User:Keegan/On administrators

The descriptions of what an administrator, or sysop, does on Wikipedia is adequately explained on the page Administrators. This is intended to be a more comprehensive explanation of the function and why it is not a big deal, but at the same time why the user must be trusted.

The power of the tools
An account with the (+sysop) flag has six extra functions:
 * The ability to use the block user form
 * The ability to protect or semi-protect a page to prevent edit warring and vandalism, respectively
 * The ability to delete an article or use the revision deletion extension to remove an edit
 * The ability to tell the server to rollback the last edit to a page if it is vandalism. This differs from javascript and other tool rollbacks in that it is an "official" function of the server.
 * The ability to place an article under pending changes
 * The ability to grant non-admin related flags to user accounts

Now, all of these actions can be undone by any other administrator. A sysop can rollback on themselves if a mistake in the use of the tool has been made. It is highly discouraged for one admin to rollback a good faith edit. Manual edits should be made.

Why the tools are useful
Certainly any editor who contributes regularly will at one point or another need the use of the flag. When it becomes a persistent need in editing and the user has proven trustworthy, adminship is no big deal. Even if the user does not desire to delve into any particular backlog or noticeboard, every hand is a helping hand.

Why the tools are privileged
Going down the line...

Blocking
Blocking other editors, whether they are edit warring, vandalizing, accounted or anonymous, has serious ramifications. Wikipedia has the core principle that anyone can edit the encyclopedia. This extends to all users of any sort, on any range or types of IP. Assume good faith that the user can work within the system that has been built to maintain the project.

With this in mind, a user must know when to use discretion in blocking another user. Even more important, the user must be willing to discuss the decision and abide with consensus if discussion occurs over the action.

Page protection
Just as with blocking editors, page protection is an extreme resolution. Articles should be free to edit by anyone at anytime for as much as circumstances allow.

Semi-protection for vandalism is applied in cases where the vandalism is so extensive and from different places (such as In the news pages) that managing the article wastes resources.

Full protection is to stop edit wars and force discussion on the talk page. Its purpose is not to preserve the The Wrong Version.

Deletion
Deletion is often the most contentious use of the tools, and results in the most communication with other editors. An administrator must be able to rationally defend the action, or agree that it was a mistake.

Either way, it takes great interpersonal communication skills to avoid/resolve conflict in a written environment. There are many users that know how to properly flag new pages that should be speedy deleted, and contribute to Articles for Deletion discussions, deletion review and other forums on Wikipedia who might not possess this vital skill an administrator must have that deletions provoke the most.

Rollback
Rollback is a server based function, so the action should be against simple vandalism or blatant test edits. Nothing else.

Other voluntary duties and abilities
Since administrators can edit protected pages, they may edit the main page as well as the MediaWiki namespace. As such, a user should be knowledgeable before attempting to edit these spaces. They must be trusted not to edit them if they do not know what they are doing. Since only sysops can edit protected templates that appear on the main page, they are the ones that introduce and word In the news and Did you know entries. Again, a user should be able to prove responsible and capable of neutral point of view to take care in maintaining the home page of the English Wikipedia.

Administrators can merge page histories to conform to our licensing policy.

Administrators are to close discussions from the range of requested moves to the deletion debates and carry out community consensus. As such, a sysop must be familiar with what consensus is and is not, and to serve as a trusted functionary of the community in that regard.

Administrators have the ability to see Special:Unwatchedpages. The log is needed to monitor abandoned articles, and to prevent users from exploiting unnoticed spots.

Administrators also have access to see deleted pages, using Special:Undelete. Since even deleted edits are preserved under the GFDL, there are some administrators willing to provide deleted content as long is it is not a copyright violation or privacy violation. These users note this on their userpages. If content is oversighted, it is removed from the server and cannot be seen.

Administrators, by the ability to edit protected pages, may move pages that are protected against a move. The user must be trusted to use this ability in the rare instance it may occur.

Accounts with the sysop flag are not affected by an autoblock of an IP range or address that may include the user.

Sysops can access Special:DeletedContributions when viewing Special:Contributions for a user. This feature is hidden from non-admin accounts.

Administrators can mark new pages as patrolled, a sort of visible watchlist for new pages. Sysop accounts have the ability to register accounts that are similar in username to banned or blocked editors' names and/or patterns. Unflagged accounts cannot register more than six names a day. This is to prevent disruption.

Sysops have the ability to grant a user several flags including rollback, 'account creator' and in special cases an IP block exempt, using Special:UserRights.

Expected duties
Administrators are to remove content that violates the Biographies of living persons criteria. They are also expected to hide copyright violations and privacy violations from the visible history logs on sight.

Administrators are expected to respond, and in a timely manner, to queries regarding sysop actions. This includes noticeboards and talk pages.