Wikipedia:Counter-Vandalism Unit/Academy

Counter-Vandalism homepage • Adopt-a-user Homepage • New Page Patrol homepage • Wikipedia help •#wikipedia-en-help IRC Channel
The CV training program is designed to help new and/or inexperienced users who wish to assist with maintenance tasks to understand the basic principles of countering vandalism on Wikipedia, and to introduce the various 3rd party applications and helper scripts available to users with sufficient experience. Experienced Wikipedians (or trainers in this instance) can "adopt" newer users, mentoring them along the way as they learn about Counter-Vandalism. It is hoped that this program will be able to inform new users about the ins and outs of vandalism and steer them away from making errors in the use of tools and incorrectly identifying vandalism. If you are interested in a (sort of) quick guide first, do check out the Anti Vandal centre - you'll see what you're really letting yourself in for! If you are looking to contribute to Wikipedia but do not intend to remain active in vandalism reversion, then this program is not for you. C-V training is for users who intend to be long-term contributors and members of the community, so if you are simply here to work towards obtaining permission to use various tools that you will not regularly employ, see this page for help instead and do not request training. Users who are neither new nor inexperienced – but who would still like to help maintain the quality of the encyclopedia might like to consider Patrolling New Pages instead - an essential function that requires a high degree of knowledge of Notability Guidelines and Deletion. View the list of trainers below Check that you have already made sufficient mainspace edits (generally around 200) and that you have addressed any previous advice or warnings about your editing. Find a user who is in your time zone and leave a message on their talk page to request training. If you don't receive a reply within 48 hours, please choose another trainer.	Participation Students Learning about Counter-Vandalism is easy and fun. If you'd like an experienced user to show you how, simply choose an active trainer from the list who is in your time zone and leave a message on their talk page. Your chosen trainer should share your interests so that they can comfortably assist you while you learn under their tutelage. For more information on what you will be expected to learn, visit the Syllabus section. Trainers If you are an experienced user and have time to devote to being a trainer, visit the Trainers' resources section where you will find the minimum requirement for trainers, recommended practice, and teaching suggestions and examples. You may then wish to add yourself to the list of active trainers taking note of the page source comments. You will be interested to know that occasionally some candidates for training may be university professors taking part in the Wikipedia Education Program
Goals If you're new and/or inexperienced, before embarking on a Counter-Vandalism training programme, you should be able to demonstrate that you have already mastered the basic principles of editing the encyclopedia and contributed at least 200 edits to MAINSPACE. If you have previously been warned or requested to follow guidelines, you should have demonstrated that you have addressed these issues. When you have shown through training that you have mastered the principles of Counter-Vandalism and can apply them with accuracy, and can communicate correctly and effectively with new users of all kinds you may be able to apply for permission to use restricted tools, such as, for example Rollback, and STiki that will enable you to semi-automate the process, while understanding that speed alone is not essential - the target is accuracy. When you have achieved these goals, you can display the {{User CVU0-en}} userbox on your user page. Syllabus Competency Fail Pass Knowledge and Understanding of Concepts Able to correctly define and describe: How to identify vandalism The importance of assuming good faith Differentiate between vandalism and good faith edits The purpose and correct use of warning templates The best way of dealing with trolls Cannot describe these concepts at a comprehensible level. Unable to differentiate the difference between vandalism and good faith edits Does not understand the key purpose of reverting vandalism Can concisely and elaborately describe each of these concepts. Can describe the proper use of warning templates and how to correctly make an AIV submission. Critical Thinking Able to review historical reversions and identify whether such reversion were correctly categorized Correctly assessed fewer than 85% of the examples provided by their instructor. Correctly assessed at least 85% of the examples provided by their instructor. Communication Able to effectively communicate with other editors regarding reversions Communicates inconsistently with editors via talk page comments or in response to editors who question or challenge their reversions. Communicates in a polite and professional manner and avoids biting other editors and harsh comments. Application Effectively applies the concepts and tools of vandalism fighting in a productive and proficient manner. Cannot consistently revert vandalized pages correctly. Is inconsistent in use of warning on user talk pages or uses incorrect warning templates Has reverted fewer than 50 instances of vandalism in the two weeks prior to graduation - or – has reverted more 50 instances of vandalism with a high degree of incorrect reversions. Demonstrates proficiency in performing reversions, either manually or with a tool (Twinkle, etc.). Consistently leaves the correct messages on vandal’s talk page explaining the reversion, and is able to further explain the vandal their reasoning behind the reversion if prompted. Has accurately reverted at least 50 instances of vandalism in the two weeks prior to graduation. List of available trainers ( to update) Add yourself by clicking here! Available trainers Trainer Current students Student slots open Graduates trained Time zone Tools used Comments Cassiopeia (talk · contribs) 1 2 13 AEST Rollback, Twinkle, Huggle Happy to help you get started in counter vandalism as it is an important part of the project where it is one of areas of my contribution. Tails Wx (talk · contribs) 1 0 0 ET Rollback, Twinkle, Recent changes Hi y'all, another vandalism fighter, mentor, and rollbacker here, can't wait to get you started on anti-vandalism work! Zippybonzo (talk · contribs) 1 2 1 GMT Rollback, RedWarn, AntiVandal, Huggle, SWViewer I'm active at NPP and in anti-vandalism, and I enjoy teaching & helping other users. Blaze Wolf (talk · contribs) 1 0 0 CST Rollback, Twinkle, RedWarn/Ultraviolet, Recent changes Active vandal fighter and mentor, happy to help new vandal fighters learn the ropes NotAGenious (talk · contribs) 1 1 0 EET Rollback, Twinkle, Huggle, SWViewer, (Recent changes) Welcome! I'm happy to help you started with counter-vandalism, an important aspect of keeping Wikipedia as clean and neutral as possible. Feel free to leave a message at my talk page. Cyberwolf (talk · contribs) 2 3 0 EsT Rollback, Twinkle, abuse log, AntiVandal. I am happy to help newcomers . Feel free to leave a message at my talk page. ToadetteEdit (talk · contribs) 2 1 0 UTC Rollback, Twinkle, RedWarn, SWViewer, edit filter log I am active in counter vandalism and happy to train new students. If you would like to be your teacher, you can contact me. Inactive trainers Trainer Current students Student slots open Graduates trained Time zone Tools used Comments Synoman Barris (talk · contribs) 2 0 1 GMT (UTC) Rollback, Twinkle, Recent changes Former graduate,actively involved in anti-vandalism work on Wikipedia. Happy to help new counter vandalism members Trainers' resources (for trainers only) General Practices Academy Page It is recommended to create student's own "academy page", as a subpage of your talk, i.e. User talk:Example/CVUA/Example. You are free to teach however you like - the goal is that the student will have demonstrated knowledge and use of all the points in the syllabus Trainers' methods User:Callanecc/CVUA/Tasks. User:Jianhui67/CVUA/Tasks User:ItsZippy/CVUA. Suggested methodology and tasks Task-based teaching is the most effective. Students should not be deeply immersed at the beginning but should be sufficiently challenged. Please explain below the difference between a good faith edit and a vandalism edit, and how you would tell them apart. Please find and revert three examples of good faith but unhelpful edits, and three examples of vandalism. Please warn the editors with the correct template and give the diffs of your revisions below. Warning and reporting Please answer the following questions Why do we warn users? When would a 4im warning be appropriate? What should you do if a user who has received a level 4 or 4im warning vandalises again? Please give examples of three warnings that you might need to use while vandal patrolling and explain what they are used for. Find and revert some vandalism. Warn each user appropriately, using the correct kind of warning and level. Posts the diffs of those warnings below. Find an edit which could be a test edit and revert it. Warn the user with the most appropriate template, then post the diff below. Report 2 users to AIV and post the diffs below. Be sure to follow the guidelines and only report users where necessary; do not report simply for the sake of this task. Why do we deny recognition to trolls and vandals? How can you tell between a good faith user asking why you reverted their edit, and a troll trying to harass you? In what circumstances should a page be semi-protected? In what circumstances should a page be fully protected? In what circumstances should a page be speedy deleted? Correctly tag one page for speedy deletion and post the diff below. Correctly request the protection of one page (semi, salt or full); post the diff of your request (from WP:RPP) below. Report 2 users whose username violates the username policy to UAA. Possible final exam questions Graduation Callanecc has a template with an example message here. Essential further reading User:Kudpung/Anti vandal centre Vandalism Assume good faith Warning templates Denying recognition from trolls Protection policy Wikipedia:Speedy deletions Related Programs The Teahouse An area where friendly wikipedians will answer your questions. Online Ambassadors A program to help those who want to use Wikipedia in the classroom Adopt-a-User A mentorship program for new users who are interested in learning more about Wikipedia.