User:PleaseStand/Removal of permissions due to inactivity

On Wikipedia, users may be assigned any of several groups that allow higher levels of access. In order to mitigate the threat of compromised accounts harming the project, as well as to ensure that users who have privileged access stay current with policies and procedures, certain permissions are removed for inactivity.

This page is a summary of policies and procedures relating to inactivity. It is intended to cover all user groups that exist on English Wikipedia (not including global groups) for which inactivity criteria have been set, as well as the Bot Approvals Group. Certain details are omitted, and policies and procedures change over time. As such, in making any determination, the applicable policies or procedures should always be consulted.

Inactivity criteria

The term inactive most commonly means the user has neither made any edit nor performed any logged administrative action in a certain length of time, usually twelve months. Sometimes, the term can also mean the user has made fewer than a certain number of edits. And for some highly privileged groups (as well as the Bot Approvals Group), it can also mean the user has not been using their privileged access or engaging in relevant discussions or activity, as specified in the particular policy.

The following table lists the inactivity criteria that apply to each group. A user is considered to be inactive, with respect to a particular group, if they meet any of the inactivity criteria for that group.

Inactivity criteria by group

Permissions granted by	User group	No edits or logged actions	Too few edits		Lack of use of privileges
		Months	Edits	Months	Uses	Months
Bureaucrats	Administrators	12	100	60	N/A
	Bot Approvals Group	N/A	N/A		1	24
	Bots	24	N/A		N/A
	Bureaucrats	12	100	60	1	36
	Interface administrators	2	100	60	1	12
Administrators	Edit filter helpers	12	N/A		N/A
	New page reviewers	12	N/A		N/A
	Page movers	12	N/A		N/A
	Template editors	12	N/A		N/A
Stewards (on behalf of ArbCom)	Checkusers	12	N/A		5	3
	Oversighters	12	N/A		5	3

Prior notification

Some policies state that the user must be notified in advance of the removal. Policies vary on how the user is to be notified, whether one or two notices are required, and how far in advance each notice must be sent.

Inactive administrators and bureaucrats receive two notices on their talk pages:

• For no edits or logged actions: one month before the removal, and again several days before the removal.
• For too few edits: three months before the removal, and again one month before the removal.
• For lack of bureaucrat activity: one month before the removal, and again a few days before the removal.

Operators of inactive bots are notified one week before the removal, on both the bots noticeboard and the operators' talk pages. Inactive members of the Bot Approvals Group are notified one week before the removal.

Checkusers and oversighters who are inactive by reason of lack of use are notified by two emails sent to the address provided to the Arbitration Committee.

No prior notice is required for removal of interface administrators, edit filter helpers, new page reviewers, page movers, or template editors.

Restoring permissions

For some groups but not others, a user whose permissions were removed for inactivity may request that their permissions be restored, under certain conditions, without going through the normal approval process again.

Restoring administrator and bureaucrat permissions

Main page: Wikipedia:Bureaucrats § Restoration of permissions

Administrator, interface administrator, and bureaucrat permissions may be restored upon request at Wikipedia:Bureaucrats' noticeboard, under the following conditions:

• Only in Wikipedia:Administrators#Restoration of admin tools: From the time of removal on, the former administrator or bureaucrat has edited at intervals of at most:
  • One year if removed for no edits or logged actions
  • Two years if removed for too few edits
• Only in Wikipedia:Bureaucrats#Restoration of permissions: From the time of the last edit or logged action before the removal, the former administrator or bureaucrat has edited or performed logged actions at intervals of at most two years.
• The former administrator makes their request within five years of their last logged administrator action.
• The former bureaucrat makes their request within three years of when they were last involved in bureaucrat activity.

Restoring CheckUser or Oversight permissions

The Arbitration Committee will usually restore CheckUser and Oversight permissions "once (a) a satisfactory explanation for the unannounced inactivity has been given and (b) satisfactory assurances about future activity levels have been received."

Restoring bot approval

The operator of the bot must make a new request for approval; prior task approvals are considered to be expired.

Retired members of the Bot Approvals Group need to make a request in the usual manner in order to rejoin.

Restoring administrator-granted permissions

All permissions that can be granted by administrators should be requested again in the normal manner. These permissions include edit filter helper, new page reviewer, page mover, and template editor.