View source for Template:Blacklisted-links/doc

{{Documentation subpage}}
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== Usage ==
This template has been designed for a bot. Discussion about the actions of the bot should take place on [[Template_talk:Blacklisted-links|this template's talkpage]].

== What to do next ==
If a page has been tagged with this template, that means a bot found a link that validated against either the [[MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist|local blacklist]] or the [[:meta:Spam blacklist|global blacklist]].  

Just because your link is blacklisted, doesn't necessarily mean it's spam.  It may have been blacklisted because something else on that site was used in an abusive manner in the past.

Generally the easiest way to deal with the situation is to remove the link, and/or replace it with some other link that is not questionable.

If you think that the link is of good use for the article and would like to keep it, you have the following options:
# Request to permanently whitelist the ''specific'' link [[MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist|here]] and then temporarily request the bot ignore the link [[WT:Spam-exceptions|here]]. 
# Request for removal of the blacklist entry. Note that if a domain has a significant past where it was heavily spammed, administrators at the blacklist are likely going to refer you to the [[MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist|whitelist]]. There are two request areas to de-blacklist a link:
#* [[MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist|For locally blacklisted sites]], with "Local" meaning the English Wikipedia only; or
#* [[:meta:Talk:Spam blacklist|For globally blacklisted sites]] to remove the link from the blacklist for all Wikimedia projects.
# Hide the tag by setting {{para|invisible|true}} on the tag itself, or ignore the tag.

== What about the tag? ==
Ordinarily, once the link has been whitelisted, or added to the exceptions list, the tag can be safely removed from the page.  However, in some cases the bot may come back to re-tag it.  Because the bot processes enormous amounts of information and tags a lot of pages, it can take several hours before the new rule goes into effect and the bot accepts its removal.  To avoid any frustration, the tag should be left alone for the bot to remove if such cases occur.  If the bot persists in tagging the page after it has been whitelisted, contact {{user|Cyberpower678}} to investigate the situation.<!-- If Cyberpower678 is not available, is there a backup individual to contact? Or just take it to WP:ANI? -->

== Bugs ==
Bugs can happen.  After all, it's we humans that program these bots.  If you have bugs to report, direct them to {{user|Cyberpower678}}.  If you are reporting a false positive, please verify it is indeed a false positive by pasting the external link into the message to the bot operator.  This verifies that the bot is seeing something it shouldn't be seeing.