Not everyone who uses Memory Alpha has the same level of access to the site. Anyone can browse Memory Alpha for free, while our archivists are able to contribute to the database. Greater access to the site's advanced features can be granted to any archivist through the prescribed process. This page lists and explains the various user rights held by users on Memory Alpha.
Logged-out users[]
Anyone can read Memory Alpha articles, including users without a user account. Any non-banned user is free to create a user account.
Logged-in users[]
Users who have created an account and logged in (this is free and requires a username, password, email address, and birth date) can:
- customize the appearance and features of Memory Alpha by setting their preferences
- create new pages and edit unprotected pages
- maintain a page watchlist
- mark their own contributions as minor edits
- upload files to Memory Alpha
- rename most pages
User accounts that are at least four days old are given the "autoconfirmed" user right. Autoconfirmed users can rename a page without leaving a redirect and edit semi-protected pages.
A user with a confirmed email address can enable email notification and can request lost passwords.
Bots[]
A bot is an automated process, program, or script that performs edits that would be tedious if done manually. When a bot makes many edits in quick succession, the recent changes log can sometimes be overtaken by quick and repetitive edits, making it harder to spot more substantial edits by regular users. Giving an account a "bot flag" hides these edits from recent changes (although any editor can still choose to see them by removing the "Human (not bot)" filter).
On Memory Alpha, users who wish to use a bot should set up a separate account for it and start a discussion at Memory Alpha talk:Bots or Ten Forward to determine if its edits should be hidden. This depends on the bot's purpose, and how well the bot user is trusted by the community. If the community agrees that the bot account should be flagged, an admin will contact Fandom Staff to request the bot flag.
Quick answers editors[]
Quick answers editors are users who have been granted the right to edit the AI-generated quick answers that accompany many Memory Alpha articles.
There are currently no quick answers editors.
Rollback group[]
The rollback role is designed for users who spend large portions of their time finding vandalism and reverting it. It allows users to revert a serious of consecutive edits to a page made by a single editor in one click by using the rollback link on page diffs, user contributions feeds, the recent changes feed, or page history feeds. Any user can do this manually, but having this right makes it quicker and easier. Rollback users also have the ability to edit quick answers.
There are currently no active rollback users on Memory Alpha.
Thread moderators[]
Thread moderators are users who have additional tools available to manage the Discussions feature. In addition to all rollback rights, thread moderators have the ability to:
- delete and undelete posts and replies;
- edit posts and replies;
- close and reopen posts;
- manage the Discussions categories; and
- move posts from one category to another.
Having this status causes the tag "Thread Moderator" to appear next to user's username in their profile. See Special:ListUsers/threadmoderator for a member list.
Content moderators[]
Content moderators have several additional rights allowing them to better manage the wiki's content, including all rollback rights and the following additional rights:
- Protecting pages: Content moderators can protect pages from further changes in cases of vandalism or content disputes. This should happen only in certain rare circumstances. Content mods may also edit protected pages, although this is mostly prohibited (see protection policy).
- Deletion and undeletion: Content moderators can delete and undelete pages and files from Memory Alpha. This happens more frequently, but it is necessary to restrict permissions to this feature in order to prevent abuse (see deletion policy).
- Recent changes patrol: Content moderators can mark new pages as "patrolled." This alerts other content moderators (and admins) browsing recent changes that the page has already been checked out by an experienced editor and is in compliance with the relevant policies. In addition, pages created by content mods are automatically marked as patrolled.
- Rename file: Content moderators can rename pages in the "File" namespace. This right is restricted from most users to avoid improper renames and file redirects.
There are currently no content moderators.
Administrators[]
Administrators have full "system operator" (or "sysop") rights. This includes all rights of content moderators and thread moderators in addition to the following extra privileges and responsibilities:
- Block and unblock: In extreme cases, admins can ban users from contributing to Memory Alpha, either for a specific amount of time, or indefinitely.
- System messages: Admins may edit some of the protected pages in the MediaWiki namespace ("system messages"). These pages are used to define the text of the user interface. A complete list can be found at Special:AllMessages.
- Admin Dashboard: All admins have access to Special:AdminDashboard. In addition to a directory of useful links to special pages and system messages, the dashboard includes a panel labeled "Wiki Features," which allows admins to enable or disable specific, optional features. This tools may not be used without prior discussion, as it can produce major and potentially destructive changes to Memory Alpha.
- Theme Designer: Admins can make various changes the design of Memory Alpha through Special:ThemeDesigner. Minor fixes and corrections to the theme may be made without discussion, but any changes of substance should be discussed before hand.
- Limited user rights management: Although most use rights management may only be conducted by bureaucrats, admins can grant (and revoke) thread moderator, quick answers edit, and rollback rights through Special:UserRights.
- Rename categories: Admins can rename pages in the "Category" namespace. This right is restricted from most users because renaming a category also requires editing each child page to fix the category tag.
Due to these privileges, admins are expected to be familiar with Memory Alpha's policies and guidelines. For more details, read the administrators' how-to guide and the best practices for administrators.
Bureaucrats[]
Bureaucrats have the power to grant (and revoke) rollback, quick answers editor, content moderator, and admin rights through Special:UserRights. They can also grant bureaucratic rights (but cannot remove them) and remove bot rights (but not grant them). All changes in user rights are recorded at Special:Log/rights. Additionally, bureaucrats have the ability to block other users (see previous section for more information).
Bureaucrats often serve as referees when disputes arise between other users, particularly disputes involving the administration. To best serve in this capacity, they should always act in a level-headed, neutral, and diplomatic manner.
Currently, Sulfur is, without contingency, the only bureaucrat on the English Memory Alpha. A procedure for creating more bureaucrats has not yet been clearly defined, though it is generally accepted that there is no need for more than two active bureaucrats.