User talk:Durova/Admin
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As of this writing, the English language edition of Wikipedia has a ratio of one administrator for every 2216 registered accounts.[1] That's a lot for a volunteer admin to handle, and yes we're volunteers. Contrary to some claims, I don't have a particular concern about "protecting the petty fiefdom of administratorship."
If you think I've misused sysop powers, then here's what to do:
- Talk to me.
- Open a request for comment on me.
- If five other editors agree with you, then check out the parameters at Category:Administrators open to recall. I'm one of the administrators who has volunteered to stand for reconfirmation if there's reasonable doubt about my actions.
- I'd prefer if you tried this instead play this game and experience the joys of Wikipedia administratorship.
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[edit] Trolls
Unless you're a proud troll mother advertising your sons' charms to a captive princess, there's no need to identify another editor as a troll. I keep my field guide handy and am pretty good at spotting them myself.
Other species such as gnomes, gremlins, and mastodons have been known to take offense when an amateur trollographer misidentifies them as the bridge-dwelling billy goat-eating variety. This can have undesirable effects, particularly because gremlins tend to get midnight snacks and turn nasty after being misidentified. So avoid the t-word.
[edit] Page protection
If you think I've protected the right version of an article, please don't compliment me or treat me as if I were your ally. If you tell me you're too busy in real life to continue editing the page and ask me to defend your point of view because no one else supports you then I'll probably unprotect the page without participating. The odds are very good that I don't have any opinion. If I do secretly agree with you deep in my heart then an appeal for preferential treatment could compel me to recuse myself. I'm not supposed to take sides when I use that sysop power.
Likewise, if you think I've protected the wrong version, please be patient and understanding. Page protection usually doesn't last long. You can request unprotection if you think the dispute has simmered down. So far the only reason I've edited an article in relation to page protection was when a biography of a living person was at issue. Page protection isn't an endorsement of one version versus another. Just present your side to other editors with references and get a third opinion or open a request for comment.
[edit] Block warnings
Administrators have considerable leeway in determining the duration of a user block. Positive contributions and willingness to accept feedback may delay or shorten a block. Perhaps more than most administrators, I grant the benefit of the doubt where there may be reasonable grounds for doing so.
Factors that prompt me to issue longer blocks include defiance or proven deceptions. Removal of block warnings is a matter currently under discussion. Although consensus has moved toward some restrictions on the removal of warnings, no specific guideline yet exists regarding the practice. I regard the removal of a warning as proof that an editor has read the warning and, usually, as evidence of uncooperative behavior. This is a factor I do weigh if further actions merit a user block.
The wisest way for a participant in an ongoing dispute to handle a dubious warning is to ask an administrator's assistance. This places a removal above suspicion. At WP:PAIN and WP:RFI I will gladly respond to requests to review block warnings at ongoing requests where I am active. If I determine that the warning is inappropriate I will remove it myself. If I actually issued the warning then new relevant evidence would be necessary before I would reconsider.
[edit] Where do these people come from?
Becoming an administrator is a little like becoming a celebrity (without the yachts, parties, and paparazzi): suddenly a lot of people I never met before start writing to me. So if your reason for coming here isn't obvious, please leave a note at How in heck did you find out about me? I'm curious.
