Wikipedia:No matter what it's their talk page
 | 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: Don't revert the removal of templated messages by a user to their talk page, unless it's an exception as seen below. |
WP:BLANKING states that:
'If a user removes material from their user page, it is normally taken to mean that the user has read and is aware of its contents. There is no need to keep them on display and usually users should not be forced to do so.'
What does this mean?
[edit]Unregistered, newer or experienced editors that remove templated or written warnings from their user talk page are free to do so. If a user is removing a lot of {{uw-vandalism}} warnings or other messages from their talkpage, don't revert the edit. It's their talk page.
There have been enough edit wars over talk page messages for no reason where time could have been better used reverting vandalism. This applies to users vandalising their templated talk page messages as well: let the user to do it anyway and allow yourself to be more productive elsewhere. Admins don't consider user talk templates and other messages in judging whether a block is necessary: they look to the user's contributions or provided diffs to judge a situation.
Exceptions
[edit]WP:BLANKING also states that the following may not be removed by the user:
- Declined unblock requests regarding a currently active block and confirmed sockpuppetry related notices.
- Miscellany for deletion tags (while the discussion is in progress).
- Speedy deletion tags and requests for uninvolved administrator help
- For IP editors, templates and notes left to indicate other users share the same IP address and/or to whom the IP is registered, although very old content may be removed.
Common sense still applies—choosing to repeatedly restore messages under one of the above criteria is still capable of wasting a lot of time. An edit war and a few WP:AN/I reports may just lead to a whole lot of time wasted may that may have been better served elsewhere.