User:Lithistman/Work/Proposal:Unbundle admin tools

Administrators on en.wiki currently receive a set of tools after "passing" an RFA--which normally requires 75-80%+ support from the community. These tools vary in usefulness and, for lack of a better word, "power." This proposal is a plan for how these tools might be "unbundled", and made more easily accessible to editors in good standing, who have demonstrated a need for a given piece of the toolset.

List of tools currently bundled
The following list relies on WP:ADMINTOOLS.

Page protection

 * Editing the Main Page, as well as other fully protected pages.
 * Protect and unprotect pages, with different kinds of protection against editing by certain types of users, and page moving. For further information, see: Protection policy.

Deleting and undeleting pages

 * Delete pages, including images, and their history. For more information, see: Deletion policy and Deletion guidelines for administrators.
 * View and restore deleted pages, including images, and their history. See Viewing and restoring deleted pages by sysops for guidelines. To challenge a decision to delete a page, contact the deleting administrator or see Deletion review.

Rollback

 * Any user (logged-in or not) can Revert a page to an earlier version. However, administrators have a faster, automated reversion tool to help revert vandalism called rollback. When looking at a user's contributions, a link that looks like: [ rollback ] – appears next to edits that are at the top of the edit history.
 * See Rollback for more information on when rollback is appropriate and when it is not.

Keeping vandalism out of recent changes

 * Administrators can exclude bulk vandalism from Recent changes. To do this, add &bot=1 to the end of the URL used to access a user's contributions.
 * For example,  . When the rollback links on the contributions list are clicked, the revert and the original edit that you are reverting will both be hidden from the default recent changes display. (The bot marker was originally added to keep massive bot edits from flooding recent changes, hence the "bot".)
 * This means that they will be hidden from recent changes unless you click the "bots" link to set hidebots=0. The edits are not hidden from contributions lists, page histories or watchlists. The edits remain in the database and are not removed, but they no longer flood recent changes.
 * The aim of this feature is to reduce the annoyance factor of a flood vandal with relatively little effort. This should not be used for reverting a change you just do not like, but is meant only for simple vandalism, particularly massive flood vandalism.

Design and wording of the interface
Administrators can:
 * Change the text of the interface by editing the pages in the MediaWiki namespace, which includes the text at the top of pages such as "Special:WhatLinksHere" and the page that a blocked user will see when they try to edit a page (MediaWiki:Blockedtext);
 * Edit the style of the interface by changing the CSS in the vector stylesheet at MediaWiki:Vector.css; and
 * Edit some of the site-wide and skin-specific JavaScript of the software at places like MediaWiki:Common.js.

Special page move capabilities

 * Move pages protected against moves
 * automatically move up to 100 subpages along with a page

Special page view capabilities

 * view Special:Unwatchedpages to see pages which may be more vulnerable to vandalism
 * view the history of deleted pages, and the deleted contributions of users

Create accounts with names similar to those of existing accounts

 * This tool is self-explanatory.
 * Already (basically) unbundled. Only the "similar to those of existing accounts" portion would need devolved in the unbundling plan.

Granting of special tools to other users

 * Grant and remove reviewer, rollback, autopatrolled, file mover, confirmed, IP block exemption, mass message sender, Edit filter manager, template editor, and account creator permissions to other users, and to their own alternate accounts.

Edit through IP range-blocks

 * IP range-blocks. have no effect on an administrator's editing access, unless it is specifically a block on their username.

Account creator
The account creator flag is granted to users who are active in the request an account process. The flag removes the limit on the maximum number of new accounts that can be created in a 24 hour period. It also allows users to make accounts with names similar to other accounts. The account creator flag is only given to users who participate in the ACC process and may be removed without notice should a user's participation in the account creation process cease.

Autopatrolled
The autopatrolled flag is granted to users who are active in the creation of new articles. This tool is granted so their creations are auto patrolled in Special:NewPages. Unlike other requests, any user may nominate an editor for Autopatrolled, even without that user's consent. A user who wishes to have this flag generally should have created at least 50 articles and must be trusted, experienced, and must have demonstrated they are familiar with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, especially WP:BLP and Wikipedia:Notability.

Confirmed
The confirmed flag may be granted to new users who have not yet hit the threshold for autoconfirmed status. These are users who have not had both 10 edits and 4 days experience. People with this flag can upload files and edit semi-protected pages before hitting the autoconfirmed flag. Users requesting this flag must indicate clearly why they should be exempted from the customary confirmation period.

File mover
The file mover user right is intended to allow users experienced in working with files to rename them, subject to policy, with the ease that autoconfirmed users already enjoy when renaming Wikipedia articles.

Pending changes reviewer
The reviewer flag is granted to users who are experienced enough with Wikipedia editing and its policies for contributing to the process of reviewing articles placed under pending changes.

Rollback
Rollback enables users to remove vandalism much more quickly and efficiently than by undoing it. Users who do not demonstrate an understanding of what constitutes capable vandalism fighting, either because they have no or little history of doing so, or show a poor ability to discern between good and bad faith edits will not be granted this right. For a more detailed explanation of rollback and information about when it is appropriate to use the tool, see Rollback.

Template editor
The template editor flag allows users to edit protected templates and Lua modules. General guidelines for granting include making at least 1,000 edits overall (with at least 150 to templates), being a registered user for over a year, and having a record of successfully proposing significant edits to several protected templates. Users should demonstrate proficiency with template syntax and an understanding of the need for caution when editing heavily-used templates.

AutoWikiBrowser
Requests for access to AutoWikiBrowser should be made at Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPage, if approved, your name will be added to the CheckPage. AutoWikiBrowser is a semi-automated MediaWiki editor for Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 designed to make tedious repetitive tasks quicker and easier. It is essentially a browser that automatically opens up a new page when the last is saved. When set to do so, it suggests some changes (typically formatting) that are generally meant to be incidental to the main change. Please read the quick guide on the main page before requesting permission. Users with under 500 mainspace edits are RARELY approved and you only need to give a reason for wanting AWB access if you have fewer than 500 mainspace edits.

Edit filter
Requests for access to the Edit filter manager group should be made at Wikipedia talk:Edit filter. Requests may take in general up to seven days to process; more in case appropriate consensus, or lack of it, is not clear.

IP-block-exempt
While the IP-block-exempt right can also be granted by admins, this should not be requested here. Requests for the IP-block exempt right should be sent to the unblock-en mailing list or, if there are significant privacy concerns, to the Functionaries list (see Wikipedia:Functionaries).

Mass message senders
Requests for access to Special:MassMessage should be made at Wikipedia talk:Mass message senders.

Course instructor
Requests for access need to be made at the education noticeboard.

SPECIAL CASE: Oversight and CheckUser
These rights are only granted by the Arbitration Committee, and only after strict scrutiny. More information can be found here.

Level I
Editors with new usernames are granted this basic access.