User:Raidarr/Adoption process

Miraheze does not have an 'adoption' process per se. However, I think it would be remiss to ignore the term as people try to use it. So, this guide should hopefully be useful in how to do it.

What is adoption?
When you say 'adoption', I think:
 * You want  and   rights on the wiki
 * You want to be creatively responsible for the wiki, as though you were its founder
 * You want to be the one who cares after it is clear all other contributors have left it/are leaving it behind

What can I adopt?
You can use this process with wikis that follow all of the following: All suggestions that follow assume the above is true as it often is. If not however, things will change and you cannot 'adopt' in the normal manner.
 * Are closed, inactive, or lack any significant activity for a period of months
 * Has bureaucrats that aren't active on the wiki or Miraheze in general (check with CentralAuth to be sure)
 * Are public and have few or no local policies about management (especially about promotion/staffing/adoption that would change this page)

You cannot adopt if:
 * Wikis are alive and well, at that point you need to just request rights with a local election and/or from active management
 * If wiki is alive and even has sysops but not a bureaucrat to manage wiki settings or its permissions
 * If local bureaucrats are active, use whatever local process exists to get higher permissions; active includes users who've been around within a month, and any inquiry should last at least a week to give them time to respond
 * If a wiki is private, manually closed by its management/by community decision, or if it was closed/sanctioned for global policy issues
 * If they have a custom management structure, ie, the wiki is not set up around the normal 'admin' and 'bureaucrat' idea
 * If it was a wiki created for a personal universe or work, and you were in no way connected to that process (ie, an outsider taking over someone's developed creative vision)

It is not impossible to recover wikis that fit into the above by any means, but at that point saying 'adopt' per this page does not fit. You need to describe what you want to do and what the situation is, and get advice for the next step. This should be done on the Stewards' noticeboard. If sensitive information is involved, you can contact a Steward privately or message by email to stewards@undefinedmiraheze.org.

Especially if other users, admins and/or bureaucrats are active, how much agency you have to change things when requesting rights may be limited by Steward decree. This can also apply if the wiki is very well developed in content, as it doesn't make sense to adopt a wiki that is radically different from what you want to do. At that point, you are better suited requesting a new wiki including reasons why your design is not compatible with the existing wiki if they're similar.

Helpful tools

 * Special:ActiveUsers: find anyone who has contributed recently; if there's more than a couple of edits, they should be in the loop if you request permissions.
 * Special:ListUsers/sysop and Special:ListUsers/bureaucrat: helps you find who holds permissions. The second link is key since these users could give you permissions themselves, and that would be preferable to a Stewards involvement. Stalk a little to see if you can contact them unless there is clear evidence that they've left Miraheze.
 * Special:CentralAuth: use this with people who hold powers or are otherwise strong contributors, but may not be active on the wiki. It can help you find where they are, if they are still around.

Starting adoption
This depends on what the wiki's status is. If the wiki is marked as inactive or not marked at all, skip to the next section.

If the wiki is closed, you need to make a reopen request at the requests for reopening wikis page. State what you would like to do in the reason field; if you're following this page, reference it by name or better yet, link to it so a Steward understands what you're going for. When it is open, you can start what is called a local election.

Local election
Miraheze uses what is called a 'local election' to give users jurisdictional right over a wiki. Again, if there are local policies about this on the wiki at all, you must consider them first. If there is any confusion ask on the Stewards' noticeboard, to a Steward directly, or to the talk tab of this page. If there is anyone with powers or even significant interest in the wiki (ie, normal user with 1000 edits who just dropped off and is still active on Miraheze), it is very good custom to notify them directly, by talk page in a way they will see it and know what you're doing.

You can make a new page titled '(yourname)'s request for administrator and bureaucrat', or for convenience a section on the front page's talk page by that name. When you start the process, let a Steward know, ideally by Stewards' noticeboard message (new section if you haven't made one, or as a reply to a previous section if you've mentioned the wiki on the SN before). This will help them be in the loop and oversee, as well as let them help advertise your request, such as by Sitenotice.

At minimum for a local election, you need to introduce yourself (who are you, and what is your interest/participation in the wiki), mention the situation (wiki is closed/inactive/doesn't have anyone to help manage it), and what you are going to do (what you want to change including anything big, or if you're just going to continue the wiki's vision). Any detail pertaining to what you want to do and why is helpful. Below it, a subsection marked as 'discussion'. This is where anyone who is interested can support your claim, oppose it or otherwise comment about it. These messages must be left alone in all cases except spam, vandalism and the like, and will be considered when a Steward reviews your request.

A Steward is obliged to review the context of the election to decide if it is valid, and this is why more details are better so the process can be somewhat shorter and cleaner. Depending on the context, a local election can be allowed to run between 4-7 days, possibly longer if there is more participation/discussion. In normal cases it is entirely possible that nobody will comment, and that is fine. Feel free to leave a reminder after 5 days or so if a timeline has not been offered to you. A Steward will either assess it then or ask it remain open a little longer. You can help your case by contributing to the wiki in the meantime, further verifying your interest in the project.

If all is in order and after the time above, a Steward will close the request and the process will be complete.