User talk:VodkaJazz/Admin coaching

Questions

1. First, please let me know why you want to become an admin. I have to know you to be able to decide where to help. NCurse _work 11:48, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

• I am a good editor (as in the newspaper meaning), i.e. I am flexible and open-minded enough to understand a wide variety of subjects and be able to brushen up articles about such subjects. I would like to contribute with this quality in mind. I am also a very good researcher, though most article work has to be relegated to university holidays. Indeed, I always try to reference my work here, especially when I forecast possible disagreements and when it is a "hot" topic, a recent event, or an obscure topic where experienced editors rarely stumble on. A large amount of my contributions were to articles related to my country, especially Malta - you may see that article for the sort of contributions I am experienced in._└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 14:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
  • You write about that you're a good editor. But why do you want to be an admin? You can write even without the mop and the bucket. NCurse _work 14:56, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
    • True, though I did mention in my request for Admin coaching that becoming an admin was not my only, indeed not my primary objective for participating in this course. I am not sure I explained myself too well about the term "editor" though: by this I meant that I am good at putting the work of others together, not as an actual writer of content - this I can do reasonably well already, though not quite regularly; as well as the fact that I can get to grips with various, even previously unkown, topics easily - this would help me as an admin since I would not get "you have no idea what this article is all about" sort of reactions to any admin actions I would take on certain topics for example.

Anyway, by the above I was mostly focusing on you getting to know me rather than why I want to be an admin. To that, all I have to say is that I think that my NPOV, I.T. know-how, and the previously mentioned "editor" quality can be an asset to Wikipedia through an administrator. I think that I am "responsible enough" (sounds so defensive :S) to have have at my disposal (potentially dangerous?) admin tools, such as article protection, deletions/reinstating and bans. In addition, there have been requests (for example by Srl) for an active Maltese admin (for work on both the EN and MT wikis) since a number of them have left Wikipedia :(, their contribution dearly missed. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 16:18, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

2. Are you an active Wikipedian? (I saw your real in busy life template on your user page). NCurse _work 11:48, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

• I am an "active" Wikipedian. Unfortunately, because of university, I face heavy swings in amount of work and therefore I experience a sort of yearly cycle. The period before Christmas is usually the worst period because I would have a long list of assignments and readings, plus I would not know which lectures are actually useless (heh). I was experiencing a huge backlog, and at the same time I was busy with organizing the national chess championship finals, and last week I had a whole 13h EXTRA lectures to get to. I realize my edit count is quite low, but I like to work meticulously and quality-oriented. I shy away from articles I judge that I can not give a worthy contribution to. When I am time-constrained I usually switch to anti-vandalism. Self-evaluating my anti-vandalism approach, I think I judge vandalisms well enough; I am quite hard on users who deliberately (in my judgement) and repeatedly, even after being asked to stop, vandalize pages. I always tried to keep to templates, and referred to the appropriate administrators when things start to get out of hand. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 14:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

In conclusion, I think I can contribute as an article editor (again, in the newspaper sense) and formatter (incl. complicated wikicoding given my programming experience), anti-vandalism, articles related to Malta, academia (especially concerned with my past & present fields of study) and articles of high interest (in maintaining an ordered contribution pattern - an example would be the FIFA World Cup, though the last one was exceptionally crazy given the great media coverage it enjoyed). _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 14:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

3. So how about vandalism (I saw you're a VP user like me), articles for deletion, newcomers, rc patrol? Do you participate in any kind of community service? NCurse _work 14:56, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

• I think those would be a good start - I would add in what policies are observed by administrators in Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism. In addition, I still would like to take a slight "all-rounder" approach - since I have some sort of experience in these subjects (except maybe newcomers, apart from the occasional welcome template, and obviously the vandal intervention), I suggest we also take up another totally unrelated topic too - yours to suggest. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 16:18, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

4. Have you had any major conflicts, edit-wars? NCurse _work 14:56, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

• The only one I can remember about is this, with MYLO, which was quite some time ago. In a nutshell (actually, not so much), the user had some good points to contribute but did not assume good faith and embarked in an edit war. We (as in we, the regular contributors to the article), first took care of ending the edit war and then changed the content using the user's suggestions after reaching consensus on the different topics brought up, while keeping to Wikipedia guidelines and the articles overall style. Unfortunately, MYLO could not get used to the whole process and we had to "banish" him since he was only interested in flaming while not respecting (and indeed scaring away) fellow editors, nor providing for references as asked to. As a personal comment, this conflict occured quite a long time ago, during a period of extreme persistence of vandalism on the article. Maltesedog and I have worked hard to drastically reduce vandalism and had to keep an iron fist when dealing with disruptions to the article. While not best WP policy as by my own admition, it proved effective in the longrun. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 16:18, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

5. Do you participate in any kind of deletion process? NCurse _work 19:39, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

• Not on a regular basis. I usually participate in processes involving Maltese articles or subjects whenever I get to know about one. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 15:46, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

6. How is your edit count? NCurse _work 19:39, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

• Rather low: VodkaJazz (talk · contribs · count) _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 15:46, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

7. Just to understand perfectly. Now we work to get you ready for the adminship now? Or I just have to show you the admin tools, and tell you how to prepare to be ready for the adminship? Because with 1500 edits, and no participation in any kind of deletion processes, you'll definitely get a lot of oppose votes (now). But I can help you how to prepare yourself for the adminship, and you could request it in some months. What do you think? NCurse _work 16:09, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

• I have no hurry to submit an RfA. We work on the tools, exercises and whatever you would do in normal coaching; and I'll commit to work on my numbers. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 16:35, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

8. Ok then, do you contribute seriously to any kind of portals, wikiprojects?

• I contribute, more or less formally, to these projects:
  • Wikipedia:Malta-related topics notice board
  • Wikipedia:Counter-Vandalism Unit
  • Wikipedia:Recent changes patrol
  • Wikipedia:WikiProject Chess
  • Wikipedia:WikiProject Eurovision (rather seasonal)
  • Wikipedia:Translation into English
  • Wikipedia:Userbox migration
  • Wikipedia:WikiProject Music
  • Wikipedia:WikiProject Reader
  • Wikipedia:Typo

_└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 17:52, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

9. So we don't have to hurry, then start with the newcomers. You wrote above that you sometimes welcome newcomers. Do you know or use regularly these pages? It's good to show some newcomer-helps in the RfA.

• Category:Wikipedians looking for help
• Wikipedia:Adopt-a-User
• Wikipedia:Welcoming committee
• Wikipedia:Village pump (assistance)

NCurse _work 16:43, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

I am not too sure how to answer this, so I'll simply say what I do: While on RC Patrol, I notice many edits by newcomers, which do not qualify as vandalism; I would paste the newcomer welcome templates (usually the one used by VandalProof, which includes the invitation to use help-me) and put them on my watchlist for a couple of weeks; most users needing help would contact me directly and I would answer. I do not specifically search for newcomers though, the exercise is more of a by-product of the RC Patrol / CVU. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 17:52, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

10. Deletion. You should contribute more to the deletion processes. Me, I always clear the speedy backlog.

• At least once, you should read the Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion -- long done - re-read it for memory's sake.
• You can join the AfD work here: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion, try some, make smart comments, do it through some weeks, and it will be enough. -- OK.

NCurse _work 18:21, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

11. Anyway, what kind of backlog you would like to clear? NCurse _work 18:21, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

• Your call. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 15:40, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
  • Ok then. Please take a look at this summary. It will always help you to know where to lend a hand. To be honest, the best way to get a lot of support votes is to show your interest in image copyright examinations and the image backlog. There is a really huge image backlog. I've recently nominated Shyam for adminship who has 8000 image namespace edits. NCurse _work 18:49, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
    • I'll have a look at both. I do not have any experience with copyvios for images (I only know the rules, but one thing is knowing what my image is and another what someone else's image is) - I'll try my best. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 12:08, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
      • I've had a look at a number of the copyright examinations, and posted my opinion on the relevant talk pages. The Wiki guideline is quite vague on the procedure though - how is consensus reached? how many opinions are needed? what is the majority needed? is there an amount of time after which needs to pass? I'm asking this since there are a number of cases which are over 6 months long. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 13:52, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
        • First, sorry for the late reply, I'm a bit busy nowadays in the university. So, to be honest, this is the hardest part of the admin works. When there is a consensus or an admin feels that he must make th enext step, then he close those kind of "votings". Don't worry, that page needs an admin to clean. :) If you have time, have a look at that: Image copyright problems or backlog. We need much more admins to take part in that kind of work. It'd be a great value in the RfA, if you could tag some untagged images, etc. NCurse _work 18:59, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

12. Do you use VP2? Do you use it regularly? NCurse _work 18:49, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

• Yes and yes. Unfortunately the application has been having some login problems lately - it seems that the userlist went out of proportion and it can't handle it anymore. Version 1.3.1, out next Sunday, should solve the issue. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 12:08, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

13. You wrote, you take part in more projects, but do you coordinate, maintain any? NCurse _work 18:59, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

CSD Exersise

Ok then, here are some articles that were really up for deletion. Take a look at them and say if you would have deleted them and why. Exercise created by EWS23 for admin coaching purposes. NCurse _work 17:30, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Ready! I'm off to get prepare for the night out. Thanks for the exercise - I will check back tomorrow morning, hopefully with no more than a light hangover :P _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 19:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Okay, this is a test to make sure you understand the policies of speedy deletion. The following are actual cases that I have come across while clearing out CAT:CSD. Assume that the title of the page is everything following User:EWS23/CSD/. You are allowed to use any technique that you might usually use to assert notability (e.g.- Google), but you are not allowed to use Wikipedia in any way (you cannot see if the page still exists on Wikipedia, go through my deletion log to see if I deleted it, and any Google searches you do should use "Subject -Wikipedia" which is a good tool anyway to help eliminate Wikipedia mirrors).

Assume for this exercise that you are an administrator. View the page, but do not edit it (I plan on using these for multiple coachees). Then, return here and comment below the entry in question. Write whether you would delete the page or not. If you would, cite the specific criteria at WP:CSD that you would use to delete it. If you would not delete it, state why, and state what you would do to the page (simply remove the tag, redirect it somewhere else, keep it but remove certain information from it, etc.). Good luck! EWS23 (Leave me a message!) 20:59, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

P.S.- In real cases, you should ALWAYS check the page history before making a decision. Sometimes the page is a legitimate article that got vandalized, or page moved, etc. In this case, the page history won't tell you anything (I'm the only contributor), but remember that in real cases the page history is important. EWS23 (Leave me a message!) 21:05, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Halo 3 trailier

Final: Delete. per R3 (misspelling). Contents may be merged into Halo 3#Release and other information, without leaving a redirect at "Halo 3 trailer" as the trailer itself meets A7; Not bogus [1]; not A1; there is NO need for the <!link to copyrighted material being used without apparent permission-->[link removed] link in "Halo 3" since there already are many videos of the trailer in the main article. Given the highly updated nature of the main article, the merge exercise may involve no additions as it is probably already mentioned. Meets criteria for merging:

• If a page is very short and cannot or should not be expanded terribly much, it often makes sense to merge it with a page on a broader topic.
• If a short article requires the background material or context from a broader article in order for readers to understand it.

_└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 19:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Union Millwright

Final: Delete Union Milllwright" = misspelling. since the actual spelling is also to be deleted, no redirect is needed in place. had it not, it would maybe meet R3 but since it's grammatically impossible to have 3 "L"s after each other, I would not keep a redirect anyway. Delete "Union Millwright" , if it exists, as per A1 and A3 as in the speedydelete request. Note: All links are to the same website. Throwing in the link into Millwright is controversial IMHO, since Union Millright is a club with no actual happenings and stuff (meeting A7 for articles too). _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 19:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Webs

Final: Delete. as per G11, A1, A7. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 19:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Neil Haverton Smith

Final: Delete. A7. possibly G10. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 19:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Fall Out Boy

Final: Keep. it DOES assert importance! checked notability: actual MMVA (as article asserts), see [2]; remove tag; in addition I disagree with the informal content tag. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 19:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Nathaniel Bar-Jonah

Final: Keep. does not meet G1. not bogus: Google, serving to neighbours part. I would rephrase in a formal tone, removing the hamburgers tasting lovely part; and possibly expand the article. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 19:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Great, I've chosen the same solutions in my admin coaching. :) NCurse _work 19:38, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks - I'll assume that's a good thing :P Btw, the time signatures were offset by 1h. I forgot to change for daylight saving. Corrected now. Have a nice evening! _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 20:26, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Archive

A while back you signed up for admin coaching, but were not interested in becoming an admin. That is fine, however to get a better idea about how and if the programme can help you (if you are still interested) could you say a bit more about what you want out of it- what would your aims from admin coaching be? Petros471 16:57, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

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You have a reply waiting for you at Wikipedia:Esperanza/Admin coaching  The Transhumanist   18:25, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

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As it's been a while since you signed up for admin coaching, I am just checking that you still wish to receive it. Leave a note on my talk page, and I'll assign you some of our free coaches. Let me know (on my talk page) if you have any questions. Cheers, Highway ^{Grammar Enforcer!} 22:22, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

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Your coach is NCurse. Exactly what form the admin coaching takes is up to you and the coach to decide, but a general piece of advice I give is to set up a user subpage (for example User:EXAMPLE/Admin coaching) to keep coaching discussion together. That prevents things getting split up over two talk pages, which can get confusing! Let me know on my talk page if you have any questions. Cheers, Highway ^{Grammar Enforcer!} 09:42, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi! Can we start your admin coaching? Please set up that subpage and let's rock. :) NCurse _work 10:39, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

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You've got mail! And this is painfully dull, Highway ^{Ringo Starr!} 10:55, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

1. (assigned) I would like to improve my knowledge on Wiki editing, in particular on interpreting Wiki guidelines which may be conflicting in particular cases - but not limited to this. I have been on an exams wikibreak last month and now that I have the free time would like to improve myself. No Possible future RfA request. _└ ^VodkaJazz / _talk ^┐ 21:35, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

1. Aside from slogging through Wikipedia's Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines, one thing you might find useful is to familiarize yourself with how to resolve conflicts by reading the cases at Wikipedia:Requests for comment#Request comment on articles. These cases are listed by subject, so pick the subject you like best, and dig in. I hope that helps. Please feel free to ask anything else that comes to mind.  The Transhumanist   09:39, 1 November 2006 (UTC)   --Please post further questions and replies on the Admin school's main page. Thank you.