This is an official Bharatpedia policy.
This policy explains the rules regarding edit warring and the Three-Revert Rule (3RR). It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that all users must follow. Violations of this policy may result in an immediate block from editing.
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What is an Edit War?[edit | edit source]
An edit war occurs when editors who disagree about the content of a page repeatedly override each other's contributions rather than trying to resolve the disagreement through discussion.
Edit warring is disruptive to the community, creates animosity between editors, and degrades the quality of the encyclopedia. When a dispute arises, editors should discuss it on the article's talk page, not fight over it in the page history.
The Three-Revert Rule (3RR)[edit | edit source]
To prevent edit warring, Bharatpedia enforces the Three-Revert Rule (3RR). The rule is simple:
- A revert means any edit (or administrative action) that reverses or undoes the actions of other editors, in whole or in part, whether involving the same or different material.
- A series of consecutive saved revert edits by one user with no intervening edits by another user counts as one revert.
- Important: The 3RR is an absolute limit, not an entitlement. Edit warring can still be sanctioned even if the editor has not reached three reverts, especially if the behavior is intentionally disruptive.
Exemptions to 3RR[edit | edit source]
The following actions do not count towards the three-revert limit:
- Reverting pure vandalism: Removing obvious, blatant vandalism (e.g., profanity, random characters, page blanking).
- Self-reverting: Reverting your own edits.
- Banned/Blocked users: Reverting edits made by users evading an active block or ban.
- Copyright violations: Removing text or media that unmistakably violates copyright policy.
- Biographies of Living Persons (BLP): Removing highly sensitive, unsourced, or poorly sourced defamatory material about living people.
What to do instead of edit warring[edit | edit source]
If you find that your edit has been reverted, do not revert it back. Instead, follow these steps (known as the BRD cycle: Bold, Revert, Discuss):
- Bold: Make an initial edit to improve the article.
- Revert: If someone disagrees, they may revert your edit.
- Discuss: Go to the article's talk page, ping the other editor, and explain your reasoning calmly. Work towards a consensus.
Enforcement and Sanctions[edit | edit source]
Administrators monitor edit warring behavior closely. Users who violate the Three-Revert Rule or engage in chronic edit warring will be reported to the Administrators' Noticeboard for Edit Warring (AN/EW).
Consequences include:
- Temporary blocks: Typically 24 hours for a first offense, escalating for repeat offenders.
- Page protection: The disputed article may be locked from editing while a consensus is reached.
- Topic bans: Users unable to collaborate peacefully on specific subjects may be permanently banned from editing those topics.
See Also[edit | edit source]
- Bharatpedia:Dispute resolution – How to peacefully resolve content disputes.
- Bharatpedia:Assume good faith – Approach disagreements with a positive mindset.
- Bharatpedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Edit warring – The noticeboard to report active 3RR violations.