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[[wikiHow:Administrators|Administrators]] are wikiHow community members who willingly take on extra responsibility to make wikiHow the best how-to manual possible. While every wikiHow user is an editor, administrators have four extra powers and responsibilities which allow them to ensure that wikiHow continues to blossom into a useful free resource: changing titles, deleting pages, protecting pages, and blocking accounts. Other than these general housekeeping duties, they participate in the same creative and collaborative activities as any other editor or contributor.

[[Category:Being an Admin]]
[[Category:Help]]
== Steps ==
#Understand the selection criteria that existing administrators will be looking for in each nominee.<br><br>[[Image:Become a wikiHow Admin Step 1 Version 2.jpg|center|550px]]
#*[[Build Trust|Trust]] - This is the most important criterion.  Do the existing administrators trust you to exercise control responsibly on one of the most popular sites on the Internet? Trust is earned over time by continually displaying good, level-headed, mature judgment.
#*[[Show Empathy|Empathy]] and [[Be Kind|kindness]] Administrators exist to serve the broader community of editors and readers. A demonstrated history of treating others with kindness and mutual respect is a necessity.
#*Mission focus - Demonstrated ability to put [[wikiHow:Mission|wikiHow's mission]] before competing concerns.
#*[[wikiHow:Be Civil|Civility]] - Can you remain civil when criticized for the [[Make Good Decisions|decisions]] you make as an administrator? Can you wield administrator powers while still being [[Be Kind|kind]], [[Be Polite|polite]] and [[Be Friendly|welcoming]]?
#*Track record - While there are no hard and fast rules, generally a contributor should have at least four months of experience and at least 500 - 1000 article namespace edits on wikiHow before being considered as a possible administrator candidate. Existing administrators have a hard time evaluating candidates they have yet to observe and interact with personally.
#Know the [[wikiHow:Deletion Policy|deletion policy]] well. Since one of the abilities you gain as an administrator is the ability to delete articles, it's important that you're very familiar with the [[wikiHow:Deletion Policy|deletion policy]].<br><br>[[Image:Become a wikiHow Admin Step 2 Version 2.jpg|center|550px]]
#*Apply [[Nominate an Article for Deletion on wikiHow|NFD]] tags with care. Nominating articles for deletion carelessly and repeatedly is a red flag as it will only hurt your chances of getting elected.
#*Vote on [[Review a NFD List for Final Outcome|NFD discussion pages]]. Most administrators review articles that have been nominated for deletion and check the discussion pages for consensus. Go to  and show your knowledge of the deletion policy by voting on the discussion pages. Explain why you think the article does or does not violate the deletion policy. Any registered contributor can vote for or against deletion.
#**Administrators often look after a particular NFD reason, so vote on a variety of NFD articles so that more administrators see your comments.
#*Save articles from deletion. If you see that an article someone started can be rewritten or edited so that the NFD reason is no longer valid, fix it! Administrators and [[Become a New Article Booster on wikiHow|new article boosters]] are allowed to remove the NFD tag, but let them know that the article is fixed by posting a comment on the discussion page! Once an administrator or a booster sees it, they will remove the tag for you. This will help people remember you, as well as demonstrates that you have good knowledge of the deletion policy and a genuine interest in improving articles.
#Participate in the [http://forums.wikihow.com/ forums], especially the [http://forums.wikihow.com/categories/village-pump Village Pump]. Offer feedback, ask questions, and answer questions. The forums are a great place to learn about wikiHow's policies and interact with the community, including active administrators.<br><br>[[Image:Become a wikiHow Admin Step 3 Version 2.jpg|center|550px]]
#*If you like chat rooms, you can also spend some time in [[Log In to the wikiHow IRC Room|wikiHow's IRC channel]]. Some administrators are in there often.
#[[Avoid Conflict|Avoid and mediate conflict]]. Many people don't understand how wikiHow works, and some people are just plain annoying. An important thing that administrators look for when voting is ''patience''. It's good to show that you don't let people get under your skin, no matter how angry or insulting they get. It's good if you can show that you're immune to trolls, too. If people see that you get easily irritated by people, whether on talk pages, the forums, and IRC, administrators will question whether your temperament will negatively affect the way you use administrator options.<br><br>[[Image:Become a wikiHow Admin Step 4.jpg|center|550px]]
#[[Patrol Recent Changes on wikiHow|Patrol recent changes]]. Report any of the following on the [[wikiHow:Administrator Notice Board|administrator notice board]]:<br><br>[[Image:Become a wikiHow Admin Step 5 Version 2.jpg|center|550px]]
#*[[wikiHow:Username|Username policy]] violations
#*Anyone who writes that they are under 13 years old (that doesn't mean, however, that it's acceptable to judge by grade level, or to ask someone how old they are)
#*[[Identify Vandals, Criminal or Malicious Mischief Actors|Vandals]]
#*Sock puppets (people who use multiple accounts in an inappropriate manner).
#*[[Stop Spam|Spammers]] (people who place the same links everywhere)
#*Pages needing protection (any page that you notice is getting a lot of vandalism in a short period of time; common with controversial featured articles)
#*Anyone who is uploading a lot of images in short period of time without adding them to articles
#*Anyone who is uploading a lot of videos in a short period of time, and the videos don't seem to comply with our [[wikiHow:Video Curation|video guidelines]]
#*Anyone who is directly and repeatedly [[Determine Why Someone Is Treating You Poorly|attacking]] other contributors on wikiHow
#Get to know active [[wikiHow:Administrators|administrators]].   But since administrators aren't glorified on wikiHow  it can be hard to know who they are! There are also many administrators who aren't active right now. The best way to see which administrators are active right now is to look at the [http://www.wikihow.com/index.php?title=Special%3ALog&type=block&user=&page= block log] and [http://www.wikihow.com/Special:Log/delete deletion log]. The best way to make an impression on administrators is to ask them questions, especially about  situations you come across while following the steps below.<br><br>[[Image:Become a wikiHow Admin Step 6 Version 2.jpg|center|550px]]
#Don't be discouraged if no one offers to mentor you/nominate.  You can still be a valued member of the community. Many great wikiHow editors have never become administrators.<br><br>[[Image:Become a wikiHow Admin Step 7.jpg|center|550px]]
=== How Administrator Elections Work ===
Any wikiHow administrator can nominate any contributor that they are willing to devote time to mentor. In addition to a time commitment, these admins will be investing their personal credibility in their ability to choose nominations wisely. If at least 3 other administrators second the nomination, the contributor can become a “trial administrator” for three months. However, any administrator can oppose trial adminship as this nomination is unfolding. An objection is defined as a strong “no” that must have a good reason, backed up by an example. If there are more objections than there are people supporting, the candidate doesn’t get approved for “trial adminship”. If the candidate gets approved, we give them the buttons for a three month trial.

At any point during the three month trial period, any administrator can suggest that the candidate lose trial adminship rights. If after discussion, it becomes clear that significant support for button removal exists, a vote will be held and a simple majority of the voting existing administrators will remove the buttons from a trial admin. If no such issues emerge after 3 months, the trial administrator will then graduate to regular administrator.

Nominations will be done on a continuous rolling basis, rather than at set times. We will no longer accept self-nominations for adminship with this system, since in order to get the buttons you need the commitment of an existing administrator. Please keep in mind that our administrators are volunteers, and mentoring a candidate is going to be a huge commitment on their part, so if they choose not to nominate you, it's not something to take personally.

== Tips ==
*You must know how to [[Act as a wikiHow Admin|act as an admin.]]
*Spending some time patrolling will teach you much of what you will need to know to be a valuable administrator.
*Administrators are responsible for:
**Renaming articles
**Blocking vandals, spambots, and other users who consistently violate policy
**Blacklisting and whitelisting of URLs
**Rarely, protecting pages to prevent vandalism
**Managing and deleting articles and requests that have been nominated for deletion, or deemed inappropriate.
*Ask current administrators for advice on how you are doing.  If you're already going the tasks listed above but want to know where you are falling short, don't be afraid to ask for [[Accept Criticism|constructive feedback]].  These seasoned editors will be happy to answer your questions about being an admin.
* Always check for [[Main Page|articles]] that should be nominated for deletion but don't do it carelessly. In addition you should check for articles that need improvement.

== Warnings ==
* Administrators should never block a user because of anger or hatred against a user. That is never acceptable.
*Look at adminship as a responsibility, not a trophy. Being an administrator doesn't make you more popular or respected, and it doesn't mean your opinion matters more than anyone else's on wikiHow. It just means you can do a few extra things that require you to know our policies very well. You don't need to be an administrator to be respected or liked on wikiHow. If you're eager to become an admin but you don't seem eager to improve wikiHow and learn wikiHow's policies, you probably won't get elected.
*Using administrator powers to push around productive wikiHow contributors is never acceptable.
*For a variety of reasons, not all those who are nominated for adminship will be selected. Being declined adminship does not mean that you are not a valued or appreciated member of the wikiHow community, so don't let this discourage you from continuing to participate or contribute at wikiHow.
*Adminship is not a trophy or a promotion. Administrators have no status in wikiHow above those of other regular contributors. Administrators merely gain a few extra tools to perform the extra responsibilities the job entails.

== Related wikiHows ==
*[[Patrol Recent Changes on wikiHow|How to Patrol Recent Changes on wikiHow]]
*[[Work Great in wikiHow]]
*[[Act as a wikiHow Admin|How to Act as a wikiHow Admin]]
*[[Become a New Article Booster on wikiHow|How to Become a New Article Booster on wikiHow]]
*[[Mentor a Trial Admin on wikiHow|How to Mentor a Trial Admin on wikiHow]]
*[[Contribute to wikiHow|How to Contribute to wikiHow]]
*[[Find a wikiHow Administrator|How to Find a wikiHow Administrator]]
*[[wikiHow:New Admin Welcome Package|New Admin Welcome Package]]
*[[Patrol by Namespace on wikiHow|How to Patrol by Namespace on wikiHow]]


== Sources and Citations ==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:What_adminship_is_not Wikipedia] - What adminship is not
[[de:Werde ein wikiHow Administrator]]
[[es:Ser un Admin de WikiHow]]
[[es:llegar a ser un Administrador wikiHow]]
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Meet Jordan, a wikiHowian from the US who has been active in the community for over 5 years. As an Admin, Booster, Welcomer, and Featured Author, Jordan wears many hats around the site. He has started 65 articles and has patrolled over 288,000 edits. He particularly enjoys patrolling recent changes and reviewing articles in the NFD Guardian. His favorite article he’s ever worked on here is How to Protect Your Online Reputation. He loves the team spirit of the community, and after collaborating with so many like-minded editors on the site, he has also enjoyed getting to meet them in real life at wikiHow meet-ups. For new members of the community, he says, “Don’t be afraid to get your feet wet and make some mistakes. Our amazing community is here to help you learn and grow.”

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