Anime Indepth:Admins Sysops and Moderators

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You may have noticed on the site that certain users can do things on the site restricted to normal users. Such activities include locking articles to editing other users posts on the forum. Users with these powers are deemed staff members. While they have additional capabilities on the site, their positions should never be conceived as a designation that they are a better type of user. Furthermore, obtaining a staff position does not imply an "advancement" in membership, nor does it guarantee that when another staff position becomes open, they will receive it. What follows is an explanation of what their powers are, and what is and is not expected of staff.

Many of these policies are a departure from what was done in the recent past, so please familiarize yourself with them so misunderstanding do not take place. Thanks goes to Lostpedia, who's policies were modified for usage on this site.

Contents

Positions

SysOp

SysOp, or System Operator, is on a simple level a more advanced editor, with certain "privileges" that allow them to carry out the more sensitive tasks on a wiki (discussed below). They have proven themselves to be competent wiki users, and are thus entrusted with extra abilities in recognition of their hardwork.

  • A SysOp is not a censor: The task of filtering out inappropriate or irrelevant content is the responsibility of every editor.
  • A SysOp is not a better kind of user: Access to certain functions of the wiki interface does not make any user better than other. A SysOp is just a regular volunteer who must spend more time editing and regulating content.
  • SysOps are not the only notable users: Valuable membership is not a question of status but of the ability to collaborate with others in a common interest. A good skill in a SysOp is the ability to combine the strengths of others in a single coherent task.
  • SysOps are not governors: While SysOps have access to functions like protection & banning to help defuse conflict, SysOps are not the regulators to break up fighting users. Mature conflict resolution is the responsibility of all editors, and SysOps should not be expected to step in and deal with, effectively, editors with an attitude.
  • Being a SysOp is not necessarily a progression. Being promoted to SysOp status is not a reward, and editing with the ambition to be an administrator is not really the right attitude to take. "Promotion" is not always good, in fact the contrary might be true for some editors, as the level of commitment required for the role is very demanding.

What do SysOps do?

Whilst there is distinction between a SysOp and a regular editor, those with adminship generally do similar tasks to everyone else. They still edit articles, fix links, go through wanted pages, nominate articles for cleanup/deletion etc etc. However, they do have a number of abilities that are restricted from other users as their misuse can have strong implications for the site. These abilities include:

  1. The power to rollback. For a SysOp, edits can be reversed with the touch of the mouse. This is particularly useful in the incidence of vandalism, as a SysOp can actually just press a button, and all a vandal’s edits are instantly reversed.
  2. The power to block. A very important SysOp power is that they can, when appropriate, block users. The block duration is entirely at the discretion of the SysOp, and can be from an hour to infinity. Usually, the length of the block depends on the seriousness of the crime. As well as blocking a username, most SysOps can additionally block a user's entire IP address or netblock, meaning said user will never be able to edit again on the same computer. This is generally used to block vandals from further edits on the site.
  3. The power to delete. Whilst other users can nominate articles for deletion and vote on it, a SysOp is needed to actually delete the article. To delete something is a serious edit on any wiki, and so care must be taken when deciding to remove something permanently, hence why the ability is reserved to a SysOp.
  4. The power to protect and unprotect. A SysOp can protect or unprotect a page from ordinary editors, as well as freely edit a protected page themselves, which includes the homepage. As this especially is vitally important to the site (being the first thing anyone visiting us would see), the number of users allowed to carry out alterations has to be limited.
  5. The power to move. Whilst some pages can still be moved, main articles especially are now protected under new policy. Only a SysOp now has the ability to move an article to a new location under a new name.
  6. Moderator Power. There have been instances where the work for moderators has gotten out of hand and impossible to do (such as when those members spammed the site with pictures). To counter this, SysOps have been given moderator powers to be only used in these instances. As they have enough work with the wiki, it is not expected of them, and not encouraged for them to use their moderator powers on the forum.

Bear in mind that a SysOp is still an editor, and while they can do more than a regular user they are still expected to do all the activities that any editor would do does, such as edit articles, create new articles, add media to the site and help it expand both in content provided and members participation.

Moderator

A Moderator, Global, or otherwise is essentially the same as a sysop with regards to their powers, and the role that they play (hence the below is similar to the above, but there are differences).

  • A Mod is not a better kind of user: Access to certain functions of the forum does not make any user better than other. A Moderator is just a regular volunteer who must spend more time editing and regulating content.
  • Mods are not the only notable users: Valuable membership is not a question of status but of the ability to collaborate with others in a common interest. A good skill in a Mod is the ability to combine the strengths of others in a single coherent task.
  • Being a Mod is not necessarily a progression. Being promoted to Mod status is not a reward, and participating on the forums with the ambition to be an administrator is not really the right attitude to take. "Promotion" is not always good, in fact the contrary might be true for some users, as the level of commitment required for the role is very demanding.

Here are some differences:

  • Mods are occasionally governors: While mature conflict resolution is the responsibility of all users, there may come instances where the peace of the community is at stake, and in those instances, moderators are expected to act as mediators. This does not mean that mods should go looking for problems to adjudicate, however. Generally a problem of a magnitude which requires a moderator will be self evident. This is different from the SysOP responsibility as the the forum's sole function is to provide a good community. While the wiki provides some of that, it is more geared towards providing a good base of information for any fan of anime. Hence, although it is greatly preferred that members solve their own disputes in a mature manner, if a matter is serious enough, a moderator should take action to protect the integrity and composure of this community
  • A Mod is a censor: The task of filtering out inappropriate or irrelevant content should be the responsibility of every poster, but as the forums do not have the ability to let everyone edit the content in a manner similar to the wiki, the responsibility of correcting errors on the part of users falls to the moderators. Mods should do this when a post violates the rules noted in the forum rules posts and the rules of that particular forum. Warning levels should be used to make users aware of their errors and let then know they need to work on following the rules in the future.

What do Moderators do?

While moderators participate in the same activities on the forum as other members, moderators have a number of additional tools at their disposal that they are expected to take advantage of.

  1. The power to edit posts - this ability is only to used in two instances, the first is the correction of something which violates the rules and needs to be removed. The second is to make changes to important posts, such as the rules post for a particular forum.
  2. The power to view flagged articles and follow through with reports - Users may notice an post which violates the rules and will then flag it and file a report. Moderators can view the post and the corresponding report and act upon it. This is a very useful power as it enables there to be less work searching the forum.
  3. The power to block - A very important Mod power is that they can, when appropriate, block users. The block duration is entirely at the discretion of the Mod, and can be from an hour to infinity. Usually, the length of the block depends on the seriousness of the crime. As well as blocking a username, most Mods can additionally block a user's entire IP address or netblock, meaning said user will never be able to access the site on that computer again. This is power is reserved for extremely serious cases of rule violation and should be approved by an admin before they do it.
  4. The power to move - Only Mods have the ability to move articles.

Bear in mind that a Mod is still a member (they're part of the registered users group), and while they can do more than a regular user they are still expected to do all the activities that any user would do, such as post actively and help the site and help it expand both in the community provided and members participation.

Manga Staff

Their job includes obtaining unlicensed manga and uploading it to the site. In addition they must screen the manga being uploaded to the site to make sure it is manga and that it is not adult themed. To accomplish this task they have several powers at their disposal.

  1. The power to lock - if a manga series has been completed, they have the ability to lock off manga from further uploads
  2. The power to close - should a series become licensed in the United States, they close that series for viewing.
  3. The power to approve - in order to maintain the integrity of the manga viewer, manga staff may approve or reject the chapters being added by other users. This power can be retroactive: an already approved chapter that contains rule violating material can be unapproved after being initially approved.


Policies

Activity

A common thread between both of these positions is the expectation for activity. If there are no members participating there is no site. If there are no staff participating, although the site goes on, it does not work as it should, and it never will work as best as it can. In keeping with that concept if a staff member has no activity for 3 months (~90 days) and gives no forewarning of their departure, to keep the site functioning, other members will be found to assume the responsibilities of that position. To avoid this staff should contact either [[1]] or [[2]] to inform them of their absence and how long it will last.

Becoming a Staff Member

When Saber or DRH feel that more staff are needed on the site, they will contact you with an offer. Please do not message them asking to become a staff member as that will hurt your chances of being considered. If you are interested in helping out the site in the meanwhile, though, be sure to consider joining one of the user Groups.

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