Wikipedia:User pages
 | This page documents an English Wikipedia project content guideline. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page. |
 | This guideline in a nutshell:
User pages are for communication and collaboration. While considerable leeway is allowed in personalizing and managing your user pages, they are community project pages, not a personal website, blog, social networking medium, or a Wikipedia article. They should be used to better participate in the community, and not used to excess for unrelated purposes nor to bring the project into disrepute. |
| Namespaces | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject namespaces | Talk namespaces | ||
| 0 | (Main/Article) | Talk | 1 |
| 2 | User | User talk | 3 |
| 4 | Wikipedia | Wikipedia talk | 5 |
| 6 | File | File talk | 7 |
| 8 | MediaWiki | MediaWiki talk | 9 |
| 10 | Template | Template talk | 11 |
| 12 | Help | Help talk | 13 |
| 14 | Category | Category talk | 15 |
| 100 | Portal | Portal talk | 101 |
| 118 | Draft | Draft talk | 119 |
| 126 | MOS | MOS talk | 127 |
| 710 | TimedText | TimedText talk | 711 |
| 828 | Module | Module talk | 829 |
| Former namespaces | |||
| 108 | Book | Book talk | 109 |
| 442 | Course | Course talk | 443 |
| 444 | Institution | Institution talk | 445 |
| 446 | Education Program | Education Program talk | 447 |
| 2300 | Gadget | Gadget talk | 2301 |
| 2302 | Gadget definition | Gadget definition talk | 2303 |
| 2600 | Topic | 2601 | |
| Virtual namespaces | |||
| -1 | Special | ||
| -2 | Media | ||
| Current list | |||
User pages are pages for organizing the work users do on Wikipedia, as well as speaking to other users. User pages are mainly for interpersonal discussion, notices, testing and drafts (see: Sandboxes), and, if desired, limited autobiographical and personal content. Pages in the User and User talk namespaces are considered to be user pages.
User pages are available to Wikipedia users personally for purposes compatible with the Wikipedia project and acceptable to the community; Wikipedia is not a blog, webspace provider, or social networking site. Wikipedia policies concerning the content of pages can and generally do apply to user pages, and users must observe these policies. Users believed to be in violation of these policies should first be advised on their talk page using {{subst:uw-userpage}} when immediate action is not otherwise necessary.
Terminology and page locations
Your in this context means associated with you, not belonging to you.
- User page
- Your user page has a name like this: User:Example. (This link is to yours.) Its normal use is to give basic information, if you wish, about yourself or your Wikimedia-related activities. If you prefer to put nothing here, then you can redirect it to your user talk page for the convenience of other editors. You may also wish to create a global user page that will display on all Wikimedia projects where you have not created a local user page.
- User talk page
- Your user talk page (sometimes abbreviated to "your talk page" or "your user talk") has a name like this: User talk:Example. (This link is to yours.) Its normal use is for messages from, and discussion with, other editors. The only editing tool you can use with user talk pages is Source Editor, and not Visual Editor. For more information see Help:Using talk pages.
- Subpages
- Subpages in user space can be used to store sandboxes, essays about Wikipedia, and drafts of Wikipedia articles, among other things. You can create these subpages yourself.
- User pages or user space
- All of these pages are your user pages or user space. While you do not "own" them, by custom you may manage them as you wish, so long as you do so reasonably and within these guidelines.
- You also have subpages ending in
.jsand.cssto store any user scripts and skin customizations that you may wish to have when you edit Wikipedia. Only you and interface administrators can edit such pages, although anyone can view them.
Creating a subpage
You can create subpages of your User page and your Talk page. To create a subpage, type the following into the Wikipedia search box and press the ↵ Enter key, replacing "Your_Wikipedia_Name" with your username:
User:Your_Wikipedia_Name/subpage_name
This will bring you to a page with the title User:Your_Wikipedia_Name/subpage_name. Now click the "Create" button next to the Wikipedia search box and the editing window will open. Enter a few test words and save the new page. You will notice that different from your user page, a subpage contains a backlink to your user page, which looks like this:
<User:Your_Wikipedia_Name
Clicking on the backlink will bring you to your user page. But, contrary to what you might expect, no new tab has been created for "subpages", for example, containing a list of all of your subpages; everything on your user page is unchanged. So how do you navigate to your subpage? As a method of last resort, you can always go back to your subpage by adding the title of your subpage to the URL of your user page:
If your home page URL is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Your_Wikipedia_Name just add the name of your subpage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Your_Wikipedia_Name/subpage_name
There is, of course, an easier method, but it has to be done manually. Copy and modify the following text and put it on your user page:
[[Special:Prefixindex/User:Your_Wikipedia_Name]]
After saving your user page, clicking on this link will provide you with a list of all pages containing the string "User:Your_Wikipedia_Name", which in our case includes the sandbox, the user page and, of course, the newly created subpage.
User talk notification
Users will be notified when someone else edits their user talk page. Since 30 April 2013, registered users receive a notification through the new Wikipedia:Notifications system (see image right); unregistered users still receive notifications with the old-style Orange Bar. Registered users wishing to add back the functionality of the Orange Bar notification may do so through this script.
For users not editing with an account (unregistered users), the alert below is automatically displayed on all pages until they view their user talk page. If they click "new message," it will direct them to the bottom of their talk page. If they click "last change," it will show them the last edit done to their talk page. Creating a fake message banner that misleads readers into thinking they have new messages is prohibited.
The links Special:MyPage and Special:MyTalk are shortcuts that take any user to their own user and user talk pages. If someone is to visit your (or someone else's) user or user talk pages, a proper page link will be needed (e.g., [[User talk:Example]]). In practice, user and user talk pages are mostly visited by clicking on user signatures in discussions, and links shown in page histories and diffs.
Own user talk edits in watchlist
In your watchlist, you may wish to make edits to your user talk page more noticeable, so that you can check these – since they might be more urgent – before you check the other changes. To highlight all edits to your user talk page, place this CSS rule in your CSS:
/* make it easier to pick out edits to own user talk page */
li.mw-changeslist-ns3-{{subst:REVISIONUSER}} {
background-color: #fef6e7;
border: 1px solid #edab00;
color: #000;
}
To restrict the highlighting to just those edits which you have not yet viewed, use this rule instead:
/* make it easier to pick out edits to own user talk page, but only if not yet visited */
li.mw-changeslist-line-watched.mw-changeslist-ns3-{{subst:REVISIONUSER}} {
background-color: #fef6e7;
border: 1px solid #edab00;
color: #000;
}
If your user name contains spaces, you will need to make a second edit to replace these spaces with underscores.
Options available from user pages
In addition to the usual information accessible from an article page such as page history, "Discuss this page" and the like, users visiting user and user talk pages can also click "User contributions" (in the sidebar or at the bottom of the page) to see what contributions you have made at Wikipedia over time, and "Logs" to see records of other events related to your editorship, done by yourself and by others. (Note that having your user page deleted does not delete any list of your wider contributions.)
Visitors to your user page can also click "Email this user" if you have opted in your user preferences to be able to send and receive email. Your email address will remain private unless you reveal it yourself, select the option to reveal it (in preferences), or reply using an email system outside Wikipedia.
What may I have in my user pages?
There is no fixed use for user pages, except that usually one's user page has something about oneself, and one's talk page is used for messaging. Provided other users can quickly and easily find the pages they need, users may, within reason, freely organize their user pages as they choose.
Users may include a user page notice on their own user pages, user talk pages, or both. Placing the template {{User page}} at the start of a user page clearly identifies the nature of the page for readers, and also helps if people find the labeled page in copies of Wikipedia elsewhere (more about this below) and want to locate the original.
Contributions can also be given a wider license – for example releasing them into the public domain or multi-licensing them – by putting a notice to this effect on one's user page, or on a subpage linked from it. Note that it is not possible to give them narrower licensing: all edits on Wikipedia, including all userspace edits, are licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License and in most cases the GNU Free Documentation License as part of Wikipedia.
User pages may be mirrored by other sites. If there is material you do not want copied, reposted, or reused, do not post it on the site.
Certain kinds of material must not linger indefinitely in user space; see below for details.
Besides communication, other legitimate uses of user space include (but are not limited to):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You are also welcome to include a simple link to your personal home page, although you should not surround it with any promotional language. However, if a link to your home page is the only thing on your userpage, this may be seen as an attempt at self-promotion.
User pages are also used for administrative purposes, to make users aware of blocks, warnings, or other sanctions if they happen, and to notify of matters that may affect articles you have worked on or editorial issues you have been involved with. Others may also edit your user pages, for instance awarding you a barnstar or leaving notes and images for you, or adding comments and questions. Although you have wide leeway to edit your user pages, a few of these matters should not be removed (see below).
Userspace and mainspace
Details about yourself should not normally go in the main encyclopedia namespace (reserved for encyclopedia articles only), and encyclopedia articles should never link to or transclude any userspace pages.
In the rare case that you or something closely connected to you may have an article in the encyclopedia, that is always treated as completely separate from you as an editor. You should very carefully read the guidance on conflict of interest and generally avoid editing about yourself or matters closely related to you in any article.
If you would like to draft a new article, Help:Userspace draft provides a standard template and useful guidance to help you create a draft in your userspace, and the Article Wizard can walk you through all stages of creating an article with the option to save as a userspace draft too. You can use the template {{userspace draft}} to tag a userspace draft if it is not automatically done for you.
Personal and privacy-breaching material
Some people add personal information such as contact details (email, instant messaging, etc.), a photograph, their real name, their location, information about their areas of expertise and interest, likes and dislikes, etc. Once added, this information is unlikely to ever become private again. It could be copied elsewhere or even used to harass you in the future. You are cautioned to think carefully before adding non-public information to your user page, because you are highly unlikely to be able to completely retract it later, even if you change your mind and no longer wish for the information to be public.
Privacy-breaching non-public material, whether added by yourself or others, may be removed from any page upon request, either by administrators or (unless impractical) by purging from the page history and any logs by oversighters (see requests for oversight).
Userboxes
Userboxes are fun little boxes you can put in your user page to express yourself. They are rectangular and usually contain a picture and text. Here is an example:
 | A userbox is a small rectangular box that looks like this. |
What may I not have in my user pages?
Generally, you should avoid substantial content on your user page that is unrelated to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a general hosting service, so your user page is not a personal website. Your user page is about you as a Wikipedian, and pages in your user space should be used as part of your efforts to contribute to the project.
In addition, there is broad agreement that you may not include in your user space material that is likely to bring the project into disrepute, or which is likely to give widespread offense (e.g. racist ideology). Whether serious or trolling, "Wikipedia is not a soapbox" is usually interpreted as applying to user space as well as the encyclopedia itself, and "Wikipedia is not censored" relates to article pages and images; in other namespaces there are restrictions aimed at ensuring relevance, value, and non-disruption to the community. You do have more latitude in user space than elsewhere, but don't be inconsiderate. Extremely offensive material may be removed on sight by any editor.
The Wikipedia community is generally tolerant and offers fairly wide latitude in applying these guidelines to regular participants. Particularly, community-building activities that are not strictly "on topic" may be allowed, especially when initiated by committed Wikipedians with good edit histories. At their best, such activities help us to build the community, and this helps to build the encyclopedia. But at the same time, if user page activity becomes disruptive to the community or gets in the way of the task of building an encyclopedia, it must be modified to prevent disruption.
Excessive unrelated content
Unrelated content includes, but is not limited to:
| Writings, information, discussions, and activities not closely related to Wikipedia's goals |
|
|---|---|
| Promotional and advocacy material and links |
|
| Very divisive or offensive material not related to encyclopedia editing |
|
| Personal information |
|
| Wikipedia content not suited to userspace |
|
In general, if you have material that you do not wish others to edit, or that is otherwise inappropriate for Wikipedia, it should be placed on a personal web site. Many free and low-cost web hosting, email, and weblog services are widely available, and are a proper place for content unrelated to Wikipedia. For wiki-style community collaboration, you can download the MediaWiki software and install it on your own server if you want full control, or use one of many online wiki farms.
Advocacy or support of grossly improper behaviors with no project benefit
Statements or pages that seem to advocate, encourage, or condone these behaviors:[1] vandalism, copyright violation, edit warring, harassment, privacy breach, defamation, and acts of violence. ("Acts of violence" includes all forms of violence but does not include mere statements of support for controversial groups or regimes that some may interpret as an encouragement of violence.)
These may be removed, redacted or collapsed by any user to avoid the appearance of acceptability for Wikipedia, and existing speedy deletion criteria may apply. To preserve traditional leeway over userspace, other kinds of material should be handled as described below unless otherwise agreed by consensus.
Categories, templates that add categories, and redirects
Do not put your userpage or subpages, including draft articles, into content categories. Userpages and subpages may be placed in appropriate administrative categories, such as Category:User essays.
Especially note that templates often add categories themselves. You can prevent this while the article is being drafted, by putting tlx| between the {{ and the template name, like this: {{tlx|stub|any parameters}}.
You can also force a portion of text to be ignored by adding <!-- in front of it and --> after it, or by adding a colon before "Category", like this: [[:Category:Bridges]] to force a category link to act like a plain wikilink.
User talk pages should not redirect to anything other than the talk page of another account controlled by the same user. However, redirects from userspace subpages to mainspace are common and acceptable. Soft redirects are allowed on userpages.
User pages that look like project pages
Userspace is also not a substitute for project space (Wikipedia:...), nor should a userspace page be used as primary documentation for any Wikipedia policy, guideline, practice, or established concept. If your user page related to the project becomes widely used or linked in project space, or has functional use similar to a project page, consider moving it into project space or merging it with other similar pages already existing there.
Content copied from mainspace
Old copies of mainspace articles should be deleted. Mainspace material may be copied to userspace for short-term, active drafting or experimental purposes (the template {{userspace draft}} can be added to the top of the page to identify these). Note the requirements of Wikipedia:Copying within Wikipedia. Satisfactory edits should be promptly incorporated into the mainspace article and the userspace copy deleted (use {{db-u1}}), as content forking represents an attribution hazard.
User pages that look like articles
Userspace is not a free web host and should not be used to indefinitely host pages that look like articles, old revisions, deleted content, or your preferred version of disputed content. Pages that look like articles outside of mainspace, such as draft articles still being prepared, should not be indexed for search engines.
When a userspace page reaches a point where it can be included as an article, consider moving it into mainspace or using its content appropriately in other relevant articles. {{Userpage blanked}} may be added to such pages that have not been edited for a considerable amount of time.
Actual fake articles should be deleted as incompatible with the purpose of the project. Pages that egregiously present false information may be tagged with {{db-hoax}}. Blatant promotional content may qualify for {{db-g11}} tagging. Clearly inappropriate content created by non-genuine contributors should be tagged with {{db-u5}}. Pages that preserve material previously deleted, without an active attempt to address the reasons for deletion, if left live, may be deleted by tagging with {{db-g4}}. Less blatant cases are routinely deleted at WP:MfD.
Old unfinished draft articles
Unfinished userspace drafts may be ignored, moved to draft namespace or listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Abandoned Drafts for adoption by other editors if the original author no longer wants them or appears to have stopped editing.
Old drafting pages in the userspace of inactive users:
- If suitable for mainspace, move to mainspace;[2]
- if the draft is not problematic (e.g. no BLP, reliability, promotional issues) but not ready for mainspace, let it be;[3]
- if of some potential but problematic, then blank during periods of inactivity using {{Userpage blanked}};[3]
- if the draft is an old copy from mainspace, consider nominating it for deletion;
- if an actual draft version of a copy-pasted article, redirect if it was copied by the sole contributor, otherwise request a history merge; and finally,
- if the draft has no potential and is problematic even if blanked, seek deletion.
Note: Redirects from userspace subpages to mainspace are common and acceptable. Wikipedia:Soft redirect is an alternative considered preferable by some.
User space drafts have no expiration date and thus, cannot and should not be deleted on the grounds of their age alone.[4] Furthermore:[5]
- GNG does not apply to drafts.
- User space drafts prevented from being moved to the main space only because of the GNG are not to be kept indefinitely.[6]
- Drafts deemed fit to be articles can be moved across namespaces or submitted for AfC without the author's explicit permission if and only if the draft creator is reasonably inactive.
- Userspace drafts which do not meet article content standards should not be moved to mainspace in order to seek deletion.
- In case a userspace draft was moved to mainspace but is found not fit to be in mainspace, it must be returned to the previous location in userspace.
- Any editor who intends to improve old userspace drafts can move them provided the creator of said draft is "reasonably" inactive.
Non-free files
Do not include non-free files (copyrighted files lacking a free content license) on your user page or on any subpage thereof, per the non-free content policy. Non-free files found on user or user talk pages will be removed without warning and, if unused in a Wikipedia article, will be deleted entirely. Links to non-free files are acceptable—place a colon before the word "File" as in [[:File:Example.jpg]].
Images that would bring the project into disrepute
There is broad consensus that you should not have any image in your userspace that would bring the project into disrepute and you may be asked to remove such images. Content clearly intended as sexually provocative (images and in some cases text) or to cause distress and shock that appears to have little or no project benefit or using Wikipedia only as a web host or personal pages or for advocacy, may be removed by any user (or deleted), subject to appeal at deletion review.[7] Context should be taken into account. Simple personal disclosures of a non-provocative nature (such as userboxes or statements about sexuality and relationship status) are unaffected.
Copyright violations
The same rules for copyright apply on userpages as in article space. Text must be either freely licensed or out of copyright; otherwise only a short quote can be used. If you use text from another source on your userpage, it should still be credited to the author, whether or not it is currently copyrighted.
Simulation and disruption of the MediaWiki interface
The Wikipedia community strongly discourages simulating the MediaWiki interface, except on the rare occasion when it is necessary for testing purposes. Fake user talk notification banners that mislead readers into thinking they have new messages are also prohibited.[8]
CSS and other formatting codes that disrupt the MediaWiki interface, for example by preventing important links or controls from being easily seen or used, making text on the page hard to read or unreadable (other than by way of commenting out), or replacing the expected interface with a disruptive simulation, may be removed or remedied by any user. Inappropriate internal or external links that unexpectedly direct the reader to unreasonable locations or violate prohibitions on linking may also be removed or remedied by any user. Text, images, and non-disruptive formatting should be left as intact as possible. Users of such code should consider possible disruption to other skins, diffs, and old revisions.
Ownership and editing of user pages
Traditionally, Wikipedia offers wide latitude to users to manage their user space as they see fit. However, pages in user space belong to the wider community. They are not a personal homepage, and do not belong to the user. They are part of Wikipedia, and exist to make collaboration among editors easier.
You can alter your user page with either Source editor or Visual Editor, but you can only edit user talk pages with Source Editor or the reply tool.
Bots and other users may edit pages in your user space or leave messages for you, though by convention others will not usually edit your user page itself, other than (rarely) to address significant concerns or place project-related tags. Material that clearly does not somehow further the goals of the project may be removed (see below), as may edits from banned users. Most community policies including No personal attacks and Biographies of living persons will apply to your user space, just as elsewhere. (Purely content policies such as original research and neutral point of view generally do not apply unless the material is moved into mainspace.)
As with all other edits, user space contributions are irrevocably licensed for copying and reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License and GNU Free Documentation License.
Finally, a few specific notices and tags, if placed, may not be moved to a less visible subpage or deleted without discussion.
Removal of comments, notices, and warnings
Policy does not prohibit users, whether registered or unregistered, from removing comments from their own talk pages, although archiving is preferred. If a user removes material from their talk page, it is normally taken to mean that the user has read and is aware of its contents; this is true whether the removal was manual or automatic. There is no need to keep them on display, and usually users should not be forced to do so. It is often best to simply let the matter rest if the issues stop. If they do not, or they recur, then any record of past warnings and discussions can be found in the page history if ever needed, and these diffs are just as good evidence of previous matters.
A number of important matters may not be removed by the user—they are part of the wider community's processes:
- Declined unblock requests regarding a currently active sitewide block.
- Miscellany for deletion tags for the user talk page itself[9] (while the discussion is in progress).
- Speedy deletion tags for the user talk page itself[9] and requests for uninvolved administrator help (an administrator will quickly determine if these are valid or not; use the link embedded in the notice to object and post a comment, do not just remove the tag).
- For IP editors, templates and notes left to indicate other users share the same IP address. This includes schools, military installations, WiFi hotspots, and other shared IP addresses, but not dynamic IP addresses. Very old content on these pages may be removed.
Note: Restoring talk page notices, even if they should not be removed, is not a listed exception to the three-revert rule.[10]
Editing of other editors' user and user talk pages
In general, one should avoid substantially editing another's user and user talk pages, except when it is likely edits are expected and/or will be helpful. If unsure, ask.
If an editor asks you not to edit their user pages, such requests should, within reason, be respected. However, editors should not make such requests lightly, especially concerning their talk pages, as doing so can impede the ordinary communication which is important for the improvement and smooth running of the project. Also, a user cannot avoid administrator attention or notices and communications that policies or guidelines require to be posted merely by demanding their talk page not be posted to. Still, repeatedly posting on a user's page after being asked not to, without good reason, may be seen as harassment or a similar kind of disruptive behavior. When in doubt, ask for help from another experienced editor or uninvolved administrator. See also Wikipedia:Dispute resolution for tips on resolving disputes.
Handling inappropriate content
On your user pages
If the community lets you know that they would rather you delete some content from your user space, you should consider doing so—such content is only permitted with the consent of the community. Alternatively, you could move the content to another site, and link to it.
Although other editors will aim to respect your user space, if corrective action is needed and not undertaken, the inappropriate content will eventually be removed, either by editing the page (if only part is inappropriate), by redirecting the page to your main user page (if entirely inappropriate), by community discussion at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion, or possibly by the application of WP:CSD#U5. A non-contributor's misuse of Wikipedia as a web host. Inappropriate content may be removed from any page in your user space, including your user talk page.
On others' user pages
The best option if there is a concern with a user's page is to draw their attention to the matter via their talk page and let them edit it themselves, if they are agreeable. In some cases a more experienced editor may make substantive edits to another user's user space, in which case that editor should leave a note explaining why this was done. This should not be done for trivial reasons. If the user does not agree, or does not effectively remedy the concerns, or the matter is unsure or controversial, then other steps in this section can be taken including uninvolved user opinions or proposing the page for deletion.
If the material must be addressed urgently (for example, unambiguous copyright, attack, defamation, or BLP reasons, etc.), the user appears inactive, your edit appears unlikely to cause problems, and you are quite sure the material is inappropriate, then remove or fix the problem material minimally and leave a note explaining what you have done, why you have done so, and inviting the user to discuss if needed. If the entire page is inappropriate, consider blanking it, or redirecting the subpage to the userpage, or to the most relevant existing mainspace or project space page.
Unsuitable pages, media and images in userspace may also be nominated for deletion or (if appropriate) speedy deleted, but special care should be taken, as the user may be expecting leeway and take it personally, and there are a few exceptions. Users with a strong editing record and/or most of their contribution edits outside their user space should be given a little more leeway in this regard than users whose edits consist solely or mostly of user space edits or promotional-style activity. See Deleting user pages below.
Blocked and banned users
Users who are site-blocked or site-banned are encouraged to primarily use their talk pages for unblock requests or conversation leading toward such a request. Though blocked or banned users retain much of the wide latitude afforded to all users in their own user space, they may lose access to their user talk page if they violate policies (e.g., WP:PROXYING) or otherwise continue acting disruptively.
User pages and leaving Wikipedia
When a user leaves Wikipedia, their user and user talk pages are usually unaffected and may be edited again at any future time. Some users place the {{retired}} template on their user and talk page to let others know that they are away for an extended period or permanently. A user may blank their user and user talk pages (i.e. overwriting with a blank page) provided non-removable notices (if any) are left intact.
Courtesy vanishing
Wikipedia's community traditionally offers a courtesy vanishing to users who are permanently departing Wikipedia and will sever all ties with the site.
Summary of key points: While some help can be given, it is not possible for your edits to be removed entirely, and account deletion would potentially violate copyrights by allowing for inaccurate attribution and authorship claims. Certain important templates may need to be retained on user and user talk pages. Also, pages that may be of value to the wider community or whose deletion is opposed by other users might be undeleted during a deletion discussion. Pages remain licensed for reuse even after deletion, and may occasionally be cited or deemed to contain useful content. If a "vanished" user returns, old pages associated with them may be undeleted or unblanked, and could be linked to any new account they create and disclosed at RFA; if this would be a problem, consult ArbCom by email beforehand. Of course, the return of users in good standing or reformed "problem users" is welcomed if they happen to change their mind.
Users who have left Wikipedia may be added to Wikipedia:Missing Wikipedians after a certain amount of time, usually one year without an edit.
Protection of user pages
As with article pages, user pages are occasionally the targets of vandalism, or, more rarely, edit wars. When edit wars or vandalism persist, the affected page should be protected from editing.
Most user page vandalism occurs in retaliation for a contributor's efforts to deal with vandalism. Administrators may protect their own user pages when appropriate, and are permitted to edit protected pages in user space. Sometimes a non-administrator's user page may be targeted for vandalism. Some of this vandalism is prevented through a filter, as unregistered and unconfirmed editors are not permitted to modify other editors' primary user pages.[11]
In cases in which the filter is insufficient in preventing vandalism to a non-administrator's user page, an editor may create a .css suffixed sub-page containing their user page content within their user space, transclude the sub-page into their main user page, then request that an administrator fully protect their user page. (For instance, create User:Example User as {{User:Example User/userpage.css}}.) This method will completely prevent further vandalism by limiting user page editing to yourself, and interface administrators, since ".js" and ".css" pages in userspace can only be edited by them. Note that the addition of inappropriate content to your user page after locking other editors out is considered a serious offense.
Repeatedly inserting copyrighted content or other inappropriate material on your own user pages after being notified not to do so, or misusing user space following a block (e.g., for personal attacks or tendentious editing) are both considered disruptive and may lead to the pages being protected to prevent further disruption. User pages may also routinely be protected in the event of a ban.
Vandalism of talk pages is less common. Usually such vandalism should merely be reverted. Blocks should be used for repeated vandalism of talk pages, where policy permits. In rare cases, protection may be used but is considered a last resort given the importance of talk page discussions to the project.
Deletion of user pages
- If you wish to delete your own page, tag the top of the page with {{db-u1}}, and an administrator will delete it for you. However, note that user talk pages are normally not deleted.
Deleting others' user pages
In general, other users' user pages are managed by that user. Except for blatant or serious matters, it is preferable to try contacting the user before deletion (see above). However, unambiguous copyright violations, attack pages, promotional text, and privacy or BLP violations can be speedy deleted using a suitable template, such as {{db-attack}}, {{db-copyvio}} or {{db-spamuser}}; other pages likely to require deletion (or where remedial action is not taken) may be submitted to deletion discussion.
Take special care to speak appropriately and explain the concern; many users will take it as a personal affront or attack if an unknown user announces they are going to delete a userspace image or page, and an uncivil or heavy duty approach can discourage new users who are unaware of expectations and might enjoy contributing. Remember that a limited amount of personal information (perhaps a short biography) and a freely licensed tasteful personal photograph or two are usually allowed if the page reasonably complies with other requirements.
Use of a user page as a personal web page unconnected with Wikipedia's mission may be a speedy deletion criterion, as is clear advertising and promotional use. A user's contributions that consist solely of a lone edit to their user page should not normally be speedy deleted unless it consists solely of spam or other speedy deletable material. Test edits and the re-creation of deleted material (within limits) are permitted in user space.
Deleting your user page or subpages
You can request the deletion of your user page or subpages, by adding {{db-user}} to the top of the page. User space pages tagged for deletion will be deleted if there is no overriding reason the page must be kept. For reasons explained in § Deletion of user talk pages, your talk page and user talk archives created by page move may not be deleted in this way.
Pages which were moved into your user space from somewhere else may also not be deleted upon your request: These must be listed at Articles for deletion if they originated as articles, or Miscellany for deletion for anything else. If you want to move such pages back to where they came from but are unable to complete the move for technical reasons, you can request technical help at Wikipedia:Requested moves/Technical requests.
You can also blank any pages in your user space (other than the few items that must not be removed). Note that blanking one of your user pages is not interpreted as a request to delete that page—see the G7 speedy deletion criterion. If you want it deleted, use {{db-user}}. While blanking your talk page is generally allowed, there may be specific circumstances that disallow you from exactly blanking it, i.e. you may only remove some but not all of the content—see § Removal of comments, notices, and warnings for content which may not be removed.
Alternatively, you might consider simply making the page redirect to your user page or your talk page. This is normally sufficient for most people's needs. Note that while you may redirect your user page and its subpages to your talk page, you may not redirect your talk page to another page in your user space.
Deletion of user talk pages
User talk pages and user talk archives created by page move are generally not deleted; they are usually needed for reference by other users. Individual revisions, log entries, and other user space material may be deleted or redacted for privacy reasons or because of harassment, threats, gross offensiveness, and other serious violations. Exceptions to this can be and are made on occasion for good reason. In addition, nonpublic personal information and potentially libelous information posted to a user talk page may be removed as described above.
User special pages
The Special namespace contains many personal pages generated by software on demand. The virtual content of some special pages depends on preferences that have been set by the user, e.g. classic or enhanced Recent Changes, the number of titles in Recent Changes and the watchlist, etc.
- Special:UserLogin (Log in): to log in to Wikipedia. Special:UserLogin/signup (Create account) to create an account. See Help:Logging in.
- Special:UserLogout (Log out): to log out of your account.
- Special:CentralLogin (Central user log in)
- Special:ChangePassword, Special:ChangeEmail (Change or remove email address), Special:ConfirmEmail (Confirm email address) and Special:ResetTokens
- Special:Preferences: allows you to view and modify your personal settings. See Help:Preferences.
- Special:Contributions (User contributions)
- Special:MyContributions: links to your contributions page. See Help:User contributions.
- Special:MyUploads (File list): lists files you have uploaded.
- Special:MyPage: links to your user page.
- Special:Notifications: links to your notifications page
- Special:MyTalk: links to your user talk page.
- Special:Watchlist: shows recent changes to the pages you are watching. See Help:Watching pages.
- Special:EditWatchlist and Special:EditWatchlist/raw: To edit your watchlist.
- Special:MergeAccount (Login unification status): to create a unified account to log on to any Wikimedia project. See Help:Unified login.
User page search
By default, Wikipedia's search engine is restricted to the Article namespace. Typing the project page prefix User: (User followed by a colon) will provide search results for the "User namespace". You can also use the Special:Search box below to locate User pages. See Help:Searching for more information.
Notes
- ^ Treatment such as excusing, trivializing, or normalizing these issues as tolerable or of little importance (for example, by explaining support of vandalism as being 'humor' or edit warring as being valid for resolving content issues) will generally be seen as having the same effect as condoning the behavior, and may also be removed.
- ^ Userspace drafts which do not meet article content standards should not be moved to mainspace in order to seek deletion. If a userspace draft was moved to mainspace but is found not fit to be in mainspace, it must be returned to the parent location.
- ^ a b January 2020 RfC
- ^ March 2016 RfC
- ^ April 2016 RFC
- ^ There is no consensus holding time.
- ^ The community has taken many nude and sexual galleries to MFD. As a guide:
- Those created by known and respected long-standing contributors, whose aim is clearly more to showcase our work and WP:NOT#CENSORED and that are not designed for self-amusement or for sexual provocation may be kept but even so have at times been MFD'ed multiple times or closed as "no consensus".
- Those which use Wikipedia as personal webspace, are excessively focused upon sexual material, aim at "pushing the edge" on freedom to use userspace, or make a point, rather than project benefit, especially by editors with a lesser record of positive contribution and cases where non-free imagery is a problem (1), tend to be deleted (2, 3).
- ^ February 2012 RFC. The RfC covered only banners that closely resemble the one listed at § User talk notification in both wording and color. As of 2013[update], the notification system has replaced user talk notification banners for registered users. It is still used for unregistered users and for registered users who have manually enabled it.
- ^ a b This only applies in the rare case that the user talk page itself has been nominated for deletion. Notifications about deletions may be removed at any time.
- ^ In such cases it may be appropriate to request revocation of talkpage access.
- ^ Please refer to Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Protect user pages by default and its talk page for community discussion related to a preventative measure for user pages.
See also
- Category:Wikipedians
- Wikipedia:How to use your user space
- Wikipedia:User page design guide
- Wikipedia:Userfication
- Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Tobias Conradi § Userspace – affirms much of the stated guideline, although consensus has subsequently added or tightened some details.
- Wikipedia:Template messages/User talk namespace – templates that can be used for informational or warning purposes on others' talk pages.
- Wikipedia:User pages/RfC for stale drafts policy restructuring
- GlobalUserPage
Templates
- For user pages:
- {{User info}}
- {{User page}}
- {{Userpageblue%26round}}, i.e., Userpageblue&round
- {{User page mini}}
- {{Userpage bar}} for not mentioning a mirror
- For user talk pages:
- {{User info talk}}
- {{Usertalk bar}} for not mentioning a mirror
- For drafts in the user namespace:
- {{Userspace draft}}