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 | This is an information page. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels of consensus and vetting. |
Partial blocks may be applied by administrators to prevent a user from editing some part(s) of Wikipedia, in contrast with a sitewide block. Partial blocks may be applied to user accounts, IP addresses and ranges of IP addresses.
Partial blocks can prevent a user from:
- Editing specific pages.
- Editing all pages within a namespace.
- Emailing other users.
- Creating other accounts.
Partial blocks are used to prevent damage or disruption to Wikipedia, not to punish users (see Wikipedia:Blocking policy § Purpose and goals). Any user may report disruption and ask administrators to consider blocking a disruptive account or IP address (see Wikipedia:Blocking policy § Requesting blocks).
If editors believe a block has been improperly issued, they can request a review of that block using the {{unblock}} template or at the Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard. Alternatively, the affected editor may request an unblock following the procedures at Wikipedia:Blocking policy § Unblocking. Administrators can unblock a user when they feel the block is unwarranted or no longer appropriate, in accordance with the blocking policy.
Partial blocking is separate from banning, which is a formal retraction of editing privileges on all or part of Wikipedia. Like sitewide blocks, partial blocks may be used to enforce a ban.
Partial blocks were enabled on the English Wikipedia as a result of a December 2019 RfC.
Purposes
- Partial blocks may be used at the discretion of any administrator in accord with the blocking policy, or community consensus.[1]
- Partial blocks may be used to enforce editing restrictions.[1][a]
- Partial blocks may be used as a requirement for conditional unblocks.[1]
Blocking
Placing blocks
- notes on features
Technical considerations
- When blocking a user from editing specific pages, there is a limit of 10 pages that may be specified.[2] If conditions require additional blocking, a conversion to a standard sitewide block should be considered. Any number of namespaces may be blocked.
- Multiple blocks with different durations cannot be placed at the same time; it is only possible to adjust settings of the current block or to set a new partial block.
- When implementing a partial block, it is possible to create a empty block by not including any blocked action.[3] Such blocks have no effect and should be avoided as they clutter the block log and may confuse other editors and bots.
- Partial blocks of administrators should be avoided, as the blocked administrator will no longer be able to access the block interface for any editor other than the admin who issued the block.[4]
Viewing blocks
Active partial blocks may be viewed at Special:BlockList.