User blog:Bluebunny507/How to negotiate with an admin about a block

Generally, if you violate a wiki's policy, you will be issued a block, which prevents you from editing to the community until the length has elapsed. This may seem unfair and I'd understand why you'd be unhappy about being unable to contribute to a favored wiki of yours. However, if you want to be unblocked on a certain wiki, I will give you the following advice on how to negotiate with the blocking admin.

Understand why you were blocked in the first place
There could be many reasons why. Common block reasons include vandalism, spam, inserting false information, inserting nonsense/gibberish into pages, abusing multiple accounts, or harassment/intimidating behavior. If your behavior on the wiki does not meet any of that criteria, it is likely that you violated another policy that the wiki has. Keep in mind that some wikis policies differ from others and thus what is acceptable on certain wikis may not be acceptable elsewhere.

How to get unblocked
If you were blocked on a certain wiki, the chances are that the blocking admin left a reason as to why in your block summary which can be viewed by checking your Special:Contributions/ page on the wiki. If you feel the block was undeserved, you can always leave a message on your own talk page/message wall as to why you think you should be unblocked, or leave a message on the blocking admin's Community Central wall if the ability to post on your talk page/message wall is revoked during the block's length. In addition, you can also leave such a message on their wall on another wiki, though this is not recommended since some wikis may have a policy that prohibits discussing matters from other wikis (the wiki where I'm most active at and a rollback on, Encyclopedia SpongeBobia, has this policy).

Negotiating with the admin
If you feel your block was unfair, provide a good-enough reason as to why to the blocking admin. A simple "Can I please be unblocked?" with little in-depth reasoning likely won't cut it. Go into detail as to why you think your block should be lifted. Be civil and mature, and most importantly don't under any circumstance use harassment and threats as a means to have your block be lifted. That is never a good solution and will only decrease the chances of you getting unblocked. Creating sockpuppet accounts also has the same effects as harassing the admin and thus won't help your case.

What if my negotiation with the admin fails?
If the admin doesn't agree to lift or shorten your block, there isn't much you can do other than wait it out. Remember, patience is a virtue. However, if the block length is set to infinite and the admin decides to keep it that way, then I am sorry to say that there isn't really much you can do other than simply move on. It may be difficult to let go of if you have come to love a community over your long time with them, but on the bright side, you can always find another wiki to contribute to. FANDOM hosts a vast majority of communities on a variety of topics, publicly available for anyone to contribute to. You can never dodge them without giving them a chance first!

Hope you all enjoyed reading. I also hope this helps out people who need advice on how to increase their chances of getting unblocked on a certain wiki.