User:The Evil Spartan/Unblock

Unblock requests

Although I am not an administrator, I have had opportunities in the past to become one, both here and on other projects. I have been here a long time, with edits well into the 5 digit count, and I have read and reviewed many literally hundreds of unblock requests. Some simple advice:

What not to do

1. Accuse an administrator of having a vendetta against you or abuse of powers.
2. Make a personal attack against another editor.
3. Post a long diatribe. No one likes to read those, and you will be ignored for longer.
4. Be obtuse. A lot of editors will lie about, deliberately ignore, or negligently not notice the errors they've committed, and will dance around the point when confronted with their problem.

What to do

1. Admit any mistakes you have. Specifically address the reason why you were blocked. Were you blocked for adding unreliable sources? Explain why you won't do so anymore. For WP:BLP violations? Address that.
2. If you believe the block was wrong (and have followed all other advice here), do provide diffs and links to relevant policies about why it is a bad block.
3. Take a break. I see a lot of blocked editors who let their anger get in the way of their judgment. Use your brain; we're a smart bunch of editors. Administrators never pay attention to editors who post unblocks that look like a temper tantrum from a 9-year-old who can't understand his punishment (even when they bring up valid points).

If you were blocked for edit warring

1. Do read the WP:3RR rule very closely, and make sure you didn't break it. If you did, it's probably not worth posting the unblock: they're very rarely granted.
2. Do stay on topic. Don't talk about why you were right in your arguments. Talk about the problem of edit warring, which is why you were blocked in the first place.
3. Do understand that you were blocked for edit warring, not anything to do with the dispute.
4. Don't complain about the other side in the dispute.

We're not stupid

Wikipedia is usually comprised of very intelligent editors and administrators. In order to have the intellectual capacity to edit an encyclopedia article and handle the politics of administratorship, it is necessary to have an above average intelligence.

1. If you're sockpuppet, we know it's you, and the unblock will be declined. Stop wasting everyone's time and go get another hobby.
2. If you vandalized a page, and you get caught in an autoblock, don't claim the other account is your little brother's or friend's. Especially on both accounts. Oddly, we see this with a fairly high frequency. If you do the crime, you should do the time. Just wait out the 24 hour block.