Administrators

Administrators are trusted members of the Wikipedia community granted additional permissions to perform maintenance and moderation tasks that typical users cannot. This article details the role of administrators, how they are selected, their permissions, common tasks, and the guidelines they must follow. Understanding the administrator role is crucial for all Wikipedia contributors, as it impacts the overall health and stability of the project.

What is an Administrator?

Administrators, often shortened to "admins," are volunteers selected by the community through a formal election process. They are not employed by the Wikimedia Foundation, the organization that hosts Wikipedia. Their role is to help enforce the site's policies and guidelines, protect the encyclopedia from vandalism, and perform technical tasks necessary for the smooth operation of the project. Importantly, administrators are *not* superior to other editors; they simply have additional tools to help them manage the site. They are held to a higher standard of conduct and are expected to exercise their permissions with caution and fairness.

How are Administrators Selected?

Becoming an administrator requires a rigorous vetting process. The process generally involves the following steps:

1. Nomination: A user intending to become an administrator must be nominated on the Wikipedia:Administratorship candidates page. 2. Eligibility: Nominees must meet certain eligibility requirements, including having a demonstrated understanding of Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, a history of constructive contributions, and generally being a trusted member of the community. A minimum account age and edit count are also usually required. 3. Discussion Period: Following nomination, there is a discussion period where users can ask questions, raise concerns, and assess the nominee's suitability for the role. This is where the community examines the candidate’s past edits, contributions to discussions, and overall temperament. 4. Voting: After the discussion period, a vote is held. Users who meet certain criteria (typically a minimum number of edits and account age) can vote "Support," "Oppose," or "Neutral." 5. Crat Review: "Crat"s (bureaucrats) are users with even higher permissions than administrators. They review the results of the vote and assess whether the nominee has sufficient community support to be granted administrator status. They also ensure the process was followed correctly. 6. Granting Permissions: If the Crat review is favorable, the nominee is granted administrator permissions.

The entire process is designed to ensure that only individuals with a strong commitment to Wikipedia's principles and a proven track record of responsible editing are granted these powerful tools.

Administrator Permissions

Administrators possess a range of tools not available to standard users. These permissions are designed to facilitate site maintenance and moderation. Key permissions include:

Deleting and Undeleting Pages: Administrators can delete pages that violate copyright laws, contain libelous content, or are otherwise unsuitable for Wikipedia. They can also restore deleted pages if necessary. This is often used to remove vandalism quickly.
Blocking Users: Administrators can block users who engage in disruptive behavior, such as vandalism, personal attacks, or persistent violations of Wikipedia's policies. Blocking can range from temporary restrictions to indefinite bans.
Protecting Pages: Administrators can protect pages from editing, either fully (only administrators can edit) or partially (only registered users can edit). This is used to safeguard high-profile articles from vandalism or edit warring.
Suppressing Revisions: Administrators can suppress revisions of pages, which hides them from public view but retains them in the database for auditing purposes. This is used for dealing with sensitive information or removing severe violations of policy.
User Rights Management: Administrators can grant or revoke certain user rights, such as the ability to roll back edits or create articles in certain namespaces.
Merging and Moving Pages: Administrators have enhanced abilities to merge and move pages, particularly in complex situations.
Editing Protected Pages: As mentioned above, administrators can edit fully protected pages to correct errors or implement approved changes.
Reviewing Pending Changes: Administrators can review edits made by new or unconfirmed users that are flagged as "pending changes."

It’s important to note that administrators are expected to use these tools judiciously and to document their actions on the relevant discussion pages.

Common Administrator Tasks

Administrators perform a wide variety of tasks to maintain the quality and integrity of Wikipedia. Some common tasks include:

Responding to Vandalism: Quickly reverting and addressing vandalism is a primary task. This often involves blocking the vandalizing user.
Enforcing Policies: Addressing violations of Wikipedia's policies, such as copyright infringement, neutral point of view violations, and conflict of interest editing.
Resolving Disputes: Mediating disputes between editors and helping to reach consensus.
Dealing with Disruptive Users: Addressing disruptive behavior, such as personal attacks, harassment, and edit warring.
Page Protection: Protecting pages that are subject to vandalism or edit warring.
Deleting Articles: Deleting articles that do not meet Wikipedia's inclusion criteria or violate its policies.
Handling Requests: Responding to requests from other editors, such as requests for page deletion or user blocking.
Reviewing Articles for Quality: While not exclusively an admin task, many administrators participate in reviewing articles for quality and accuracy.
Maintaining Categories: Ensuring categories are properly organized and used.

Administrators often work in collaboration with other administrators and the wider community to address complex issues.

Guidelines for Administrators

Administrators are expected to adhere to a strict set of guidelines. These guidelines are designed to ensure that administrators exercise their permissions responsibly and fairly. Key principles include:

Neutrality: Administrators must remain neutral and unbiased in their actions. They should not use their permissions to advance their own viewpoints or to favor one side in a dispute.
Transparency: Administrators should document their actions on the relevant discussion pages and explain their reasoning clearly.
Due Process: Administrators should follow due process when taking action against users, such as blocking or sanctioning them. This includes giving users an opportunity to explain their behavior.
Consistency: Administrators should apply policies and guidelines consistently.
Caution: Administrators should exercise caution when using their permissions, especially when making irreversible changes, such as deleting pages or blocking users.
Community Consensus: Administrators should seek community consensus whenever possible before taking significant actions.
Avoiding Abuse: Administrators must never abuse their permissions for personal gain or to harass other users.
Responding to Appeals: Administrators should promptly respond to appeals from users who believe they have been unfairly treated.

Violations of these guidelines can result in the removal of administrator permissions.

Relationship to Other User Groups

Administrators work alongside other user groups within the Wikipedia community. These include:

Bureaucrats (Crats): As mentioned earlier, Crats have higher permissions than administrators and are responsible for granting and revoking administrator permissions.
Checkusers: Checkusers are users with the ability to access IP address information to investigate sockpuppetry and other forms of abuse.
Oversighters: Oversighters have the ability to suppress revisions of pages and user contributions that contain sensitive information.
Rollbackers: Rollbackers have a dedicated tool for quickly reverting vandalism.
Patrollers: Patrollers review new and changed pages for vandalism and other issues.
Editors: The vast majority of Wikipedia contributors are editors who do not have any special permissions.

Administrators often collaborate with these other user groups to address complex issues and maintain the quality of the encyclopedia.

Administrator Review and Desysopping

Administrator permissions are not permanent. Administrators can have their permissions reviewed and potentially revoked ("desysopped") if they abuse their permissions, consistently violate policies, or become inactive. The desysopping process is similar to the administratorship process, involving a nomination, discussion, and vote. A significant loss of community trust is typically required for desysopping to occur.

The Importance of Administrators

Administrators play a vital role in maintaining the quality, stability, and integrity of Wikipedia. Without their dedicated efforts, the encyclopedia would be far more vulnerable to vandalism, disruption, and misinformation. Their work ensures that Wikipedia remains a reliable and trustworthy source of information for millions of people around the world. Their actions are crucial for maintaining a productive and collaborative editing environment. Understanding their role is key to understanding how Wikipedia functions.

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Permission	Description	Typical Use Case
Deletion	Removes pages from public view.	Removing copyright violations or irrelevant content.
Blocking	Prevents users from editing.	Addressing vandalism or disruptive behavior.
Protection	Restricts editing to certain user groups.	Safeguarding high-profile articles from vandalism.
Revision Suppression	Hides revisions from public view.	Dealing with sensitive information or egregious policy violations.
User Rights Management	Grants or revokes user permissions.	Managing user access to specialized tools.
Editing Protected Pages	Allows editing of fully protected pages.	Correcting errors or implementing approved changes.