Wikipedia talk:Protection policy

This page is not for proposing or discussing edits to protected pages.

To request or propose a change to a page that you are not able to edit, place a message on its talk page. If the page is fully protected, you may attract the attention of an admin to make the change by placing the {{edit fully-protected}} template above your request. Requests placed here will probably be removed or ignored.

If the page in question and its talk page are both protected please make your edit request at Wikipedia:Request for edit.
To request that a page be protected or unprotected, see Wikipedia:Requests for page protection.
To suggest that a move-protected page be renamed, see Wikipedia:Requested moves.
To request that a deleted page protected against re-creation be re-created or restored, see Wikipedia:Deletion review.
For information about protecting the main page featured article or other featured content, see Wikipedia:Main Page featured article protection.

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Protection policy page.

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The project page associated with this talk page is an official policy on Wikipedia. Policies have wide acceptance among editors and are considered a standard for all users to follow. Please review policy editing recommendations before making any substantive change to this page. Always remember to keep cool when editing, and don't panic.

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"Full protection" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Full protection has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 May 24 § Full protection until a consensus is reached. Mia Mahey (talk) 04:55, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"Semi-Protection" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Semi-Protection has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 May 24 § Semi-Protection until a consensus is reached. Mia Mahey (talk) 18:52, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"Wikipedia:PDP" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Wikipedia:PDP has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 July 6 § Wikipedia:PDP until a consensus is reached. — AP 499D25 (talk) 05:52, 6 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Policy should define "inactive" administrator

WP:UNPROTPOL doesn't define what "inactive" means here: Editors desiring the unprotection of a page should, in the first instance, ask the administrator who applied the protection unless the administrator is inactive or no longer an administrator; thereafter, requests can be made at Requests for unprotection. To provide more clarity and less room for personal interpretation and disagreements on WP:RFUP, I suggest that we add a simple definition for this section that users can easily interpret such as no edits within the last 30 days. Daniel Quinlan (talk) 21:31, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

How about just link to active users list for who is active? — xaosflux ^Talk 22:27, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That's an interesting idea, but that would rule out administrators who are available, but not performing actions in the last 30 days. That would even include administrators participating in administration-related activities, but only via edits. It seems like the intent of excluding inactive administrators is to make sure the process is not delayed due to the unavailability of the protecting administrator which is why recent edits seemed like a good approach. It's pretty hard to have a significant number of actions without making any edits. Daniel Quinlan (talk) 22:57, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:List of administrators/Inactive is an option. After all, all the policy requires is that users ask first. Now that we are more aggressive about desysopping inactive administrators, it makes sense to favor asking in borderline situations. Daniel Quinlan (talk) 23:53, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Should the policy also specify the method of contact and how long users are expected to wait before making a request at WP:RFUP? Something like Editors desiring the unprotection of a page should first ask the administrator who applied the protection on the administrator's user talk page. If the administrator is inactive, no longer holds administrative rights, or has not responded within 1 week, then a request can be made at Requests for unprotection. would be clearer and also doesn't try to fit so much into a single sentence. Daniel Quinlan (talk) 00:17, 17 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]