Community:Promotion/Biggest gta fan ever

Nomination

User:Biggest gta fan ever has been nominated to become a Manager. This is a self-nomination for manager (bureaucrat), as suggested by gboyers. As this is a self-nomination, it is taken as accepted. Gboyers talk 00:23, April 27, 2010 (UTC)


Questions

Any user may ask a question here for the candidate to answer. Feel free to add extra questions based on their replies.

You have been an Administrator for some time. What do you feel you have you achieved in that role? What have been your most valuable contributions? Gboyers talk 00:35, April 27, 2010 (UTC)

When I was first promoted to Administrator, I was focused on using my administrative tools. The first thing that I did after replying to your message on my talk page was go through the delete category. I've since realised that being staff is more than just new tools. Through being staff, I have learnt how to be a better contributor, as before my promotion, I found myself in an endless loop of repeating the same, simple tasks every day. After becoming an Administrator, I ventured out, and learnt how the wiki works, and how to better use the wiki. My edits now are probably more cleanup than anything else.
I focus myself on a number of tasks over time, sort of like my own personal cleanup projects. I spend alot of time editing mission articles, and often rewrite them. I found that the users who wrote many of the mission articles for TLAD were very inexperienced users, and the articles often needed to be completely rewritten. Despite my not having played TLAD (and therefore not having any of my own knowledge of the missions), I was able to rewrite alot of these articles, and turn a bunch of (seemingly) unrelated text, and turn it into an easily readable and understandable article. Articles should be written to be informative to people without a background knowledge, without making assumptions to the reader's knowledge, and I was able to make these articles understandable to myself, a person with a very limited background knowledge about the game. Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 09:03, April 27, 2010 (UTC)

How do you see the role of Manager, and what would you do differently if you were promoted? Gboyers talk 00:35, April 27, 2010 (UTC)

The Manager role is to make decisions, and just like being an Administrator doesn't mean you're expected to constantly move and delete articles, being a Manager isn't just about promoting users and editing the interface. I've learnt from my experience, if I was to be promoted to Manager, I wouldn't instantly feel as though I'm expected to use my tools. I would be more involved with policy, as well as promotion nomination, but will not rush any decisions. I understand that a Manager decision should be the decision of the community, and I would always leave discussions open to the entire community, simply making the final decision, unless it's very important that something specific is done. Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 09:03, April 27, 2010 (UTC)
The manager role is actually about making it so that you don't have to make decisions. You should enable the community to run itself - with easy-to-follow policy and well-trained administrators. A Manager would only have to use their position if things go wrong. The key thing is that you lead and guide the community, rather than run it yourself. You are right to say that you leave discussions open, let everyone have their say, and simply make the decision official once a consensus has been reached. As this would be a secondary manager (rather than the only one) then this particular role is not really about making the final decisions (often), it's about leading the community and enabling everyone to improve the wiki (through policy, best practice, staff training, cleanup projects). Gboyers talk 20:00, April 28, 2010 (UTC)

How would you improve the policy and processes of Grand Theft Wiki - from the basic rules, to article naming conventions, to staffing procedures? Gboyers talk 00:35, April 27, 2010 (UTC)

One of the reasons that I like Grand Theft Wiki is because I agree with most of the policy. I visit other wikis, but have trouble editing permanently because I disagree with policies, right down to simple things like capitalisation of article names. Most of GTW's policy doesn't need to be changed, but I would be actively involved in adding policy. My attempt to create mission article policy was stalled for a number of reasons, but I haven't completely abandoned it. I would still like to see some official policy for mission articles in the future, and will continue to work on this in the future, along with consideration for the ideas of other attempts to do this. Besides that particular example, there are many tasks that I have over time developed a consistent way of completing. As a manager, I would consider making policy about some of these things, of course with the support of other users. Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 09:03, April 27, 2010 (UTC)
This is good to see. Perhaps you could work on generating/improving some policy now? You don't need to be a manager to make policy, only to make it official - but if everyone agrees that that's the best way to do something, then that's all you need. Gboyers talk 20:00, April 28, 2010 (UTC)

Why should you be promoted to Manager over the other candidates? Gboyers talk 00:35, April 27, 2010 (UTC)

My number and quality of edits can't compare to A-Dust's. However, I find that I am alot more involved in discussions than A-Dust, which is the main part of the manager role. Although I agree with most of the decisions that A-Dust makes, I always like to discuss things first, just so that other users know why I'm doing what I'm doing, and don't get upset (because for example, the article they wrote was deleted for no apparent reason). From what I have seen of Gta-mysteries' edits, he is a dedicated user, and is doing a great job as Administrator. However, he hasn't been staff long. I completely agree with the decision to promote him directly to Administrator, but question whether he is experienced enough to be promoted further just yet.
At one point, A-Dust was quite inactive, leaving you (Gboyers) and myself as the only staff. I generally noticed that you ran the site (the Manager role), while I did a good share of the Administrative role, and I believe that I did a good job of it. I know that I spent alot of time on your talk page over stupid things, but that has given me a good idea of how you think, and the kind of decisions that I would be expected to make. Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 09:03, April 27, 2010 (UTC) EDIT: BTW, I'm not using the example of A-Dust being inactive as a reason not to promote him, but for what I said in the rest of the answer. He may have been a bit confused about that in his own answer, but my current inactiveness is much more problematic than his. Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 05:56, April 28, 2010 (UTC)

As a Manager, you will have to step in to calmly end disagreements without upsetting everyone, and without just banning everyone. Have there been any incidents where you have shown this quality? Gboyers talk 00:35, April 27, 2010 (UTC)

Not really, we don't get many big edit wars, just pure vandalism. For instance, I've only ever protected my own talk page archives, and the {{manager}} template, there's usually no need for it anywhere else. I'm going to answer this question with the opposite example, the HuangLee incident. since that incident I am very careful when I block users, and ensure not to repeat the incident. I usually only block straight away if it's for pure, obvious vandalism (replacing multiple pages content with swearing for example). I can assure you that I would always use discussion and protection in edit wars, long before resorting to a block. I would then (through discussion) make a decision as to which version of the page is to be kept, if any. Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 09:03, April 27, 2010 (UTC)
You shouldn't be scared of a short-term block (a few hours). It's a useful tool to quickly stop a multi-page edit war, giving you time to write warnings, correct pages, protect pages if required, and decide whether a longer block is necessary. However, you are correct that blocking a user because of a mistake is only going to scare them away (or cause them to vandalise). This is why it is very important to explain yourself in a factual and pleasant manner. Even if someone is a vandal with multiple accounts and goes round abusing people, you need to keep a level head at all times. If there are complaints about administrators being heavy-handed or even abusive, the Manager needs to be able to calm them down and stop the problem. Gboyers talk 20:00, April 28, 2010 (UTC)

What do you think is the best thing about Grand Theft Wiki? Why are you here, and why do you work to help us? Gboyers talk 00:35, April 27, 2010 (UTC)

I joined GTW early in the life of GTA IV, so the reason I joined seems obvious, but it's not that simple. I stay a part of GTW because I like the community. When i joined, I had no intention to stay (Which explains my username). After causing the Karen vs Michelle incident, and then worsening it due to pure ignorance (not reading talk pages), I then found out that (unlike Wikpedia), GTW is a very friendly community. This also showed me how important talk pages are. I improve GTW because I have gotten my fair share of information from the site (when I somehow missed things in the GTA IV storyline for example), and add and cleanup information to help other people looking for information like myself. The friendly community makes editing and administrating enjoyable, and I don't often get criticised for the decisions that I make. As I mentioned earlier, I also agree with most of the policy. Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 09:03, April 27, 2010 (UTC)
This is absolutely why GTW is great, and this is what we need to preserve, and what (as a Manager) you would be working to maintain. We are a useful, easy-to-navigate source of GTA information, and a friendly non-threatening community where anyone can join in. This would need to be absolutely in the forefront of your mind at all times - anything that goes against those aims is probably wrong, even if its "technically" more correct. For example, this is why we name articles like Sweet differently to their technically-correct real name. Gboyers talk 20:00, April 28, 2010 (UTC)

Do you have any questions about the wiki, its staff or the role of a Manager, or any final comments before we make our decision? Gboyers talk 00:35, April 27, 2010 (UTC)

I understand that a large negative impact on this decision is going to be my recent inactivity. The reason for my inactivity is complicated. I'm currently using slow, prepaid Internet, and on a laptop. I'm choosing to do this because in a weird way, that's actually making my life easier right now. If I'm promoted to Manager, I will try to spend alot more time on the wiki that I do currently, as I've been wanting to anyway. I really miss editing the wiki full time. I'm still around, I'm on the wiki every day, and ready to make any edits necessary, I just need to get used to contributing again. It shouldn't be too much longer before I'm back full time anyway. I want you to know that I'm not about to leave the wiki. I was thinking about leaving before, as I was busy doing other things, but being unable to edit has made me realise that I definitely don't want to leave. Thanks for the opportunity! Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 09:03, April 27, 2010 (UTC)
It actually is less important that a manager is on for a long time each day - so long as you check here every day and can occasionally deal with the problems that do arise, then you should be covered. Of course, the larger activities such as organising stuff takes more time, but isn't an every-day activity. However, the only way you can keep up-to-date with the wiki and discover problems is to be a normal administrator too, and try and be reasonably active in that role. Gboyers talk 20:00, April 28, 2010 (UTC)


Comments

Any user may leave a comment here, which will be considered before the decision is made.
  • I have also seen his edits, he helps other users if needed, and would be a good manager in place of A-Dust, or myself.--Gta-mysteries 01:10, April 27, 2010 (UTC)
  • This user seems to understand the responsibility and mentality of a Manager, and has a good grasp of how this wiki works. I'd like to see more real involvement with the strategic and community side of things before promoting. Perhaps you could create some policies or run a community activity (ie cleanup task)? I'll keep this nomination open to give you a chance to do this. Gboyers talk 20:00, April 28, 2010 (UTC)

Votes

This section is for any user to formally list whether they are in favour of this promotion or not. Simply sign your name on a bullet point, add any comments into the comments section. This is NOT a vote, but the results will be taken into consideration by the Managers. Remember, this is not whether you like the user, but whether they would be a good member of staff.

Users in support of this promotion:

  • ...
  • ...

Users not in support of this promotion:

  • ...
  • ...

Result

Congratulations, you have finally been promoted to Manager! You have recently shown an interest in, and aptitude for, the inner workings and strategy of this wiki, and I think it's time you took the lead on a few more issues. The role of Manager has recently changed slightly: it is now a lead administrator, looking after the team, being a point-of-contact for users and staff, figuring out what works needs to be done, inspiring users to contribute, and leading discussions on policy/strategy. It is not about decision-making, it's about leadership, organisation, and project and resource management - but it's still a step beyond the administrator role. I'd like to see you leading some cleanups, reviewing old templates/infoboxes, cleaning up the project namespace, and inspiring users to do more. Good luck! Gboyers 12:03, 28 October 2010 (BST)