User:Moonriddengirl/Unblock

Handy tools for Unblock-en-l \ General Mailing lists

Gmail General - Labels

Labels are akin to tags which you can add to your e-mails, allowing you to sort mails in different categories. While this is handy enough on its own, they can be used in combination with filters to keep your regular inbox clean, while directing all Wikipedia related traffic to a specific label. Labels can be created at: https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#settings/labels (Or: Settings -> Labels)

Gmail Labs - Nested labels.

Nested labels is a google labs feature that allows labels to have sub-labels of their own. It allows for grouping and an uncluttered sidebar in case you have a fairly large amount of labels. Labs can be accessed trough https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#settings/labs (Or: Settings -> Labs) After that just search "nested labels" and enable it. After that you can create nested labels like regular - to create a sub label simply use: <Mail label>/<Sub label>. In case you're interested, my own label structure is as follows (And used in the filters i included)

Gmail General - Filters

Next stop, filters. These are the best things since toasted bread, as they allow easy seperation of different e-mails based upon a set of rules. They can be set to skip the inbox, apply labels, delete, archive, send to other mails and on and on.

(Filter import/export) I included a copy of my standard filters as an attachment. Naturally they use my label structure and e-mail address when separating things, so you may need to update them a bit. (If you wish to use them literally you need to copy the label structure above, while changing any reference to my e-mail address to your own mail address). Google labs has a neat little lab feature (Called Filter import/export) which allows you to import and export filters.

(Used filters) - Filter: "mailing lists" -> Two filters that set mailing list mails to inbox skipping, while marking them with the label related to the mailing list (Foundation-l and en-unblock-l) - Filter: "Unblock-en-l items I have participated in" Any Unblock-en-l mailing list item i respond to is marked with this, to allow for an easy overview of requests i am involved in. - Filter: "Unblock-en-l responses only send to me." Sometimes people don't add a CC to unblock-en-l when responding to a message. In this case it is only send to you which means that only you can react to it (If it had been CC'ed everyone subscribed could respond to it). - Filter: "Non mailing list traffic." Any mail received that isn't covered in these rules is send to the inbox and marked as "Unhandled", which i update manually once handled or when i am certain i won't need to respond.

Gmail Labs - Canned responses

And the final, and most convenient lab feature of all - "Canned responces". This creates a ned button in the reply window that allows you to save a canned responce, or paste one into your e-mail. Extremely convenient for the mailing list, especially if you have to explain rangeblocks the nth time to a user. Greatly speeds up the handling speed as well.

Template messages for Unblock-en-l

Well, that was it for the addons and other gimmicks - here are the templates you really requested. Note that the name of top is simply the name i gave to the canned response.

Request_ListCC: (Added as a header to most e-mails, during times when i am not certain i can reply quickly).

Note: When responding, please add a CC to "unblock-en-llists.wikimedia.org" if this isn't done automatically. A CC is send to every administrator on the mailing list, which means multiple people can help with your request. This generally speeds up the response time, and prevents a deadlock in case the person you are responding to is unavailable due to circumstances.

Request_Singleblock (Explains single-ip blocks, used for single IP softblocks and account creation requests)

I've taken a look at the situation, and it looks like your IP address was blocked in response to the high amount of abuse it was generating. Unfortunately, all of our previous efforts to stop the vandal(s) failed, causing us to use the block which is currently affecting you as a last resort. The good news is that this is what we call a "soft block", that is, you will still be able to edit if you are logged into an account. To request the creation of an account, just pick the account name you would like and check at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Listusers> to verify that the account name is available. Then respond to this email from an ISP, school, university, or workplace issued email address with that information and the account will be created for you.

Request_Rangeblock: Same as singleblock, except that it explains a rangeblock instead of, well, a single IP block.

I've taken a look at the situation, and it looks like your IP address is part of a range which has been blocked in response to a user who was repeatedly attacking our site from various locations. Unfortunately, all of our previous efforts to stop the vandal failed, causing us to use the block which is currently affecting you as a last resort. The good news is that this is what we call a "soft block", that is, you will still be able to edit if you are logged into an account. To request the creation of an account, just pick the account name you would like and check at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Listusers> to verify that the account name is available. Then respond to this email from an ISP, school, university, or workplace issued email address with that information and the account will be created for you.

Issues_CoiAdvertDiscourage (Used for cases where you suspect that an editor may consider promotion - intended to discourage. If people still wish an account this often means they are sincere in their purpose - otherwise they will know the rules on advertising well enough to prevent "I didn't know - unblock me!" requests.). Often combined with a template regarding their username or a single / rangeblock.

However, i would have to point out that 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.

I would equally point out that Wikipedia is not a vessel for promotion or advertisement. This means that even with an account, you will not be allowed to promote or otherwise positively influence article's related to your employer (Or negatively influence article's related to competitors for that matter). I would advice you to read our business FAQ and consider if you still wish an account. If your intention is promotion i would strongly advice against creating an account as advertisements are quickly caught and removed, thus rendering your actions void.

I know that this reply sounds excessively negative; However, empirical experience has shown that it is better to inform users in advance that promotional activities are a waste of time, rather then seeing them blocked later on. If you understand and accept these limitations please respond to this mail signifying that you do so, and we can get started on creating an account.

Issues_Openproxy: For editors using an open proxy which is hardblocked.

The IP address you are connecting from is an open proxy, meaning that anybody can connect to Wikipedia using that address. It is against Wikipedia policy to edit from an open proxy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:PROXY>.

Please turn off proxying in your browser, or at least configure it to bypass the proxy for the wikipedia.org domain. Or, if you are using a web accelerator, please disable it for the wikipedia.org domain.

Request_Nonfreemail: Usually a paid e-mail is asked to register an account, to prevent abuse using free accounts. Usually used for otherwise fine requests. Are you able to re-send this request to unblock-en-llists.wikimedia.org from an email address issued by your ISP, school, university, or workplace? We ask for this to help prevent people creating multiple accounts for abusive purposes, which is easier while using free email services such as hotmail, yahoo, or gmail.

Issues_Coi: Older version of the longer coiadvertdiscourage, dealing only with CoI

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.

Issues_Groupname: For accounts that user a username that is identical to the name of a group.

Unfortunately your requested account name seems to represent a group of people or a company. Par our username policy we do not allow these account names as user accounts are strictly individual. Therefor i would request if you could suggest an alternative account name which only represents yourself.

Request_More_Info: Used in cases where a user doesn't mention any identifying information such as account name or IP adress.

Thank you for contacting unblock-en-l.

Can you please send us the complete block message details, to unblock-en-llists.wikimedia.org, including the blocked IP address, block message, account (if any), the block ID number, and blocking administrator account name?

We need all that information to review and respond appropriately to your specific situation.