User:Murph146/Tutorials & Resources

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Basics

Set a strong password now. Your account now has the potential to cause site-wide damage with a single edit. If this happens, you will be held responsible. Permitting your account to be compromised, by neglect or otherwise, can lead to blocking and loss of adminship.

How to act

Remember that administrator status is not a trophy. Generally, therefore, do not act any differently now than you did six months or a year ago. It is true that you may be able to help mediate a dispute effectively, or resolve one, or guide the improvement of an article. But in virtually all of these cases your ability has nothing to do with your being an administrator, just with your experience, knowledge of the policies, and good sense—i.e. virtues you had long before you became an administrator, and virtues shared by many non-administrators. It is the possession of these virtues that is important and merits respect, and they have nothing to do with being an administrator as such. In other words, someone who isn't an administrator but who is experienced, knows the policies, and has good judgment is just as (and sometimes more) likely to improve a situation as an admin can. Respect other people's good judgment, and expect them to respect your good judgment—but do not expect any special treatment just because you are an admin.

Wikipedia administrators do have certain powers, and you need good judgment to use them. Nevertheless, this does not mean that administrators should act like police or judges. Consider thinking of your new status more like a custodian. Custodians typically have the keys to every room in the building—because it's their job to clean out the garbage and make sure the place is presentable when people come to work. Because the custodians have keys for the building, they could lock the workers out of the building, or empty the furniture out of somebody's office for the fun of it... but, as a rule, they should not. And if there are times when custodians may be called upon to empty someone's office, it isn't something they do for the fun of it, or do just because they can. Similarly, administrators' powers enable us to help out with countless maintenance jobs (e.g. our version of cleaning up graffiti). It is true that among these are powers to block users or protect pages, but we should strive never to use these powers based on our own judgment. Instead, as a general rule, administrators should use their powers only when Wikipedia policy makes it an unquestionable and thus practically automatic act, or when there is such a strong consensus that an admin's act is simply executing what is clearly the will of the community (if you ever have doubts, report the matter at the administrator's noticeboard, or ask on the admin's IRC channel—don't hesitate to draw on the advice or help of more experienced admins.) Be cautious and diplomatic, but be ready to use your tools if necessary.

Avoid wikilawyering whenever possible.

Our dictum, "ignore all rules" feels good the first time you use it, and we should never blame newbies for over-indulging. But even philosophers drunk on wisdom need designated drivers (or people to clean up the mess they leave behind). Appreciate its value, but be sure you appreciate the importance of our other policies. Policy is often smarter than you think.

Disputes

Almost all conflicts can be resolved by:

Patience and talking (instructing users and willing to let things play out over a few days or weeks). If you see a revert war brewing, warn people that we have a three-revert rule; guide them to the three-revert rule policy; explain to them that the rule is not a game but meant to allow people to cool down and gain a little distance before proceeding; if someone has been warned and then reverts a fourth time, block them for 24 hours (if you ever have doubts, report the matter at the administrator's noticeboard—don't hesitate to draw on the advice or help of more experienced admins).
Paying careful attention to our core policies, Neutral point of view, Verifiability and No original research.

Assume people act on good faith and give people the benefit of the doubt as long as they are not violating our core policies. If someone clearly violates them,

Gently encourage them to read our policies carefully (provide the links to make it easy for them),
But don't hesitate to revert immediately if that is what is unquestionably necessary to comply with the policies.

Always remember that talk pages are for improving articles. If someone starts using a talk page as a soap box or platform for long, tangential discussions:

Do not get sucked in (we know, this is hard to avoid!)
Gently discourage the contributor from misusing the talk page
When subtlety fails, use the appropriate warning template: {{Off topic warning}} or {{Notaforum}}

If you ever find yourself getting sucked into a conflict or a long tangential discussion and need to find a way to distance yourself—or just feel bored or antsy—you'll find plenty to do here or here.

List of tools

Protected pages

Edit the Main Page and other protected pages. For information and guidelines, see Wikipedia:Editing the main page. You can suggest changes at Talk:Main Page. The Main Page used to receive a lot of vandalism; protecting it is an unfortunate compromise to keep our welcome mat free of random profanity.

Protect and unprotect pages, with different kinds of protection against editing by certain classes of users, and page moving. Pages are generally protected rarely and temporarily. For information and guidelines, see Wikipedia:Protection policy.

Deletion and undeletion

Delete pages, including images, and their history. For information and guidelines, see Wikipedia:Deletion policy and (most definitely) Wikipedia:Deletion guidelines for administrators. To suggest a page for deletion (after reading the policy and guidelines pages), see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion. Sometimes deletion is a technical matter, in which a redirect page has to be removed to make way for moving an article, or a page whose history has been broken up has to be deleted and the pieces recombined. Other times it is a matter of cleaning up junk edits on pages with no actual content, or removing material that has been pasted from another site, thereby causing copyright infringement.

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

Block and unblock

Block IP addresses, IP ranges, and user accounts, for a specific time or indefinitely.

Unblock IP addresses, IP ranges, and user accounts.

See Wikipedia:Blocking policy for more information on when blocks are appropriate and when they are not. See Special:Ipblocklist for currently blocked addresses and usernames.

Reverting

Revert pages quickly. Any user (logged-in or not) can revert a page to an earlier version. Administrators have a faster, automated reversion tool to help them 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 Wikipedia:Rollback feature 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, [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&target=Example&bot=1]. 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.

Other

Administrators can also:

move pages protected against moves;
automatically move up to 100 subpages along with a page;
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; and
create accounts with names similar to those of existing accounts.
Grant and remove reviewer, rollback, autopatrolled, file mover, confirmed, IP block exemption, Edit filter manager and account creator permissions to other users, and to their own alternate accounts.
Edit without being affected by IP range-blocks. That is, a block has no effect on an administrator's editing access, unless it is specifically a block on their username.

Misuse of tools

Main policy links: Wikipedia:Administrators#Misuse of administrative tools, Wikipedia:Administrators#Uninvolved admins

Misusing the administrative tools is considered a very serious issue; they are provided to trusted users for maintenance and other tasks, and should always be used with thought, care, and with due diligence and good judgment. Serious misuse of the tools may result in sanctions or even their removal. If a user believes that an administrator has not used their administrative tools as per the established Wikipedia policies and guidelines, then they should first discuss their concerns and issues with the respective administrator directly. In cases where the issue is not resolved by discussing it directly and/or when broader community input is determined to be necessary or required, users can post their concerns regarding the issue at Wikipedia:Administrative action review for review by the broader community.

Common situations where avoiding tool use is often required:

Conflict of interest or non-neutrality – Administrators should not normally use their tools in matters in which they are personally involved (for example, in a content dispute in which they are a party). See Involved admins.
Communal norms or policies – When a policy or communal norm is clear that tools should not be used, then tools should not be used without an explanation that shows the matter has been considered, and why a (rare) exception is genuinely considered reasonable.
Administrator actions in conjunction with paid editing – Administrator tools may not be used as part of any paid editing activity, except as a Wikipedian-in-Residence, or when the payment is made by the Wikimedia Foundation or an affiliate of the WMF.
Reversing the actions of other administrators – Only in a manner that respects the admin whose action is involved, and (usually) after consultation.
Reinstating an admin action that has already been reversed (sometimes known as "wheel warring") – Responses have included Arbitration and desysopping even the first time.

See Wikipedia:Administrators (policy link) for these and for the very few exceptions.

Even when use of the tools appears reasonable, if doubt exists it is better to ask another independent administrator to review and (if justified) take the action.

Administrators How-To Guide

This page is a basic how-to guide explaining how to carry out administrative actions. It does not cover policies and guidelines related to doing so. Please read the pages linked to from administrators' reading list and ensure you are aware of the relevant policies before doing anything described on this page.

Blacklisting persistent spam

The MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. exists primarily to control widespread spamming and disruption of Wikimedia Foundation projects, by multiple individuals or IP addresses. Unlike the Meta spam blacklist, this blacklist affects pages on the English Wikipedia only. The MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist is a page in the MediaWiki namespace, which only administrators may edit.

Blocking a user or IP address

For IPs addresses, you can click the block link that appears next to the IP on recent changes. For logged in users, you must go to Special:Blockip, or follow the "Block user" link displayed in the sidebar on their userpage and talk page. Fill in the username or IP address you want to block in the first field, and the length of the block in the second. This is usually "24 hours", but can also be specific days such as "next Thursday" or a date. Add the reason for the block in the third field. This reason should explain to the user why he or she is blocked. Remember that some innocent users may be affected by the block and will see this message, so do not put anything offensive, confusing, or vague as the reason. Then click the block this user button. This will be logged and the user will appear in the list of blocked IP addresses and usernames until the block expires. See Wikipedia:Blocking policy.

Blocking a range of IP addresses

Go to Special:Blockip and enter the range in the first field (in CIDR notation [aka slash notation]). Then follow the instructions in the section above. Please do not block ranges if you do not understand the process. Read mw:Range blocks for instructions.

Dealing with abusive editors

An increasing number of admins have found themselves being threatened or harassed on and off-site, and in some cases in real life. This is usually possible because they have inadvertently left enough information in their contributions or on their user pages for abusive editors to be able to piece together who they are. If you find yourself being expected to deal with an abusive editor, and you're worried that s/he may identify you, there is a list of admins willing to make difficult blocks. You can contact any of these admins, by e-mail if you prefer, and ask them to take on the case. You can also add your own name to the list.

Deleting an image

To delete all versions of an image, you can select the "delete all revisions" option, or delete the image description page in the same way you would delete an article. To delete individual revisions, click the del link next to that revision.

If there is more than one revision of an image, clicking the "Delete all revisions of this image" will do exactly that. You cannot delete the most recent one without deleting all older copies and the image description page as well.

After clicking Delete all revisions of this image, you will see a confirmation screen similar to that used for page deletion and the deletion will be logged. There is no such confirmation if you are deleting a single old revision, but the deletion will still be logged.

Deleting a page

Click the delete or delete this page link on the page you want to delete (you can also use a keyboard shortcut such as alt+d depending on your browser and skin). You will be shown a page with a box to type in the reason for deletion, and a confirm box. You should specify why you are deleting it. An example reason is "listed on AfD for 7 days with consensus to delete". This confirmation page will give you a warning if the page has more than one revision in its history. If something looks like a candidate for speedy deletion but has a page history, you must check the history before deleting it. The revision you are looking at could be just a vandalised version of a real article. After you have deleted it, check whether it has a talk page and delete this too; usually a prompt will show up on the action confirmed page. If the page is being deleted because it should not exist, check that nothing links to it to prevent it accidentally or easily being created again. If the page was listed on AFD or a similar page, follow the guidelines at Wikipedia:Deletion process, which may include archiving the deletion discussion. See Wikipedia:Deletion guidelines for administrators and Wikipedia:Deletion policy.

Editing the interface

Following consensus to do so, you can change the wording of the user interface by editing the protected pages in the MediaWiki namespace. You can change the design of the interface at MediaWiki:Vector.css. These pages are editable in the normal way, but some require HTML rather than wikitext.

Editing a protected page

Click edit this page in the normal way. The only difference is the warning at the top of the page reminding you the page is protected. Read the protection policy before doing this.

Merging page histories

Merging page histories is a means of fixing cut and paste moves. Basically, it involves deleting a page, moving another page there and undeleting the original over the top of the one you just moved. Pages requiring a page history merge are listed at Wikipedia:Cut and paste move repair holding pen. Administrators can take up pages from this listing or work independently in merging pages. Deletion and undeletion of pages which are part of the repair process do not require another admin's approval. The repair action can be reversed, but doing so takes a long time, so please do not attempt it unless you understand the procedure described at Wikipedia:How to fix cut and paste moves.

Performing requested moves

Page moves that are controversial or require the assistance of administrators are listed at Wikipedia:Requested moves. For the procedure, see Wikipedia:Requested moves/Closing instructions.

Protecting or unprotecting a page

To protect a page, click the protect or protect this page link. In addition to full protection from edits by non-administrators, it is now possible to apply semi-protection from edits by new or unregistered users. This will lead to a confirmation screen very similar to the one used for deletion. Enter the reason for protection in the box, check the confirm box and press confirm. This will be logged, but you should also note it at Special:Protectedpages. In cases of edit wars, you should add {{protected}} to the top of the article you are protecting. In case of a result of recent vandalism, or to stop banned editors from editing, you should add {{Sprotected}} when applying semi-protection. Unprotect works in exactly the same way. Admins must not protect pages they are actively engaged in editing, except in the case of simple vandalism.

Protecting a non-existent page

Sometimes, a page is deleted and recreated multiple times. In this case, you may protect the deleted page in the same way you would an existing page to prevent future creation. This is sometimes referred to as "SALTing".

Protecting or unprotecting an image

Protecting an image is mostly the same as protecting a page (see above). When you click "protect" on an image description page, both the page and the image are protected. The image description page will be protected, and non-sysops will not be able to revert the image to an earlier version, or upload a new version over it.

Unblock a user, IP or range

Go to Special:Ipblocklist, find the user you want to unblock, and click the unblock link. You will have a confirmation page where you must fill in the reason for the unblock. This will be logged and the user will be immediately unblocked. If a range is blocked, you need to unblock the whole range. It isn't possible to unblock a specific single IP from within that range of blocked IPs.

Undeleting a page

Pages can be undeleted for as long as they are in the archive. Pages that were deleted prior to June 8, 2004, are not recoverable, as they were lost in a database crash. Images deleted since approximately 04:30 UTC on June 16, 2006 can be undeleted.

If a page has not been recreated since it was deleted, there will be a message on the page telling you how many deleted revisions there are. Clicking on this will take you to a page which displays the deleted revisions. You can look at each revision separately. You undelete a page by clicking the restore button which appears on the confirmation page; this will restore all deleted revisions by default. If you wish, you can choose specific revisions to undelete by selecting the checkboxes that appear next to them. Undeletion occurs as soon as you click restore; there is no further confirmation screen.

For images, Special:Undelete has an additional section called "File history". This is analogous to the same section on ordinary image pages and contains links to view each deleted version of the image. You can restore the image page history separately from the file history by using the appropriate combination of checkboxes.

Undeletions are logged just like deletions; if you do not restore all revisions of a deleted page, the log will record how many you did restore.

If a page already exists but you want to undelete previous revisions of it, go to the page history. There you will see the link to undelete as described above. You can also type the full URL to undelete. For example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Undelete/Foo.

Using rollback

See Wikipedia:Rollback feature and Wikipedia:New admin school/Rollback.

In cases of large scale vandalism that flood recent changes, administrators may use "bot rollback". Add &bot=1 to the end of the URL used to access a user's contributions. For example, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Special:Contributions&target=Vandal&bot=1. 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 Recentchanges display.

Being useful

Admin rights can be particularly useful in certain areas of Wikipedia.

Incidents that may require admin intervention
3RR violations
Intervention against vandalism
Copyright problems
Candidate speedy deletion pages
Admins will also find their rights useful for RC patrolling and New page patrol.
New user creation patrolling to block obvious vandals according to the usernames policy.