Wikipedia:Suggestions on how to ignore all rules

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This is an essay. It is not itself a policy or guideline, but offers help and suggestions on interpreting policy. Feel free to update this page as needed, or use the discussion page to propose major changes.

The exhortation to ignore all rules is sometimes a source of controversy, usually surrounding the disputed actions of administrators. Most users have no special privileges, and their actions can be countered by any other user (with some exceptions, which we shall not go into here). Mistakes can be easily corrected by anyone. Conflicts can and do arise, but revision histories are kept; they will not result in any damage, and in fact they should be resolved without resulting in anyone getting upset. Regular users, and especially new users, are encouraged to just be bold and work on writing an encyclopedia.

Administrators, on the other hand, can do things which cannot be undone by most users, and can act to block and unblock other users, as well as each other. Conflicts over administrative actions are called wheel wars, and are considered particularly harmful. This is not to say administrators should not be bold or ignore rules when appropriate. But if you are an administrator, you're expected to know how Wikipedia works. Here are some tips on how to ignore all rules if you're an administrator (though if you're an experienced user, these tips might be quite useful too)

  1. Before ignoring some rules, make sure you know what rules apply and what their purpose is. Ignoring should be done carefully and intentionally, not out of ignorance.
  2. When ignoring a rule, own up to it. State your choice to ignore rules in the appropriate public place, specifying the applicable rules and your reasoning for not following them this time. Besides accepting personal accountability for your decision, this will help people notice that a rule has a consistent blind spot, which may suggest that it needs modification. If you think the situation will happen more often, proceed to amend the guidelines based on what you have learned, so other people can learn from your experience and don't have to ignore all rules again.
  3. When ignoring, always lean in the direction of leniency and mercy. For example, ignoring the three-revert rule by choosing not to block someone for mistakenly making a fourth revert is less controversial than ignoring that rule by blocking for a second revert.
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