Inkipedia:Demotion

User rights management is an important part of Inkipedia. Because certain abilities are given to only a few editors, we as a community must ensure that they are using their rights to the fullest. There may be a variety of reasons that users face demotion, but in all cases users should be notified via talk page when a demotion is processed.

Why would a user get demoted?
The user is not using their rights:
 * The user does not use their rights at all, as listed in Inkipedia:Policy/Rights or Special:UserGroupRights.
 * When asked to use their rights, they are dismissive to help.

The user is inappropriately using their rights:
 * The user does not use their rights in a way helpful to the Inkipedia community, or sets a poor example for the community.
 * The user utilizes their rights to engage in vandalism.
 * The user uses their rights in an abusive way, causing harm to community members or Inkipedia itself.

The user has become inactive:
 * The user is inactive for an extended period of time (six months or more without contributing)
 * The user is completely unresponsive to any form of contact (30 days or more without responding to talk page messages, emails, or Discord messages)

Demotions for rights misuse
Any user with 100 edits and been a member longer than 30 days may place a request for demotion for a user. The user being demoted must be informed via talk page of their demotion request when created, as to give a fair opportunity for the user to respond and answer questions or participate in discussions. Failure to inform users may result in the request being cancelled by an administrator.

When creating a demotion for a user due to not using their rights or due to rights abuse, be very detailed. Rights changing is important business, which means the more thorough a message, the clearer idea other members voting will have about the situation. Some tips when considering a demotion:
 * Have other users experienced the same issues that you have, or is this a personal matter?
 * Has the user been contacted or warned for this behavior? How many times, over how long of a period of time?
 * Are you able to provide examples for their behavior? Links to this proof is preferred.
 * In some cases, are the problems long-lasting, or are they only immediate?

Inactivity demotions
Staff must remain active. After six months without edits (not including user space), staff are considered "inactive" and therefore eligible for demotion.

Special rules apply to inactivity demotions—Before a user can be demoted for inactivity, they must be notified by talk page 7 days before a demotion request is submitted. The talk page notice can be given the week before they receive six months of inactivity. If the inactive user responds to the talk page message with an acceptance of the demotion, then the demotion request can be submitted immediately—otherwise, the seven day period must go to its full duration before voting.

If a user does not accept their inactivity request but does respond to their talk page about it, a discussion should be had about why they may be inactive and if they plan to become active again soon. If there is no consensus on the matter, a user may still place the demotion request. For example, making a single edit every 6 months normally does not count as being active, but if anyone argues this, the demotion vote can be used to settle the matter.

Staff may also make demotions without requests:
 * Administrators may demote patrollers without submitting a demotion request. The administrator is expected to notify the user by talk page 7 days before the demotion. A talk page notice can be given one week before the six month inactivity period at the earliest. If the inactive user responds to the talk page message with an acceptance of the demotion, then the administrator can demote the user immediately. If the user does not respond, they will be demoted at the end of the seven day period. Should the user disagree with this decision, and no agreement can be made through talk page discussion, the administrator should file a community vote demotion request.


 * Bureaucrats may demote administrators, interface administrators, and patrollers without submitting a demotion request. The bureaucrat is expected to notify the user by talk page 7 days before the demotion. A talk page notice can be given one week before the six month inactivity period at the earliest. If the inactive user responds to the talk page message with an acceptance of the demotion, then the bureaucrat can demote the user immediately. If the user does not respond, they will be demoted at the end of the seven day period. Should the user disagree with this decision, and no agreement can be made through talk page discussion, the bureaucrat should file a community vote demotion request.

Excused status
Users with an inactivity reason may excuse their absence. Excused users are immune to inactivity demotion, within reason. Possible excuses may include but are not limited to: vacation, military service, mental health, illness, injury, personal projects, needing time to work on another wiki, or other real-world challenges. To become excused, the user should edit the RightsList template, changing the activity status to 'excused', and including the absence reason and expected duration of inactivity in the edit summary and/or a comment (using  wikicode) next to their activity status in the RightsList template.

It is also suggested that excused users post a notice on their talk page and user page regarding the absence.

Demotion requests
For rights misuse requests, the involved user must be notified via talk page one day before a request can be made, or one week for inactivity demotions.

A demotion can be requested by any user with more than 30 days of Inkipedia experience and at least 100 mainspace edits. Each request must include the involved user's username, their rights, the rights under question for demotion, a reason why the request is being made, and a timestamped signature of the user requesting the demotion.

All demotion request voting periods will last for three weeks. If there is a high contention between voting, an administrator may opt to extend voting by a week one time.

To file a new request for demotion, you may create a page at Inkipedia:Demotion/Username with this format: [ [Category:Active demotion requests]] Detailed explanation of why you are requesting demotion for this user. ~ ==Remove Username's rights== ===Support=== # ===Oppose=== # ===Comments=== *

If a user has requested their own demotion or agreed to their own demotion, no voting is needed. The following format should be used: [ [Category:Active demotion requests]] Explanation of why you are requesting demotion for this user. Make sure to mention that the user has agreed to the demotion. ~ ==Remove Username's rights== ===Comments=== *

Requests stay active for three weeks, during which voting and discussion take place. Requests can be closed in ten days if there are fifteen unanimous supporting votes or seven days with twenty unanimous supporting votes. Both options to close a request early will need two supporting votes from higher ranks (for example, a request to demote a patroller needs the support of two administrators to be closed early). After this time passes, a bureaucrat or administrator will act upon the request and archive it. In the event of a demotion request not passing, users must wait 6 months from the closure of the request before demotion can be requested for the same individual again.

Current demotion movements
Any active demotions will be listed below. category=Active demotion requests shownamespace=false mode=ordered ordermethod=categoryadd order=ascending

Past demotions
All past demotions are located in the archives.