ACC Email Policy edit
Test When sending custom close emails or replying to the email list, please keep in mind that ACC is the front-line of Wikipedia. One should not custom close a request or reply to an email without giving thought to the content of the message. A few points to remember:
- Emails should not be "short and sweet" for custom closes. Most requesters will interpret this as rudeness. Elaborate on the reason for declining/accepting, and ensure that it is polite at all times.
- Please write in plain, simple, comprehensible English. Ensure that the email is clear and effectively gets the message across. If your English isn't too good, don't hesitate to have the request proofread on IRC. Also, try not to make the email one jumbled paragraph. Organize it a bit. If you created the account with a custom close, be sure to include the bit about login credentials being sent in a different email (It's fine if you just copy-paste the normal "account created" message under a heading "Login information" or something similar)
- Avoid use of jargon, like "proxy", "IP", "rangeblock", "tor", etc, without explanation. If a requester uses a proxy, please explain what exactly is meant by a proxy (it's quite possible that the requester doesn't know that he/she operates on a proxy). Remember, the requester came to ACC probably because he/she couldn't fix their proxy problem.
- We have a zero-tolerance policy for incorrectly closed requests.
Certain common types of custom closes (Please add more!!!!), and what to do:
- Proxy users: @@Write stuff here@@ (I myself do not know what our policy should be, and the guide doesn't help)
Example
|
|---|
|
Looking at our logs, it appears the IP address you're editing from belongs to a proxy service. Open or anonymous proxies, including Tor, are blocked from editing Wikipedia. While this may affect legitimate users, they are not the intended targets. No restrictions are placed on reading Wikipedia through an open or anonymous proxy.
Although Wikipedia encourages anyone in the world to contribute, open proxies are often used abusively. MediaWiki, the wiki software that powers Wikipedia, depends on IP addresses for administrator intervention against abuse, especially by anonymous users. Open proxies allow malicious users to rapidly change IP addresses, causing continuous disruption that cannot be stopped by administrators. Several such attacks have occurred on Wikimedia projects, causing disruption and occupying administrators who would otherwise deal with other concerns.
Unfortunately, you won't be able to edit while using this open proxy. Example for Tor: |
- Promo accounts: (Accounts with the sole intention of promoting their company on Wikipedia) Please explain (with links) Wikipedia's notability, Original Research, and Spam policies. Also, give the user an invitation to edit if they plan to follow the policies.
- AGF "vandals": Some requesters may have gotten reverted/blocked because they did not follow the policies. AGF create the account, and, as above, explain the policies that they fell afoul of, and a bit about other policies, too.
- Vandals: A recent (Few hours, tops -- any more and it's better to AGF create) vandal might get blocked, and request an account because of the link. Explain that the request was cancelled due to vandalism, and keep an invitation to edit like above. Please remember to be courteous in these requests. Remember, the requester may not be the same person as the vandal.
Example
|
|---|
|
Hello! Thank you for your recent request to create an account on Wikipedia. Unfortunatley, I am unable to create your account at this time. Your IP address, 192.168.1.1, has recently been blocked on the English Wikipedia (http://www.en.wikipedia.org), and has been used for vandalism. For the protection of the site, as well as to deter vandalism, we generally do not create accounts for IP addresses with recent issues of vandalism. As this may not have been you, you are welcome to request a new account from a different computer, or from the same computer but with an identifiable email address, such as a work email address, university email address, etc. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to assisting you further. |
- Well known people/companies (Google search) : If the Google search reveals the username as that of a well-known person/company/etc, please explain that we cannot have impersonation at WP, and, ask for some verification if they are that person, or a different username if they aren't.
Example
|
|---|
|
Thank you for your interest in Wikipedia. I have received your account request and during the checks that are preformed on all request, it has come to my attention that you are requesting a name of a well known person as your username, please see Google search here: <insert search here>. Here at Wikipedia we are very conscious of our users privacy. As a safe guard we would not want someone to try and impersonate a well known person. If you are not the person of this Google search then please choose another username. If you are this person then please re-submit a account request using a more stable email address, ie. your website, your company or reply to this email using your official letter head. |
- Maybe created account himself: Sometimes, you are not sure if a recently created similar account was created by the requester or not. In that case, explain the situation to them, and ask if it was the same person who created the account.
Example
|
|---|
|
Hello, Example. Let me first thank you for your interest in Wikipedia. I have received your request for a new account. During the account creation process I have found an account just created a few days ago with a very similar username to your request. ExAmPle was created on the 11th. Your user name is quite unique which leads me to believe ExAmPle was created by you and the password for that account is not working or has be misplaced or forgotten. I have sent a Password reset to the email address associated with ExAmPle, you can use this temporary password to access that account. If this newly established account is not you then please respond to this email and a Account Creation team member will assist you in creating your account. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. |
Common mailing list emails GUYS I NEED YOUR OPINION HERE... I'm not sure if this should be the policy
- Make me an account: Here, you may write two or three sentences on "I have created your account, you will receive a password in a separate email etc etc". Alternatively, you may copy-paste the standard "account created!" message with some modifications.
- I didn't receive my password: A few sentences is again acceptable here. If the user has not specified the username requested, you can use (the search tool) to find out.
- I didn't understand what's wrong Be extra careful on these, as the user probably didn't understand the automated email. Make sure that the words you are using aren't WikiJargon, and you explain everything clearly.
- Make me an account - obvious Public Relations email : If you see an email which obviously comes from a company/small business, write about NPOV, COI, etc. Do not say that "We don't allow businesses to edit/create pages about themselves", as this is wrong. Instead, make sure that they understand the situation, and give a link to AfC.
Example
|
|---|
|
Unfortunately, we usually ask editors not to write or edit articles about subjects they are personally related to, such as their own company. Wikipedia strives to remain neutral in all of our articles, so that they may be easily used by our worldwide base of readers. When editing with a conflict of interest such as I just described, it can be very difficult not to introduce some sort of bias into the article, even if you don't intend to. Over the course of several years, we've noticed that articles about companies or products written by employees or owners of those companies tend to be heavily biased, some to the point they need to be deleted as outright advertising. So while it's not against our policies to write about your own company, we'd really really prefer you didn't. What you can do instead is request an article to be written for you, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requested_articles . Other editors will review your request, and if they can locate enough sources to determine that your company is notable, they will create an article for you. |
- add more....
Notes edit
Todo:
- Find that email by Simon where the 0 tolerance policy on bad custom closes was framed
Done forwarded by email
http://toolserver.org/~acc/other/zero-tol.html
- Find a better word to replace "requester"
- Prospective user
- Applicant
- Candidate
- User
- Rewrite the inbuilt ACC emails to follow policy
- Get more common custom close emails
- Examples (For good ones, see User:Mlpearc/Workshop)
- Another boodle of examples at User:Shell_Kinney/Boiler#Account_creation_requests
- More examples