregistered users]] ([[IP address]]es), as well as accounts that are not [[Wikipedia:User access levels#Confirmed users|confirmed]] or [[Wikipedia:User access levels#Autoconfirmed users|autoconfirmed]] (accounts that are at least 4 days old with at least 10 edits on English Wikipedia). Semi-protection is useful when there is a significant amount of disruption or [[Wikipedia:Vandalism|vandalism]] from new or unregistered users, or to prevent [[WP:SOCK|sockpuppets]] of blocked or banned users from editing, especially when it occurs on [[WP:BLP|biographies of living persons]] who have had a recent high level of media interest. An alternative to semi-protection is [[Wikipedia:Pending changes|pending changes]], which is sometimes favored when an article is being vandalized regularly, but otherwise receives a low amount of editing.

Such users can request edits to a semi-protected page by proposing them on its talk page, using the {{Tl|Edit semi-protected}} template if necessary to gain attention. If the page in question and its talk page are ''both'' protected, the edit request should be made at [[WP:RFED|Wikipedia:Requests for page protection]] instead. New users may also request the confirmed user right at [[Wikipedia:Requests for permissions/Confirmed]].

==== Guidance for administrators ====
Semi-protection should {{em|not}} be used as a preemptive measure against vandalism that has not yet occurred or to privilege registered users over unregistered users in (valid) content disputes.

Administrators may apply {{em|temporary}} semi-protection on pages that are:
* Subject to significant but temporary vandalism or disruption (for example, due to [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia in the media|media attention]]) if [[Wikipedia:Blocking policy|blocking]] individual users is not a feasible option.
* Subject to [[Wikipedia:Edit warring|edit warring]] if {{em|all}} parties involved are unregistered or new editors. This does {{em|not}} apply when autoconfirmed users are involved.
* Subject to [[Wikipedia:Vandalism|vandalism]] or [[Wikipedia:Edit warring|edit warring]] where unregistered editors are engaging in [[IP address#Dynamic IP|IP hopping]] by using different computers, obtaining new addresses by using [[dynamic IP]] allocation, or other address-changing schemes.
* Article discussion pages, if they have been subject to persistent disruption. Such protection should be used sparingly because it prevents unregistered and newly registered users from participating in discussions.
* Protection should be used sparingly on the talk pages of blocked users, including IP addresses. Instead the user should be re-blocked with talk page editing disallowed. When required, or when re-blocking without talk page editing allowed is unsuccessful, protection should be implemented for only a brief period not exceeding the duration of the block.

In addition, administrators may apply {{em|indefinite}} semi-protection to pages that are subject to heavy and persistent [[Wikipedia:Vandalism|vandalism]] or violations of [[:Category:Wikipedia content policies|content policy]] (such as [[Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons|biographies of living persons]], [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|neutral point of view]]).

A page and its talk page should not normally be protected at the same time. In exceptional cases, if a page and its talk page are both protected, the talk page should direct affected editors to [[WP:RFED|Wikipedia:Request for edit]] through the use of a non-iconified page protection template, to ensure that no editor is entirely prevented from contributing.

[[Wikipedia:Today's featured article|Today's featured article]] is, since 2023, always semi-protected. [[Wikipedia:Main Page featured article protection|This was historically not the case]], however.