Wikiversity:Administrator Creation and Behavioral Criteria Guidelines and Policy

Note: this page is now listed at Archive.

This page may have been effectively superceded by Custodianship. You are welcome to put your comments or add material here or there in the main page or on the attached discussion as seems most appropriate to you.

This is very much a policy in drafting. It is tied into how we will manage our community internally and its interface to the rest of the world.

Update: It has been proposed that at Wikiversity we use the term "Custodian" to refer to users empowered to help with the site's file maintenance, cleanup and emergency mediation. See  http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wikiversity_talk:Custodianship

Processing of Custodial Requests has begun at Candidates_for_Custodianship. People interested in helping out with routine site maintenance and cleanup should apply immediately while this policy evolves per community input.

Useful links for background, policy and procedures on other large Wikimedia supported Wiki community projects.


 * Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_administrator


 * Wikipedia FAQ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administration_FAQ


 * Wikipedia Reading List on Administrator Responsibilitiesw:Wikipedia:Administrators%27_reading_list


 * Wiktionary - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Administrators

The wiktionary model seems small and perhaps applicable to our early days. I could find no specific guidelines or policy so perhaps they relying on Wikipedia's early model of you can have administrator priveleges until you screw up enough the community wants you out for a while until you learn the responsibilities better and skills at meeting them improve. Mirwin 08:29, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

The Wiki Commons looks like a fairly excellent one page self contained writeup lacking only a couple of quantitative criteria to be entirely suitable for Wikiversity at this time.
 * Wiki Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Administrators

Draft below is tailored from Wikipedia Admin FAQ
For the moment the words Administrator and Custodian refer to the same position of responsibility within the Wikiversity project. All other Wikimedia Foundation sponsored wiki project currently use the terms Administrator or Sysop interchangeably for what Wikiversity may refer to as Custodian.

See also: Administrators for current list of administrators.

What is a Custodian? What is an administrator? What is a sysop?
Three words for the same thing ("sysop" = "system operator" = "administrator" = "admin" = "Custodian"). An Custodian is simply a member of the Wikiversity community who can access a small number of restricted software functions: deleting, protecting (and unprotecting) articles and files, and blocking (and unblocking) user accounts or IP addresses. The software internally uses the string "sysop" to flag their accounts, perhaps one reason that term is used. They are friendly folks that are willing to help you if you post a message on their "talk page" or request assistance. See the current list of custodians.

Responsibilities of a Custodian
A Custodian keeps current with Wikiversity policy and applies it with caution and civility.

A custodian should try to answer requests for assistance promptly, though please bear in mind that they are all volunteers and may not be available to help immediately.

How can I Become a Custodian?
First, you'll need a user account. Then, start to contribute to Wikiversity - its content, and, hopefully, policies or other modus operandi. In this way, you demonstrate to the community that you are here in good faith as you absorb the local policy, culture and procedures. After a period of useful contribution, you can add your name to Requests for Custodianship. Voilà! Be sure to read the Administrators' reading list, Administrators, deletion policy, protection policy, and blocking policy, and use your new "powers" with caution and civility.

For initialization purposes at en.wikiversity.org people may use experience at other Wikimedia supported wiki communities to meet the three months of experience requirement. People wishing to be administrators in the nearterm should be participating in helping create policies and procedures here at en.wikiversity.org by at least periodically reading and voting in the straw polls.

Who Monitors the Conduct of a Custodian?
Custodians monitor each other; nearly all custodial powers are completely reversible by any other custodian including: page deletions, lockings, and IP bannings.

At the current time the only way to have custodial status of a usermeta:Help:Administration removed is to request this action of a Wikimedia Steward. All Wikiversity participants are encouraged to approach another Custodian for assistance in evaluating the case against a Custodian and preparation for presentation to a Wikimedia Foundation Steward. It is worth a little extra local effort and caution to avoid overloading the Stewards and prevent unnecessary hard feelings within the Wikiversity community via mistaken charges being lodged against our Custodians. We much prefer to mediate and resolve problems locally at Wikiversity if that is at all possible.

What if I have a Problem with a Custodian?
It is a good starting point to discuss the problem with another Custodian to see if it can be resolved locally. Probably wise to try several if the first few feel unable to assist or you are dissatified by their response. After this the only effective action is to begin working way through the sets of Bureaucrats and Stewards. One could also try joining the Wikiversity-L mailing list and asking for assistance. At each point in the chain it would be wise to consider whether the perceived problem is really large enough to justify all this effort at resolution. As a community we do value your contribution so please stick around even if some specific persistent problems are irresolvable. We have a very large and growing knowledge base so perhap you can avoid problems with specific individuals which cannot be resolved satisfactorily with reasonable effort at this time.

How can I Get Help From a Custodian?
Wikiversity participants can go request assistance from an Custodian here. Request Custodial Action Please use our Custodial resources sparingly, many controversies can be resolved with a little extra effort applied to a little extra civility

How is Persistent Inappropriate Behavior from Custodians Handled?
The members of the community approach a Steward of the Wikimedia Foundation and request that Custodial status be removed. This step is untaken cautiously and rarely so be prepared to document the problem with the misbehaving Custodian and make your case that this merits disciplinary action on the part of the Steward.