Wikimedia Foundation/Users with extended rights
Across Wikimedia sites, trusted volunteers perform tasks—both technical and social—to keep Wikimedia projects and their communities running smoothly and safely. For situations that require tools and access — such as the ability to block a user or delete a page — Wikimedians elect trusted members of their communities to carry out advanced tasks and implement policies, guidelines, and consensus. We use an umbrella term, users with extended rights, to describe these users: administrators, CheckUsers, stewards, Arbitration Committee members, and other roles. These are the users who form the front line of sustaining Wikimedia projects, using their tools and their trust to keep Wikimedia projects safe and welcoming, curating the environment that enables other editors to contribute.
These users play an outsized role in the health of Wikimedia projects, preventing harm and paving the way for positive change. The Foundation works with users with extended rights across communities to support their work and enable a multigenerational Wikimedia.
Who are users with extended rights?
[edit]"Users with extended rights" encompasses administrators, functionaries (CheckUsers and oversighters), and a number of other high-community-trust roles with advanced access.
Below is a table with an overview of our understanding, with the knowledge that many projects have other role structures (e.g., deleters or discussion closers):
| Local roles | Global roles |
|---|---|
| Administrators Implement community consensus |
Global sysops Support small wikis with admin tasks |
| Bureaucrats Facilitate admin elections & grant access |
Stewards Highest-access user right, performs tasks associated with most other roles |
| CheckUsers Investigate coordinated abuse |
Ombuds Commission Investigate privacy violations |
| Oversighters Hide problematic material |
UCoC Coordinating Committee Implement the Universal Code of Conduct |
| Arbitration Committees Mediate disputes and conduct issues |