SmashWiki:Autoconfirmed users

This page documents an official SmashWiki policy, a widely accepted standard that all users should follow. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. If in doubt, consider discussing changes on the talk page.

Autoconfirmed users are defined as users who have had an account on SmashWiki for at least seven (7) days since their first edit and have made at least ten (10) edits total. New users gain certain rights upon becoming autoconfirmed.

The rights that are gained upon being autoconfirmed are:

• Being able to create non-discussion pages
• Being able to move pages and files
• Being able to edit semi-protected pages
• Being able to upload files

Autoconfirmed FAQ

Q. What rights do new users have?

A. New users have all the same rights as autoconfirmed users except for those listed above.

Q. What is the purpose of autoconfirmation?

A. We restrict these abilities for the purposes of security against vandalism and spam. Specifically:

• Moving pages and files can be burdensome to undo even for admins.
• Deleting pages and files require admin intervention, the process of which is more time-consuming than reverting bad edits.
• The purpose of semi-protection is to disallow edits from anonymous and new users to combat vandalism or spam, or otherwise limit nonconstructive edits to contentious pages and pages that require expertise to edit.
• Unwanted images have a greater potential for harm than text-based vandalism, and so it's in the wiki's best interest to lock image uploading behind a barrier that most bad faith actors will not surmount.
• While the most important images are often protected, uploading new versions of existing files can be abused by new-account vandals to quickly insert unwanted images onto a multitude of pages.

Q. Why does the wiki require autoconfirmation to create new articles?

A. The wiki is fairly established in its content with an active userbase, so this helps to prevent vandalism, spam, and policy-breaking pages. We want new users to familiarize themselves with our policies and editing tools before diving-in to the advanced task of article creation, and the autoconfirmed process is what allows us to set some kind of baseline.

Q. Can a user become autoconfirmed without making any edits?

Q. Can a user become autoconfirmed in less than seven days?

Q. Can users bypass autoconfirm?

A. No. All users must pass both parts of the autoconfirm criteria with no exceptions.

Q. Do users have to be autoconfirmed to be given rollback?

A. No. If one makes enough valid reverts within their first week to create and pass an RfR, there is no reason to withhold the position.

Q. Do users have to be autoconfirmed to be promoted to administrator?

A. Yes. You won't be able to create your RfA subpage or add it to the requests page unless you're autoconfirmed.

Established users

Established users are a step up from autoconfirmed users, requiring an account age of ninety (90) days since their first edit and a total of a hundred (100) edits. Established users have two additional permissions: moving pages without restriction and editing pages under established-protection. This allows more granular control over how pages are protected:

• Pages that can be edited by anyone
• Pages that new users and IPs cannot edit, but autoconfirmed users can (used as a simple anti-spam or anti-vandalism measure)
• Pages that only users with a fair amount of experience can edit (used on pages that are nice for non-staff to edit but too complex/important for newer editors, or pages where autoconfirmed-protection against vandalism has proven ineffective)
• Pages that only staff may edit (used for pages too important to leave open)

As with autoconfirmed, users cannot skip ahead to obtaining the permission. It is not a requirement to be given rollback or administrator status.