Template talk:Block reason

End date addition
I have updated the template to include a place where the end date of the block is specified. Without it, you would have to go into the History of a page to see when the template was added and most people won't do that. Now they will know when a block expires. This will also help with cleaning up expired block notices (see below).

I realize that people who are deliberately vandalizing pages may use this as a countdown timer for when they can start causing problems again. Two users come to mind, one that started vandalizing pages the same day the block expired and the other was within 1 or 2 days after the block expired.

However, we can use it for kind of the same purpose: to see when a block will expire and watch for potential problems. It can help us distinguish between "casual" vandals who did it just to cause a problem and those who are doing it deliberately. Those that are doing it deliberately will be blocked for a longer period of time and will quickly earn a permanent block. — RRabbit42 ( leave a message ) 22:11, May 1, 2010 (UTC)

Expired block notices
Two forums has been created for getting ideas on how to handle expired block notices. We need a record that the user was blocked in the past, but if no block is currently active, we should remove the block template as some people will just see that they're blocked without reading further to learn that it isn't in effect any more. The first forum handles modifying previous block notices so they can be kept on record but won't discourage the user from returning to make good edits and the second discusses removing the block notices. — RRabbit42 ( leave a message ) 22:11, May 1, 2010 (UTC)