Almost every page here can be edited by anybody, including people without an account. '''Protection''' is the exception: it restricts editing on a particular page, and it is applied to pages that attract damage rather than as a general precaution.

== Levels ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Level !! Who may edit !! Typical use
|-
| Unprotected || Everyone, including logged-out editors || The default, and the great majority of pages
|-
| Semi-protected || [[OpenWiki:User access levels|Autoconfirmed]] accounts || Pages under repeated anonymous vandalism
|-
| Extended-confirmed || Extended-confirmed accounts || Long-running disputes on contentious subjects
|-
| Fully protected || Administrators only || The [[Main Page]], and pages in the middle of an edit war
|}

Protection is set by an administrator and may be indefinite or set to expire. [[Special:ProtectedPages]] lists every protected page, why, and who protected it.

== What protection does not do ==

It never stops anyone '''reading''' a page, and it never stops anyone '''asking for a change'''. Every protected page still has a discussion, and a request made there will be seen by someone who can make the edit. If you cannot edit a page, that is the route.

== Pending changes ==

Some pages use '''pending-changes review''' instead of protection. Anyone can edit them, and the edit is saved at once and appears in the page history, but logged-out readers keep seeing the last reviewed version until a reviewer accepts the change. It is a lighter tool than semi-protection: it keeps the page open to everybody while keeping unchecked material off the version most people see.

[[Special:PendingChanges]] lists the pages using it and what is waiting.

== Asking for protection, or for it to be lifted ==

Raise it on the page's discussion, or on [[OpenWiki:Community portal]]. Protection is meant to be temporary wherever it can be: a page protected because of a burst of vandalism should be unprotected once the burst is over.

[[Category:OpenWiki]]