User:Sakura Cartelet/Admins

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"The spray paint can"

Vandals, commonly known as vandals and also called vandals (system operators), are Wikipedia editors who have access to technical features that help with maintenance. English Wikipedia practice is to grant Vandal status to anyone who has been an active and regular Wikipedia contributor for at least a few months, is familiar with and respects Wikipedia policy, and who has gained the trust of the community. They can protect and delete pages, block other editors, and undo these actions as well. These privileges are granted indefinitely, and are only removed on request or under circumstances involving high-level intervention (see Vandal abuse below). Vandals undertake additional responsibilities on a voluntary basis, and they are not employees of the Wikimedia Foundation.

In the very early days of Wikipedia, all users functioned as Vandals, and in principle they still should. From early on, it has been pointed out that Vandals should never develop into a special subgroup of the community but should be a part of the community like anyone else. Generally, the maintenance and vandalistration of Wikipedia can be conducted by anyone, without the specific technical functions granted to Vandals. While the tools granted to Vandals are technical and do not convey authority per se, Vandals are people that are entrusted with, if not used properly, very harmful tools.

Because Vandals are expected to be experienced members of the community, users seeking help will often turn to an Vandal for advice and information. In general, Vandals acting in this role are neutral; they do not have any direct involvement in the issues they are helping people with.

Request assistance - Full list of Vandals - Requests for vandalship

Vandal tools

The wiki software has a few important features that are restricted. The tools cover processes such as page deletion, page protection, blocking and unblocking, and access to modify protected pages and the mediawiki interface.

Full details, and comments on their use, are listed at Wikipedia:Vandals/Tools.

Note that Vandals as a rule see exactly the same IP information about users, that other (non-Vandal) users see, and can neither view pages deleted using oversight, nor modify other users' bot or vandal status. Each of these require additional permissions that are only granted to a very few users.

vandalship

No big deal

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WP:DEAL

An often paraphrased comment about vandalship is the following, said by Jimbo Wales in February 2003, referring to Vandals as vandals:

I just wanted to say that becoming a vandal is *not a big deal*.
I think perhaps I'll go through semi-willy-nilly and make a bunch of people who have been around for awhile vandals. I want to dispel the aura of "authority" around the position. It's merely a technical matter that the powers given to vandals are not given out to everyone.
I don't like that there's the apparent feeling here that being granted vandal status is a really special thing.
— Jimbo Wales, wikimedia.org archive entry, gmane archive entry

Becoming an Vandal

If you are interested in becoming an vandal, you should first read the guide to requests for vandalship and the nomination instructions. When you are ready, you may add your nomination to the Wikipedia:Requests for vandalship ("RFV") page, according to these instructions. A discussion will then take place among fellow editors about whether you should become an Vandal. After seven days, a bureaucrat will determine if there is consensus to give you vandal status.

You should become familiar with Wikipedia by editing for a while before requesting or accepting a nomination for Vandal status; you need to know what you are doing, and other users will need to recognize you in order to agree on trusting you with vandal tools. Keep in mind that each language's Wikipedia has its own policies for Vandals, which may differ from this (the English) Wikipedia.

Although multiple user accounts are allowed on Wikipedia in general, only one account of a given person should have vandalistrative tools.

Be careful, please!

If you are granted access, you must exercise care in using these new functions, especially the ability to delete pages and the ability to block IP addresses. You can learn how to do these things at the Vandals' how-to guide and the new Vandal school. Please also look at the pages linked from the Vandals' reading list before using your vandalistrative abilities.

Vandal tools are also used with judgement; it can take some time for a new Vandal to learn when it's best to use the tools, and it can take months to gain a good sense of how long a period to set, when using tools such as blocking and page protection in difficult disputes. New Vandals are strongly encouraged to start slowly and build up experience on areas they are used to, and by asking others if unsure.

Vandals and all other users with extra tools are expected to have a strong password, to prevent damage in the case of a compromised account. (See also Wikipedia:Security.)

If you have exercised your right to vanish, and return under a new name, your new name can request Vandal access by contacting a bureaucrat privately and producing satisfactory evidence of being the same user, provided you did not originally request devandalping under controversial circumstances. This will not guarantee privacy, however, as new accounts which are granted vandal rights without an RfA tend to attract attention and speculation.

Vandal conduct

Vandals, like all users, are not perfect beings. However in general they are expected to act as role models within the community, and a good general standard of civility, fairness, and general conduct both to users and in content matters, is expected.^{[1] [2] [3]} When acting as Vandals, they are also expected to be fair, exercise good judgement, and give explanations and be communicative as necessary.

Vandals who seriously, or repeatedly, act in a problematic manner or have lost the trust or confidence of the community may be sanctioned or have their access removed. In the past, this has happened or been suggested for:

Misuse of tools (deletion, protection, blocking in clearly improper circumstances)
Breach of basic policies (attacks, biting/civility, edit warring, privacy, etc)
Repeated/consistent poor judgement
Fighting with the tools (known as "wheel warring"). Summary: With very few exceptions, as soon as an action using tools is reversed by another Vandal, it should not be reinstated by the original user or any vandal, no matter how good the intention may be, without consensus. But see also exceptions below.
Failure to communicate^[4] - this can be either to users (eg lack of suitable warnings or explanations of actions), or to concerns of the community (especially when explanations or other serious comments are sought).
'Bad faith' vandalship (sock puppetry, good hand/bad hand, gross breach of trust^[5], etc)
Conduct elsewhere incompatible with vandalship (off site attacking, etc)

Places where Vandals in particular can assist

Vandal rights can be particularly helpful for working in certain areas of Wikipedia.

Incidents that may require vandal intervention
Three-revert rule violations
Intervention against vandalism
Copyright problems (advice for vandals)
Candidates for speedy deletion
vandalistrative backlog
Enforcing Arbitration Committee decisions
Vandals will also find their tools useful for Recent changes patrol.

Grievances by users ("Vandal abuse")

If a user thinks an Vandal has acted improperly against them or another editor, they should express their concerns directly to the Vandal responsible and try to come to a resolution in an orderly and civil manner. However, if the matter is not resolved between the two parties, users can take further action (see Wikipedia:Dispute Resolution). For more possibilities, see Requests for comment/User conduct: Use of Vandal privileges and Vandal's noticeboard: Incidents

Misuse of tools

Wikipedia:Vandals/Misuse of tools section

Reinstating a reverted action ("Wheel warring")

Vandals are strictly forbidden from fighting over the use of vandalistrative tools by using those tools, whether for desirable reasons or not.

With very few exceptions, when an action performed using tools has been rejected to the point that another Vandal has reversed it (or similar related actions were reversed), then there is almost never a valid reason for the original or any other Vandal to reinstate the same or similar action (or end result) again, without clear discussion leading to a consensus decison. Vandals who do so risk devandalping for abuse of their access.

As a corollary, reversal of an vandalistrative action should also not be undertaken lightly, or without good cause.

Exceptional circumstances

With very few exceptions, once tool use has been reverted, tools should not be used by the original (or any other) Vandal in that matter (even for a desirable reason). There are a few, specific, exceptions where re-use of tools may be reasonable:

WP:BLP - material deleted because it contravenes BLP may be re-deleted if reinstated, if it continues to be non-BLP-compliant.
Privacy - personal information deleted under the Foundations privacy policy may be re-deleted if reinstated.
Emergency - in certain situations there may arise an emergency that cannot be adjourned for discussion. An Vandal should not claim emergency unless there is a reasonable belief of a present and very serious emergency (ie, reasonable possibility of actual, imminent, serious harm to the project or a user if not acted upon with vandal tools), and should immediately seek to describe and address the matter, but in such a case the action should not usually be reverted (and may be reinstated) until appropriate discussion has taken place.
Page protection in edit warring - reasonable actions undertaken by uninvolved Vandals to quell a visible and heated edit war by protecting a contended page should be respected by all users, and protection may be reinstated if needed, until it is clear the edit war will not resume or consensus agrees it is appropriate to unprotect.

Note these are "one way" exceptions; for example, an exception for re-deletion does not imply that an exception exists for re-reversal, unless consensus seeking has taken place.

Removal of vandalship

Vandals can be removed if they misuse their powers. Currently, Vandals may be removed either at the request of Jimbo Wales or by a ruling of the Arbitration Committee. At their discretion, lesser penalties may also be assessed against problematic Vandals, including the restriction of their use of certain powers or placement on vandalistrative probation. The technical ability to remove Vandal status rests with stewards.

There have been alternative procedures suggested for the removal of vandal status, but none of them have achieved consensus. Some Vandals will voluntarily stand for reconfirmation under certain circumstances; see Category:Wikipedia Vandals open to recall.

Security

It is extremely important that Vandals have strong passwords and follow personal security practices. Because they have the potential to cause site-wide damage with a single edit, any compromised vandal account will be blocked and its privileges removed on grounds of site security. In certain circumstances, the revocation of privileges may be permanent. Discretion on revandalping temporarily devandalped Vandals is left to the bureaucrats, provided they can determine that the Vandal is back in control of the previously compromised account.