PBC:Stable version
 | This is an explanatory supplement to the Protection policy. This page is intended to provide additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of PBC's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the Administrative Committee. |
 | 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 term "stable version" is a concept that refers to the most recent version 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. If an administrator does not restore the stable version, involved editors can still request that the stable version be restored by any administrator.
Inappropriate usage
It is important to note that outside of the limited administrative context, a "stable version" is an informal concept that carries no weight whatsoever, and it should never be invoked as an argument in a content dispute. Maintaining a stable version is, by itself, not a valid reason to revert or dispute edits, and should never be used as a justification to edit war. Stable versions are not superior or preferred to disputed edits in any way, boldly making changes to articles is encouraged as a matter of policy, and obstructing good faith edits for the sake of preserving "stable" content is disruptive. Editors involved in content disputes or edit wars should focus on resolving the dispute, rather than preserving the stable version, and the decision to temporarily preserve the stable version for the purposes of deescalating a dispute may only be made by an administrator.