Wikipedia:Vandalism-only account

This is an explanatory essay about Wikipedia:Vandalism.

This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.

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This page in a nutshell: Registered accounts that are used only to vandalize Wikipedia are usually blocked indefinitely.

A vandalism-only account is a

registered account that is used only to vandalize

Wikipedia.

Background

Most

range blocks. Generally, schools and other problematic organizations are blocked for a longer period (see § IP addresses

).

As the IP address of a registered editor is not visible in edit histories, many vandals create an account and vandalize Wikipedia. This can allow editing via an IP address or range that has been blocked to anonymous users.

Vandals may also create accounts to vandalize Wikipedia in ways that cannot be done by unregistered users, such as on

page protection is one method of mitigation, such vandalism still occurs from new accounts, resulting in the general consensus that they should be blocked as soon as possible (see below

).

Identifying vandalism-only accounts

If you notice any suspicious edits from a user (particularly one who has only recently registered), the account is possibly intended to be used only for vandalism. A user talk page might not have been created (i.e. appears as a red link), may consist of warning messages only, or rarely be blanked by the vandal. Usernames of disruptive accounts^{[note 1]} also tend to violate Wikipedia's username policy.

Should you notice such activity from registered users,

user's contributions to verify whether the other edits are vandalism. If so, the account can be reported to Administrator intervention against vandalism

as a "vandalism-only account".

Dealing with vandalism-only accounts

Vandalism-only accounts are usually

the username policy

.

Occasionally, the first block implemented may be temporary, depending on the severity of the vandalism. If vandalism resumes after a temporary block expires, it is extremely rare for the second block to be temporary.

long-term abusers

.

IP addresses

IP addresses cannot be considered vandalism-only accounts, as IP addresses are sometimes shared by many users (by way of

reassigned to another computer after a period of time. However, if an IP address has been used only or mostly for vandalism over a long period of time, it may be subject to significantly longer blocks. These blocks are usually set to expire after one year or occasionally even longer - three, four, five, or even ten years. Regardless of the history and circumstances regarding an IP address and vandalism, they are almost never blocked indefinitely.^{[note 2]}

Notes

^ Not specifically vandalism accounts. Disposable PoV-pushing, block-evasion etc. accounts share this trait as well.
^ There are a small amount of IP addresses that are indefinitely blocked. These IP blocks were performed after discussion and due to extremely rare and extraordinary circumstances requiring its use.

Background

Identifying vandalism-only accounts

Dealing with vandalism-only accounts

IP addresses

Notes

See also