Wikipedia:Rollback feature

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Shortcuts: WP:ROLLBACK WP:RBK WP:ROLL

Simple English Wikipedia's rollback feature is a user group given to vandal fighters. It is given to administrators as part of their work. It is a way to quickly undo vandalism made by the last user to change the page.

Rollback can also be given to people who are not administrators. You may ask for rollback at Wikipedia:Requests for rollback or on an administrator's talk page.

Contents 1 Using rollback 2 When not to use rollback 3 How it works 4 Getting rollback 5 Testing rollback 6 Custom edit summaries

[change] Using rollback

Rollback is a tool normally only used to reverse obvious vandalism. This is because it does not let you leave a change summary. Instead, the summary reads, "Reverted changes by X to last version by Y". It is done at once and does not need you to make sure you are doing it, which is different from the undo feature.

Rollback may also be used to rollback changes by banned users. Unhelpful changes made in your userspace may also be rolled back. If you are not sure whether to use this tool on a single change, please use the undo feature. If you make an obvious mistake, or you need to revert your changes quickly, using rollback on yourself is also allowed. Generally, a person with rollback may also use it to revert their own edits in mainspace as long as those edits are a mistake and also not likely to cause a controversy.

[change] When not to use rollback

Rollback must not be used to remove good-faith changes by other users. If the tool is used wrongly, it will be quickly removed by an administrator.

[change] How it works

Rollback is the fastest way to undo vandalism, and does not put pressure on the servers. If the vandal made one change, the rollback button will change back to the older change just before the vandal. The rollback button will undo every change by the top user, so if the vandal changed it 6 times in a row, all six changes will be removed. If another user changed after the vandal, the rollback feature will change back to that user's changes, and will not undo all the changes by that user.

The feature leaves an automatic change summary, for example:

m Reverted changes by Example (talk) to last version by Example2

Because it is only for vandalism, the software automatically marks the change as "small" or "minor", hence the m.

[change] Getting rollback

You may ask for rollback at the administrators noticeboard, or on an administrator's talk page. You may also use rollback requests for requsting rollback. Please note these few rules:

• You must have an account. User rights cannot be given to IP editors.
• You must not be banned when you ask.
• You should have made a lot of changes, preferably showing vandal fighting. If you have rollback elsewhere, or admin rights elsewhere, this requirement is not counted. So if you are already a rollbacker or admin elsewhere on WMF you can just ask for it here and it can be granted.
• If you have been blocked recently, it is unlikely that you will be given rollback.
• If you have vandalized before, you may not given this tool for a long while. Administrators can choose if they want to give it to you, but only if you have shown a clear change in your behaviour.

The Simple English Wikipedia is a small set of regular users, and does not get vandalised as often as other WMF projects, so a long history of regular vandal-fighting will not be needed. You just need to show that you know what vandalism is, and more importantly, know what it is not.

[change] Testing rollback

Testing the tool can be done at Wikipedia:Rollback feature/Testing ground. Please do not test on other people's changes.

[change] Custom edit summaries

The rollback tool has an edit summary that is given by default. There are tools to let you change change summaries. One example is User:Synergy/rollback.js. Another example is User:Synergy/rollback2.js. The second script asks editors for an change summary when using rollback. Both custom change summaries help other users when checking non-vandalism undos. Another one is User:Tholly/Rollback.js‎. Another is User:MC10/Rollback summary.js.