Blocked

If your account has been blocked by mistake, it will be reactivated very quickly, as soon as you let an administrator know of the problem. Otherwise, there is a rapid appeal process through which you may obtain quick review by other independent administrators and brief discussion of the matter. The box above includes information provided by the blocking administrator, which you will need in either case.

What is a block? A block is a measure used to protect Wikipedia from possible improper use or modification in breach of editorial policies. Once blocks are over, they become history unless problems recur. Blocks can apply to a user account, an IP address, or a range of IP addresses. A number of automated features identify unblocked usage that apparently should be blocked; this can be quickly rectified if incorrect.

Most common causes

• Your IP address matches that used by another blocked account. Ask for further information and/or request unblocking.
• Your account or a connected IP has been used in a problematic way, or your username was unsuitable and you need to choose another. The reason should be in the box above.
• You have just clicked a 'red link' - an article that does not yet exist - but you do not have access to start a new page when no article already exists. Ask someone else to create the page for you, or create an account yourself to do so.
• You are using Google Web Accelerator or some other web accelerator, an open proxy, or other similar software to access this site, which can interfere with some aspects of Wikipedia's vandalism-management process. Some schools, colleges, workplaces and ISPs can also cause this problem. Disable these and try again, or see below.

• If you have never edited Wikipedia before or do not have an account, please see the "Unregistered?" section (below the "Additional information" header) for specific information.
• If the reason given is "username", "user...", "contact an administrator for verification purposes", or something similar, you have been blocked for choosing an inappropriate username. To request a change in username and be unblocked, please follow these instructions. Alternatively, you can create a new account with a more appropriate name.
• If you are using Google Web Accelerator, please disable it for this site. This also applies to any other web accelerator software that you may have installed.
• If your computer is blocked as an open proxy, please follow these instructions.
• If a specific reason is given or you wish to appeal, please see the following section.

Appealing The current block will automatically expire 04:02, 27 March 2014. You have many routes to appeal the block or its duration. Firstly, if you are a registered user, you can contact Zzuuzz (the blocking administrator) via e-mail. You can use the 'e-mail this user' feature if you have a valid e-mail address registered and confirmed in your user preferences and have not been specifically blocked from using the feature.

Blocked directly? Alternatively, you may appeal the block by requesting that another administrator review the block. To do so, add

{{unblock|your reason here}}

to the bottom of your user talk page (which you can edit while blocked, unless it is protected or you have been specifically blocked from doing so) to request unblocking. You must state a reason for this, and the block can then be discussed. Our guide to appealing blocks might help you in composing a persuasive unblock request.

You may use the the freenode IRC network to discuss your block with administrators available at the time. If you have an IRC client, the unblock channel can be found at #wikipedia-en-unblock. If you don't have an IRC client but still wish to access the channel, you can do so via a web-based client.

If you cannot contact Zzuuzz or cannot resolve the matter privately, the independent unblock review process described above will be your best solution. More details and other options can be found at Wikipedia:Appealing a block.

Please note: While this block may be upsetting or unexpected, abuse of appeal processes, repeatedly using the unblock template when denied, personal attacks, or impolite conduct may lead to the removal of one's ability to edit his or her talk page, thereby preventing further use of the unblock template.

IP address blocked? If you are not blocked directly, your IP address (74.208.16.11) or range has been "hard blocked" due to abuse either by the previous person who was allocated or sharing your IP address.

Please copy-paste the following text to the bottom of your user talk page.

{{unblock-ip|1=74.208.16.11|2=<nowiki>{{blocked proxy}}: <!-- 1and1.com --></nowiki>|3=Zzuuzz}}

Do not do this if you were blocked directly or are not logged in; instead, see the "Appealing" section above (under the "What do I do now?" header).

If this problem affects you repeatedly, we encourage you to contact your Internet service provider or IT department and ask them to contact Wikimedia's XFF project about enabling X-Forwarded-For HTTP headers on their proxy servers. This will reduce collateral damage from future autoblocks.

Unregistered? MediaWiki, the software on which Wikipedia runs, identifies users without accounts through their IP addresses. However, some IP adresses are shared by many people. As a result, unregistered users are sometimes blocked for the misbehavior of other editors. Because administrators have no way to accurately tell the claims of an innocent user from those of an anonymous vandal, you are strongly encouraged to create an account. See Wikipedia:Why create an account? for a full list of benefits that come with registration.

Some blocks will still allow logged in users to continue editing. If you are currently blocked from creating an account, try the following:

• Try again after the block on your IP address expires.
• Create an account from a different computer.
• Ask a trusted friend on a different network to create an account for you. Be sure to change the password after logging in.
• Use Wikimedia's secure server; this might bypass your network's proxy server.

E-mailing us

Before you e-mail us, please make sure that your situation has not already been addressed by the above sections. Your talk page may also contain further details related to your block or IP address, and we strongly advise that you review it before contacting us.

When sending us an e-mail, please copy-paste and fill out one of these forms.

Help us to help you by copying and using the forms provided. If you don't, the first reply probably will ask you to do so.

Even though e-mails sent to unblock-en-l mailing list are viewable only by administrators and trusted volunteers, under no circumstances should you e-mail us your account's password or reveal it to anyone else even if asked to. When requesting an account, a temporary password will be generated and e-mailed to you. Please change the password on your new account as soon as possible.

This list exists for the purpose of reviewing blocks only — any request to make edits to articles on your behalf will be disregarded. Correspondence containing legal threats, personal attacks or rudeness is likely to be ignored and may result in the extension of pre-existing blocks.

IMPORTANT: Please do not e-mail us without providing the information requested above. We will always require that information to help you. You may contact unblock-en-l at unblock-en-l@lists.wikimedia.org.