User:Whiteknight/Administration Summary

Wikibooks is a large place, and in addition to the contribution of textbook content, there is alot of work done by volunteers to keep this place clean, organized, and running smoothly.

Wikibooks Staff
There are some contributors who, in addition to contributing textbook content, also work to make wikibooks a better place. These people are informally dubbed "staff". Wikibooks staff might help answer questions, or they may come to help fix your formatting and grammar, or they may even participate in discussions that affect the project as a whole. Some staff members help to fight vandalism, some work to organize books, some write policy and guidelines, some write in the help book, and some do a little of everything!

How do I Become Staff?
You get to decide your own level of involvment in the wikibooks project. If you want to be a staff member, all you need to do is start acting like a staff member. See a new user who needs help? Help! See vandalism? Clean it! See a discussion? Join in and express your opinions. There are all sorts of things that you can do right now to help out the wikibooks project.

What are "Administrators"?
Administrators are staff members who have some additional tools. These additional tools, such as the power to delete pages, and the power to block malicious vandals, are necessary for the operation of wikibooks, but require a certain amount of trust in order to get them. Administrators are nominated and voted on at Requests for adminship. Remember, Administrators have large responsibilities, and voting for a new administrator should never be a popularity contest.

Administrators, while well-trusted, do not have any additional authority here on Wikibooks. The oldest, most trusted administrator has just as much say in a discussion as the newest of new users.

See Also:
 * 1) Administrators
 * 2) Requests for adminship

How Do We Get Rid of Garbage?
Some pages just don't belong here on wikibooks, and following a discussion, they can be deleted. Pages that might need to be deleted are nominated on Votes for deletion. Following that discussion, if the community agrees, an administrator will delete the page. Participating in these discussions, known as "VfD Discussions" is a great and easy way to get involved in the wikibooks community, and to learn more about wikibooks policy.

See Also:
 * 1) Deletion policy
 * 2) Votes for deletion

How Do We Fight Vandalism?
Only an administrator can block vandals from editing but any user, even you, can help to fix the damage caused by these vandals. If you see vandalism, fix it, and post an alert on Vandalism in progress. When an admin sees your note, he will block the vandal, and help with the cleanup effort.

See Also:
 * 1) Vandalism in Progress