User:ToadetteEdit/CVUA/Twistedmath
Hello, welcome to your Counter Vandalism Unit Academy page! Every person I instruct will have their own page on which I will give them support and tasks for them to complete. Please make sure you have this page added to your watchlist. Your academy page has been specifically designed according to you and what you have requested instruction in - for that reason, please be as specific as possible when under my instruction, so that I know the best ways to help you (and do not be afraid to let me know if you think something isn't working). If you have any general queries about anti-vandalism (or anything else), you are more than welcome to raise them with me at my talk page.
Make sure you read through Wikipedia:Vandalism as that's the knowledge which most of the questions I ask you and tasks you do will revolve around.
- How to use this page
This page will be built up over your time in the Academy, with new sections being added as you complete old ones. Each section will end with a task, written in bold type - this might just ask a question, or it might require you to go and do something. You can answer a question by typing the answer below the task; if you have to do something, you will need to provide diffs to demonstrate that you have completed the task. Some sections will have more than one task, sometimes additional tasks may be added to a section as you complete them. Please always sign your responses to tasks as you would on a talk page.
- Once you graduate I will copy this page into your userspace so you have a record of your training and a reference for the future
acceptance: I, Twistedmath, accept this invitation to the CVUA twisted. (user | talk | contribs) 16:09, 18 March 2025 (UTC)
The start
[edit]Twinkle
[edit]Twinkle is a very useful tool when performing maintenance functions around Wikipedia. Please have a read through WP:TWINKLE.
- Enable Twinkle (if haven't already) and leave a note here to let me know that you have enabled it.
Good faith and vandalism
[edit]When patrolling for vandalism, you may often come across edits which are unhelpful, but not vandalism - these are good faith edits. It is important to recognise the difference between a vandalism edit and a good faith edit, especially because Twinkle gives you the option of labelling edits you revert as such. Please read WP:AGF and WP:NOT VANDALISM before completing the following tasks.
- Please explain below the difference between a good faith edit and a vandalism edit, and how you would tell them apart.
- Please find three examples of good faith but unhelpful edits, and three examples of vandalism. You don't need to revert the example you find, and I am happy for you to use previous undos in your edit history if you wish.
- Good faith
- Martin Lawrence Note
- It is Hessen in German but, in English, it is Hesse -->
- Vandalism
Warning and reporting
[edit]When you use Twinkle to warn a user, you have a number of options to choose from: you can select the kind of warning (for different offences), and the level of warning (from 1 to 4, for increasing severity). Knowing which warning to issue and what level is very important. Further information can be found at WP:WARN and WP:UWUL.
- Please answer the following questions
- Why do we warn users?
To educate users of Wikipedia, both new and old, on policies and to guide them to helpful and accurate contributions. twisted. (user | talk | contribs) 14:45, 27 March 2025 (UTC) --->
, valid answer
- When would a 4im warning be appropriate?
When an edit is bluntly not here to contribute and the edit itself, is enough to jump to the final warning (4). For example,
- Slurs or severe hate speech
- Severe Vandalism (i.e knowingly replacing an article with nonsense)
- Threats of harm (most of the time)
are all valid reasons for a 4im warning.
- 4im warnings are reserved for the most egregious examples of vandalism.
- 4im warnings are reserved for the most egregious examples of vandalism.
- Should you substitute a template when you place it on a user talk page, and how do you do it?
Yes, on a technical level, substituting takes the content of the page (in the current revision, when entered) and enters it into the where the page where you are placing the template. This essentially makes the template you are substituting stay in place; no further edits on the template page will affect the page you are placing it on. When you are placing a template on a talk page, this is helpful; it prevents any changes, like edits that or not of consensus, or any edits which may change the meaning of the edit (e.g. policy changes)
To substitute a template, you can use the format {{subst:TEMP-PAGE-NAME-HERE}}. For example, this changes the 3rr warning template from this:
{{Uw-3rr}}
to this:
{{subst:Uw-3rr}}
twisted. (user | talk | contribs) 16:37, 28 March 2025 (UTC) --->
- What should you do if a user who has received a level 4 or 4im warning vandalises again?
Report to the AIV Noticeboard, with valid reason and evidence. twisted. (user | talk | contribs) 14:48, 27 March 2025 (UTC) --->
- Please give examples (using
{{Tlsubst|''name of template''}}) of three different warnings (not different levels of the same warning and excluding the test edit warning levels referred to below), that you might need to use while recent changes patrolling and explain what they are used for.
| Name | Substituted | Policy | Use Cases | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uw-3rr | {{subst:Uw-3rr}} | Edit warring | Used for users who have broken the 3rr (i.e. to revert/undo any edit made by any user on a single page in a ~24 hour period) |
| 2 | Uw-vandalism1 | {{subst:Uw-vandalism1}} | Vandalism | Used for users whose contributions have a negative effect on Wikipedia. These edits may be repeated blanking, nonsensical edits, or trying to avoid policies. |
| 3 | Uw-unsourced1 | {{subst:Uw-unsourced1}} | Reliable sources | Used for edits which make a claim or statement without providing proper sourcing. Most of the time, these edits are made by new users, who are trying to provide, accurate and constructive edits but, fail to properly source. |
- Vandalism edits are exempt from 3RR, but I get your underlying point.
- Vandalism edits are exempt from 3RR, but I get your underlying point.
Make sure you keep in mind that some edits that seem like vandalism can be test edits. This happens when a new user is experimenting and makes accidental unconstructive edits. Generally, these should be treated with good faith, especially if it is their first time, and warned gently. The following templates are used for test edits: {{subst:uw-test1}}, {{subst:uw-test2}} and {{subst:uw-test3}}.
I just wanted to make sure you know about Special:RecentChanges, if you use the diff link in a different window or tab you can check a number of revisions much more easily. If you enable Hovercards in the Hover section of your preferences, you can view the diff by just hovering over it. Alternately, you can press control-F or command-F and search for "tag:". some edits get tagged for possible vandalism or section blanking.
- Find and revert some vandalism. Warn each user appropriately, using the correct kind of warning and level. Please include at least two test edits and at least two appropriate reports to AIV. For each revert and warning please fill in a line on the table below
| # | Diff of your revert | Your comment (optional). If you report to AIV please include the diff | user notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cameron High School | Vandalism - Warned on corresponding talk page |
|
| 2 | Jessica Stern (diplomat) | Vandalism - (diff) AIV: Vandalism after final warning | Report got acknowledged.
|
| 3 | Mary Anne Franks | Vandalism - Warned on the corresponding talk page |
|
| 4 | Harriet Tubman's family | Test edits - Warned on the corresponding talk page |
|
| 5 | MasterChef Australia series 17 | Possible addition of subtle vandalism with an inadequate edit summary (blank) - Warned on the corresponding talk page |
|
| 6 | Fred Hampton Jr. | Test edits - Warned on the corresponding talk page |  The (good faith) edit in question isn't a test edit; but rather a new user's mistake while attempting to change the wording of a statement in the lede. What you could have done was welcoming the user, which you did not do in this case, and to fix the syntax resulting from the edit.
|
| 7 | Maria Brontë | Vandalism with an inadequate edit summary (blank) - Warned on the corresponding talk page. With this IP being marked as a School DIstrict, I avoided marking this a test edit. |
|
| 8 | Travis Scott | Vandalism - Warned on the corresponding talk page - School Blocked |
|
| 9 | Crest Hill, Illinois | Vandalism - Warned on the corresponding talk page |
|
| 10 | Crest Hill, Illinois | Vandalism - Warned on the corresponding talk page | , again
|
| 11 | Scientific American - Go back one edit | Test edits - Warned on the corresponding talk page |  ; the edits weren't test edits, but still a valid revert.
|
| 12 | Tsutomu Miyazaki | (maybe) Vandalism - Warned on the corresponding talk page - In the case that you were trying to add your own commentary, Wikipedia is not a social media platform nor is it a forum. | Edit was indeed vandalism.
|
| 13 | Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation) | Vandalism - Warned on the corresponding talk page | User was eventually blocked.
|
| 14 | AIV report for 13 | Vandalism - (diff) AIV: Vandalism after final warning | This constitute part of #13 and does not count. Please provide one more revert below |
| 15 | Raffles Design Institute | Vandalism - (diff) AIV: Vandalism after final warning | /64 range blocked, for some reason your AIV report doesn't count because of another report one minute prior, but they were acknowledged anyway. Not only was the editor removing a large portion of content (with an inaccurate edit summary), but the user also introduced an unsourced change (also with an inaccurate edit summary).
|
| 16 | Public execution | Vandalism - Warned on the corresponding talk page - I presumed they were trying to say ¨Isreal¨ as an euphemism |
|
| 17 | List of hardcore punk bands | Test edits - Warned on the corresponding talk page |
|
Note: I'm aware Im missing a test edit, I will add it once I find a appropriate one. twisted. (user | talk | contribs) 18:38, 27 March 2025 (UTC)
Added last test edit (17) twisted. (user | talk | contribs) 16:25, 28 March 2025 (UTC)
Shared IP tagging
[edit]There are a number of IP user talk page templates which show helpful information to IP users and those wishing to warn or block them. There is a list of these templates
{{Shared IP}}- For general shared IP addresses.{{ISP}}- A modified version specifically for use with ISP organizations.{{Shared IP edu}}- A modified version specifically for use with educational institutions.{{Shared IP gov}}- A modified version specifically for use with government agencies.{{Shared IP corp}}- A modified version specifically for use with businesses.{{Shared IP address (public)}}- A modified version specifically for use with public terminals such as in libraries, etc.{{Mobile IP}}- A modified version specifically for use with a mobile device's IP.{{Dynamic IP}}- A modified version specifically for use with dynamic IPs.{{Static IP}}- A modified version specifically for use with static IPs which may be used by more than one person.
Each of these templates take two parameters, one is the organisation to which the IP address is registered (which can be found out using the links at the bottom of the IP's contribution page. The other is for the host name (which is optional) and can also be found out from the links at the bottom of the IP's contribution page.
Also, given that different people use the IP address, older messages are sometimes refused so as to not confuse the current user of the IP. Generally any messages for the last one-two months are removed, collapsed, or archived. The templates available for this include:
{{OW}}for when the messages are deleted from the talk page.{{Old IP warnings top}}and {{Old IP warnings bottom}} for collapsing the user warnings and leaving them on the talk page.{{Warning archive notice}}for when the messages are archived, and that archiving follows the usually naming sequence (that is, /Archive 1).
NOTE: All of the templates in this section are not substituted (so don't use "subst:").
Tools
[edit]Wikipedia:Recent changes patrol#Tools includes a list of tools and resources for those who want to fight vandalism with a more systematic and efficient approach.
What you have been doing so far is named the old school approach. As well as manually going through Special:RecentChanges, it includes undos, "last clean version" restores, and manually warning users.
There are a large number of tool which assist users in the fight against vandalism. They range from tools which help filter and detect vandalism to tools which will revert, warn and report users.
Lupin's Anti-Vandal Tool
[edit]Lupin's Anti-Vandal Tool monitors the RSS feed and flags edits with common vandalism terms. It's a very simple tool, but which is useful for not having to go check each and every diff on Recent Changes.
Rollback
[edit]See rollback, this user right introduces an easy rollback button (which with one click reverts an editor's contributions. I'll let you know when I think you're ready to apply for the rollback user right.
Huggle
[edit]Huggle is a Windows program which parses (orders them on the likelihood of being unconstructive edits and on the editor's recent history) from users not on its whitelist. It allows you to revert vandalism, warn and reports users in one click.
Dealing with difficult users
[edit]Occasionally, some vandals will not appreciate your good work and try to harass or troll you. In these situations, you must remain calm and ignore them. If they engage in harassment or personal attacks, you should not engage with them and leave a note at WP:ANI. If they vandalise your user page or user talk page, simply remove the vandalism without interacting with them. Please read WP:DENY.
- Why do we deny recognition to trolls and vandals?
Disencourage the feeling of disrupting by Wikipedia; to disencourage the vandals viewing of a editor being frustrated or confused by their questions and/or requests.
By making them feel ignored, it can remove that, "reward" and may prevent future vandalism. twisted. (user | talk | contribs) 01:43, 4 April 2025 (UTC)
- How can you tell between a good faith user asking why you reverted their edit, and a troll trying to harass you?
Trolls will usually ask repetitive questions to get you to respond while good faith editors will ask questions in context, engage thoughtfully with the content and the be interested opinions of others; trolls usually do the compete opposite twisted. (user | talk | contribs) 01:43, 4 April 2025 (UTC)