This is a proposal-in-progress. Please do not edit it at this moment - it is not release-ready! Leave any remarks on the talk page. Thank you, Whosyourjudas (talk)

Requests for Assistance Proposal[edit]

Rationale[edit]

Many Wikipedians have seen the need for a place where assistance from an administrator can be requested - requests that do not fit the standard categories of deletion, protection, etc. These sort of requests do not have a place on the refactored Village Pump. If requests are posted there they are often lost in the shuffle and ignored. Requests are sometimes floated directly to a sysop's talk page, but there is no guarantee as to the success of that method. Therefore, a page is propsed to handle such requests, at Wikipedia:Requests for Assistance or similar. Administrators could then take and solve these requests.

How It Works[edit]

Administrators would, at their option, be able to sign up as "helpers". Helpers agree they they will be:

Logged on to Wikipedia often.
Willing to help users in need of assistance.
Attentive to Wikipedia:Requests for Assistance.

A helper will be able to add or remove himself from the list at any time. Only when he is signed up as a helper would he be responsible for these extra duties.

When a user feels a need for an administrator's help, he posts his request to Wikipedia:Requests for Assistance. All helpers would then be notified of the new request, by means of a notice box that would appear at the top of every Wikipedia page (much like the notice box for new messages). Then, any currently online helper could respond the the request.

Caveats[edit]

Requires a development change to implement helper system
(I imagine there are others)

Goals[edit]

To provide a central location for those Wikipedians needing assistance from administrators.
To guarantee that requests are presented to active administrators.
To help mediate some of the issues raised at Wikipedia_talk:Administrator Activity Proposal.