http://70.231.62.181/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Template%3AUser_shared_IP_address%2FdocTemplate:User shared IP address/doc - Revision history2026-04-30T07:00:50ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.1http://70.231.62.181/index.php?title=Template:User_shared_IP_address/doc&diff=64387&oldid=previmported>Creativeusernamehere: /* A non-technical explanation */ Fixed grammar errors2025-05-24T00:55:51Z<p><span class="autocomment">A non-technical explanation: </span> Fixed grammar errors</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Documentation subpage}}<br />
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{{distinguish|Template:Shared IP}}<br />
{{Message box<br />
| backgroundcolor = #e0ffff<br />
| image = Information icon.svg<br />
| message = This userbox confirms that the user is familiar with '''[[Wikipedia:Sock puppetry|Wikipedia's policy on using multiple accounts]]''' and the account will not be used for sock puppetry.<br />
}}<br />
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== Usage ==<br />
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To use include the template with the user name of the other user after the pipe symbol:<br />
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{{tlx|User shared IP address|Username}}<br />
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Users with this template on their user page are automatically added to [[:Category:Wikipedians with shared IP addresses]].<br />
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==A non-technical explanation==<br />
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If you share a home or an office with another Wikipedian, you probably need to use this template, because in many cases the internet is provided by a single [[internet service provider]] (ISP) via a [[residential gateway]]. All computers in the premises that have access to the internet are connected to a [[private network]] with a [[Private network#Common uses|local address]]. To access the internet, the residential gateway [[Network address translation|translates]] those local addresses into a public [[Routing|routable]] [[IP address]], therefore to the outside world your computer and all the other computers in the premises appear to share an IP address. <br />
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As a result of these shared addresses, it can seem that one person is operating [[WP:SOCK|more than one account]] (which is against policy), when in reality, there is more than one person operating their own separate accounts, just from the same network. <br />
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NB. There are lots of exceptions to the above, which the more computer literate will know about, but those for whom "shared IP address" is just another piece of impenetrable computerese, your home computers will probably be using such a system.<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Wikipedia:Userboxes/Wikipedia/Related accounts]]<br />
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[[Category:Editor interaction user templates]]<br />
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