Meta:Flood flag

The Flood flag, sometimes referred to as a pseudo-bot flag and designed to prevent RecentChanges flooding, is a temporary user group that administrators can grant either to themselves or to other users when performing mass editing or log actions on a repetitive basis that is, or is likely to be, non-controversial. Though less common, global functionaries, inclusive of Stewards and Global Sysops, can also add and remove the flood flag from their account, without involvement of a Meta administrator. Administrator discretion applies both to the length or manner in which the flood flag is added and to the reason(s) for which the flood flag is added.

The following are some but not all the recommended best practices in terms of reason(s) for granting, the manner in which the addition is made for, and the duration of, the flood tag.

Commonly accepted reasons for using the flood flag

• Repetitive deletions of pages in accordance with Meta's commonly accepted reasons for deletion, including, but not limited to, deleting pages added by spam only accounts, unused and/or implausible redirects, unused or duplicate files or templates, and others;
• Blocking or rangeblocking many open proxies;
• Blocking spam only accounts (commonly referred to as "spambots");
• Mass translations or administration related to the Translate extension;
• Mass RecentChanges or new pages patrolling; and,
• Other uses, as determined by administrator discretion using, principally, past precedents of other administrators, common sense, and good judgment.

Unacceptable reasons for adding the flood flag

Unacceptable uses include attempting to circumvent legitimate oversight of any controversial action, regardless if it is an administrator task.

Temporary flood flag or bot flag

The flood flag was and is intended to replace requesting temporary bot flags from bureaucrats. Administrators who would otherwise request a temporary bot flag may simply flag themselves using the flood right.

Cases where a permanent bot flag should be given remain the same—the administrator should create a secondary account and request a bot flag as normal. Only temporary bot flags are replaced with this flood flag.

Duration of the flood flag

Usually, the flood flag is typically granted for durations of between 1-3 hours, but may also be granted for up to 24 hours as well with a valid use case. Additionally, in typically exceptional rare cases, it may be granted for durations lasting a bit longer. Good judgment and discretion applies in terms of the duration.

Manner in which the flood flag may be granted

Typically, the flood flag is added on a temporary basis in one of two ways:

1. Adding the flag without specifying a duration, annotating a clear reason for the flag, then removing the flag when finished the task(s); or,
2. Adding the flag for a defined temporary duration, annotating a clear reason for the flag.

In the case of the former, any administrator may, in their discretion, either (a) remind the administrator to remove the flag when finished or (b) remove the flag if it appears to have been forgotten.

Requests for the flood flag by non-administrators

Any trusted user on Meta, especially those who are at least autopatrolled, planning on performing constructive edits or log actions on a mass scale may request the flag at Meta:Administrators' noticeboard. Additionally, any administrator may grant the flag on the same basis as if it were requested.

See also

• Meta Bots, a documentation page on permanent, or quasi-permanent, bot accounts on Meta
• Special:ListUsers/flood, an automatically generated special page listing users with the flood flag currently assigned