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The Bureaucrats' noticeboard is a place where items related to the Bureaucrats can be discussed and coordinated. Any user is welcome to leave a message or join the discussion here. Please start a new section for each topic.

This is not a forum for grievances. It is a specific noticeboard addressing Bureaucrat-related issues. If you want to know more about an action by a particular bureaucrat, you should first raise the matter with them on their talk page. Please stay on topic, remain civil, and remember to assume good faith. Take extraneous comments or threads to relevant talk pages.

If you are here to report that an RFA or an RFB is "overdue" or "expired", please wait at least 12 hours from the scheduled end time before making a post here about it. There are a fair number of active bureaucrats; and an eye is being kept on the time remaining on these discussions. Thank you for your patience.

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It is 13:09:51 on December 24, 2024, according to the server's time and date.

Copied from WP:VP/A - username change queue

The bureaucrat who usually does the username changes (Nichalp will be inactive on Misplaced Pages until the end of October (as per his user page), and there is a long list of Wikipedians awaiting name changes who seem to be getting increasingly rowdier. Is there possibly another free bureaucrat who can take over his duties until he gets back? Ellie041505 13:29, 30 August 2006 (UTC) (or, hopefully, Eilicea)

The backlog is only two days, but still looks a bit long, so I decided to post this here. Kusma (討論) 13:35, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

We don't have any one Bureaucrat who is reponsible alone for any particular duty, Nichalp just prefers to focus on username change. This waiting period in answering the requests is happening because we only have 4 Bureaucrats who are active on a regular basis, and two of them are temporarily inactive. Don't worry, Taxman and I will get around to answering all of the requests. We always try to answer requests as soon as possible, but a waiting period of 48 to 72 hours is not uncommon in those cases. Regards, Redux 13:52, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Actually Essjay did the lion's share by far, and he's not as active now. I started a thread on Misplaced Pages talk:Changing username relating to reducing the number of allowed reasons to change a username to reduce administrative and server overhead. Please comment there. - Taxman 18:22, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm back from a lengthy holiday, and will be available to help with bureaucrat duties for the foreseeable future. — Dan | talk 04:27, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Making it up as you go along

I don't recall approving bureaucrats to hand out arbitrary lengths of adminship service because they don't really know how to make the decision. Adminship has never, ever been handed out for 8 weeks at a time as a result of an RfA. Did you actually tell anyone anywhere taht you planned to do this if they supported Carnildo? Or are you just making it up as you go along? You don't own RfA, you merely implement its decisions, and no part of its decision referred to two months. -Splash - tk 13:30, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

I also object. I did not comment on RfA/Carnildo3; I can't recall having anything to do with this editor; so perhaps I'm neutral on him. I have been occasionally active on RfAs. This editor may be rehabilitated, a fine admin -- or not; I have no idea. I do see that the RfA was contentious and the tally borderline. My instinct in such matters is to err on the side of caution; I would invite the candidate to reapply in a few months and see if community sentiment changes. Guesstimating from the change since RfA/Carnildo2, clear consensus may well form in favor -- then.

I definitely don't like the precedent set by "temporary" adminship. Has this ever been done before? Has the community expressed any desire for this measure in general? Where does this door lead? B'crats are expected to make tough judgement decisions; it's routine. Is this a creative solution or a failure to make the call? Also, exactly under what circumstances and by what method will Carnildo's sysop privs "expire"? Who will make the decision to revoke or extend them? Sorry, but evaluating admin performance is not a b'crat function; it is ArbCom's or a steward's, if not the community's. John Reid 15:14, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

I was not involved in the decision that led to Carnildo's resysopping, but to clarify: his adminship is not temporary exactly. It is under probation. This means that, after a given period of time (two months), the ArbCom, not the Bureaucrats, will review his record as an admin for this period of time and decide on whether or not to remove his admin bit again or let it stay. If the decision is made to remove his adminship again, a member of the ArbCom will post on Meta, at a forum called Request for Permissions, where a Steward will take care of the request and remove the flag. Redux 16:02, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

It's worth noting that RfA doesn't own bureaucrats either. Presumably they are empowered to take actions that in their best judgment are for the good of the project. Christopher Parham (talk) 04:27, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

There is no precedent for probationary adminship and I dislike to see it set by fiat. I object to the term "own"; it is an inappropriate straw man. RfA determines who will and who will not become an admin; b'crats are empowered only to implement community will -- not to paternalistically watch over the community and do what's best for us. If we want a probationary admin, we'll ask for one.

This is a very old, well-established principle: Power is divided between the rank-and-file on one hand and Jimbo and the Board on the other. ArbCom is a comparative novelty; power is expressly delegated to this body. Power is not delegated to admins or b'crats -- not in any way. These classes of users exist solely to implement community will.

If there are any b'crats who don't agree with that last statement, please speak out clearly right now. John Reid 11:32, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

I too am concerned about the Carnildo decision, and am reposting my comments here from Misplaced Pages talk:Requests for adminship/Carnildo_3. Discussion has also reached User_talk:Carnildo and WT:RfA.

The role of bureaucrats is to gauge community consensus. WP:CRAT says that bureaucrats may grant administrator access "only when doing so reflects the wishes of the community", WP:RfA says that bureaucrats "review the discussion to see whether there is a general consensus for promotion", and Taxman, one of the three bureaucrats behind the decision to promote Carnildo, acknowledges that "As a bureaucrat it is my job to determine consensus in RfAs." Yet the decision makes no mention of consensus, and only references community opinion to say that while many users oppose Carnildo's adminship, he is being promoted anyway.

The threshold for consensus was not met here. Although RfA is not a rigid vote, consensus tends to be gauged by percentage, with bureaucrats "generally held to a 75-80% discretionary zone", in Taxman's words. Carnildo's RfA closed with 112 supports and 71 opposes, a 61% ratio. The true ratio may be even lower due to users (like and ) not bothering to oppose when they saw that the RfA was already well below the threshold for promotion.

There has arisen a dangerous misconception that when deciding whether to promote, bureaucrats are permitted to "weigh the arguments" or make arguments of their own at the expense of community consensus. Neither WP:CRAT nor WP:RfA gives them such authority. Rather, it is the job of the community to make arguments and weigh each other's arguments during the discussion. The job of bureaucrats is strictly to gauge consensus. Of course, they cannot do so by mechanically counting supports and opposes, but must watch carefully for sockpuppets and other consensus-obscuring factors. And of course, bureaucrats are part of the community too, and in their role as community members, may participate in the discussion themselves. But in their role as bureaucrats, when deciding whether to promote, they are bound by the community's will.

In addition to lacking consensus, this decision had other problems. First, although bureaucrats may participate in RfA discussions, it is best for impartiality that they not close discussions in which they have participated, unless the outcome is uncontroversial due to an obvious consensus or non-consensus. Danny, who supported the RfA, nonetheless holds "primary writing credit" for this very controversial decision. Second, transparency requires that bureaucrats discuss issues of promotion or non-promotion openly. Taxman pledged to do so when he became a bureaucrat, but now admits that with respect to the current decision, of which, as far as I know, not a peep was made prior to its surprise announcement, he "did different from what said would", a "mistake", in his words.

In short, the decision to promote Carnildo was made without transparency and without consensus. If the bureaucrats believed that "special consideration should be given to the extenuating circumstances of this case", they could have presented that view to the community and sought consensus in the ensuing discussion. Instead, they issued a highly irregular decision without public consultation. It is disappointing and worrying to see trusted users exhibit such disrespect for the community which granted them their positions, and I urge them to recant. Tim Smith 14:37, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

• I think what transpired is that Carnildo was put up for RfA by User:UninvitedCompany. Word rapidly reached the members of ArbCom, sparking a discussion on what to do. Three members of ArbCom that voted to have Carnildo's sysop powers removed subsequent to the pedophilia userbox war came out in support of the RfA in the first day. As the RfA's time period waned, it became obvious that the RfA would not pass. Discussion ensued between some bureaucrats and some members of ArbCom on what to do. A decision was made to promote Carnildo, and use the closing RfA as the vehicle for doing so. I could be wrong in some of the above; it's speculation.
• In my opinion, what should have happened is the RfA should have been allowed to fail. Subsequent to that, a case should have been submitted to ArbCom re-opening Carnildo's role in the pedophilia userbox war, to re-evaluate whether the desysopping should have been permanent, or temporarily suspended.
• What should happen now, and so far (to my knowledge) has not happened is a full accounting of exactly what transpired. This is a highly controversial case, and transparency is being demanded by a number of users. If the case can not be presented in a convincing way that the community can support, then it would seem there would be basis for overturning the decision. Mistakes can and do happen. In the least, some statement by the bureaucrats as to why this case should or should not be a precedent for future considerations and what impact this decision has on future (and some would ask for) past RfAs should be made.
• The bureaucrats didn't just make a controversial decision. They shattered the mold that RfA has held to for years. To date, this has been without satisfactory transparency or explanation. I am not going to say the bureaucrats made a mistake. I've been witholding personal judgement on that pending explanation by the bureaucrats. However, such explanation has not been forthcoming. This is...disappointing. --Durin 15:50, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Close withdrawn RfA

It appears that User:Nimur has commented (just below his answers to questions, just above the !votes) that he's ready to withdraw his RfA and try again later. Close? Newyorkbrad 23:08, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

For future reference, yes, you can close out any RfA in which the candidate indicates their withdrawal, and add to WP:RFAF. NoSeptember 04:16, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

Bot flags needed

2 Bot request have been approved for bot flags, please see:

• Misplaced Pages:Bots/Requests for approval/Escarbot &
• Misplaced Pages:Bots/Requests for approval/MetsBot

Thank you, — xaosflux 03:03, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

I've taken care of the two. Cheers, Redux 08:02, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Renewing my call to suspend RfA

A couple of months ago I called for the bureaucrats to suspend RfA. I'm renewing that call. I am asking all bureaucrats to refrain from promoting new admins until such time as the community develops a process for promoting admins that isn't broken. The current process is too capable of promoting unqualified candidates, excludes qualified candidates for thoroughly irrelevant reasons, and often generates hostility and bad blood. But as long as it functions at all, there's no incentive to change it. An agreement by the bureaucrats to suspend promotions would force the community to actually deal with the issue, instead of blithely ignoring it. The Sean Black and Carnildo RfAs are great examples.

At least give it some thought. Don't dismiss it out of hand, the way you did last time. Kelly Martin (talk) 08:15, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

I strongly agree that RfA is broken and that it needs replacement. I strongly disagree that this is the place to propose turning it "off". B'crats are not given that latitude, sorry. I will surely entertain a proposal to overhaul RfA and I pledge to work with any serious proposal. I oppose any b'crat sit-down strike.

I'll repeat: In regard to promotion, the sole job of b'crats is to implement community will -- not to determine, control, or correct it. John Reid 13:33, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

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