It has been over a year since the last attempt to unbundle the block button, and as subsequent trends have strengthened the reasons for this change, and eroded some of the reasons for opposing it, I think it time to resurrect the proposal.
'The block/unblock button should be unbundled so that an additional group of editors can block or unblock individual IP addresses and editors who have fewer than 100 edits. This new useright may only be granted or removed by crats. The criteria for granting it is a record of accurate reports to AIV, an understanding of the block policy and a modicum of clue.'
Frequently Asked Questions
edit- So what has changed in the last year?
- Our number of active admins has continued to fall and is now circa 30% below its peak level. The number getting through RFA continues to fall by a third per annum, as it has done for some years, If we manage to appoint thirty six admins in 2012 then we could replace all our existing admins in twenty years, but if the decline continues in 2013 that replacement period would rise to thirty years.
- Why can't these people go through RFA?
- A The expectations at RFA now includes a certain amount of article writing that these candidates may not have and do not need to have if all they do is block vandals; Also most of the people who could probably get through RFA aren't prepared to run with RFA in the state its in.
- Why should crats appoint them and not admins?
- A One of the reasons why the August 2010 proposal failed was that some editors objected to the idea of any admin being able to empower others to block. Restricting this right to crats would resolve that objection.
- What is the difference between this and the perennial admin lite proposals?
- A This involves the unbundling of one specific tool and only that one tool. Admin lite proposals tend to either propose to give a diverse but cutdown set of admin tools or to create probationary admins who will temporarily have all the tools. This is very specifically focussed on our need to quickly block vandals. Admin lite proposals fail partly because they are intended for people who many consider should be full admins, and partly because they are complex proposals.
- What happens when someone with this userright blocks an editor who they aren't qualified to block?
- A If the block succeeds we ask the devs what went wrong. But hopefully when they try and block an account with more than a hundred edits they will simply get an error message such as "You can't block this editor as they have more than 100 edits".