Since this appears to be about the blocks I set yesterday, I will provide the context why this was done here, rather than elsewhere. Ideally, this wouldn't be discussed in such detail in a public place like this, even in generic terms like I will use, or would have been discussed in a direct message between the admin and the requester for info. But in this case, it looks like it's necessary to include it here.
After reviewing "How We Do Bans Around Here" guidelines, the blocks I set were a response to points 2 and 7 under the "Grounds for a permanent ban without warning on the first occurrence", which are "Spamming off-topic posts" and "Evidence of ban evasion." Attempts were made on other wikis to communicate with the user and guide them towards better behavior. Those attempts were deliberately ignored and the issue spread to other wikis, including this one.
For a six month period, user created posts on Wiki 1 that contained off topic pictures or had misleading titles that attempted to make them look like the off topic pictures were a part of the wiki's subject. User was given advice about keeping what they post relevant. User deleted the message within two hours and immediately created more off topic posts. Message was restored and a new response was added, providing advice that neither action was a good idea.
In the middle of account #1's activity, account #2 appeared on Wiki 1 and continued creating off topic posts, meaning the user switched back and forth between accounts. A third account was also found from earlier last year, exhibiting the same behavior, showing this issue had been going on for a year. Account #4 shows up and does the same thing.
Account #5 replaces official artwork for a character with the off topic material on Wiki 1. The five accounts were blocked on Wiki 1 to curtail this issue.
Account #6 appears and continues posting off topic material on Wiki 1, and goes to Wiki 2 and Wiki 3 to do the same thing, using the same pictures. The material is off topic for all three wikis. A block was set on Wiki 1 and Wiki 2. A message was left for the user on Wiki 3 (this wiki), with a warning that continued behavior like this would not help them.
Account #7 appears on Wiki 1 and on a fourth wiki with same behavior. Account was blocked only on Wiki 1 and the blocks on previous accounts at Wiki 1 were extended. Blocks on Wiki 2 were set to match.
Account #8 appears on Wiki 1 with same behavior. Account was blocked only on Wiki 1 and a new message left for them, providing a stronger warning that they were on the path towards a permanent block due to the use of multiple accounts and ban evasion. They were also notified that the message for Account #6 here would be updated so they had a greater chance of seeing both messages.
Account #9 appears on Wiki 1 and engages in same behavior. User is notified they will be permanently blocked due to abusing multiple accounts, ban evasion and continue spamming of off topic material. Permanent blocks are set on all four wikis they had been to. The block on this account was set to allow user to respond to the message. Their response was to delete it.
In summary, attempts were made to first guide the user towards better behavior. The first attempt was deleted by the user, providing a hint they were not going to change that behavior. That was confirmed by the creation of new accounts that continued that behavior. At no point did the user attempt to contact with the admin (myself) to find a resolution to the issue, and subsequent communications with them were ignored. The blocks were set on a few wikis because effectively, the user dragged each wiki into this issue by going there.
For the lack of documented action, in this case, you would not been able to see what was happening unless you had Discussion Moderator rights. Those mod rights are typically only for individual wikis, so what was going on at other wikis would not have been publicly visible as the posts were deleted. There's also a major limitation in the Discussions system that means unless a mod or admin knows what number has been assigned to a user's account for posting in that area, or there's a post still visible by that user that you can use to get to their "All posts" page, you can't see what's been deleted. There isn't any logging of actions that can be viewed publicly without special rights. There's no creation log and no deletion log for any posts or replies. That limitation can lead to what I think prompted this post: a concern about an admin that appeared to be acting capriciously and couldn't be independently verified to determine intent or reason for those actions.
As to why this wasn't handled by SOAP or Fandom, the type of material being spammed were content issues, which neither typically handles. In addition, an admin (me) was available to handle the matter on a local level. Temporary blocks were used to curtail the poor behavior and to show the user it needed to change for the better. Since the user had already demonstrated they would switch between accounts, once it was determined the behavior would not change, all confirmed accounts were permanently blocked on the four wikis affected to prevent them from using them to continue spamming.
