Edit war
 | This page is an official policy on the Simple English Wikipedia. Many people agree with it. They see it as a standard idea that all users should follow. When changing this page, please check that other people agree with your changes. Use the talk page when you are not sure or when you want to suggest a change. |
An edit war, or change war, happens when people do not agree on an article's content. Instead of discussing it on the talk page, they keep changing the article back and forth. If this happens, an administrator may protect the page for a few days so that no one except administrators can change it. This is so that everyone will have a chance to think about the article and come to a consensus or compromise. If the reverting carries on, an administrator may block users.
It is not a good idea to start or join an edit war. The Wikipedian way is to talk about it and have all sides give their opinion. If that does not work, ask a Wikipedian who has not been working on the article to give their opinion.
Three revert rule
Because edit wars go against the idea of consensus, users who take part in an edit war can be blocked. This usually happens if the user reverts (changes the page back) more than three times in a day. If someone is in an edit war, an administrator can block them even if they have not reverted the page more than three times. If a user is reverting obvious vandalism, then the three revert rule may not apply to them.
Reporting violations
To report violations of the three revert rule, use the administrators' noticeboard. Please kindly notify all parties involved about the discussion.