Help:User groups

This page gives an overview of user permissions. For the complete list of MediaWiki database settings, see Special:ListGroupRights. Administrators can view the status of a single user at Special:UserRights.

The lists of names below are not updated automatically. If you need the most current data, see Special:ListUsers.

Anonymous (IP) editors
Anyone can read or edit a page; that's the whole point.

Logged-in users
Creating an account allows you to upload images, customize the site interface, and avoid most "area effect" blocks (such as page protection or rangeblocking).

Reviewers and Editors
These permissions allow a user to mark pages as "checked", meaning that all edits since the last check have been constructive (see Help:Page validation). In addition, Editors have their own edits automatically marked as checked, and can view a list of pages that have never been checked.

Users who assisted in the server migration were given Editor rights, but a general procedure for designating reviewers is not yet in place.

Administrators
Administrators are users with some special abilities. Most of the time this should go largely unnoticed, since everyone can be involved in editing pages, and even in reorganizing the entire site. The extra functions are intended to help moderate disputes and clean up large messes (such as robo-spam or inaccurate system messages).

Among other things, admins can:


 * Delete pages
 * View and undelete deleted pages (unless they predate the fork)
 * Protect and unprotect pages
 * Edit protected pages
 * Block users

 Active administrators 
 * Gez
 * Janizdreg
 * Quasar
 * Ryan W
 * TheGreenHerring

 Inactive administrators  (fewer than 5 edits in the last year)
 * Bloodshedder
 * Cyb
 * Fraggle
 * Fredrik
 * Jdowland
 * radius
 * Sarge Baldy
 * Schneelocke
 * TheDarkArchon
 * Who is like God?

If you need administrator assistance, e.g. to undo a page move or stop a persistent vandal, feel free to ask any of the above (preferably active) users. In an emergency, try to find one on IRC. Bloodshedder, Quasar and TheGreenHerring are usually on #zdoom, Janizdreg on #chocolate-doom and Jdowland (as Jon) on the OFTC network.

Currently the only way to become an administrator is to ask a bureaucrat (see below).

Bureaucrats
These are "root" or "superuser" persons, able to change the permissions on other accounts. Configuring a database installation requires one active bureaucrat, but the Doom Wiki has much less paperwork than Wikipedia, so (hopefully) one is enough.


 * When the site began in 2005, Fredrik became a bureaucrat.
 * During the migration to MancuNET, the SpiderMastermind account was created, and is shared by Quasar and Manc.