 | This is an explanatory essay about the Protection policy. This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Uninvolved administrators are authorized under policy to revert to and protect an older version of an article, as a means of resolving disputes and halting disruption. |
The stable version is the most recent revision of an article that was not affected by an active content dispute or edit war. Restoring an article to the stable version when fully protecting it (in response to such a content dispute or edit war) is a common administrative practice that is authorized by the Protection policy. Restoring the stable version is not required or encouraged by any policy or guideline, and administrators can fully protect articles mid-dispute, even if the protected version contains controversial edits. However, doing so can upset editors who did not get their preferred version protected, and they may complain that the admin has protected "the wrong version". Reverting to the stable version returns the article to neutral ground, and thus may help de-escalate a situation better than protecting one party's preferred version would. Administrators should consider what the best course of action is on a case-by-case basis, and neither option constitutes an admin's involvement in a dispute or an endorsement of the protected version of an article in any way. If an administrator protects an article without restoring the stable version, editors can still request that the stable version be restored by any administrator.