STOWiki:Administrators

You sometimes see the term administrator, or admin, thrown around in discussions from time to time, but what is an admin? In the simple sense, an admin is a user with special powers over administration and management of the site. The fastest way to contact an admin is by posting on their talk page.

What administrators are
Admins have several special abilities including:
 * Protecting pages (lock them from editing or moving)
 * Deleting pages and images (remove them from the public database)
 * Deletion review and undeletion of pages
 * Suspending or banning users
 * Implementing certain policies
 * Editing protected and restricted pages
 * Creating new admins and flagging bots (bureaucrats only)

They are also empowered to break the spirit of a wiki, but only in rare cases. Being an admin is a privilege, not a right.

Note that admins are not "required" to use their powers, but when they do it is appreciated.

What they are not
Importantly, they should not generally be viewed as the leaders, or staff, of the wiki. The wiki is generally not hierarchical, and only very rarely can the title be used to win an argument. Unilateral decision-making should also be avoided as it can damage the trust that should be built up between all users of a wiki.

Becoming an admin
Every so often, users are asked if they wish to become admins or users may ask to be considered for the role. However, admins need to show that they can cope with a fair bit of responsibility.

System administrator
This is the admin (also known as a sysadmin) who sets up and maintains the actual infrastructure of the wiki, such as what computer is runs on, what internet connection it uses, how things get paid for, what software is used, etc. All major decisions about STOWiki defer to the system administrator.

Bureaucrat
These are the admins (members of the "bureaucrat" wiki user group) who have all the powers of a wiki administrator, but can also create new admins, flag official wikibot accounts, and alter the group memberships of users, via Special:Userrights.

Wiki administrator
This is your more day-to-day admin (member of the "Sysop" wiki user group) who responds to issues in the wiki, like making special changes (page locking, blocking users, restoring deleted pages, large-scale rollbacks, importing pages, etc.). This is the user who you should appeal to when you have a problem, and they should also help resolve disputes and enforce policies.

Most active or semi-active administrators can be reached by talk page.

Active Admins

 * Akira-sensei
 * Damixon
 * Eyes
 * Markonian
 * MatthewM
 * Mitchz95
 * SFC
 * PiralDorrm

Inactive Admins

 * AridanS
 * bobalobabingbong
 * Flibby
 * Kinetic1028
 * Lem
 * Morbus Iff
 * RachelGarrett (Bureaucrat)
 * TerranRich (Founder)
 * Tollar
 * Twenty-Three
 * Veranis
 * Zutty