Nomination is the first step in becoming an admin. One can either nominate themselves, or have someone else nominate them. There are several ways for someone else to nominate you, besides simply waiting. You can peruse the list of users who make themselves available to be sent requests for RfA nominations at Wikipedia:Request_an_RfA_nomination, engage in the Wikipedia:Adopt-a-user program, participate in Wikipedia:Admin_coaching, or add themselves to Wikipedia:List_of_administrator_hopefuls. Nominations remain active for 7 days.
There are only two official requirements in order to become an administrator:
You must have a registered account
You must have or gain the support of other Wikipedian editors (roughly 70-80% of those who participate in voting on the RfA).
Derived from that second item, there are also certain de facto requirements that are based on community standards. Since these qualifications are unofficial, they are often hard to quantify exactly what meets the standards of the community, and it is generally assumed that a candidate should exceed the expectations of the community, rather than simply meet them. Some examples include:
The candidate's account should be at least six months old.
The candidate's (non-automated) edit count should be at least 3000-4500.
Evidence of extensive interaction with the community.
No evidence of vandalism, edit warring, personal attacks, POV pushing, and other uncivil acts.
Other areas of experience voters look for include WikiProjects, Wikipedia backlog, Wikipedia maintenance, and Vandalism (if an editor is active enough in combating vandalism, an administrator may grant an account the ability to use the Rollback feature).
In the form below, replace the text that shows USERNAME with your username without the User: prefix (double check spelling and capitalization). If, for some reason, there is no text showing in the box, then type in "Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/USERNAME", with your name replacing "USERNAME".
If this is your second nomination or subsequent, then add a space after the username with a number corresponding to the number of Requests for Adminship you have performed. If it is your second, put space 2. If it is your third, space 3 and so forth.
When you are taken to the next page, edit that page and follow the instructions listed there.
Save the page.
Re-edit the page again, and make sure to delete the acceptance line. It is recommended you answer the standard questions; though technically optional, candidates who do not answer them may garner opposition. A detailed description is preferred.
Opt-In to the edit-counting tools to allow reviewers to quickly get a picture of your experience (this step is optional, but is often expected of admin candidates – see reminders).
If there are any co-noms that wish to participate in the RfA they need to list their names there now.
Copy the following code: {{Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/USERNAME}} ----
Go to the following page: Edit this page, and paste the above code you copied at the top of the RfA list.
Replace the text that says USERNAME to reflect your username (exactly as you did when you created the RfA). If it was space 2, then add that as well. It must be exactly as it was when you originally created it.
After you have added the above code into the main RfA page this template will be included there.
At this point users will be able to vote as normal.
Once you have submitted the RfA, go to the top of the page and edit the end date to reflect 7 days AFTER the day you submitted it, by following the directions in the header source code.
Go to your RfA subpage, and accept or decline your nomination. If you decline, be sure to inform your nominator.
After you accept your nomination, answer the standard questions for all candidates.
Edit this page and add the following text above the most recent nomination (replacing USERNAME with your name): (This is known as transclusion - it can also be completed by your nominator)
{{Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/USERNAME}}
----
Please double check your RfA to make sure there are no votes on the page before it is "transcluded" (added to the main RfA page).
Once you have submitted the RfA, go to the top of the page and edit the end date to reflect 7 days AFTER the day you submitted it, by following the directions in the header source code.
