Commons:User access levels
User groups[edit]
Unregistered IP users[edit]
Unregistered IP users cannot upload files, but can make most other edits.
AbuseFilter/105 (as proposed in Commons:Administrators' noticeboard/Archive 39#Proposed Change of Rules) prevents some page creation by anonymous users. The relevant MediaWiki message is MediaWiki:Abusefilter-warning-new-pages-by-anon-users.
- As soon as IPs create an account, they can create pages.
- Only page creation is prevented. Edits to existing pages are possible.
- Talk namespaces are not affected (they can be created by IPs).
- IPs can create category-pages, timed-text, and deletion request subpages.
Registered users[edit]
- See also: Commons:Users
Users are contributors who are logged in. They can create and edit pages, and upload files. The full list of actions they are allowed to perform can be viewed at Special:ListGroupRights#user.
Autoconfirmed users[edit]
- See also: Commons:Autoconfirmed users
Autoconfirmed users are contributors who are logged in to an account created that have an age of ≥ four days. Autoconfirmed users can
- edit semi-protected pages (editsemiprotected),
- move pages except images and categories (move),
- overwrite an existing file (reupload), and
- perform captcha triggering actions without having to go through the captcha (skipcaptcha).
Confirmed users[edit]
In some situations, it is necessary for accounts to be exempted from this customary confirmation period. The confirmed group contains the same rights as the autoconfirmed group, but can be granted by administrators as necessary by request on Commons:Requests for rights. See Special:Listusers/confirmed for a list of the 5 users in this group.
Administrators[edit]
- See also: Commons:Administrators
Administrators, also called admins or sysops, are a higher-level group of users. With respect to user rights, they may perform such tasks as deleting and protecting pages and files; blocking and unblocking users, IP addresses, and IP ranges; and editing fully protected pages. In addition, they may add or revoke the confirmed, rollbacker, patroller/autopatroller, file mover, image reviewer, Upload Wizard campaign editor, and IP-block-exempt usergroups. Administrators also play an important role in the community by handling deletion requests, protecting against vandalism, and handling protected pages. They should follow all policies and guidelines and respect community consensus where appropriate. See Commons:Guide to adminship for further details.
Users may apply for adminship at Commons:Administrators/Requests, following the guidelines at Commons:Administrators. See Special:ListUsers/sysop for a list of the 185 administrators on Wikimedia Commons.
Bureaucrats[edit]
- See also: Commons:Bureaucrats
Bureaucrats are experienced and well-trusted administrators who may grant and revoke the account creator, administrator, interface administrator, GWToolset user, translation administrator, and bot usergroups, as well as granting the bureaucrat rights. They are responsible for handling requests for such rights, responding to inquiries at the Commons:bureaucrats' noticeboard, guiding and leading on discussions regarding major community issues, and dealing with confidential information that may be disclosed to them.
See Commons:Bureaucrats/Howto for details on how to become a bureaucrat. See Special:ListUsers/bureaucrat for a list of the 6 bureaucrats on Commons.
Stewards[edit]
- See also: Meta:Stewards
Stewards are a global usergroup, i.e. valid across all Wikimedia wikis, who have access to the full range of permissions. In particular, they may delete pages with over 5,000 revisions (bigdelete) and grant or revoke any permissions (userrights). In particular, they are the only users who may grant or revoke checkuser or oversight permissions.
Specialised rights[edit]
Rollback[edit]
- See also: Commons:Rollback
Rollbackers are users who can revert several consecutive edits by a user to a page to the last revision by a different user. Administrators have the rollback right by default, and they may grant it to trustworthy non-admin users upon request. Global rollbackers also have this permission. There are 738 rollbackers on Wikimedia Commons.
Patrol and autopatrol[edit]
- See also: Commons:Patrol
Patrollers are users who can mark revisions, uploads, and page creations as "patrolled", meaning that they have been inspected for vandalism. They may also view detailed abuse log entries. Patrol rights are automatically granted to administrators, but may be given to trustworthy non-admin users upon request. There are 643 patrollers on Wikimedia Commons.
Autopatrollers are users whose own actions are automatically marked as patrolled. In addition, they may upload files from a URL. Autopatrol rights are granted to patrollers and administrators by default. There are 7,433 autopatrolled users on Wikimedia Commons.
Filemovers[edit]
- See also: Commons:File mover
File movers have the privilege to rename files. The right is also automatically granted to administrators. There are 1,638 users in this group.
GWToolset users[edit]
- See also: Commons:GWToolset users
GWToolset users are users who can mass upload images from GLAM institutions via the GLAMWikiToolset extension. Administrators are not automatically given this privelege; it may only be assigned by bureaucrats. There are currently 0 users with access to GWToolset.
License reviewers[edit]
- See also: Commons:License review
Template editors[edit]
- See also: Commons:Template editor
Checkusers[edit]
- See also: Commons:Checkusers
Checkusers are users who may view private data regarding editors, such as their IP address. The checkuser right is granted only to administrators who are 18 years or older, have provided contact information to the Foundation, and have signed a confidentiality agreement; further details are available at the access to nonpublic personal data policy. Currently, there are 3 checkusers on Commons. Requests for checkuser actions are made at Commons:Requests for checkuser.
Oversighters[edit]
- See also: Commons:Oversighters
Oversighters are users who can suppress revisions and portions of edit history and log entries, even to normal administrators, in exceptional circumstances such as hiding personal information and potential libel. Like checkusers, they must be administrators who are 18 years or older, have provided contact information to the Foundation, and have signed a confidentiality agreement. Suppressed revisions may be viewed and restored only by oversighters. There are currently 4 oversighters on Wikimedia Commons. Requests for oversight action may be sought by email to oversight-commons@lists.wikimedia.org; they should not be made public to avoid the Streisand effect.
Account creators[edit]
- See also: Commons:Account creators
The account creator user group is intended to alleviate restrictions in relation to rapidly creating new accounts. It provides the noratelimit user right, allowing a user to edit, move pages, create accounts, etc. more rapidly than the software would normally allow.
Other flags[edit]
Bots[edit]
- See also: Commons:Bots
Bots are automated programs to carry out repetitive tasks that would be tedious to do manually. All bots, including those without the bot flag, must have permission to operate on Wikimedia Commons, and are limited to approved tasks. They must be run separately from the owner's account.
The bot flag is assigned only to some, but not all, bots. Edits by users with the bot flag do not show in user watchlists, recent changes, or new files. They also automatically have the same permissions as autoconfirmed users, in addition to more specific rights, such as the ability to make API queries in batches of 5,000 rather than 500. There are 167 users with the bot flag.
IP block exemptions[edit]
- See also: Commons:IP block exemption
IP block exemptions may be granted to trusted users who edit from a blocked IP range affecting logged-in users, or must edit by anonymous proxy for technical reasons. Administrators are automatically assigned this right, and have the right to assign or revoke IP block exemption as needed.
Upload Wizard campaign editors[edit]
- See also: Commons:Upload Wizard campaign editors
Upload Wizard campaign editors are users who can create and edit pages in Campaign namespace and therefore configure the UploadWizard to behave differently for different tasks and users. This capability can, for example, be used in upload campaigns (e.g. photo competitions). In addition to Upload Wizard campaign editors, Commons administrators are also able to configure the UploadWizard. See the UploadWizard campaign functionality documentation for further information.
Deprecated access levels[edit]
OTRS members (removed)[edit]
- See also: Commons:Global VRT group
This flag used to be given to all admins. However not all admins are OTRS members so in about mid-2012, Special:AbuseFilter/69 was changed so that users who do not have the OTRS flag have their OTRS edits marked in the history logs as "(OTRS permission added by non-OTRS member)". OTRS was renamed in 2021 to VRTS. This will occur even if a valid VRTS member adds VRT templates to files but that member has not been given the VRTS flag yet.
This flag was replaced by a global user group in late 2014 per a RfC on Meta-Wiki.
Extended uploader[edit]
- See also: Commons:Extended uploaders
A rank given to experienced uploaders. Rights include being able to play MP3 files. This rank was incorporated into the Autopatrolled rank following a consensus.
Requesting permissions[edit]
Most rights are requested at Commons:Requests for rights. Admin, bureaucrat, checkuser and oversight rights are requested at Commons:Requests and votes. Steward rights are handled at meta.wikimedia (stewards).