WickedGov:User groups

This policy page documents the rights of various user groups on WickedGov. A detailed technical list of rights is available at Special:ListGroupRights.

Automatically granted groups

Registered users

Registered users enjoy a variety of additional privileges, such as creating a watchlist, marking edits as minor, and the possibility to gain further permissions. While it is not mandatory, registration is encouraged for all regular contributors. Use of a real-life name is not required, and users do not have to specify any personal information.

Autoconfirmed users

Autoconfirmation (autoconfirmed) is granted to any registered user who registered at least three days ago and has made at least five edits.

Autoconfirmed users can edit semi-protected pages and are exempt from certain rate limits imposed by the wiki software.

Confirmed users

Trusted users can be manually confirmed by any administrator or bureaucrat prior to reaching the usual requirement. These users are part of the confirmed group.

Manual confirmation is generally only granted to authorized alternative accounts of autoconfirmed users, or users that are under in-person administrative supervision and have a demonstrable need for the permission.

Once confirmed users are also autoconfirmed (3 days, 5 edits), they can remove the confirmed group from their own account at Special:UserRights.

Extended confirmed users

Users become extended confirmed (extendedconfirmed) with at least 100 edits and at least a 14-day-old registered account. This group can also be manually granted, although rarely.

Extended confirmed users' sole additional privilege is editing extended-protected pages.

Users should not make many useless edits to reach the 100-edit mark; this is considered gaming the system and will result in revocation of the permission by an administrator.

Specialized permissions

These groups are granted to experienced, knowledgeable users who need the permission.

IP block exemptions

Normally, blocks against IP addresses do not affect logged-in users from that IP address. However, on some IP addresses, such as open proxies and other addresses that are persistently abused, logged-in editing is also disabled. Users in the IP block exemptions group (ipb-exemption) are immune to these blocks.

IP block exemptions should be granted only with demonstrated need, and should be granted for not longer than 2 years (with possibility of renewal if necessary).

Exemptions should not be used for other purposes than the purpose for which they were granted.

In addition to manually placed IP blocks, IP block exemption access also gives the ability to bypass Tor blocks, which are automatically imposed by the software.

Administrators and bureaucrats have all IP block exemption rights as part of the sysop and bureaucrat toolsets.

IP block exemption access can be granted and revoked by administrators and bureaucrats.

Extended uploaders

Extended uploaders (uploader) are trusted users with experience in file management. Bureaucrats may grant and revoke extended uploader permissions.

Extended uploaders can:

• Move files (movefile)
• Overwrite existing files (reupload)
• Upload files from a URL (upload_by_url)

Extended uploader permissions may be requested at the bureaucrats' noticeboard.

Administrators have all extended uploader rights as part of the sysop toolset.

Revocation of specialized permissions

The ipb-exemption and uploader groups should be removed by a bureaucrat:

• Upon self-request at the bureaucrats' noticeboard.
• Immediately and without discussion when:
  • It is clear that the tools are being used for vandalism or blatant disruptive editing (including edit warring), or
  • It is clear that the account is compromised.
• Upon consensus at the bureaucrats' noticeboard or another high-profile location.
• When the user is indefinitely banned.
• When the user becomes part of another group (such as sysop or bureaucrat) that makes the specialized permissions redundant.
• When the account has made no edits or logged actions for 2 years.

When specialized permissions are revoked for any reason, they may be regained through the regular avenue (the bureaucrats' noticeboard).

Administrators

Administrators (sysop) are trusted, experienced users with the technical ability to perform certain maintenance actions. These actions include, but are not limited to:

• Blocking and unblocking other users from editing
• Deleting and undeleting pages
• Configuring protection settings

Administrators have no additional social status compared to other editors and have no formal mediation authority.

Users interested in becoming an administrator may make a request at the bureaucrats' noticeboard.

Requests for adminship should be publicized on high-profile noticeboards such as the town common. They should stay open for at least 7 days, except as outlined below, or when a request obviously has no chance of succeeding.

Administrator conduct

• Administrators are expected to remain civil at all times and are held to high standards of conduct.
• Administrators must follow all policies and guidelines, especially when using the administrator tools.
• If questioned, administrators must explain the justification for their actions.

Revocation of administrator permissions

The sysop group should be removed by a bureaucrat:

• Upon self-request at the bureaucrats' noticeboard.
• Immediately and without discussion when:
  • It is clear that the tools are being used for vandalism or blatant disruptive editing (including edit warring), or
  • It is clear that the account is compromised.
• Upon consensus at the bureaucrats' noticeboard.
• When the user is indefinitely banned.
• When the account has made no edits or logged actions for 1 year.

When administrative permissions are revoked for any reason, they may be regained through the regular avenue (the bureaucrats' noticeboard). However, in cases of resignation in uncontroversial circumstances, access may be restored upon request and without discussion, unless the resignation occurred over 1 year before the request for restoration.

Advanced permissions

Interface editors

Interface editors (interface-admin) are experienced administrators with the technical ability to edit sitewide and user JavaScript and CSS pages, such as MediaWiki:Common.css. Editing of these pages is restricted because of the potential to insert malicious code which can affect many users.

Administrators may request interface editor access at the bureaucrats' noticeboard. Interface editor access may be granted temporarily to carry out a specific task (or indefinitely if necessary).

Checkusers

Checkusers (checkuser) are experienced administrators with the technical ability to check users' IP addresses and related information. This is done to prevent sockpuppetry and other abuse. Use of the CheckUser tool is governed by the CheckUser policy.

Administrators may request checkuser access at the bureaucrats' noticeboard.

Bureaucrats are generally added to the checkuser group when they become a bureaucrat.

Suppressors

Suppressors (suppress) are experienced administrators with the technical ability to hide revisions and log entries from view, even by administrators. Use of the suppression tool is governed by the suppression policy.

Administrators may request suppressor access at the bureaucrats' noticeboard.

Bureaucrats are generally added to the suppressor group when they become a bureaucrat.

Revocation of advanced permissions

The suppress, checkuser and interface-admin groups should be removed by a bureaucrat:

• Upon self-request at the bureaucrats' noticeboard.
• Immediately and without discussion when:
  • A bureaucrat reasonably suspects that the tools have been abused or seriously misused, including any violation of the Privacy Policy, or
  • A bureaucrat reasonably suspects that the account is compromised.
• Upon consensus at the bureaucrats' noticeboard only.
• When the user is indefinitely banned.
• When the account has made no edits or logged actions for 1 year.
• Whenever administrator permissions are revoked for any reason.

When advanced permissions are revoked for any reason, they may be regained only through the bureaucrats' noticeboard. However, in cases of resignation in uncontroversial circumstances, access may be restored upon request and without discussion, unless the resignation occurred over 1 year before the request for restoration.

Bureaucrats

Bureaucrats (bureaucrat) are administrators with the technical ability to add and remove all user groups (except the Staff group) for all users. Bureaucrats are also the primary responsible users for the following actions:

• Renaming users
• Editing interwiki data
• Deleting tags
• Deleting pages with very large histories (5000+ revisions)

Administrators interested in becoming a bureaucrat may make a request at the bureaucrats' noticeboard.

Requests for bureaucratship should be publicized on high-profile noticeboards such as the town common. They should stay open for at least 7 days, except as outlined below, or when a request obviously has no chance of succeeding.

Removal of bureaucrat permissions

The bureaucrat group should be removed by another bureaucrat:

• Upon self-request at the bureaucrats' noticeboard.
• Immediately and without discussion when:
  • Another bureaucrat reasonably suspects that the tools are being used for vandalism or blatant disruptive editing (including edit warring), or
  • Another bureaucrat reasonably suspects that the account is compromised.
  • Note that in the case of a compromised or rogue bureaucrat account, the other bureaucrats may be unable to restore order. In this case, a staff member will intervene to remove access.
• Upon consensus at the bureaucrats' noticeboard only.
• When the user is indefinitely banned.
• When the account has made no edits or logged actions for 1 year.
• Whenever administrator permissions are revoked for any reason.

To ensure maximum transparency, bureaucrats should not remove permissions from themselves.

When bureaucrat permissions are revoked for any reason, they may be regained only through the bureaucrats' noticeboard. However, in cases of resignation in uncontroversial circumstances, access may be restored upon request and without discussion, unless the resignation occurred over 1 year before the request for restoration.