Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Front matter
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Requests for adminship (RfA) is the process by which the Wikipedia community decides who becomes an administrator (also known as an admin or a sysop). Administrators have access to additional technical features that help with maintenance. A user either submits his/her own request for adminship (a self-nomination) or is nominated by another user.
Please be familiar with the administrators' reading list and how-to guide, as well as the guide to requests for adminship before submitting your request.
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[edit] About RfA
The community grants administrator status to trusted users who are familiar with Wikipedia policies. Nominees must have been on Wikipedia long enough for people to see whether they have these qualities. Administrators are held to high standards of conduct, as they are often perceived as the "official face" of Wikipedia. Administrators must be courteous, and exercise good judgment and patience in dealing with others. Adminship is primarily an extra responsibility, as there are rules and policies that apply only to administrators. Almost all administrator actions are reversible, and there is a separate process for dealing with conflicts with or abuse by administrators.
- Nomination standards
- There are no official prerequisites for adminship, other than a basic level of trust from other editors. However, some users set standards (on an individual basis) that may be useful to read. Candidates for adminship are advised to become familiar with the standards generally applied by RfA participants.
- The nomination statement and responses to questions should indicate that the nominee is familiar with the tools and roles of administrators.
- Decision process
- Any user in good standing may nominate any user with an account. Self-nominations are permitted. If you are unsure about nominating yourself for adminship, you may wish to try an editor review first. Nominations remain posted for seven days from the time the nomination is posted on this page, during which time interested users give their opinions, ask questions or make comments. At the end of that period, the bureaucrats who handle administrator promotions review the discussion to see whether there is a general community consensus for promotion. The numbers of people supporting, opposing, or expressing another opinion on a candidacy are a significant factor in determining consensus (few RfAs succeed with less than 75% support), but a request for adminship is not a ballot; the reasons and evidence given during the RfA may sway others, and participants communicate with the candidate and may change their position during the decision period. Also, the bureaucrats exercise some discretion in deciding whether there is consensus for promotion of the candidate.
- Bureaucrats may also use their discretion to close nominations early, if a promotion is unlikely and they see no further benefit to the nominee in leaving the application open. Only bureaucrats may close or de-list a nomination as a definitive promotion or non-promotion. In the case of vandalism, improper formatting or a declined or withdrawn nomination, non-bureaucrats may de-list a nomination, but they are never empowered to decide on whether consensus has been achieved.
- In exceptional circumstances, bureaucrats may extend the deadline or rerun the nomination if this will make the consensus clearer. If your nomination fails, please wait a reasonable period of time before renominating yourself or accepting another nomination. Some candidates have tried again and succeeded within a month, but many editors feel that at least two or even three months is better.
- How to nominate an editor for adminship
- To nominate either yourself or another user for adminship, follow the instructions on this page.
- Expressing opinions
- Who may participate: Any user in good standing is welcome to participate in discussions on candidates.
- Who may comment in the Support, Oppose and Neutral sections: Any Wikipedian with an account is welcome to comment here, except for the candidate (who may respond to comments by others). Certain comments may be discounted or removed if there are suspicions of fraud; these may be the contributions of very new editors or sockpuppets, as well as meatpuppetry and other activity that may be the result of an illegitimate attempt to shift the balance of opinion.
- To add a comment, click the "Discuss here" link for the relevant candidate. You may then indicate whether you Support or Oppose the nomination by signing your name under the relevant heading. Any Wikipedian, including very new editors and "anons", may participate in the discussion in the "comments" section. The candidate may respond to questions/concerns/comments.
- "Neutral" comments are also permitted, but are not usually counted in determining percentages.
- Explain your opinion by including a short explanation of your reasoning. Your input will carry more weight if it is accompanied by supporting evidence.
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- Note: The major consideration for whether a user should become an administrator should be evidence of how the user will use the administrator tools.
- Who may not comment in the Support, Oppose and Neutral sections: Editors who do not have an account and/or are not logged in ("anons"). These editors are welcome to participate in the Comments and Questions sections.
- Always be respectful towards others in your comments.
- Threaded discussions are held in the Comments section. Long discussions are held on the discussion page of the individual nomination. Anyone may comment or discuss, including anonymous editors.
- Please remember to update the tallies in the headers when voting.
[edit] Nominating
Nominations must be accepted by the user in question. If you nominate a user, leave a message on their talk page and ask them to reply on the nomination page to accept or decline the nomination. Better yet, ask them whether they will accept before creating the page. Nominees should read the guide to requests for adminship before accepting.
