The patrol isentirely voluntary and carriesno obligation. At its heart, it is really just a way to try to ensure that every edited article gets checked in a timely manner and is given a boost on its way to becoming a "featured article", while simultaneously ensuring that Wikipedia is not harmed by unconstructive edits.
Regular RC patrollers may wish to put the RC patroltopicon on their user page by adding{{RC patroller topicon}} to their user pages.
(A little RCP badge will be displayed in the same way as it does here, in the top-right corner. See?)
What to do
RC patrolling primarily consists of a four-step process:
Identify "bad" or "needy" edits
RC patrollers efficiently identify problematic edits using thetools described below. A bad edit is an edit that, for one reason or another, may need to beentirely removed. Aneedy edit requires maintenance or improvement in some manner.
Remove or improve the edit
Needy edits should be tagged according to their need, orboldly changed immediately. A useful list of tags can be found atWP:TC. Bad edits should likewise be tagged or deleted. Because Wikipedians do not like their edits being removed, it is important to leave concise but clear justifications on the talk page or in the edit summary. When adding tags, please consider discussing the issue on the article's talk page before adding them in the article itself.
Warn the editor
In the cases of deliberate vandalism or an evident lack of knowledge on Wikipedia procedure, offending editors should be warned on their talk pages. While this is an optional step, theWikipedia:Guide to administrator intervention against vandalism says that a final warning should always be given before reporting a vandal, and warnings should be a regular part of a patroller's duties, as it minimizes conflict, educates new editors and alerts administrators of repeat offenders. For efficiency and consistency,standard warning templates can be used. However, do feel free to simply write a warning if the available templates are not appropriate.
Check the user's other contributions
You will often find more edits with similar problems. As an RC patroller, you may want to fix those as well.
Throughout the entire process of RC patrol, it is important to remembernot to bite the newcomers. A 2006 essay indicated that newcomers, far from being a monolithic horde of vandals,trolls and spammers, wrote most of Wikipedia's content.[1]If you see a new user or IP address contributing,welcome them if you're so inclined, and include a pointer or two of feedback about how they can make their contributions even better. Most will welcome the support.
It is also important toassume good faith as much as possible, or minimally toassume incompetence or lack of experience instead of malice. For example, remember everyone may not becomputer-literate; some people will accidentally blank or damage pages when attempting to cut and paste material from Wikipedia. Others may not understand that their edits actually cause an impact on their respective article.
One thing to keep in mind is to not only focus on patrolling articles in the main namespace but also to check other pages — such as, for example, image pages, which are frequently victims of nonsensical edits and vandalism. Such unchecked edits may be particularly harmful because the result might be removal ofcopyright tags.
Newcomer tests
Look for newcomer tests (odd editswhich are not vandalism), butdo not bite the newcomers. Revert their experiments and leave one of the following messages on their user talk page. Be sure to sign and timestamp (~~~~) the warning. You can use tools such asTwinkle orRedWarn to revert the page and issue the warning faster.
{{subst:uw-test1}} ~~~~
Hello, I'mExample. An edit that you recently made seemed to be a test and has beenreverted. If you want to practice editing, please use thesandbox. If you think a mistake was made, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message onmy talk page. Thanks! ~~~~
{{subst:uw-create1}} ~~~~
Welcome to Wikipedia. A page you recently created may not conform to some of Wikipedia'sguidelines for new pages, so it will beremoved shortly (if it hasn't been already). Please use thesandbox for any tests, and consider using theArticle Wizard. For more information about creating articles, you may want to readYour first article. You may also want to read ourintroduction page to learn more about contributing. Thank you. ~~~~
{{subst:uw-delete1}} ~~~~ (a variant suitable for blanking)
Hello, I'mExample. I noticed that you recently removed content without adequately explaining why. In the future, it would be helpful to others if you described your changes to Wikipedia with an accurateedit summary. If this was a mistake, don't worry; the removed content has been restored. If you would like to experiment, please use thesandbox. If you think I made a mistake, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message onmy talk page. Thanks. ~~~~
{{subst:uw-test2}} ~~~~
Please refrain from making test edits in Wikipedia pages, even if you intend to fix them later. Your edits have beenreverted. If you would like to experiment again, please use thesandbox. Thank you. ~~~~
{{subst:uw-delete2}} ~~~~
Please do not remove content or templates from pages on Wikipedia without giving a valid reason for the removal in theedit summary. Your content removal does not appear to be constructive and has beenreverted. If you only meant to make a test edit, please use thesandbox for that. Thank you. ~~~~
Lack of sources
Addition of unsourced material without proper citations
{{subst:uw-unsor1}} ~~~~
Hello, I'mExample. I noticed that you added or changed content in an article, but you didn't provide areliable source. It's been removed and archived in the page history for now, but if you'd like toinclude a citation and re-add it, please do so. You can have a look atreferencing for beginners. If you think I made a mistake, you can leave me a message onmy talk page. Thank you.
{{subst:uw-unsor2}} ~~~~
Please do not add or change content without citing areliable source. Please review the guidelines atWikipedia:Citing sources and take this opportunity to add references to the article. Thank you.
Look forspam. If it comes in the form of articles, nominate them for deletion with{{db-spam}}, place aProposed Deletion tag on them with {{subst:prod|Your Reasons Here}}, or nominate them atWikipedia:Articles for deletion. If a user is posting multiple links to a particular website in several articles, revert the edits. In either case, againnotify the user with {{subst:uw-spam1}}.
Copyright violations
Look forcopyright violations andrevert them. As per the instructions atWikipedia:Copyright problems, just revert pages to remove copyright violations. However, take care to indicate in theedit summary that this is what you are doing. If an entire article is a copyvio see the section on copyvios in the new pages section below.
Vandalism
Look out forvandalism, andrevert it. It is often worthwhile to check the page history after reverting to make sure you have removed all the vandalism. Also, check the user contributions of the vandal - you will often find more malicious edits.
Additionally, leave warning messages on the vandal's talk pages using the following system. Be sure to check discussion pages for possible explanations of edits.
Warning templates
Note thatthese templates do not need to be used sequentially. If the edit isclearly vandalism, use the template{{uw-vandalism1}} instead. For continuing severe vandalism,{{uw-vandalism2}} may be skipped and{{uw-vandalism3}} given straight after the first warning. If, however, you arenot sure that the edit is vandalism, always start with{{uw-test1}}. If a user made such an edit and reverted it themselves, use a{{Uw-selfrevert}}. For extreme or extensive cases of vandalism committed by users who have received no prior warnings,{{uw-vandalism4im}} may be used. The ~~~~ in the templates below cause the time and your signature to be added to the warning.
{{subst:Uw-selfrevert}} ~~~~ (use if an edit appears to be a reversion of a newcomer test)
Welcome to Wikipedia. Thank you for reverting your recent experiment. Please take a look at thewelcome page to learn more about contributing to our encyclopedia. If you would like to experiment further, please use thesandbox instead, as someone could see your edit before you revert it. Thank you.
{{subst:uw-test1}} ~~~~ (use if an edit appears to have possibly not been an intentional act of vandalism)
Hello, I'mExample. An edit that you recently made seemed to be a test and has beenreverted. If you want to practice editing, please use thesandbox. If you think a mistake was made, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message onmy talk page. Thanks!
{{subst:uw-error1}} ~~~~ (use if an edit adds seemingly incorrect information to an article)
Hello, I'mExample. Your recent edit(s) appear to have added incorrect information, so they have beenreverted for now. If you believe the information was correct, pleasecite a reliable source or discuss your change on the article's talk page. If you would like to experiment, please use thesandbox. If you think I made a mistake, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message onmy talk page. Thank you.
{{subst:uw-vandalism1}} ~~~~ (use if an edit is clearly vandalism)
Hello, I'mExample. I wanted to let you know that one or more ofyour recent contributions have been undone because they did not appear constructive. If you would like to experiment, please use thesandbox. If you have any questions, you can ask for assistance at theTeahouse or theHelp desk. Thanks.
{{subst:uw-unsor1}} ~~~~ (use if an edit is unreferenced)
Hello, I'mExample. I noticed that you added or changed content in an article, but you didn't provide areliable source. It's been removed and archived in the page history for now, but if you'd like toinclude a citation and re-add it, please do so. You can have a look atreferencing for beginners. If you think I made a mistake, you can leave me a message onmy talk page. Thank you.
{{subst:uw-ai1}} ~~~~ (use if an edit likely constitutes improper use of a large language model)
Hello, I'mExample. An edit that you recently made seemed to be generated using alarge language model (an "AI chatbot" or other application using such technology). Text produced by these applications is usuallyunsuitable for an encyclopedia, and may contain factually inaccurate statements, fictitious citations, or other problems. You should instead readreliable sources and then summarize those in your own words. Your edit may have beenreverted. If you want to practice editing, please use thesandbox. If you think a mistake was made, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message onmy talk page. Thanks.
Please refrain from making test edits in Wikipedia pages, even if you intend to fix them later. Your edits have beenreverted. If you would like to experiment again, please use thesandbox. Thank you.
{{subst:uw-error2}} ~~~~ (use if an edit adds factually incorrect information to an article)
Please do not introduce incorrect information into articles. Your edits could be interpreted asvandalism and have beenreverted. If you believe the information you added was correct, pleasecite references or sources or discuss the changes on the article'stalk page before making them again. If you would like to experiment, use thesandbox. Thank you.
{{subst:uw-delete2}} ~~~~ (a variant suitable for vandalism that consists of blanking text)
Please do not remove content or templates from pages on Wikipedia without giving a valid reason for the removal in theedit summary. Your content removal does not appear to be constructive and has beenreverted. If you only meant to make a test edit, please use thesandbox for that. Thank you.
Please stop making test edits to Wikipedia. It is consideredvandalism, which, under Wikipedia policy, can lead tobeing blocked from editing. If you would like to experiment again, please use thesandbox.
to explicitly state which articles were vandalized. Where appropriate, replace the "#" with the warning level number (1 to 4). Insert the title of the article being referenced. For example:
{{subst:uw-test1|France}}
Hello, I'mExample. An edit that you recently made toFrance seemed to be a test and has beenreverted. If you want to practice editing, please use thesandbox. If you think a mistake was made, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message onmy talk page. Thanks!
The "subst" causes the template text to be pasted into the talk page as if you had typed it out, instead of leaving {{subst:uw-test1}} visible when editing the page. This makes the messages more personal to the user, and thus, more friendly. Also, if someone vandalizes the template, then the vandalism will not affect every page that uses the text from the template.
If the vandal will not stop, list them atWikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism. Ensure that the user has been warned thoroughly before posting a notice onWikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism and has had time (three or four minutes) to read the warnings and still ignore them. If a user has not been sufficiently warned, or has only vandalized a couple of times an administrator may simply remove the notice without action.
The blocking administrator will usually leave this or one of the otherBlock Templates on the vandal's talk page:
If you think there are good reasons for being unblocked, please read theguide to appealing blocks, then add the following text below the block notice on your talk page:{{unblock|reason=Your reason here ~~~~}}.
Remember to sign and timestamp your warnings by leaving four tildes (like this: ~~~~).
If an address is not in one, it will probably be in another. Then add{{Shared IP}} to the talk pages of users who vandalise – for persons editing from an organization the realisation that they can be traced is often sufficient to make them stop. (See the template page for variations as to schools, libraries, government institutions, etc.)
Tools
The following is a list of tools and resources available for those who want to clean up with a more systematic approach.
Theold school way is to loadrecent changes and check the (diff) links. It can be filtered according tofeatured articles,good articles,living people, new accounts' contribs, IPs' contribs, mobile contribs (as these are more prone to vandalism, seeHelp:Recent changes), and even by likelihood of being damaging or bad-faith. Searching for pages by theirnamespace and specifictags (e.g. VisualEditor, possible BLP issue or vandalism, etc.) can also be done. If they contain harmful edits, you revert to the previous version. However, the high volume of edits that occur each second makes this difficult to accomplish most of the time, and several tools have been created to simplify the process:
DoubleCheck, akaWikiLoop DoubleCheck is a web app for monitoring and labeling revisions. When labeled as "Should Revert" and is revert-able, it provides a quick link for user to go to Wikipedia to revert that specific revision. Direct link to the app:doublecheck.wikiloop.org. Or build and run your self-hosted version via its open-sourced code repo ongithub.
Please be aware that this program is not hosted on Wikimedia Foundation servers
Huggle is a fast diff browser which parses edits from users and sorts them by predicted level of vandalism. Once identified, malicious edits can be reverted in the click of a button. Due to the fast-paced nature of the program, users on the English Wikipedia must have therollback permission to use it; however, this is not a requirement on other wikis.
IRC Bots report at the#cvn-wp-enconnect channel on theLibera Chat network list suspected vandalism edits (for example: blankings, edits made by blacklisted users, etc.).
Lupin's Anti-Vandal Tool monitors the RSS feed and flags edits with common vandalism terms. It also has a live spellcheck feature.
RCMap geolocates anonymous edits from the IRC live feed and displays them on a world map, with links to diffs. Supports multiple languages in a unified interface.
Please be aware that this program is not hosted on Wikimedia Foundation servers
RC Patrol is a lightweight script that makes it easier to patrol recent changes. After installing, visitthis page. The script uses ORES to automatically determine whether the edit needs review. You need rollback or admin permissions to use the script, just like withHuggle.
RedWarn patrol can be activated by any user of RedWarn on therecent changes page, quick reviewing and one-click rollback of disruptive edits.Ultraviolet is a new rewrite of RedWarn currently in beta.
SWViewer (direct link) is a user-friendlywebapp with simple and intuitive UI that enables you to monitor recent changes in real-time. It also provides features to monitor multiple wikis at the same time. In order to use the application, rollback permission is required.
AntiVandal is another web-based vandalism monitoring tool, similar to Huggle in User Interface. It can be used to quickly revert vandalism and warn the vandal using escalating or 4im only warning templates. Users can also directly report vandals toAdministrator Intervention against Vandalism after sufficient warning has been given. Rollback or admin permission is required to use the script.
WatchlistBot is anXMPP bot that sends messages in realtime when articles are modified. Users with a Jabber account can subscribe to the bot and watch both articles and users.
Rollback tools
These tools extend therollback feature by allowing you to specify a summary when using rollback. They may also offer additional features:
Please be aware that this program is not hosted on Wikimedia Foundation servers
Navigation popups are a set of utilities that appear when hovering over wikilinks. Particularly, hovering over links of old versions provides a "revert" link.
Twinkle gives both non-administrators and administrators three types of rollback functions. Other functions include a full library of speedy deletion functions, user warnings, pseudo-automatic reporting of vandals, and more.
RedWarn, likeTwinkle, gives both non-administrators and administratorsnearly twenty types of rollback functions, including a "rollback preview" and "quick rollback".
Ultraviolet also provides several different types of rollback functions for both non-administrators and administrators, like RedWarn.
mobileUndo (new version) a script which allows you to revert when using the mobile interface.
Special pages
User:Adam1213/warn is a page that simplifies the process of warning vandals by allowing warnings to be submitted to specific users directly from the page.
Task Forces
Wikipedia:Counter-Vandalism Unit A voluntary group who will provide assistance at times of high levels of vandalism and advice on counter vandalism methods.
LiftWing is a web service and API that providesmachine learningas a service for Wikimedia projects maintained by theScoring Platform team. The system is designed to help automate critical wiki-work – for example, vandalism detection and removal. Currently, LiftWing's revision scoring ("revscoring")models can predict article quality, good faith, and how damaging an edit is.[2]
Template:Vandalism information, a tool used as an indication of the current overall level of vandalism that is taking place on Wikipedia. On the page, click the edit button below the vandalism meter to change its level from5 to1 and/or add a short comment;5 indicates very low levels of vandalism, and1 indicates extremely high. You can add the vandalism information template to your userpage to stay up to date. SeeTemplate talk:Vandalism information for different styles.
Countervandalism Network, volunteer group that operates the "#cvn-" channels. This group is not owned by or affiliated with Wikimedia Foundation.
Wikilink scripts enable you to double click on [[wikilinks]] within IRC clients. Useful if doing patrol on the IRC channels.
There are other scripts that may be handy while doing cleanup (not necessarily vandalism cleanup). Check them atWikiProject User scripts/Scripts (WP:JS)
For a listing of current collaborations, tasks, and news, see theCommunity portal. For a listing of ongoing discussions and current requests, see theDashboard.
Hello, I'mExample. An edit that you recently made seemed to be a test and has beenreverted. If you want to practice editing, please use thesandbox. If you think a mistake was made, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message onmy talk page. Thanks! ~~~~
Please refrain from making test edits in Wikipedia pages, even if you intend to fix them later. Your edits have beenreverted. If you would like to experiment again, please use thesandbox. Thank you. ~~~~
Please stop yourdisruptive editing. If you continue to addunsourced or poorly sourced content, you may beblocked from editing.
Welcome to Wikipedia. Thank you for reverting your recent experiment. Please take a look at thewelcome page to learn more about contributing to our encyclopedia. If you would like to experiment further, please use thesandbox instead, as someone could see your edit before you revert it. Thank you.
Please refrain from making test edits in Wikipedia pages, even if you intend to fix them later. Your edits have beenreverted. If you would like to experiment again, please use thesandbox. Thank you.
Please stop making test edits to Wikipedia. It is consideredvandalism, which, under Wikipedia policy, can lead tobeing blocked from editing. If you would like to experiment again, please use thesandbox.
Please stop yourdisruptive editing. If you continue tovandalize pages by deliberately introducing incorrect information, you may beblocked from editing.
You may beblocked from editing without further warning the next time youvandalize Wikipedia.
