User blog comment:Dopp/A Tour of Special Pages/@comment-13301-20110330091537/@comment-1025281-20110331220758

Most new users don't know how to use special pages... and neither do I think they really care. It is only when they become more experienced (usually when they become an admin) that maintenance reports etc. start to become important. This fight over default is pointless: most users who have never used a wiki before don't want all these tools to show by default &mdash; they have no idea what they mean.

Seriously, it isn't that hard to add a link to special pages to the toolbar. If some are truly concerned about people on wikis not knowing about special pages, then just write a local help page on the subject.