User:Tisane/Characteristics desirable in an admin
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Of the many characteristics desirable in an admin, here are some that I view as particularly important.
Knowledge
An admin should know his way around the Wikipedia namespace. He should have a good working knowledge of
Communication skills
Because effective communication is key to resolution of difficult situations, an admin should be reasonably well-spoken. His communication with other users should be characterized by
An admin should have tact. A user who
Note that being well-spoken does not necessarily require that users actually communicate a lot via
Good judgment
Good judgment is essential to avoid taking ill-advised actions that will cause major problems. It is something gained through knowledge and experience, because the wiki community has different values, norms and expectations than many other online and real-world communities. There are many situations in which a user may know that a certain action is in the best interests of the project. Nonetheless, he should refrain from doing it if he knows that the consensus will be against it. This can seem counterintuitive at first, but it is an important principle for a user, and especially an admin, to abide by. (The rule of obeying consensus does not apply to a wiki god-king, who has the authority and responsibility to shape the wiki's purpose, nature and culture in ways that will benefit the project, even if others object.)
Experience
An admin candidate's recent account history should reasonably consistently reflect the aforementioned characteristics of knowledge, communication skills, and good judgment. This does not necessarily require a large number of edits or a chronologically lengthy account history. But a certain amount of account history is needed to clearly demonstrate that, if this is a user who wrecked his reputation under a previous account, he has changed his ways.