Help:Blocking users

ktip.png This documentation of JAMWiki functionality is based on Mediawiki's reference at mediawiki:Help:Blocking users. Original content licensed in the public domain.
alert.png Blocking and unblocking of users and IP addresses is only available in JAMWiki 1.1+.

Blocking users is an action that administrators can perform upon users or IP addresses to prevent them from editing the wiki.

[Edit]Blocking

Blocking users is fairly straightforward: visit Special:Block and follow these steps:

  1. IP Address or username: Enter in the username or IP address to block in the "User" field. If blocking a username, make sure to check the spelling since only existing users can be blocked. Instead of typing this information in manually, it is also possible to click on a "block" link in recent changes, contributions pages, or history pages, which will automatically fill in this field with the appropriate username or IP address.
  2. Expiration: Enter the length of time before the block should expire, or select "Infinite" if the block should not expire.
  3. Reason (optional): The reason will be used as the message displayed to the blocked user when they try to edit, and it will also be recorded in the logs.
  4. Double-check everything you entered and click on Block this user. A message should appear saying if the block was successful or unsuccessful.

[Edit]Unblocking

To unblock a username or IP address, go to the active block list and click on the (unblock) link next to the user or IP you wish to unblock. Then, enter in an optional reason and click on the unblock button. A message should appear saying if the unblock was successful or unsuccessful. Alternately you can go directly to the Special:Unblock page and manually enter the username or IP address to unblock.

[Edit]What it means to be blocked

Blocked users are unable to edit pages, upload files or move pages. Effectively, this makes the wiki read only for those users. Note that administrators with access to the blocking and unblocking interface may still block and unblock others (including themselves) while blocked.

If a blocked user tries to edit a page or perform another blocked action they will see a message informing them that they are blocked, how long the block is in effect for, who applied the block, and the reason for the block if one was provided.