Editing Incubator escapee wiki:Protection policy (section)

=== Pending changes protection<span class="anchor" id="pending"></span><span class="anchor" id="Pending-changes protection (trial)"></span><span class="anchor" id="pc1"></span><span class="anchor" id="pc2"></span><!--former tags allow section referencing while accommodating section name changes. DO NOT REMOVE IT.--> ===
{{see|Wikipedia:Pending changes}}
[[File:Pending-protection-shackle.svg|64px|upright=0.4|right|alt=White padlock|link=]]
{{Policy shortcut|WP:PCPP|WP:WHITELOCK}}

Pending changes protection allows [[WP:IP|unregistered]] and [[Wikipedia:User access levels#New users|new users]] to edit pages, while keeping their edits hidden from most readers (specifically, unregistered users{{snd}}the vast majority of visitors to Wikipedia articles) until those changes are accepted by a [[Wikipedia:User access levels#Pending changes reviewer|pending changes reviewer]] or [[Wikipedia:Administrators|administrator]]. An alternative to [[#Semi-protection|semi-protection]], it is used to suppress [[Wikipedia:Vandalism|vandalism]] and certain other persistent problems, while allowing all users to continue to submit edits. Pending changes is technically implemented as a separate option, with its own duration, and it yields to other edit protection levels in cases of overlap.

When a page under pending changes protection is edited by an unregistered editor or a new user, the edit is not directly visible to the majority of Wikipedia readers, until it is reviewed and accepted by an editor with the pending changes reviewer right. When a page under pending changes protection is edited by an [[Wikipedia:User access levels#Autoconfirmed users|autoconfirmed user]], the edit will be immediately visible to Wikipedia readers, unless there are pending edits waiting to be reviewed.

Pending changes are visible in the page history, where they are marked as pending review. Readers who are ''not logged in'' (the vast majority of readers) are shown the latest ''accepted'' version of the page; ''logged-in'' users see the latest version of the page, with all changes (reviewed or not) applied. When editors who are not reviewers make changes to an article with unreviewed pending changes, their edits are also marked as pending and are not visible to most readers.

A user who clicks "edit this page" is always, at that point, shown the latest version of the page for editing ''regardless of whether the user is logged in or not''.
*If the editor is not logged in, their changes join any other changes to the article awaiting review{{snd}}for the present they remain hidden from not-logged-in users. (This means that when the editor looks at the article after saving, the editor will not see the change made.)
*If the editor is logged in and a pending changes reviewer, and there are pending changes, the editor will be prompted to review the pending changes before editing{{snd}}see [[Wikipedia:Pending changes]].
*If the editor is logged in and not a pending changes reviewer:
**If there are no unreviewed pending edits, the editor's edits will be immediately visible to everyone.
**If there are unreviewed pending edits, the editor's edits will be immediately visible only to logged-in users (including themselves), but not to logged-out users.

Pending changes are typically reviewed within several hours.

==== When to apply pending changes protection ====
Pending changes can be used to protect articles against:
* Persistent vandalism
* Violations of the [[Wikipedia:biographies of living persons|biographies of living persons]] policy
* [[WP:CV|Copyright violations]]

Pending changes protection should not be used as a preemptive measure against violations that have not yet occurred. Like semi-protection, pending changes protection should '''never''' be used in genuine content disputes, where there is a risk of placing a particular group of editors (unregistered users) at a disadvantage. Semi-protection is generally a better option for articles with a high edit rate as well as articles affected by issues difficult for [[Wikipedia:Reviewing pending changes|pending changes reviewers]] to detect, such as non-obvious vandalism, plausible-sounding misinformation, and hard-to-detect copyright violations.

In addition, administrators may apply temporary pending changes protection on pages that are subject to significant but temporary vandalism or disruption (for example, due to media attention) when blocking individual users is not a feasible option. As with other forms of protection, the time frame of the protection should be proportional to the problem. Indefinite PC protection should be used only in cases of severe long-term disruption.

Removal of pending changes protection can be requested to any administrator, or at [[Wikipedia:RFUP|requests for unprotection]].

{{anchor|Reviewing}}The reviewing process is described in detail at [[Wikipedia:Reviewing pending changes]].