Help:Blocking FAQ

How do I block a user across Fandom?
If you suspect that a registered or anonymous user is vandalizing not just your local wiki, but others as well, the situation may require a FANDOM-wide block. In this case, please contact the SOAP for Spam or Vandalism and contact Fandom staff for other situations.

This ability is used only when necessary and problems in one community don't necessarily mean that a user should be blocked across all of Fandom. In general, this is only used for:
 * Spam,
 * large scale and/pr persistent vandalism across several sites,
 * impersonating other users,
 * severe Terms of Use violations,
 * underage users reported to Fandom Staff.

If a problem is happening locally, you should always contact local admins of that community first. If no admins are present, then contact SOAP for assistance.

What do I do if I am caught in a global block?
If you are accidentally caught in a global block, please use Special:Contact to contact Fandom staff. In order to identify which global block affects you and investigate the matter, include all of the information displayed to you while you're blocked (seen when you try to edit a page), especially the block ID.

If you are caught in a content block that is blocking addition or modification of content on a page, please use this form and include as much information as possible, such as the information you were adding or other changes you were making.

What do we do about vandalbots?
A vandalbot is a script which automatically performs some kind of malicious edit or similar operation to a wiki at high rate. Since a vandalbot may be attacking other communities too, it should be blocked as soon as possible.

If you see one, report the bot via Report:Vandalism, or contact a SOAP member in the SOAP IRC channel, or staff via Special:Contact.

See Vandalbot on Meta-Wiki for more details.

Should we block open proxies?
Anonymous or open proxies should be blocked upon identification in most cases.

However, avoid blocking Internet Service Provider proxies, and avoid permanent IP blocks. Most proxies use dynamic IPs and a proxy block might might end up affecting a legitimate user.

Should we block ranges?
Range blocks should be avoided, except for extreme circumstances, such as severe and prolonged vandalism from a particular range of IP addresses.

In these cases, ensure that you understand the risks associated with blocking IP ranges, how to make them, and that you do not set an infinite duration.

Can I customize the text that a blocked user sees?
You may customize the block message by editing MediaWiki:Blockedtext on your wiki.

How can I block a user indefinitely?
On the block user screen, in the "Expiry:" section, choose "Other time:", and in the box, type infinite, or indefinite. Then, click "Block this user".

Alternatively, you can add "infinite:infinite" option to the MediaWiki:Ipboptions and then select it through the expiry option.

Can I block everyone from the wiki so only one person can edit?
Blocking users to limit editing to a narrow group of users is not permitted, even for wiki founders. Fandom is built around the wiki idea, a network communities that can be freely edited by anyone.

If you notice attempts to abuse the Block feature in this manner, contact Fandom Staff through Special:Contact to get it resolved.

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