Editing Encyclopedia:Administrators (section)

== History ==
{{policy shortcut|WP:DEAL|WP:NOBIGDEAL}}
In the very early days of [[Wikipedia]], only [[Bomis]] employees were administrators, as the server password was required to make any administrative changes.<ref>[[:nostalgia:Wikipedia utilities/Old Page titles to be deleted talk]]</ref> The idea of an administrator role was proposed in late 2001 during the development of the first version of [[MediaWiki]].<ref>[[:nostalgia:Wiki Administrators]]</ref> Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]] directly appointed the first administrators in February 2002. 

Under the [[role-based access control]] currently used, individual accounts are marked with the special roles they may play; these roles in turn determine any special tools they may access. Administrators were not intended to develop into a special subgroup. Rather, administrators should be a part of the community like other editors. Anyone can perform most [[WP:Maintenance|maintenance]] and [[WP:Administration|administration]] tasks on Wikipedia without the specific technical functions granted to administrators. An often paraphrased comment about the title and process of adminship was made by Wales in February 2003—referred to as "sysops" here:

{{anchor|No big deal}}
{{quote|I just wanted to say that becoming a sysop is *not a big deal*.
I think perhaps I'll go through semi-willy-nilly and make a bunch of people who have been around for awhile sysops. I want to dispel the aura of "authority" around the position. It's merely a technical matter that the powers given to sysops are not given out to everyone.
I don't like that there's the apparent feeling here that being granted sysop status is a really special thing.|Jimmy Wales|2003<ref>{{cite web| url = http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-February/001149.html| title = wikimedia.org archive entry}}</ref>}}

Stated simply, while the correct use of the tools and appropriate conduct should be considered important, merely "being an administrator" should not be.

As Wikipedia's worldwide cultural impact and visibility grew, and as the community grew with it, the role of administrators evolved and standards for adminship rose. Given the lengthy procedures required to remove administrative access, which often include attempts to resolve the dispute prior to [[WP:ARB|arbitration]], the community carefully scrutinizes [[WP:RfA|requests for adminship]].