User:Norellia.sh/CVUAcademy/16dvnkCourse

Hello, and welcome! Here is where I will help you become a vandal fighter. When I post an assignment, please respond under the assignment (or in a table, if there is one). In some exercises I will ask you to provide "diffs". See Help:Diffs for how to do this.

Tools

Before we start, I wanted to show you some useful tools for counter-vandalism work which can be used by any editor. You can use all of these, none of these, or some of these. I don't mind, these links are just for your convenience. You may have already installed some of these in the past.

Twinkle

Twinkle is a very popular gadget which is helpful for a variety of tasks. To install it, go here and tick the box that says Twinkle. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "save". When you refresh the page, a "TW" tab will be available on every page, next to the "More" tab. Scrolling over the TW tab will show a list of modules you can use on the particular page. Twinkle has a large number of useful modules, including but not limited to, one which can be used to warn users, one which can be used to request page protection, one which can be used to suggest a page is deleted, and many many more helpful features. It also adds a non-admin "rollback" feature on all diff pages. I highly suggest you enable Twinkle, as it's incredibly useful and poses no risk of harming your account.

Redwarn and Ultraviolet

Redwarn and Ultraviolet are both popular counter-vandalism tools. They both have a very wide range of tools in order to assist with many different cases. Ultraviolet is the rewritten version of Redwarn, and is currently in beta. You can install Redwarn here, and you can install Ultraviolet here.

Lupin's Anti-vandal tool

Lupin's Anti-vandal tool is extremely helpful for monitoring recent changes in real time. To install it, simply add the following to your common.js.
importScript('User:Lupin/recent2.js');
Refresh the page and you'll find 5 new links on your toolbar (on the left side of the page, underneath "interaction"). These links can be used to better monitor recent changes for possible vandalism.

IRC channels

IRC is an internet chat program. There are several channels on IRC that can be used to monitor vandalism. #cvn-wp-en ^connect is probably the most useful. Visit Wikipedia:IRC/Tutorial for information on how to connect to channels.

Navigation Popups

Navigation popups allow you to hover over links and see a brief preview of the page being linked to. One feature of navigation popups is that when you're at recent changes and hover over "diff" links, you'll have the ability to revert the most recent edit, useful for undoing vandalism. To install navigation popups, go here and tick the box that says Navigation popups. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "save". Refresh the page and navigation popups will be enabled.

Now that you've read these, reply below with which scripts you installed/what you signed up for. I don't mind how many you installed, or if you installed none, it's just so I know and can set tasks using those scripts. Also note that there are many more advanced scripts out there, but they'll only be available to you when you have more experience.

Done, I have successfully installed all of the tools specified. Thanks for the guide! 16dvnk (talk) 06:03, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

「Norellia.sh」(talk) 19:24, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

P.S. I have answered a question about vandalism at the teahouse. Did I handle it correctly? The diff is included here. Thanks in advance! 16dvnk (talk) 11:17, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

That is exactly correct, good work! 「Norellia.sh」(talk) 19:24, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Good faith and vandalism

When patrolling for vandalism, you may often come across edits which are unhelpful, but not vandalism - these are good faith edits. It is important to recognise the difference between a vandalism edit and a good faith edit, especially because Twinkle gives you the option of labelling edits you revert as such. Please read WP:AGF and WP:NOT VANDALISM before completing the following tasks.

Please explain below the difference between a good faith edit and a vandalism edit, and how you would tell them apart.

A good faith edit is made with the intention of improving Wikipedia, even though it violates policy or is factually wrong. The editor believes they are helping. Vandalism on the other hand is deliberately intended to obstruct or defeat Wikipedia's purpose. It is malicious and sabotages Wikipedia. However, not all bad faith edits are vandalism.

I would tell them apart by first checking the user's history and talk page. If they already have many warnings of vandalism/repeated vandalism activity, then it would be vandalism. If their first edit seems like vandalism, I would warn them with uw-test first, before moving to uw-vandalism. Otherwise, it is likely good faith. 16dvnk (talk) 14:21, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Y
Please find three examples of good faith but unhelpful edits, and three examples of vandalism. You don't need to revert the example you find, and I am happy for you to use previous undos in your edit history if you wish. Good faith

Note: I have added some hidden comments. 16dvnk (talk) 14:21, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

1: The diff is here. Y
2: The diff is here. Y
3: The diff is here. Y Your analysis is correct as well!

Vandalism

1: The diff is here. Y Exactly
2: The diff is here. Y We'll talk a little more about how to handle multiple warnings in a bit!
3: The diff is here. Y

It seems like I am done. Thank you! 16dvnk (talk) 14:21, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Amazing work, moving on! 「Norellia.sh」(talk) 00:14, 5 August 2026 (UTC)

Warning and reporting

When you use Twinkle to warn a user, you have a number of options to choose from: you can select the kind of warning (for different offences), and the level of warning (from 1 to 4, for increasing severity). Knowing which warning to issue and what level is very important. Further information can be found at WP:WARN and WP:UWUL.

Please answer the following questions
Why do we warn users?

When would a 4im warning be appropriate?

Should you substitute a template when you place it on a user talk page, and how do you do it?

What should you do if a user who has received a level 4 or 4im warning vandalises again?

Please give examples of three different warnings (not different levels of the same warning and excluding the test edit warning levels referred to below), that you might need to use while recent changes patrolling and explain what they are used for.

Make sure you keep in mind that some edits that seem like vandalism can be test edits. This happens when a new user is experimenting and makes accidental unconstructive edits. Generally, these should be treated with good faith, especially if it is their first time, and warned gently. The following templates are used for test edits: {{subst:uw-test1}}, {{subst:uw-test2}} and {{subst:uw-test3}}.

I just wanted to make sure you know about Special:RecentChanges, if you use the diff link in a different window or tab you can check a number of revisions much more easily. If you enable Hovercards in the Hover section of your preferences, you can view the diff by just hovering over it. Alternately, you can press control-F or command-F and search for "tag:". some edits get tagged for possible vandalism or section blanking.

Find and revert some vandalism. Warn each user appropriately, using the correct kind of warning and level. Please include at least two test edits and at least two appropriate reports to AIV. For each revert and warning please fill in a line on the table below

#	Diff of your revert	Your comment (optional). If you report to AIV please include the diff
1	diff	comment
2	diff	comment
3	diff	comment
4	diff	comment
5	diff	comment
6	diff	comment
7	diff	comment
8	diff	comment
9	diff	comment
10	diff	comment
11	diff	comment
12	diff	comment
13	diff	comment
14	diff	comment
15	diff	comment