Wikipedia:RFA reform

For almost as long as the Request for Adminship (RfA) process has existed, there has been significant desire to change it. The many requests for comments (RfC) have gotten varied amounts of response and activity. In recent years, RfA reform has been motivated by the lack of people requesting adminship. In 2024, admin recall was established as policy and a trial admin election was held. This is a list of selected RfA reform projects and RfA reform-related pages.

Yearly reforms

These reform projects are usually large and consist of multiple related WP:RfCs.

• WT:RFA/R (2007) – compiled a lot of ideas but no concrete proposals were implemented
• WP:RREV (2008) – compiled many editors' opinions on reforming RfA and some data
• WP:RFA2011 – compiled large amounts of data, but no concrete proposals were implemented
  • Data on questions, voters, and candidates was gathered
  • Possible proposals – a list of considered proposals
• WP:RFA2012 – received a number of proposals, but few were implemented
  • Problems – a list of identified problems
• WP:RFA2013 – consisted of three WP:RfCs:
  • Round 1 – generated broad categories of problems to be addressed
  • Round 2 – four proposals received solid support, and three went to the next round
  • Round 3 – all three proposals failed by large margins
• WP:RFA2015 – consisted of two phases (in the form of RfCs):
  • Phase I – out of the problems and proposed solutions, seven went to the next phase
  • Phase II – four out of eleven proposals passed; the question of whether RfA should be clerked was taken to another RfC
    • Clerking RfC – the basic proposal failed, but the closing statement identified consensus for some of the changes proposed
• WP:RFA2021 – another RfC reform
• WP:RFA2024 – Resulted in the creation of the Admin recall process and a trial admin election, among other changes

Other major reforms

• Wikipedia:Requests for de-adminship – a list of de-adminship proposals, and other RfA overhauls
• Wikipedia:Unbundling administrators' powers – a list of unbundling proposals
• WP:BARC – a proposal to create the "Bureaucrats' Administrator Review Committee" to review community requests for removal of sysop rights; failed

By topic

Topic	Name	Date opened	Discussion	Description	Status
Inactivity	Initial proposal	31 May 2011	Link	Automatically desysop completely inactive admins after a year	Passed

See also

Data

• User:WereSpielChequers/RFA by month – widely cited in discussions about RfA, even though it's not a RfA reform proposal itself
• Wikipedia:RFA study – not widely cited, but still useful for investigating RfA trends
• Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Debriefs – post-RfA thoughts from RfA candidates

Analysis

• Wikipedia:Generally accepted RfA principles
• User:Worm That Turned/Rant On/Adminship – user essay about RfA

Reform ideas

• Category:Requests for adminship reform – a complete list of RfA reforms
• User:Barkeep49/RfA Reform – list of various identified issues and proposed solutions

The Signpost series

• 2005 Changes to adminship debated
• 2006 Requests for adminship reform discussed
• 2007 Efforts to reform Requests for Adminship spark animated discussion
• 2008 Experimental request for adminship ends in failure
• 2010 RfA drought worsens in 2010—wikigeneration gulf emerging
• 2011 RFAs and active admins—concerns expressed over the continuing drought
• 2012 Is the Requests for adminship process 'broken'?
• 2012 AdminCom: A proposal for changing the way we select admins
• 2012 Adminship from the German perspective
• 2013 Requests for adminship reform moves forward
• 2013 Another admin reform attempt flops
• 2015 Editorial: Recent retirements typify problem of admin attrition
• 2015 Wikipedia needs more administrators
• 2018 Has the wind gone out of the AdminShip's sails?
• 2018 What do admins actually do?
• 2018 The last leg of the Admin Ship's current cruise
• 2019 Administrator cadre continues to contract
• 2021 On the brink of change – RfA reforms appear imminent