 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Page protection is usually done as a last resort, and should only be requested when absolutely necessary. |
Protection of a Wikipedia page is the placement of a limitation on who can edit that page. It is mostly used for pages that are vandalized frequently, are the center of edit wars, or are otherwise frequently misused.
Protection should not be standard practice. It should only be done as a last resort, when failure to do so would stand in the way of the page's purpose to readers.
Protecting or semi-protecting a page limits the number of people who can edit the page, and therefore can hinder good-faith and possibly valuable contributions from being made.