Gazimoff ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
I've been thinking long and hard about this approach, as there seems to be an impasse at this point after someone starts editing Wikipedia. I've been through a form of adoption with Krator, who helped to guide me through my early days here. Although I didn't have any structured adoption programme, I've been mostly feeling my way, asking questions as I go. I started of working on WikiProject Video Games, branching from there to the occasional AfD and performing a mass of cleanup work on articles that had unclear notability, either by prodding/nominating them for deletion, or by sourcing and structing them. My single GA, 24: The Game came from that work. From there I moved on to the Warcraft taskforce and created Gameplay of World of Warcraft, while cleaning up World of Warcraft as a result. I've also done the occasional peer review and GA review, again for videogame related articles.
More or less parallel to this I started taking an interest in the processes of Wikipedia, partly due to the banner messages people recieved and partly because I felt I could help. I started researching the structures upon which WP was built and the processes that supported them. It was then that I offered to help with WP:RfA by putting together the RfA review process. This work is still incomplete and is something I've hit a bit of a brick wall with, moving back to article work while I overcome the block. I also perform vandalism reversion when I'm not doing article work or reading, mostly using Huggle. I only tend to revert and warn blatant cases of vandalism - if it's unclear I'll let a subject expert handle it - which is why my AIV count is so low. I also use IRc to keep track of the help requests channel and respond to {{ helpme}} or helpdesk requests where I can. I'll occasionally do template work as well, usually on request. I've also recently started helping out at WP:ACC, again in order to try and assist the project when I'm not working on other items or to take a bit of a break.
So, why look at mentoring, rather than an editor review? Well, I went through one a short while back, where several of the responses seem to have been to encourage me to plan for an RfA. While it's encouraging to receive such feedback, since then the RfA climate has changed and I feel that I have become reasonably critical of the process, something that will probably do me no favours. More than that though, I would like to explore ways in which I can support and assist the community through the use of tools accessible to editors. I also didn't feel that admin coaching was appropriate, as I don't really want to see adminship as a goal to aim for. I'm hoping that this will work as a middle ground - to pick up where my addoption left off, while not pushing me along a career path. I would also like to look at developing my skills in three key areas:
It's important to note that I do not see adminship as a goal of mentoring, or as a goal in general. My only wish is to help the project and enjoy myself while doing so, either by developing articles or by helping people. Anything else, as they say, is a bonus.
How do I see this working? Well, getting a programme set up would be great, with some guidance or areas to look into as a start. Other than that, I'm open to ideas or suggestions. I should probably say that I don't see this as a single mentoring thing - as there are many people who have good advice and who spot me doing stupid things at different times. So, if you feel you have something to add, please feel free to add it!
Many thanks! Gazimoff Write Read 23:09, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
Ok, on the knowledge front, I think I have a working understanding of the verifiability and notability guidelines, along with what represents a reliable source. This is from my work on article building or cleanup, as well as working on AfDs. I've learned the username guidelines as well, through a couple of malformed reports. I'm also fairly conversent with the RfA arena, having studied it in depth. I've worked from time to time in the GAN space, and once on a FAN, but not much more. Other than that, I think my knowledge is fairly limited, particularly in the IfD/CfD/TfD/MfD space, MOS areas, dispute resolution and anything else I may have missed. What would you suggest from here? Gazimoff Write Read 17:08, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
Opinions. Yes, I have them. Trouble is, they don't seem to do me any favours. I'm concerned that by expressing my opinions on a subject that I'm likely to alienate people. It's one of the things that makes me anxious about RfA - I'd rather be able to express my opinions confidently than have to moderate or check them out of concern not to damage any future RfA. It's one of the reasons why I find it easier to put adminship to one side and not contemplate it - by putting it out of my mind I feel I can say what I want rather than what I should, if that makes sense. Maybe it's a testament to the way it's become so politicised, but I feel more comfortable without having to worry about politics. Is this the right approach though? Gazimoff Write Read 19:17, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
I was thinking about this, and wondered if you would care to read over Talk:Robert F. Kennedy assassination and its most recent archive. Disputes erupted a little over the reduction of content on the conspiracy theory front, and I think it might be helpful if you look at how it was handled, examine the dispute and decide what you would have done in either parties' shoes. I don;t mind if this means you decide that my approach was wrong - in fact, that would be quite good, as I too could learn! I'd just be interested in what you think you could learn from "observing" this dispute Fritzpoll ( talk) 15:01, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
Was anything wrong on this article talkpage thread [1] and this thread on my talkpage [2]?
(outdent)Well, with the matter looking to have moved on do you think I could have handled anything any better? Is there anything you could suggest that would make this smoother should it reoccur? Gazi moff( mentor/ review) 10:26, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
So, I decided to stand for RfA, with the results being 119 supports, 4 neutrals and 5 opposes. While the supports were very encouraging, the oppose and neutral statements were also packed with useful feedback. I've gone through the responses, and managed to pull out the fllowing points:
With all this in mind, over the next few weeks, I'm going to be looking at building a plan to address these reasonable concerns. If you have any thoughts, opinions or suggestions on either how the RfA progressed or any recommendations on how to address these areas, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'll be inviting all those who participated in my RfA to offer there thoughts here as well, should they have any further feedback. Once again, many thanks for your responses. Gazi moff 20:24, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
Gazimoff ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
I've been thinking long and hard about this approach, as there seems to be an impasse at this point after someone starts editing Wikipedia. I've been through a form of adoption with Krator, who helped to guide me through my early days here. Although I didn't have any structured adoption programme, I've been mostly feeling my way, asking questions as I go. I started of working on WikiProject Video Games, branching from there to the occasional AfD and performing a mass of cleanup work on articles that had unclear notability, either by prodding/nominating them for deletion, or by sourcing and structing them. My single GA, 24: The Game came from that work. From there I moved on to the Warcraft taskforce and created Gameplay of World of Warcraft, while cleaning up World of Warcraft as a result. I've also done the occasional peer review and GA review, again for videogame related articles.
More or less parallel to this I started taking an interest in the processes of Wikipedia, partly due to the banner messages people recieved and partly because I felt I could help. I started researching the structures upon which WP was built and the processes that supported them. It was then that I offered to help with WP:RfA by putting together the RfA review process. This work is still incomplete and is something I've hit a bit of a brick wall with, moving back to article work while I overcome the block. I also perform vandalism reversion when I'm not doing article work or reading, mostly using Huggle. I only tend to revert and warn blatant cases of vandalism - if it's unclear I'll let a subject expert handle it - which is why my AIV count is so low. I also use IRc to keep track of the help requests channel and respond to {{ helpme}} or helpdesk requests where I can. I'll occasionally do template work as well, usually on request. I've also recently started helping out at WP:ACC, again in order to try and assist the project when I'm not working on other items or to take a bit of a break.
So, why look at mentoring, rather than an editor review? Well, I went through one a short while back, where several of the responses seem to have been to encourage me to plan for an RfA. While it's encouraging to receive such feedback, since then the RfA climate has changed and I feel that I have become reasonably critical of the process, something that will probably do me no favours. More than that though, I would like to explore ways in which I can support and assist the community through the use of tools accessible to editors. I also didn't feel that admin coaching was appropriate, as I don't really want to see adminship as a goal to aim for. I'm hoping that this will work as a middle ground - to pick up where my addoption left off, while not pushing me along a career path. I would also like to look at developing my skills in three key areas:
It's important to note that I do not see adminship as a goal of mentoring, or as a goal in general. My only wish is to help the project and enjoy myself while doing so, either by developing articles or by helping people. Anything else, as they say, is a bonus.
How do I see this working? Well, getting a programme set up would be great, with some guidance or areas to look into as a start. Other than that, I'm open to ideas or suggestions. I should probably say that I don't see this as a single mentoring thing - as there are many people who have good advice and who spot me doing stupid things at different times. So, if you feel you have something to add, please feel free to add it!
Many thanks! Gazimoff Write Read 23:09, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
Ok, on the knowledge front, I think I have a working understanding of the verifiability and notability guidelines, along with what represents a reliable source. This is from my work on article building or cleanup, as well as working on AfDs. I've learned the username guidelines as well, through a couple of malformed reports. I'm also fairly conversent with the RfA arena, having studied it in depth. I've worked from time to time in the GAN space, and once on a FAN, but not much more. Other than that, I think my knowledge is fairly limited, particularly in the IfD/CfD/TfD/MfD space, MOS areas, dispute resolution and anything else I may have missed. What would you suggest from here? Gazimoff Write Read 17:08, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
Opinions. Yes, I have them. Trouble is, they don't seem to do me any favours. I'm concerned that by expressing my opinions on a subject that I'm likely to alienate people. It's one of the things that makes me anxious about RfA - I'd rather be able to express my opinions confidently than have to moderate or check them out of concern not to damage any future RfA. It's one of the reasons why I find it easier to put adminship to one side and not contemplate it - by putting it out of my mind I feel I can say what I want rather than what I should, if that makes sense. Maybe it's a testament to the way it's become so politicised, but I feel more comfortable without having to worry about politics. Is this the right approach though? Gazimoff Write Read 19:17, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
I was thinking about this, and wondered if you would care to read over Talk:Robert F. Kennedy assassination and its most recent archive. Disputes erupted a little over the reduction of content on the conspiracy theory front, and I think it might be helpful if you look at how it was handled, examine the dispute and decide what you would have done in either parties' shoes. I don;t mind if this means you decide that my approach was wrong - in fact, that would be quite good, as I too could learn! I'd just be interested in what you think you could learn from "observing" this dispute Fritzpoll ( talk) 15:01, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
Was anything wrong on this article talkpage thread [1] and this thread on my talkpage [2]?
(outdent)Well, with the matter looking to have moved on do you think I could have handled anything any better? Is there anything you could suggest that would make this smoother should it reoccur? Gazi moff( mentor/ review) 10:26, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
So, I decided to stand for RfA, with the results being 119 supports, 4 neutrals and 5 opposes. While the supports were very encouraging, the oppose and neutral statements were also packed with useful feedback. I've gone through the responses, and managed to pull out the fllowing points:
With all this in mind, over the next few weeks, I'm going to be looking at building a plan to address these reasonable concerns. If you have any thoughts, opinions or suggestions on either how the RfA progressed or any recommendations on how to address these areas, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'll be inviting all those who participated in my RfA to offer there thoughts here as well, should they have any further feedback. Once again, many thanks for your responses. Gazi moff 20:24, 4 August 2008 (UTC)