Wikipedia:Administrators

Note: This is neither the page to post questions for administrators, nor to request administrator privileges. Instead, use Requests for administrator attention and Requests for adminship, respectively.

This page documents an English Wikipedia policy. It describes a widely accepted standard that editors should normally follow, though exceptions may apply. Changes made to it should reflect consensus.

Shortcuts WP:ADMIN WP:SYSOP WP:MOP

This page in a nutshell: Administrators are volunteer editors trusted with access to certain tools on the English Wikipedia. They are expected to observe a high standard of conduct, use the tools fairly, and never use them to gain advantage in a dispute.

Administrators, commonly known as admins or sysops (system operators), are Wikipedia editors who have been granted the technical ability to perform certain special actions on the English Wikipedia. These include the ability to block and unblock user accounts, IP addresses, and IP ranges from editing, edit fully protected pages, protect and unprotect pages from editing, delete and undelete pages, rename pages without restriction, and use certain other tools.

Administrators assume these responsibilities as volunteers after undergoing a community review process. They do not act as employees of the Wikimedia Foundation. They are never required to use their tools, and must never use them to gain an advantage in a dispute in which they were involved. Administrators should not be confused with Wikimedia system administrators ("sysadmins").

The English Wikipedia has 846 administrators (see full list of accounts with administrator privileges or lists of administrators by activity level).