Bureaucrat/Removal for inactivity on small wiki

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Bureaucrat/Removal for inactivity on small wiki

This page provides information on why and how a bureaucrat on a small wiki should be demoted for inactivity.

What?

Small wikis rarely need local bureaucrats while stewards can easily and quickly handle the low traffic of local requests. While there is no global policy regarding how many local administrators must be present to have local bureaucrats, some small wikis have bureaucrats who have all become inactive for long time. When they do not have sizable community, they may lack specific policy to demote inactive bureaucrats, so they have privileged user class for indefinite time.

Where?

For the purpose of this page, a "small wiki" is a Wikimedia site with any number of bureaucrats except zero, but all bureaucrats are inactive for more than 60 days for having no local edits or logs attributed to them. Wikis with at least one active local bureaucrat are exempt while they generally have sizable community to decide where to demote inactive bureaucrats.

Who?

Bureaucrats being inactive for more than 60 days for having no local edits or logs are subject to demotion if their wiki does not have any active bureaucrats. For the purpose of this page, demoting inactive bureaucrats on small wikis does not include removing their administrator access, which is a separate user class.

Why?

When all bureaucrats in a wiki are inactive for some time, stewards have to determine if they can handle the local requests without violating the local community. The steward policy does not define when a local bureaucrat is considered inactive or when the situation requires immediate action, so there are gray zones. These problems cause unnecessary and inefficient delays. Requesting help from local Wiki sysops or bureaucrats with language barriers can further escalate the problem.

When?

After being inactive for 30 days, contacts with the bureaucrats should be attempted with messages to their talk pages and via emails whenever possible. The texts of both should be in a language that a bureaucrat is sufficiently fluent in to ensure there are no misunderstandings. If a bureaucrat also has accounts on other wikis, the notice should also be sent there to better catch the attention.

How?

If the user does not answer to keep the bureaucrat access within the following 30 days, a request should be made at Steward_requests/Permissions#Removal_of_access to removal the access in accordance with this policy. If the user requests retention of the bureaucrat access, he or she must show local activity with edits, logs, or both, within the following 60 days, or the access will be removed without further question.

Demoting inactive bureaucrats on small wikis is not intended to punish them. After losing bureaucrat access for inactivity, they may reapply locally. However, as the steward policy asks stewards not to make their own decisions unless a wiki demonstrably has no community, bureaucrat access on smaller wikis may still be denied. In principle, temporary bureaucrat access is not granted while unnecessary.