A 'protected question' is a question that you temporarily cannot answer or edit.
There are two reasons a question is protected on WikiAnswers:
1. The question is a catch-all. Catch all questions are where we "catch" potentially harmful questions or questions that violate our Terms of Use to keep them from obtaining potentially harmful or illegal answers that will violate our Terms of Use. We keep these questions in a safe place - the catch all - rather than deleting them from the database. These questions generally remain protected indefinitely.
2. The question has become a debate. This includes questions with answers that may contain inflammatory remarks that are being "updated" by various users, which, in turn, creates a debate. WikiAnswers is not a debate forum. It is a question and answer - social knowledge - website. These questions are likely to be unprotected after some period of time - when users have had a chance to cool off and move on from the topic - in order to reopen the question to improvements for a better, updated answer.
If you feel that a protected question should become unprotected, please contact Reopen @ answers.com (remove spaces).
If the non-protected question doesn't have an answer, then you can merge it into a protected question. However, if the non-protected question does have an answer, then it cannot be merged into a protected question.
A lock means that the question is protected and can only be answered by a Supervisor. They are protected because they have been vandalised, or the question is ambiguous.
If an answer is being vandalized repeatedly, or the answer has turned into an argument, you can email WikiAnswers @ Answers.com (remove the spaces) and ask for the question to be protected.
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The yellow lock is an indication that a question has been "protected" by a Supervisor. Only Supervisors can then edit the question.Protecting a question is a way to prevent a question from being repeatedly spammed or vandalized. If you want a question to be unprotected, send a message to any Supervisor.(For more information, see the Related question.)
'Protect' a Question via the Yellow Padlock A question on WikiAnswers is protected if the answers of multiple contributors turn into a debate, if the answer is vandalized repeatedly, or is controversial; among various circumstances. First of all, the option to "Protect" (and "Unprotect") the answer to a question - the yellow padlock - is onlyavailable to Supervisors and Community Assistants on the site.How to Protect if you are a Supervisor:Click on "Protect" to the left of the page - under "Question tools."What if a non-supervisor feels that a certain question or answer should be protected?Please contact a CA or a Supervisor to verify. A user may also contact a Supervisor or CA if valid alterations need to be made to the protected question or answer.Alternatively, email wikianswers @ answers.com (remove spaces) to make the request. If the request is deemed valid, the pertinent Q&A might certainly be protected.
Usually answers get protected when people are arguing over them a lot. It is probably a good question, since a lot of people talking about it is usually a reason that something gets protected. But there's no way to tell without knowing which one it is. :)(See more on this topic in the Related Question below.)
The question is protected (see related question below), but if you want to add to it you can write to the email address given (the same one given for all protected questions), and we will review your suggestions and update the Guidelines accordingly.
You must be either a Supervisor or Community Assistant to edit protected questions. If you want a question to be unlocked, please email this address: Reopen @ WikiAnswers.com (remove the spaces).
WikiAnswers does not condone or tolerate offensive behaviour. This question will now be protected. Violators will be warned and if they continue they will be banned.
A protected question is manually updated by a Supervisor. Supervisors may protect questions for the following reasons:* Spammers * Vandals * TMI to add more Some Supervisors use separate questions for a holding bin, to help them work, this holding bin would be protected.Protection is so that the question can not be modified anymore without a Supervisor's assistance.A protected Question is a question where no one can add a answer or edit anything in that question.
Very rude questions are merged into catch-all question. It is a redirect to hamful question, not enough information to answer questions etc... These Catch-all questions are protected.