User:JohnLaurens333/Vandalism reverting for beginners

Terminology

• Vandalism — an unconstructive change made in bad faith.
• Disruptive/unconstructive — not useful/helpful, but not necessarily made in bad faith.
• Reverting — undoing an edit.
• Blanking — removing a large amount of or all of the content on a page.
• Edit war — when two editors revert each other's edits over and over again.
• Twinkle — a beautiful tool everyone should use that helps revert vandalism and warn users, while also giving you access to other tools like AfD or welcoming users.
• Ultraviolet — a subpar tool that helps revert vandalism and warn users.

Removed biased language

Getting started

The first thing you should do is install an anti-vandalism program like Twinkle or Ultraviolet (you may also hear the name RedWarn tossed around—this is the predecessor to Ultraviolet and is no longer used). You can attempt to revert vandalism on your own by copying and pasting templates, as I did for a few months, but it is much easier and more accurate to use Twinkle or similar.

The Golden Tool

The most useful page on Wikipedia for vandal reverters (in my opinion) is Special:RecentChanges. It is a feed listing every edit on Wikipedia as it happens. Without any filters, the feed is utter chaos and requires you to refresh it every two seconds. With filters, it makes finding vandalism easy. The filters I personally use are "Likely have problems", "Likely bad faith", "Human (not bot)", and "Latest revision", but you can use whatever you want. I would highly recommend using "Latest revision" at the very least so you don't try to revert something that was already fixed.

Determining whether an edit is worth reverting

This is the hardest part of vandalism reverting, especially when you are not an expert in the subject of the article (which, most of the time, you aren't). Is this true? Is this source reliable? These are questions you can only answer with experience. When in doubt, you can ask a more experienced editor, or just leave it for someone else. Chances are, someone else is reviewing the edit right now. I can't count the number of times someone else has beaten me to reverting something.

Something to consider is that some edits don't need to be reverted; you can just reformat/source/fix the edit yourself, if you have the time. If you don't, you can revert it, making sure to use the correct warning template.

Warning the user

Warning a user is easy if you have a program installed. Twinkle has a list of warnings and descriptions available with the click of a button. Ultraviolet has the same, though I haven't used it. The most common templates I use are:

• {{uw-vandalism1}} displays the following:
  • Hello, I'm JohnLaurens333. I wanted to let you know that one or more of your recent contributions have been undone because they did not appear constructive. If you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. If you have any questions, you can ask for assistance at the Teahouse or the Help desk. Thanks.
  • It's the most general template, and can be used whether the user is acting in bad faith or good. It (like any other warning template with a number in it) has multiple levels, growing in severity with each level. If you have to use {{uw-vandalism4}} and the user still won't stop, you can report them to WP:AIV.
• {{uw-unsourced1}} displays the following:
  • Hello, I'm JohnLaurens333. I noticed that you added or changed content in an article, but you didn't provide a reliable source. On Wikipedia, it's important that article content be verifiable. If you'd like to resubmit your change with a citation, your edit is archived in the page history. If you have any questions, you can leave me a message on my talk page. Thank you.
  • You can use it when the edit you reverted was adding unsourced information.
• {{uw-test1}} displays the following:
  • Hello, I'm JohnLaurens333. An edit that you recently made seemed to be a test and has been reverted. If you want to practice editing, please use the sandbox. If you think I made a mistake, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message on my talk page. Thanks!
  • You can use it when the edit you reverted was just a test. For instance, adding "Hi" or "does this work??" to a page.
• {{uw-vandalism4im}} displays the following:
  • This is your only warning; if you vandalize Wikipedia again, you may be blocked from editing without further notice.
  • This is very similar to {{uw-vandalism4}}, but you don't need uw-vandalism 1, 2, and 3 before it. It should only be used in cases of clear and blatant vandalism, like adding a slur to an article.

Reporting to WP:AIV

If an editor will not stop vandalizing after {{uw-vandalism4}} or {{uw-vandalism4im}}, you can report them to Administrator Intervention against Vandalism, or AIV. You should be able to do this with whatever anti-vandalism program you use. An admin will likely block the user soon after your report, but you should keep an eye on the user to revert any further vandalism they make before they're blocked.

A final reminder

Always be civil in your responses to editors. Even if they are acting in bad faith and being uncivil themselves, don't tarnish the reputation of Wikipedia by stooping to their level. Don't feed the trolls. Just report and move on.

Always assume good faith. Even if it seems obvious to you that they are some 22-year-old messing around, they could be a 10-year-old who honestly does not understand that any edit they make can be seen by anyone in the world with an internet connection. Assuming good faith avoids embarrassing misunderstandings and hurtful comments.

For a few tips on communicating with newcomers, see Blue Sonnet's advice.