SmashWiki:Junior administrators (version 3)

This proposed policy or guideline has failed to gain the approval of the community, and so has not been implemented. It remains for archival purposes.

Different users have access to different functions of the site. While anyone can do most things on the site, including reading and editing, junior administrators, similar to regular administrators, have access to a small range of additional abilities in order to maintain order in the wiki, though they are less powerful.

Abilities of a junior administrator

In terms of access to tools, junior administrators are a midway point between rollback and full adminship. Their extra powers compared to those with Rollback are:

• Deleting pages, page histories, and uploaded files. Deleted pages cannot have a history larger than 6 revisions.
• Locking (protecting) a page so it cannot be edited or renamed by non-admins, or semi-protecting pages so that autoconfirmed users can edit it but new ones and IPs cannot.
• Adding and removing IP's and non auto-confirmed users to a new, "suspended", usergroup. While in this usergroup, users cannot make new pages or edit most sections of the wiki, but can edit their talk page. This functions almost like a block, but can only be applied for a maximum of 6 hours, during which time an admin can evaluate and decide to remove/extend the block on the user.

What's the difference between a junior administrator and a regular admin

Unlike full administrators, junior administrators do not have certain abilities. These include:

• Deleting pages with large histories.
• Importing pages from other wikis.
• Checking other users' IP addresses with check user.
• Viewing Special:UnwatchedPages.
• Putting other users in probation.
• Editing fully protected pages
• Changing the SmashWiki Status System without restrictions.
• Juniors are not considered "staff"; they cannot edit wiki-wide text or stylesheets, do not have access to the wiki's e-mail or YouTube accounts, and are not treated as member-wiki-staff on the NIWA forums.

While the current MediaWiki system makes it impossible to physically restrict one from adhering to all these guidelines, junior administrators are expected to follow them. Not following these guidelines will result in warnings, followed by a demotion from junior administrator if the junior administrator continues this behavior.

What a junior administrator should not do

In addition to the guidelines set in the above paragraph, junior administrators, like administrators, should not use their power to settle editing disputes. The wiki generally has a lower tolerance for missteps by junior administrators than administrators, and inappropriate behavior will generally result in a (one day to one week) block of the junior administrator, as well as an immediate revocation of their position.

Also, like administrators, junior administrators should not be treated as kings, and a junior administrator's say should not be weighted more heavily in a content dispute just because they have extra user rights.

How does one become a junior administrator?

Generally, positions of junior administrator are self-nominated before being approved by a bureaucrat. The candidacy for junior adminship is not nearly as stringent as requests for regular adminship, and only requires that the user create request for junior adminship with a short (about two sentences) blurb about why the user believes that he or she should become a junior admin. While it is not required, a nomination will probably only be passed if the nominee has good community standing.

Community support will generally lead to the request being passed faster, and in case of extraordinary community disapproval, even the approval of a bureaucrat will not be enough to have somebody take junior administrator status.

Users must be able to demonstrate trustworthiness and an understanding of the relevant tools in order to have a successful application. One should only become a junior administrator with the intention of combating vandalism and/or helping clean up and doing organizational and janitorial work for the wiki. Do not request a junior administrator solely for the sake of being a junior administrator.

NOTE: The relevant policy for RfJAs will only be constructed if this policy passes. It would be closer to an RfA than an RfR.