User:Malinaccier/The four phase system

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Are you ready to wield the mop?

I have recently taken it upon myself to coach and help prepare potential admins for their RFAs. To do so, I have developed a four phase system (described in the introduction section) that helps to cover all the aspects needed and to discover strengths and weaknesses more effectively.

I will use this page as a glossary of questions and to update/keep track of new methods. Feel free to make comments on the talk page about this, and to suggest changes and additions.

Generally, the phases should be given in chronological order. Questions in Phases 1 and 2 should be given three at a time, while questions in Phase 3 should be given one at a time. I will give suggestions on what to look for in the coachee's answers. The suggestions will be in italics.

Phase one deals with questions designed to let the coach know what the coachee's best contributions are, and what their general strengths and weaknesses are. This phase is also very important in developing a nomination statement.
Phase two is all about policy. The admin coach will ask several series of questions dealing with policy, or questions that often come up in RFA's. They will then critique the coachee's responses and provide help in areas where the coachee needs it as shown by the responses
Phase three has to do with Wikiphilosophy (inclusionism/deletionism, orthodoxy on Wikipedia, etc.). The coach will ask several questions about Wikiphilosophies and controversial areas of Wikipedia policy.
Phase four is a mop up phase. The coach and coachee will work on whatever weak areas still need to be addressed.

[edit] Introduction

(To be put on coachee's admin coaching page)

I have devised a sort of plan to help maximize the benefits provided by coaching. This is done by dividing it into four phases:

Phase one will deal with questions designed to let me know what your best contributions are, and what your strengths and weaknesses are.
Phase two will be all about policy. I will ask you several series of questions dealing with policy, or questions that often come up in RFA's.
Phase three will have to do with Wikiphilosophy (inclusionism/deletionism, orthodoxy on Wikipedia, etc.). Wikiphilosophy questions often pop up on RFAs, and I want you to be prepared for these.
Phase four will be a mop up phase. We will work on whatever else you or I feel the need to cover.

After completing the four phases, I will nominate you for adminship. If I feel that more time spent in a particular phase will help you then more time will be added, but if I feel that continuing a phase won't be beneficial to you, then I will simply move on to the next.

So let's get started with phase one!

[edit] Phase 1

[edit] The checklist

(Credit goes to User:Bibliomaniac15 for this) Have you ever:

!voted in an RFA?
listed a vandal at WP:AIV?
requested a page to WP:RPP?
had an editor review?
reviewed another editor at editor review?
signed up for the Signpost spamlist or otherwise read it?
use automated tools/.js tools such as TW, AWB, VandalProof, etc.?
contributed to an XFD other than AFD (I'm trusting that you've been to AFD before).
posted or answered a question at the reference desk or help desk?
uploaded an image?
welcomed a user?
mediated or otherwise acted as a neutral party in a dispute?
participated in discussion in WP:AN or WP:ANI?
taken a look at meta philosophies? I'm interested in knowing what philosophies you believe you adhere to.

[edit] More questions

1. What are your favorite contributions to Wikipedia? Your best contributions?

2. Do you tend to concentrate on any one article type to edit?

3. What percentage of the time do you spend fighting vandalism compared to just editing encyclopedic content?

4. Have you contributed heavily to WP:AFD?

5. What weaknesses do you see in yourself?

6. What kind of editing habits do you have? Do you get on, check your watchlist, and then head to recent changes patrol or new pages, etc.?

7. Why do you enjoy editing Wikipedia?

8. Upon becoming an admin, what tasks would you have to read up on? What tasks would you totally avoid?

9. What Admin-like tasks have you not had experience with?

[edit] Phase 2

[edit] Basic RFA questions

1. What admin work do you intend to take part in?

2. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or have other users caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and how will you deal with it in the future?

3. What are your best contributions to Wikipedia, and why?

[edit] Blocking

1. When moving to block a user reported on WP:AIV, what are the exact steps you should take?

2. When would it be appropriate to decline a request at WP:AIV?

3. When should "cool down blocks" be used?

4. A user requests a block to help enforce a Wikibreak. What is your response? Where do you direct them?

5. Another administrator blocks a user, but you disagree with the block. What do you do?

6. You come across a Vandalbot while patrolling for vandalism. After immediately blocking it, what steps do you take?

7. If unsure about making a block, what should you do?

8. You notice that a respected administrator has begun posting vandalism at a very high rate. After blocking what would you do?

9. A user threatens to sue Wikipedia over article content. What actions do you take?

10. A new user account is created with the name of "KCLSOKMDJSD." Would you block the user? Why or why not?

10 a. What if the username was "KCLSOKMDJSDJHGUYDDRCJKBKHFRFDYTRDXRESWWWWWWIKHGVYTDFUUGUYTDFDUGFD?"

11. A new user account is created with the name of "QwikCleanInc." Would you block the user? Why or why not?

12. A new user account is created with the name of "RyanPosthelwaiteismetoo" Would you block the user? Why or why not? What actions would you also take?

13. What is the difference between a hardblock and a softblock?

14. What is a "level three warning" and why is it significant?

[edit] 3RR

1. How many times can an editor make the same edit before violating 3RR? Can an editor be blocked before they reach that number?

2. How long should a user generally be blocked for their first 3RR violation? What about further violations?

3. In what cases can a user make more than 3 reverts to one article?

[edit] Common "optional" questions

1. Will you add yourself to WP:AOR? Why or why not?

2. What's the difference between a block and a ban?

3. If another administrator removes material from an article and cites a BLP concern as the reason - but you believe the material does not violate BLP policy and should be included- what do you do?

4. How would you apply WP:IAR to your work as an admin?

5. If you could change one policy without any fear of opposition or reversion, what would it be? What changes would you make?

6. What are you doing to prepare for your upcoming RfA?

[edit] NPOV

1. What is a POV Fork? How would you deal with one?

2. List 3 ways to avoid having a biased POV, and please explain each.

3. Label each statement as either being neutral or not, and explain why you labeled them so:

Scientologists hold the belief that living cells have a memory. This is based on an erroneous interpretation of the work of Crick and Watson in 1955.

Scientologists hold the belief that living cells have a memory. This is based on an interpretation of the work of Crick and Watson in 1955. This interpretation has been heavily criticised by notable cell-biologists such as...

Darwin's theory of natural selection is the most widely accepted scientific explanation of the diversity of life we see today.

Nietzsche spent much of his life arguing (among other things) that God does not exist.

Abortion is wrong because it kills god's children.

[edit] Page protection

1. A user requests semi-protection on an article, but you instead fully protect it. Why?

2. When should a page be SALTed? Why?

3. List three times when move protection is appropriate.

4. A user requests for their user page and talk pages to be protected. Do you protect only the userpage? Only the talk page? Both? Or neither?

5. Why would you restore and fully protect an article during deletion review?

[edit] Deletion

1. How would you close the following AFD's?

A 1

B 2

C 3

D 4

E 5

F 6

2. When closing a deletion discussion, when may you disregard comments and !votes?

3. What should be done with redirects to deleted articles?

4. When filling in the "Reason for deletion" text (basically the edit summary for the deletion), what should not be included?

5. Why are the criteria for speedy deletion so strict?

[edit] Miscellaneous

1. What would your approach be toward vandals upon becoming an admin? (fair but tough? lenient? strict? etc.)

2. Why is account security so important to administrators? List and explain three ways to protect your account from compromise.

3. Why is it important for an admin to make themselves available to E-mail?

[edit] Phase 3

Answers to these need to provide links to policy pages, have a good argument with solid reasoning, and be thorough. Follow up questions are suggested to stimulate a discussion.

[edit] Is this Wikipedia?

What does this image symbolize? Do you agree with it? Why or why not?

[edit] Fun and Humorous?

Do you believe that "fun" and humorous items belong in Wikipedia? What side do you believe you take regarding the positions detailed in User:Jayron32/Orthodoxy and heresy at Wikipedia? Why?
- What about Userbox content? (look here for more info) Should ridiculously silly or "bad" userboxes that serve no encyclopedic purpose be allowed?
- Do you think Wikipedia should keep cabals?

[edit] Re-confirmation

What is your opinion on re-confirmation RFA's? (An admin having another RFA to see if the community still trusts them)

[edit] The Power of the Admin

How important do you think administrator duties are to the encyclopedia? Should there be more admins? Less? Why? Furthermore, what extra influence do administrators have compared to other users?

[edit] Banned Users

In your opinion, should bans on the En-Wikipedia transfer over to the Simple English Wikipedia? Why or why not? (See this for a discussion on the simple english Wikipedia. It's a pretty long mess, but if you want to comb through it, go ahead).

[edit] Ageism

Should there be an age limit for editing Wikipedia? For requesting adminship? Bureaucratship?

[edit] False Credentials

"I have a JD, so I should know the correct interpretation of the Good Samaritan Laws, and how they should be used in the article"

Do you believe that this claim should need some kind of verification? I could say to you right now that I'm 23, live in Vermont, and have a Doctorate in Biochemistry, but this wouldn't be true whatsoever.

Also, should lying about an editor's real life situation have consequences?

[edit] Reward System

What is your opinion on a reward system for editing (besides the reward board)? This would be along the lines of gifts/cash per edits, gifts/cash per FA and GA, volunteer hours per edits, etc.

[edit] Fail

Is Wikipedia failing? Or not?

[edit] Registration

In your opinion, should registration be required for editing? Please explain.

[edit] Pile-on RFA's

Do you think that adding your name to the oppose section with a "Strong oppose" heading is acceptable? Is this not violating WP:CIVIL? WP:AGF? WP:BITE? Why or why not? Furthermore, should there be a guideline about this? Should users be reprimanded for doing these things?

[edit] Phase 4

General mop-up questioning and reviews of content should be placed here. I like to do actual lessons in a lecture-type format.

[edit] Assuming good faith

(Don't worry, this isn't in response to anything you did.) Although it is very important to follow WP:AGF and WP:BITE now, it will be even more so when/if you become an administrator. Every action that you take will represent the project itself. Your behavior will become synonymous with how Wikipedia is in the eyes of New Editors. Therefore, the utmost care must be given to deletion and blocking when regarding these people.

Keeping the above in mind...

A new user creates the article "John's Auto Shop." Assume that it is written in perfect prose, with a neutral point of view, and with adequate sources. But the one problem is the subject is not notable whatsoever. In what way would you deal with this that would leave the writer with a positive view of Wikipedia?

[edit] AN—an admin's greatest resource

As stated in the section header, WP:AN is one of the best tools that an administrator has access to. On this noticeboard, you can get other administrators to review blocks you are unsure about, inform you about a policy that you are looking into, and get other admins to help you out.

There is no shame in asking for help—even after you have become an administrator. You will generally find that almost any admin is open to questions from their peers. Accepting that you need help also makes you stronger in many's eyes, and I would not trust an RFA candidate who refused to ask for help.

You can also get general help from other admins including myself. Like I said, almost every admin is open to offering feedback, an opinion, advice, or whatever help you need.