Permissions and Patrolling

It is important that contributing to a step-by-step guide is a simple process, if it isn't then valuable information will never be added.

The problem is that these two goals—protecting high-quality existing content and encouraging community contributions—can be diametrically opposed. With this permissions system, original authors of content can set a minimum Reputation limit on wiki-content they publish. This is primarily in place to reduce vandalism or unwanted changes to wiki-content.

Every wiki and guide has a permissions section. Administrators determine how much reputation is required to edit the page without permission. If someone with low reputation (other than the page creator or a member of the creator's team) edits the page, then the edit is not immediately published. An admin or user with enough reputation must approve the edits before they go live.

Only administrators are able to set permissions. For everyone else, the permission section is automatically set by the system. To set permissions for a page, press the "Edit" tab at the top right of the a page. Now look at the right side of page; here you will find the Edit Permissions meter:

From here you can choose the minimum reputation necessary for a user's updates to be automatically accepted. Either slide the slider, or enter the desired number. Be sure to hit "Save" next to the slider and at the bottom of the page to commit these changes.

Note: The Edit Permissions slider will only appear if the site allows public editing.

Explanation of Permission Values:

• '' - No minimum value, no edits require reputation for approval
• # - Edits from people with reputation below # require permission for approval (unless made by the guide creator or a member of the creator's team)
• ∞ - Admin Only, all other edits must be approved.

Say the permissions value is set to 1000. A member with 1500 reputation could freely edit the page and those edits would immediately go live on the site. If someone with 500 reputation made an edit, their edit would be held for review. Until the edit is approved, whenever another person goes to view that page there a link at the top that lets the user view either the latest version with "Unverified edits" or the "Last verified snapshot." At the same time, these changes are added to the permission edits page. Experienced folks (or admins) can then come along and "patrol" these proposed changes, approving and denying them as deemed appropriate.

For more information on how to patrol changes, check out the Permissions Manager page.

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