View source for Wikipedia:FAQ/Administrators

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  |shorttitle = Administrators
  |title = Administrators FAQ
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This page answers some questions related to [[Wikipedia:Administrators|Administrators on Wikipedia]].
{{For|information on the administration of Wikipedia|Wikipedia:Administration}}

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==<span id="POLICY"></span>How do policies get decided?==
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{{see|Wikipedia:Administration#Human and legal administration}}
:[[Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines]] describes how Wikipedia arrives at its policies and guidelines through a process of discussion and consensus. Discussion takes place in the various policy pages which form part of the "Wikipedia:" namespace. Sometimes policy is discussed off-wiki, but decisions always take place on-wiki.

==<span id="ADMIN"></span>What is an administrator? A sysop?==
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:Two words for the same thing. An administrator is simply a volunteer [[Wikipedia:Wikipedians|Wikipedian]] who can access some of the few restricted Wikipedia software functions: deleting articles and files, protecting and unprotecting pages, and blocking and unblocking users. The software internally uses the string "sysop" to flag their accounts, a shortened term for '''sys'''tem '''op'''erator. See the [[Wikipedia:List of administrators|current list of administrators]].

==<span id="BECOME"></span>How can I become an administrator?==
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:You must have years of a good edit history that shows you understand Wikipedia policies, have good judgement, a good temperament, and have a need for the administrator toolset. A nomination is then made at [[Wikipedia:Requests for adminship]] where the community decides if the user deserves the tools. Honestly, you can do 95% of tasks on Wikipedia without being an administrator.

==<span id="CONDUCT"></span>Who monitors the conduct of an administrator?==
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:Administrators monitor each other; nearly all admin actions are reversible by any other admin (including [[Special:Log/delete|page deletions]], [[Wikipedia:Protection policy|page protections]], and blocks). The [[Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee|Arbitration Committee]] also has the power to sanction administrators, and does so fairly regularly. You can report problems with admins misusing their privileges at [[Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard]].

==<span id="IP"></span>How can my IP address be unblocked?==
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:Only administrators can unblock IP addresses. To request that an IP address be unblocked, see [[Wikipedia:Appealing a block]] and follow the instructions there.

==How can I request for an admin to block a user or IP?==
:You can request for an administrator to [[Wikipedia:Blocking policy|block]] a user or IP that is blatantly vandalising at [[Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism]] (see requirements on that page).
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[[Category:Wikipedia adminship|Administration FAQ]]
[[Category:Wikipedia FAQs|Administration]]