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Revision as of 22:41, 31 March 2009

Paxse

Nomination

Voice your opinion (talk page) (60/1/0); Scheduled to end 12:14, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Paxse (talk · contribs) – I recently discovered Paxse when looking at highly active contributors. He is a real gem, in his lengthy Wiki-life, he has created over a dozen DYKs and has a nice healthy 63% article space contribution rate. But, wait, he is also a maintenance worker with over 780 accounts created through WP:ACC. He is very active in WP:WikiProject Cambodia and has helped to fill out our coverage of a systemically under-represented area of the encyclopedia. Through his work with ACC, and RecentChanges Patrol, I am confident Paxse has the requisite knowledge of policy to perform as an administrator. MBisanz 23:13, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Co-nomination from Syn

I first came across Paxse some time ago with ACC, and I was very impressed. Mbisanz has said much of what I would have already, so I don't want to repeat it. I first asked him about running about a month or so ago, and he declined. He said he had some things to work on first, and I saw no problem with this. I believe he has what it takes to be a proper admin (patience, intelligence/clue, etc) and think he is ready. Synergy 20:57, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Candidate, please indicate acceptance of the nomination here: Thanks very much to Matt and Syn for the nomination - I'm happy to accept.Paxse (talk) 12:14, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

Dear candidate, thank you for offering to serve Misplaced Pages as an administrator. It is recommended that you answer these optional questions to provide guidance for participants:

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

A: If I get the bit, I’ll definitely use the extra flags in my work at Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Cambodia where we have few active admins. This would mostly be pagemoves, some page deletions, some restoring and then sourcing of deleted content (where appropriate and discussed with the deleting admin), occasional page protections, (Cambodia intermittently requires brief protection from IP vandalism) and the odd repeat vandal who needs a short block.

However, I’d really like to find an admin shaped niche to work in regularly. I’ve noticed a couple of areas where admins seem to be in short supply. One is helping to deal with potential and actual socks at WP:SPI. This sounds like interesting work requiring careful review of evidence and good judgement. I contribute a bit to WP:DYK and I feel a little guilty for not contributing more than just articles for others to review. There seem to be times when no-one is around to check and update the queues to post on the main page. I’d like to learn the process and put myself down to help out with updates.

If this nomination is successful, I’ll find myself a willing mentor in one of these areas to help me learn the ropes and then try to help out long term. Nixeagle and Synergy have offered to coach me on sockpuppet investigations at WP:SPI. I plan to approach one of the regular DYK admins to ask for mentoring in the same way.

These days a backlog at WP:AIV, WP:AN3 or WP:RM seems to be generally only 4/5 requests long and XfDs are closed pretty promptly. I’m happy to help out with these areas if required but they are generally very well patrolled. That’s why I think I could be more useful in one of the more under served areas.

2. What are your best contributions to Misplaced Pages, and why?

A: I'm pleased with the work I've done at WP:CAMBODIA. I've been a member since the project started. Since then, I've kick started the assessment system, welcomed many new Cambodia editors, tagged and assessed a good 1500 articles, got various bot assisted lists going, referenced dozens of articles, expanded many micro-stubs, added GIS location data and tried to come up with some standard layout and content for geography articles. I've created 22 Cambodian articles and a couple of hundred redirects to improve linking . However, I'm not alone in all this and many other editors have done excellent work on Cambodian articles.

I'm proud to have worked with the WP:ACC team to survive the great UK ISP debacle of 2008. Together we dealt with 800+ account requests in 10 days - one hell of an effort. This was definitely not my work alone, ACC stalwarts like Matt, Maedin, Nukewar, Isabell, Neuro, terrillja and many others worked like trojans during December. Stwalkerster and Prodego managed the team and kept our jury-rigged interface from melting under the strain.

The work I'm personally proudest of is my work on Cambodia geography articles. This is a long term project of mine to create, reference, expand and illustrate articles on the major geographic features of Cambodia. This year I've been working on the 185 articles under Districts of Cambodia. I plan to photograph each district during my travels around the country (I have a commons account for this ) and expand all the districts to at least a start class. To date I've managed to get 20 of the district articles on the front page via DYK - there should be a few more this week. I'm planning to get all the district, provincial and town articles looking like Kang Meas District, (which used to look like this ) or Koh Kong (city), which used to be on WP:shortpages and looked like this .

3. 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?

A: In three and a half years? ;) of course. Only rarely though and nothing very major. The only 'notable' dramaz I can remember was with Domer48 in June 2007. There was much back and forth between Domer and I on our talk pages - see link to my talk archives here over an AfD debate. Eventually, we resolved it quickly through discussion and parted on amicable terms. Since then, I deal with potential conflict initially by apologizing (this is often very effective at diffusing conflict), then by discussion and explanation. If that doesn't work, I'll walk away and do something productive. If I'm stressed by the wiki, then I need a break. I think one of the secrets to surviving wikidrama and maintaining your sanity is a good sense of perspective. This is only a virtual world and nobody will take away your birthday if they don't like your edits.

Optional question from SoWhy

4. Your edit history shows huge gaps between November 2007 and October 2008, where you went from 2000 edits/month to 0 edits/month for 11 months. Are you willing to explain this (apparently) sudden drop in contributions and can you predict whether that will occur again?

A: It's fair question - I was anticipating it before the Bald One brought it up. My daughter was diagnosed with cancer in August 2007. This initially dropped my contribs significantly, then got me offline for quite a while when she started surgery. It was a big shock for the family and for my other kids and understandably Real Life trumped wiki for quite some time. I came back late last year. To answer the second part of your question, yes it could happen again. Wiki-life is great fun, but it should never be more important than family. I plan on sticking around for at least another ten years, but during that time there could be gaps for family reasons, health reasons or just for sanity breaks ;) Cheers, Paxse (talk) 16:18, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Absolutely I understand. I hope she is better now. Dr. Blofeld 17:32, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Blofeld (and all you nice well-wishers) for your concern and kind words. She's doing great. She recently passed her exams, had her 15th birthday and then won the 200 metres sprint on Saturday. Cheers, Paxse (talk) 11:56, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Optional question from User:Letsdrinktea

5. A user vandalizes pages by blanking out sections and inserting nonsense. After their final warning is given, the user does it again and you block them indefinitely as a vandalism only account. The user then posts an unblock request apologizing for their actions, acknowledging that what they did was wrong and promising to make productive contributions. What would you do?

A: Thanks for your question Letsdrinktea. In that situation, I wouldn’t need to do very much. The unblock request would be reviewed by an uninvolved admin – not by me. If the reviewing admin contacted me to ask my opinion on lifting the block – I’d likely say ‘no problem’. If a vandal wants to cease being a vandal, then it’s a win all round. Having said that, I’m a nasty suspicious person at heart – so I’d probably keep an eye on their contribs for a while ;) Paxse (talk) 13:29, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

General comments

• Links for Paxse: Paxse (talk · contribs · deleted · count · AfD · logs · block log · lu · rfar · spi)
• Edit summary usage for Paxse can be found here.

Please keep discussion constructive and civil. If you are unfamiliar with the nominee, please thoroughly review Special:Contributions/Paxse before commenting.

Discussion

• For those that prefer them:
  • WikiChecker edit counter
  • Soxred93's edit counter

~ ωαdεstεr16_«talk 01:08, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Support

1. Support Candidate appears to be solid and should be a net positive.--Giants27 /C 12:36, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
2. Support - Clueful editor with varied experience. Will be a benefit.  Frank  |  talk  12:36, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
3. Support Long on contributions; short on drama. No worries. --RegentsPark (My narrowboat) 12:38, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
4. Support -He is great guy, excellent contributor and has an excllent way of staying away from wikidrama. My only concern is that on occasions he is absent for a great deal of time and that his interest towards the project may waver. For instance he left for a whole year between November 11, 2007 and October 27, 2008. Since however he seems to have become a very consistent editor and seems to have taken encouragement from somewhere that the project is worthwhile.Not sure why he needs the tools though, although he may find them useful for certain tasks, I hope it won't affect his development of the Cambodian districts!. Dr. Blofeld 12:58, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
5. Support - trustworthy editor. PhilKnight (talk) 13:32, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
6. Support, looks great. No concerns. ~ mazca 13:36, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
7. Support - Can't beat the noms, can't beat the edits, can't beat the value of this editor having the bit. — Ched ~ /_© 13:38, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
8. "Nukewar" ;) approves of this user. NuclearWarfare _(Talk) 15:00, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
9. Support Good experiences with this trustworthy editor, no reason for concern. FlyingToaster 15:18, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
10. Support - Nothing but good experiences. — neuro 15:31, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
11. Support - excellent contributor. Jd027 (talk) 15:33, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
12. Support he's an excellent contributor with a lot of experience. Frehley 15:49, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
13. Support. An excellent candidate. Content contributor, civil (despite dropping the F-bomb nine hours ago), and has a good grasp of policies and procedures. There are some sizeable gaps in editing history, but this is a volunteer project and real life gets hectic at times. Useight (talk) 15:52, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
14. Support - a good candidate with no problems I can see. The answer to his absence is understandable and no reason for any concern. I cannot share the concerns of Wisdom's oppose; admins are perfectly allowed to perform admin actions within the scope of their interests, as long as they are not involved in the dispute that needs administrative intervention. Regards SoWhy 16:36, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
15. Majorly talk 16:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
16. Support Excellent contributions. GT5162 16:53, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
17. Support Solid contributor. -download | sign! 17:13, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
18. Support My sincerest condolences on your daughter. GlassCobra 17:24, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
19. Support. Not enough administrators currently. Tan | 39 17:41, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
20. Support. I don't often give a straight support to someone I don't know from AfD, because normally I want to see the prospective admin's attitude to deletion, but in this case I find the contributions are sufficient for me to decide.—S Marshall /_Cont 17:58, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
21. Strong Support Clean block log, civil talk and edit summaries, lots of quality contributions, (over 12,000 manual edits as well as over 2,000 automated ones). As Tan pointed out we are short of admins and I think Paxse is a great candidate. ϢereSpielChequers 18:13, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
22. Support - Dan Dank55 (push to talk) 18:16, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
23. Support - Changed from oppose. See below for details. Wisdom89 _{(T / )} 19:09, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
24. Support Sterling contributions in two much-needed spheres. Steven Walling (talk) 19:25, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
25. Support: Having worked with Paxse at ACC and having stalked his contributions and talk page for a couple of months, I'm confident that he will make a superb administrator. Maedin\ 20:24, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
26. Support Great contribs, and per GlassCobra. LITTLEMOUNTAIN5  21:14, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
27. Support As nom. MBisanz 21:16, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
28. One need only look at his progress in the WikiCup to know this user cares for the project in ways many current admins do not.  GARDEN  21:17, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
29. Exactly per Garden. Absolutely impressed by work in WikiCup, clearly dedicated user. Good luck! iMatthew // talk // 21:25, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
30. Support Looks Good. - Fastily (talk) 21:28, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
31. Support No concerns on the horizon. I really liked the answer to #4. Spinach Monster (talk) 22:11, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
32. Support per Tan. And because I fully trust the candidate. –Juliancolton |  23:02, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
33. Support No problems here. Good luck! Pastor Theo (talk) 23:32, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
34. Support Looks like somebody I would trust. Looie496 (talk) 01:13, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
35. Strong support Excellent user. It's great to see activity on Cambodia related articles. SE Asia is pretty much dead on WP, unfortunately, well done YellowMonkey (cricket calendar poll!) 01:41, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
36. Support per Dr. Blofeld --Caspian blue 01:43, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
37. Support per no objection found :) G'luck! Ray 02:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
38. Support Nom says it all.... I like it! -Senseless!... says you, says me 03:21, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
39. Support Per MBisanz and Synergy. -- Avi (talk) 05:32, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
40. Rather-astonished-he-wasn't-already-support - //roux   06:50, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
41. Support per nomination. PeterSymonds (talk) 09:09, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
42. Support, and may you get many more DYK Cambodian articles. ;-) -- Mentifisto 09:25, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
43. Support. Short on the Misplaced Pages-space edits that I like to see, but clue outweighs that for the moment. Stifle (talk) 11:23, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
44. Support' Really helpful on ACC. fahadsadah (talk,contribs) 15:15, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
45. Absolutely Helped provide an outside opinion on Ice Wine, nothing but great interactions with Paxse in the past (other than getting ACC requests sniped before I could get to them)--Terrillja _talk 17:34, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
46. Support No complaints. America69 (talk) 18:35, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
47. Support Per nominator, excelent ACC work - it seems to me this editor keeps out of the drama boards and just does what keeps them happy - and that the tools will only help further. Pedro :  Chat  19:51, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
48. Support. Fully qualified candidate, no issues or concern. The opposer's comment is devoid of merit to an almost alarming extent. Newyorkbrad (talk) 00:20, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
49. Support. Strong candidate doing great work. -- Vary Talk 00:37, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
50. Strong support Wizardman 00:46, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
51. Support User has been around since Oct 2005 and has used Rollback very well and good track in particular in Cambodia related articles.Pharaoh of the Wizards (talk) 01:51, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
52. Support. See no reason to think candidate will abuse the tools. Jayjg 02:21, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
53. Support Per everyone else :D--Res2216firestar 02:31, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
54. Support - Great editor, will definitely be a + to the Misplaced Pages community. MathCool10 02:41, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
55. Support - Very nice contributions and a well-rounded candidate for adminship. Good luck, Razorflame 06:29, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
56. Support - Good head on shoulders. LK (talk) 08:55, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
57. Support I see no alarms. --GedUK  10:39, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
58. Support definite positive, no red flags. Mayalld (talk) 12:01, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
59. 'Support No qualms here. hmwithτ 12:15, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
60. Support- Maybe if we give him the mop, he'll stop hogging the ACC requests :) PerfectProposal 14:07, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

    Yes, but then you have to deal with me. o-;-) Synergy 14:52, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

61. Support because this person sounds like a real winner. Crotchety Old Man (talk) 16:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
62. Support. Good communication skills particularly; is on IRC (re ACC) regularly; no other complaints. - Jarry1250 17:53, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
63. Strong support not only based on his legendary ACC work (nearly 900 accounts?!), the noms, and the enviable amount of DYK's, but also our first interaction; I asked Paxse for help and he kindly gave me what I wanted. He should be an admin both here and at ACC! →Dyl@n620 20:20, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
64. Support Excellent user LetsdrinkTea 22:25, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
65. Support per User:A_Nobody#RfA_Standards as candidate has never been blocked, has numerous DYK credits, and as an adopter in adopt a user is dedicated to helping new editors (it is important that admins be helpful as they were be approached by many editors seeking help); in other words, the candidate is here to build a paperless encyclopedia and assist others here to do the same. Best, --A Nobody 22:41, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Oppose

Oppose - Editor feels it's appropriate to use protection and block functions in a Wikiproject where they are heavily active. Wisdom89 _{(T / )} 13:21, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Er, yes, of course he does; admins are expected to use their tools to protect Misplaced Pages from disruptions in all areas of the encyclopedia - except, of course, to further their position in in a dispute, which is not the same thing at all as blocking users who disrupt pages within the scope of one's project.  Sandstein  15:48, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

What's wrong with that? If he said he didn't want to use blocking at all that wouldn't attract opposers, but saying he won't use it in a certain area does? Strange IMO.--Patton 15:52, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Sounds to me like Wisdom is saying that no one is objective about the things they care a lot about; sounds good to me, and I hope on wikiproject pages, the candidate will post at RFPP and AIV instead of wielding the mop himself whenever it's not clearly a matter of vandalism. - Dan Dank55 (push to talk) 18:13, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

That's how I read it too. Thanks for your comment Wisdom89, I phrased my answer poorly above (and I don't know if I'm allowed to edit my answers or not). I would never block any editor over content on a page I was editing (or had significantly edited). If there was any hint of COI on my part, I would call in an uninvolved admin to make the call or simply post at WP:AIV. However, I would (briefly) block a vandalism only account (or perhaps a serial spammer) for simple vandalism, after adequate warnings, as permitted by the blocking policy. Ditto for page protection. Cheers, Paxse (talk) 18:26, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for responding to my comment, Paxse. Yes, you and Dan are precisely right regarding the nature of my COI concern. I feel that it's important that administrators do not wield the tools (especially block and deletion) in areas that they are passionate about and editorially associated with. In light of your stipulation to post to AIV/RFPP on pages which you are an active contributor, you have alleviated my concern. Wisdom89 _{(T / )} 19:07, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

1. Oppose Too many administrators currently. DougsTech (talk) 16:23, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

   Thats really not a valid reason. We need and we ARE still looking for administrators so that is a redundant reason. Dr. Blofeld 17:41, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

   This is already being discussed at WT:RFA, please keep discussion of this oppose there. — neuro 17:52, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

   I don't think it's necessary to reply to each and every oppose DougsTech makes. I'm sure by now he recognizes that his !vote holds little water. –Juliancolton |  00:15, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Neutral