Wikipedia:Newcratschool

"Wikipedia:SHOVEL" redirects here. For the essay related to WP:COMMONNAME, see Wikipedia:Call a spade a spade.

You got your undergrad at NAS, but now for your graduate-level coursework!

Congratulations on becoming a new bureaucrat! You have heard about the "wrench", the "shovel", and perhaps even the "tedium". Maybe you've even read WP:CRAT! Trying to pass an RFB is no easy feat, so you no doubt have plenty of knowledge about the tasks bureaucrats do, but you have no experience performing those tasks.

It's often tough the first time you click the infamous "rename" button or check a box at Special:UserRights. You might be hesitant to make that click because you think you might do it wrong. Well, you should definitely be concerned! There are lots of ways to do it wrong, too many ways to even list here.

Spending a few minutes here may seem well worth it if it keeps you from ending up in the village stocks or hit by a trout.

Feel free to revise the courses as needed.

Bureaucrat privileges

Below are the tasks that you can do as a new bureaucrat. In ascending order of tedium (In other words 1 is dull while 6 is boring):

1. Rename users
2. Remove the bot flag
3. Grant the bot flag
4. Promote bureaucrats
5. Promote admins
6. De-sysop admins

Rename users

Okay, the only exciting part of renaming is the fact that you get to see some (potentially) exciting username requests. Also consider WP:USURP -- once you see a new request there, be sure to wait seven days without doing anything. However, once you've waited a week, you then get to essentially perform two rename requests! Try not to get over-excited.

Remove the bot flag

See "Grant the bot flag", but do it in reverse.

Grant the bot flag

See "Remove the bot flag", but do it in reverse.

Promote bureaucrats

Now, RFBs are usually not as controversial as RFAs. Most of the time, support is either 99% or 9%. The rule is as follows:

if (support == 99%)
{

promote_to_crat = true;

}
else
{

do_nothing = true;

}

See: Conditional (programming) for further clarification.

Promote admins

RFAs results can and will vary. There is no known magic threshold for a successful RFA. RFAs have been known to pass at 61% and have failed upwards of 78%. And you never know when an RFA might suddenly be withdrawn. When closing RFAs, there are several things to consider, and this is what makes RFA closures less tedious than many other bureaucrat tasks. The steps are as follows:

1. If the RFA quickly falls below the passing criteria and has no chance of succeeding, you can go ahead and close it per WP:SNOW, or its more trendy counterpart WP:NOTNOW. You'll quickly note, though, that someone else already closed it.
2. If the RFA is unanimous, it needs to be closed successfully and the admin bit given to the candidate. Some other bureaucrat already did it before you got there.
3. If the RFA falls in the "discretionary zone", figure it out on your own.

De-sysop admins

A hotly-contested function. As a 'crat, you must know one simple rule for performing de-sysopping: You can't do it.

Spell "bureaucrat"

Only experienced bureaucrats possess sufficient knowledge to correctly spell the word "bureaucrat".

Red tape

You get a lifetime supply of red tape.

Userbox

{{Template:User wikipedia/Bureaucrat}}

This user is a bureaucrat on the English Wikipedia. (verify)

Transclusions

You only get one userbox from which to choose. Any more than that and it wouldn't be fitting for the tedium of the position.