Full disclosure: I'm starting this because I promised Linstar I would. It's not ideal because I'm gonna be busy over the weekend, but it's probably never going to be perfectly ideal. {= ) Please don't be alarmed if I don't reply for a couple of days.

The purpose of this discussion is basically to take a look at the different roles available for wiki editors and see if we want to make any changes to who has what powers. We've literally never reviewed this before. ^_^; An overview for Fandom is here, and WikiTide for comparison is here, though it looks like they haven't yet filled in descriptions for all possible roles. Since it's all based on MediaWiki, I think it's safe to assume broad similarity between the two.

In a nutshell, we're talking about who has the ability to block users, to protect/unprotect pages, to edit protected pages, and to grant powers to other users. The top roles are Bureaucrat and Administrator (aka sysop), and the two typically go hand in hand, but the main difference is that Bureaucrats have the power to make and un-make Admins. Admins cannot un-make other Admins.

Currently, we have the following users with both Bureaucrat and Admin (aka sysop) powers, in order of most recent edit:

• Doctorlit (29 December 2023)
• Neshomeh (19 December 2023)
• Huinesoron (30 November 2023)
• Techno-Dann (30 September 2020) - This is the former username of Delta Juliette; not sure if she has a new account or not? If so it's not under "Delta Juliette."
• Sunflower Official (1 September 2015) - This is a shared account, sort of a Nameless Admin for the wiki; IIRC hS and I have access, possibly Delta Juliette as well.
• Laburnum (1 August 2015)
• Araeph (1 September 2013)
• Vixenmage (30 May 2013)
• Sedri (14 May 2012)
• Aster Corbett/Aster (20 February 2012) - These accounts belong to the same user (and I don't think the second one was ever used)
• Agenttrojie/Trojie (29 Nov/13 October 2010) - These accounts belong to the same user, aka Trojanhorse
• Korora (8 August 2008) - aka Tawaki

We also have the following account with only the Admin/sysop role, but not Bureaucrat:

• The Marquis de Sod (27 December 2020) - This is another shared account; again, IIRC, hS and I have access, possibly Delta Juliette as well.

There's also Rollback power, which allows you to undo all the most recent edits by a single user. This is useful if a page has been vandalized; all edits by one vandal can be undone in a single click. Admins have this automatically, but it can also be granted independently. Currently no one has this who isn't also an admin.

There's also Content Moderator power, which is relatively new and so no one has it, but I think is one we should look at closely. It grants rollback plus the ability to delete/undelete pages/files, edit and move protected pages/files, and some other stuff relating to discussion threads, which isn't terribly relevant to us.

I will note that WikiTide doesn't have an equivalent role to this one because they offer the optional extensions AuthorProtect and LockAuthor for additional flexibility in determining who can or can't edit what.)

Questions to discuss: Are there roles on the wiki that are being underutilized? Is there anyone who currently wants a role they don't have? Is there anyone who currently has a role they don't want? Should we take any action to remove roles from inactive members? (My answer to the last one is no, not unless there's some reason it becomes a problem.)

Also, is there anyone who is generally interested in being a wiki editor, but doesn't know how to start? Don't be shy! Ask questions here!

~Neshomeh