Government Web Standards
Vandalism policy
Vandalism (spamming, inappropriate posts, etc) is unacceptable on any government website but is an inevitable risk with the use of social media such as wikis. A moderation process is in place for this wiki in order to mitigate this risk.
Because this wiki is only monitored during business hours the Web Standards Team cannot guarantee that vandalism will be identified and repaired within an acceptable timeframe. So it is essential that we have strategies in place to proactively reduce vandalism while ensuring that genuine users can freely edit the site.
We have chosen to allow only registered users to edit the wiki. Edits will be moderated on a post-hoc basis by the Web Standards Team and Web Standards Working Group, allowing registered users to edit the wiki without waiting for comments and changes to be approved by a moderator. While this is essential to encourage free discussion on the wiki, it also means that any vandalism will be publicly visible until dealt with by the user community or moderators. A number of measures are in place to help manage the risk of vandalism.
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Spam prevention
Anonymous account creation and anonymous editing is disabled, preventing editing by spambots.
Non editable wiki pages
The home page, the text of the Web Standards and other critical content are not editable by users. Edit access to these pages is restricted to the Web Standards Team.
Wiki user registration
Users must request accounts from the Web Standards team, supplying their name, email address and phone number. The Web Standards team may to follow up account requests by phone or email to ascertain whether the request is genuine.
Discouraging vandalism
Users should read the editing policy which clearly defines acceptable behaviour on the wiki.
Images and code
No file uploads are permitted (this includes images, code, etc).
Patrolling edits
Moderators patrol all edits (to stop vandalism, ensure quality content and provide customer feedback). The user community is also welcome to help manage vandalism. All moderation in this wiki is post-hoc so abuse will be publicly visible until dealt with. If moderators see vandalism, they will:
- Revert to an earlier version of the page (including any good edits that have happened since the vandalism)
- Leave a warning message on that user's talk page
Preventing reoccurrence
Unintential vandalism will result in deletion or editing of the offending content and a warning to the user. Repeat offenders will have their account suspended and/or their IP address blocked.
Unauthorised use of registered accounts
In the event that vandalism occurs, a registered user's previous contribution history and the nature of the vandalism will be taken into consideration.
If the vandalism is likely to have been the result of unauthorised use of an account, the Web Standards Team will delete any material which compromises the reputation of either the registered user or the integrity of the wiki.
The Web Standards Team will also take any action required to reestablish security, such as temporarily blocking or replacing the affected user's account.
Criminal activity
The edit history of each page is logged, including IP address. In the event of criminal activity, this information will be supplied to the New Zealand police.
Report a problem
Please contact us to report a problem with this wiki.
