TechInfoDepot:Pending changes

Pending changes protection is a tool used to suppress vandalism on TechInfoDepot while allowing good-faith users to submit their edits for review. Intended for infrequently-edited articles that are experiencing high levels of such problematic edits from new or unregistered users, pending changes protection can be used as an alternative to semi-protection and full protection to allow unregistered and new users to edit pages, while keeping the edits hidden to most readers until they are accepted by a reviewer.

When a page under pending changes protection is edited by an unregistered (also called IP) editor or a new user, the edit is not directly visible to the majority of TechInfoDepot readers, until it is reviewed and accepted by an editor with the reviewer right.

Pending changes are visible in the page history, where they are marked as pending review. The latest accepted revision is displayed to the general public, while logged-in users see the latest revision of the page, with all changes applied. When editors who are not reviewers make changes to an article with unreviewed pending changes, their edits are also marked as pending and are not visible to most readers.

Both logged-in users and anonymous users who click the "edit this page" tab edit the latest version as usual. If there are pending changes awaiting review, there will be a dropdown box next to the article title, pointing to the pending changes.

Pending changes may be used to protect articles against persistent vandalism, violations of the biographies of living persons policy, and copyright violations.

When to apply pending changes protection
Administrators may apply pending changes protection to pages that are subject to heavy and persistent vandalism, violations of the biographies of living persons policy, or insertion of content that violates copyright. Pending changes protection should not be used as a preemptive measure against violations that have not yet occurred, nor should it be used to privilege registered users over unregistered users in content disputes. Pending changes protection should not be used on articles with a very high edit rate, even if they meet the aforementioned criteria. Instead semi-protection should be considered.

In addition, administrators may apply temporary pending changes protection on pages that are subject to significant but temporary vandalism or disruption (for example, due to media attention) when blocking individual users is not a feasible option. As with other forms of protection, the time frame of the protection should be proportional to the problem. Indefinite PC protection should only be used in cases of severe long-term disruption.

Like semi-protection, PC protection should never be used in genuine content disputes, where there is a risk of placing a particular group of editors at a disadvantage.

Editors without administrator privileges can request page protection if the above criteria are met. Removal of pending changes protection can be requested of any administrator, or at requests for unprotection.

Reviewing
The process of reviewing is intended as a quick check to ensure edits don't contain vandalism, violations of the policy on living people, copyright violations, or other obviously inappropriate content. Reviewers are users sufficiently experienced who are granted the ability to accept other users' edits. Reviewers have a similar level of trust to rollbackers; all administrators have the reviewer right. Potential reviewers should recognize vandalism, be familiar with basic content policies such as the policy on living people, and have a reasonable level of experience editing TechInfoDepot. Reading the reviewing guideline, where the reviewing process and expectations for a reviewer are detailed, is recommended.

Acceptance of an edit by a reviewer is not an endorsement of the correctness of the edit. It merely indicates that the edit has been checked for obvious problems as listed above.

Reviewer rights are granted upon request at TechInfoDepot:Requests for permissions. While any administrator has the technical ability to remove the reviewer permission, removal should occur only as the result of consensus from a discussion or when an editor requests the removal of their own permission. Discussion regarding removal of the reviewer permission should normally occur at the Administrators' noticeboard. Discussion with the involved editor and/or a request for a second opinion at the Pending changes talk page is recommended before formally requesting removal.

Backlog management
Reviewing of pending changes should be resolved within reasonable time limits. Backlog management should be coordinated at a community level. The backlog can be viewed at Special:PendingChanges

Timeline
Below is a list of past discussions and announcements relating to the Pending-Changes feature
 * straw poll 2 to 1 in favor of continuing PC in some form, conducted during initial trial.
 * Jimbo's comments, reflect consensus roughly established that PC should not be used on high traffic articles.
 * PC RfC 2011 Ended the original PC trial.
 * PC RfC "2012" Established consensus to enable PC before the end of 2012.
 * WP:PC2012/RfC 1 is closed (September 2012). It discussed whether to use Level 2 pending changes.
 * WP:PC2012/RfC 2 is closed. (October 2012). It discussed when to apply pending changes, the criteria for rejecting edits, and various ideas for reducing backlog.
 * WP:PC2012/RfC 3 is closed. (November 2012). It discussed deployment and usage of the pending changes feature.