User Guide: User levels
From WikiMapia
There are 3 basic user levels:
- Level 0 (UL0: Unregistered and newly registered users) - can perform simple functions like add/edit place, add photos. Subject to some restrictions to avoid vandalism.
- Level 1 (UL1: Registered users) - can access almost all available functions.
- Level 2 (UL2: Advanced users) - can access all functions and have some administrative privileges (protecting articles, etc.).
[edit] User Level Q & A
[edit] How many places do I have to mark to become a level 2 user? / How many good votes do I need to become a level 2 user? / How long should one be a UL1 to become a UL2?
These questions all have the same answer: There are no magic numbers you need to reach, because promotion to UL2 is a manual process by the admins, and is not automatic no matter what numbers you have.
[edit] How do I become a level 2 user?
In practice, recommendations for future UL2's are made in the forum and if there is a consensus then the admins may choose to promote you. Those recommendations are based on the overall quality of your contributions, how visible you are to people in the forum, and how well you adhere to the WikiMapia ideals.
[edit] I saw a discussion in the forum about banning users. What's that all about?
There are actually two user levels below UL0: Limited (UL-1) and Banned (UL-2). Limited means that while you can still create new places, you cannot make some types of changes to existing places, nor post in the Forum, for example. Banned means that you can log in, but are severely restricted in what else you can do.
Before a brand new voting system was implemented, this depended on the # of "bad" votes. The votes from UL2 users were the votes that limited and banned accounts.
There are people out there who deliberately disrupt Wikimapia (spammers, vandals) or try to use it for their own purposes (advertising). If you see Wikimapia being misused in these ways, please report this in the forum in the "User behavior and vandalism" section. When we see this we first try to contact these people and ask them to change their behaviour. If they continue their ways, further Bad votes will result in their accounts being Limited and then Banned. People who feel they have been banned unfairly should contact the admins (wikimapia@gmail.com) to get the matter resolved.
[edit] What are the reasons for banning someone?
These are the most common reasons for banning a user:
- User makes massive spam (example: user puts sex.com everywhere).
- User intentionally vandalizes places (deletes info, inserts pornographic photos, etc.)
- Sockpuppet account that is created by an already banned user.
- Harassment or trolling of other users via private messages.
- Voting bad without any reason.
Note that this list is not a policy statement (yet), but it does reflect the reality of most banning actions.
[edit] How can I tell what userlevel user XXX is?
- If you see his post in the forum, the user level is shown on the left.
- [If you are UL2] You can also find the user level of a user who has not posted in the forum: (1) In your own profile click on your "rank" number (this will bring up a screen with a list of user names, including your own), (2) click on "Advanced mode" at the top right (bringing up the user stats page), (3) enter the username in the "Search username" box at the top right (bringing up another screen showing users and a lot more columns), (4) look in the "Level" column (but note that users shown as level "3" are what is elsewhere known as level "2"). The level column is visible only if you are UL2.
