Blocking Policy

Blocking is a method by which administrators can prevent a user or IP address from contributing to the Locked Tomb Wiki either temporarily or permanently. The main objective of a block is to stop detrimental edits and preserve a pleasant environment—they are preventive rather than punitive measures. Blocks occur against a user that has repeatedly violated any of the Locked Tomb Wiki's policies and guidelines.

Block duration may vary depending on the severity and longevity of vandalism. A block can be appealed and lifted if the blocked editor agrees to change their behavior, see *Appealing a Block* for more information.

**If at any point a user begins to bully, harass, or threaten the admins for blocking decisions, they will be issued an immediate 1-week block**.

## **Three Strike System**

Blocking will only be immediate and permanent if an editor has made an instant-block offense. Otherwise, a system of three strikes will be used to get the editor's attention before any long-term blocks occur. For each of the strikes, a message will be posted to the editor's message wall including a link to the relevant guideline or policy being violated. Concurrent violations of multiple Policies and Guidelines will be handled at the discretion of the admins.

* **Notice:** Upon a first violation, an admin will issue a good faith notice that will assume the user's ignorance of the policies and guidelines and will not be accompanied by any block. A notice may read as follows:
	+ *NOTICE! Your edit of [page] has violated one of the Locked Tomb Wiki's Policies and Guidelines—[link to specific policies]. Please take a moment to read through the Policies and Guidelines before continuing to edit. Further violation will result in a Warning and 24-hour block (see [link to Blocking Policy] for more details). Any questions can be directed to the Admin Team [linked]. Thank you!*
* **Warning:** Should the editor continue to violate policy without change, the message will be repeated and accompanied by a 24-hour block meant to encourage the user to re-read the policies and discuss any disagreements with the admins before continuing to edit. A warning may read as follows:
	+ *WARNING! Your edit of [page] has violated one of the Locked Tomb Wiki's Policies and Guidelines—[link to specific policies]. This is your second violation. Take a moment to read through the Policies and Guidelines before continuing to edit. Further violation will result in a Final Warning and 48-hour block (see [link to Blocking Policy] for more details). Any questions can be directed to the Admin Team [linked]. Thank you!*
* **Final Warning:** Should the editor further continue to violate policy without change, the message will be repeated and accompanied by a 48-hour block. This is the final chance for an editor to change their behavior before incurring a longer or potentially permanent ban.
	+ *FINAL WARNING! Your edit of [page] has violated one of the Locked Tomb Wiki's Policies and Guidelines—[link to specific policies]. This is your third violation. Take a moment to read through the Policies and Guidelines before continuing to edit. Further violation will result in a [description of block length for specific offense] (see [link to Blocking Policy] for more details). Any questions can be directed to the Admin Team [linked]. Thank you!*

### Block Duration

After the final warning, editors will be issued a block based on the severity of the offense. All blocks are subject to the responding admin's discretion and block duration may be updated depending on the severity of the offense.

* One Week Block
	+ Violations of the Manual of Style (severe grammatical issues, failure to cite sources, disregard of style conventions, etc)
* Two Week Block
	+ Deletion of valuable information (without reason)
	+ Spam (of wiki pages, discussion posts, or messages on another user's message wall)
* Three Week Block
	+ Additions of false/misleading information or references
	+ Blanking pages (removing all content from a page)
	+ Edit wars (edits being reverted back-and-forth between users)
	+ Sockpuppeting (abusing multiple accounts)
	+ Plagiarism
* Four Week Block
	+ Harassment, abuse, or cyber-bullying of other users
	+ Inappropriate or vulgar content (wiki or discussions)

### Re-Offenders

Editors who continue to violate the Policies and Guidelines after a block of one to four weeks are subject to the judgment of the admins.

### Instant-Block Offense

Instant block offenses result in immediate and permanent bans. Instant block offenses *can* still be appealed but are unlikely to succeed.

* Underage Users (Wiki's T.O.S. require users to be 13 years of age or older)
* Writing/Promoting Hate Speech (slurs or prejudice speech)
* Doxxing (revealing personal, identifying information about yourself or others).
* Vandalism (malicious edits of the wiki)

## **Appealing a Block**

To appeal a block, an editor should respond to the block message on their wall explaining why they should be unblocked.

Typically, this appeal will take one of two forms:

1. An explanation as to why the editor believes they have been blocked in error.
2. An acknowledgement of the violation and the promise to correct future behavior.

**If at any point a user begins to bully, harass, or threaten the admins for blocking decisions, they will be issued an immediate 1-week block**.