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This page is where the Misplaced Pages community considers requests made for a Wikipedian to become an administrator. In addition to requests for adminship, the page is also used for requests to become a bureaucrat. (If you came to this page using the shortcut WP:RFA and were looking for Misplaced Pages:requests for arbitration, please use the shortcut WP:RFAr instead.)
Admins, also sometimes called sysops, are users with access to a few technical features that help with Misplaced Pages maintenance. See Misplaced Pages:Administrators for a more detailed discussion of what this entails. The administrators' reading list is a good preparation before you become an admin. Consider reading this before applying for adminship. New sysops can learn how to use the added features at the Administrators' how-to guide.
Bureaucrats are simply users with the ability to make other people admins or bureaucrats, based on community decisions reached here. For lists of users who currently have these abilities, see Misplaced Pages:List of administrators and Misplaced Pages:Bureaucrats.
Procedures and guidelines
A user may be nominated to become an administrator by someone else, or the user may make the request personally. The nomination is posted on this page for 7 calendar days measured from the time of nomination. During this period, members of the community may comment on the nomination and vote to support or oppose it. At the end of the 7-day period, if there is general community support for the nomination, a bureaucrat will make the nominee an admin and record this fact at Misplaced Pages:Recently created admins. The process for bureaucrats is similar, but is generally by request only; new bureaucrats are recorded at Misplaced Pages:Recently created bureaucrats.
- Nomination. Many users become administrators by being nominated by another user. If you wish to nominate someone, get permission from them first. Along with the nomination, please give some reasons as to why you think this person would make a good administrator. (The nominator may also vote to support the nomination.)
- Self-nomination. If you wish to become an administrator, you can ask someone to nominate you, or you can make the request yourself. Be aware that some people scrutinize self-nominations more closely, because they don't already have a community member vouching for them; as a result, you may want to wait until you are sure that you exceed the usual guidelines.
- Anonymous users. Anonymous users cannot be nominated, nominate others, or support or oppose nominations. The absolute minimum requirement to be involved with adminship matters is to have a username in the system.
Qualifications for adminship
Current Misplaced Pages policy is to grant administrator status to anyone who has been an active Misplaced Pages contributor for a while and is generally a known and trusted member of the community. Most users seem to agree that the more administrators there are the better.
Administrators have no special authority when interacting with other users, but because they have additional abilities, other people will generally expect them to be courteous and exercise good judgment. Wikipedians are more likely to support candidates with enough experience to evaluate these qualities and determine whether the candidate is familiar with Misplaced Pages policies. Many people consider the length of time a user has been contributing, as well as the number and quality of contributions.
There are no definite requirements on this, but most users seem to expect three to four months of participation and 500-1000 edits before they will seriously consider a nomination. Some users apply higher or lower requirements on a personal basis, which they are entitled to do in voting on this page.
Unsupported nominations
In some cases, a candidate will have general support but a smaller group opposing the nomination, and it may be unclear whether a consensus exists to grant adminship. If the bureaucrats are uncertain about whether there is a consensus in a particular case, they may suggest that the vote continue beyond seven days, thus giving more time to see if a consensus will develop.
If your nomination fails, it is not necessarily a permanent rejection — the community may just be suggesting that you "try again later." However, please wait a reasonable period of time before renewing a request, and make good use of the time to gain additional experience.
If a candidate is obviously unqualified (for example, has been participating for one month and made fewer than 100 edits), the nomination may be removed before the seven-day period is over. Similarly, if the candidate was rejected very recently or the voting makes it obvious that the nomination has no chance of success, it may be removed before voting is complete. Past experience has shown that continuing the discussion in these cases only fosters ill feelings, and makes it more difficult if the nominee seeks adminship later.
Note: You can see a list of past unsuccessful nominations at Misplaced Pages:Recently_created_admins#Unsupported_applications.
Current nominations
Note: Nominations have to be accepted by the user in question. If you nominate a user, please also leave a message on their talk page and ask them to reply here if they accept the nomination.
Please place new nominations at the top.
Current time is 14:41, 26 December 2024 (UTC)
User:Stormie (17/0/0) Ends 21:08, 4 August 2004 (UTC)
Stormie has been a full contributor since March 2004, and does an excellent job of patrolling for vandals and of producing his own work. Definitely should be an admin. RickK 21:08, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- I am honoured to be nominated and gladly accept! Thanks Rick! —Stormie 23:42, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
Support
- RickK 21:08, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- Neutrality 21:29, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Mike H 21:31, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- blankfaze | (беседа!) 22:11, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- GeneralPatton 22:51, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- --Lst27 23:30, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Dysprosia 00:57, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- David Cannon 02:30, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC). Strongly support.
- Cribcage 04:25, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Rhymeless 04:33, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Graham ☺ | Talk 08:02, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- JFW | T@lk 13:01, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC) Mainly noticed his VfD work, but trust his judgment Pedia-wide
- Warofdreams 13:30, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- older≠wiser 13:57, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Kim Bruning 15:49, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC) Quick check of 1 or 2 edits shows nice work.
- Jwrosenzweig 15:57, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC) A good choice.
- Merovingian✍Talk 16:17, Jul 29, 2004 (UTC)
Oppose
Neutral
Comments
Questions for the candidate
A few generic questions to provide guidance for voters, if you care to respond:
- 1. Have you read the section on Administrators?
- A. Yes, I have, and have actually been considering putting myself up as a self-nomination. Rick beat me to it. :-)
- 2. Are you interested in, and do you think you'll have some time to perform, the chores that only sysops have access to do, to help keep Misplaced Pages up to date?
- 3. If you become a sysop, which sysop chore or chores (WP:VFD, recent changes, watching for vandals and vandalism, responding to editor requests for assistance, any other) do you especially think you would be able to help with.
- A. I'm quite an active Recent Changes watcher, so I find myself quite often reverting idiot vandalism and tagging nonsense articles for speedy deletion - admin privs would make this job easier. Also I'm reasonably active on WP:VFD, and would be happy to help out with implementing the keeping & deleting at the back end of the queue, as well as voting at the front end.
- 4. In your opinion, what article have you contributed the most succesfully and helpfully to?
- A. The work I'm proudest of on Misplaced Pages is mostly rugby-related - I've created some new articles on players, worked heavily on some competitions (added a lot of info to the Tri Nations Series and National Provincial Championship, and created Ranfurly Shield), and keep things up to date on Current sports events each weekend. :-)
- 5. In your opinion, what has your best contribution to the running and maintenance of Misplaced Pages been? (i.e., have you reverted a bad stretch of vandalism, done extensive work categorizing articles, helped mediate a dispute?)
- A. I do the recent changes watching, copyedit & wikify new articles, and browse through Misplaced Pages:Cleanup for things to do. I've also put some hard yards into gruntwork like Topbanana's possibly misspelled links list and the list of French articles with no English interwiki link. Also, I've recently been trying to help mediate some edit conflicts on X-Men, although I'm not sure how successful I've been, since a formal request for mediation was made after I started trying to help. :-)
- 6. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or do you feel other users have caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and will deal with it in the future?
- A. Can't say I've ever been involved in any particularly stressful or grievous conflicts yet, thankfully. Worst I've gotten has been the occasional anon vandalising my user page because I reverted some other vandalism - and that's more likely to make me laugh than make me stressed. —Stormie 23:50, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- Thanks and good luck!
User:DropDeadGorgias (18/0/0) Ends 19:41, 4 August 2004 (UTC)
DropDeadGorgias has over 1600 edits since 5 Mar 2003 (with increased activity from February of 2004), has shown interest in issues like featured articles and deletions, and would benefit from having admin abilities. In my opinion, this user shows good judgment and an even temperament, and would make a fine administrator. --Michael Snow 19:41, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I accept, and it's an honor just to be nominated. BTW, this gender neutral stuff is really annoying. I'm a dude. I'll put a note on my page.... - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 20:04, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
Support
- I know I'm not the first to say this, but I love the username. --Michael Snow 19:41, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Hear, hear -- both to the compliment on the username and Michael's assessment of DDG's suitability. :-) Strong support. Jwrosenzweig 19:48, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Finally someone I'm familiar with to vote for. An excellent choice. BCorr|Брайен 19:50, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- <cliche>He/she is not already an admin?!?!?!?!?!?!</cliche> Seriously, this is a big surprise to me! Strong support. blankfaze | (беседа!) 20:02, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I thought you already were an admin. Jeez! :)--Neutrality 20:29, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Gzornenplatz 20:31, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- Quadell (talk) 20:52, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- Great contributor GeneralPatton 22:50, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Lst27 23:30, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- 172 02:22, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- David Cannon 02:36, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Cribcage 04:24, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Graham ☺ | Talk 08:04, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Unbelievable. I thought you were already an admin. Johnleemk | Talk 11:59, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Support from the gender neutral Warofdreams 13:32, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- older≠wiser 13:51, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Kim Bruning 15:55, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC) Good edits, and good skill using the wiki.
- Merovingian✍Talk 16:25, Jul 29, 2004 (UTC)
Oppose
Neutral
Comments
- Looking through DDG's history, it's clear he or she is a hard-working user who has added much to WP. It looks like heshe lost hisher temper here, but the matter was quickly resolved equitably between them. Quadell (talk) 20:52, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
Questions for the candidate
A few generic questions to provide guidance for voters, if you care to respond:
- 1. Have you read the section on Administrators?
- A. Yes - DropDeadGorgias (talk)
- 2. Are you interested in, and do you think you'll have some time to perform, the chores that only sysops have access to do, to help keep Misplaced Pages up to date?
- A. Yes - DropDeadGorgias (talk)
- 3. If you become a sysop, which sysop chore or chores (WP:VFD, recent changes, watching for vandals and vandalism, responding to editor requests for assistance, any other) do you especially think you would be able to help with.
- A. I would be able to help with watching recent changes, executing deletions and removing failed deletions on vfd, and responding to editor requests. - DropDeadGorgias (talk)
- 4. In your opinion, what article have you contributed the most succesfully and helpfully to?
- A. Hmm, my interests are all over the board, so there are some silly articles that I've done a lot of legwork for (COBRA Organization), and there are some more substantial articles, like Gmail, and The Library of Babel. The most tedious thing I ever did was disambiguate all of the mathematicians on Mersenne prime, which is harder than it sounds because most mathematicians only go by their first initials. - DropDeadGorgias (talk)
- 5. In your opinion, what has your best contribution to the running and maintenance of Misplaced Pages been? (i.e., have you reverted a bad stretch of vandalism, done extensive work categorizing articles, helped mediate a dispute?)
- A. I have done a lot of work to bring some literature articles up to speed, particularly those of latin american and japanese authors. I also fleshed out a lot of the information on tropicalismo, and the related artists. - DropDeadGorgias (talk)
- 6. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or do you feel other users have caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and will deal with it in the future?
- A. I'd like to think that I've been pretty level headed about resolving conflicts. I recently had a misunderstanding with User:Tannin about thumbnailed images on Hard disk, which seemed like it was almost going to escalate into a revert war, but we were able to come to a solution that met both of our needs with the new image markup. I don't really get into revert wars, because after the first few reversions I make it a point to resolve the issue either on the article talk page or the other user's talk page before editing again. If that proved unsuccessful, I'd probably escalate to RFC, but I haven't had to resort to that yet. - DropDeadGorgias (talk)
- Thanks and good luck!
User:Kim Bruning (13/1/0) end 19:36, 4 August 2004 (UTC)
I would like to nominate Kim Bruning for administrator -- in my experience working with Kim on and off for the last several months, he has been the model of care, patience, and positive attitude we need so desperately as administrators. His careful work with WHEELER is an excellent example of his ability to interact productively and reasonably with an editor who has driven a number of admins (myself included) into dialogue that cannot be classified as entirely civil. I hope, in fact, to learn something from his ability to work with editors I find frustrating. I have spent several months waiting for Kim to accept that he is worthy of the nomination and allow me to nominate him, which only assures me that he's right for the job -- I think a reluctance to accept a position of increased authority is an excellent indication that someone is unlikely to abuse that position. I hope you will find him as worthy a candidate as I do. Jwrosenzweig 19:36, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- P.S. Kim has been here since February 24, 2004, and has 1,236 edits at the present time. Jwrosenzweig 19:36, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I've checked Misplaced Pages:Changing attribution for an edit based on Kim's comment below -- he's right, and that would add another 250 or so edits to his tally, and take him back into early December, by my reckoning. Jwrosenzweig 23:25, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Accept Kim Bruning 22:43, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Support:
- Jwrosenzweig
- I agree. Mike H 20:02, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- Ditto.--Neutrality 20:31, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Skill in dealing with challenging community members is one of the most important requirements for an admin. moink 20:42, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- --Lst27 23:30, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Good edits GeneralPatton 22:52, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- 172 02:16, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Cribcage 04:23, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- The patience shown working with WHEELER is truly exemplary. older≠wiser 13:54, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Support. Kim's interactions with other users are exemplary. He/She's great! (j/k) - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 16:03, Jul 29, 2004 (UTC)
- Ability to deal patiently with difficult users is one of the best possible qualifications for adminship. --Michael Snow 16:13, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Acegikmo1 16:18, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC). I'm impressed by this user's perseverence on User talk:Stopthebus18.
- Merovingian✍Talk 16:36, Jul 29, 2004 (UTC)
- Support. I've come across Kim's comments here and there and am impressed. Kim seems to be one of those uncommon folk who are an oily influence (as in troubled waters), and that influence is sorely needed. To the extent Kim can share it, WP would benefit. Awesome admin powers would not be amiss in this case, I think. Lack of edits (see below) do not seem to me to be an impediment, in this instance. Let's hope Kim's temperament survives a year or so of WP intact, eh! ww 18:40, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Oppose:
- More edits! (But you are a swell contributor.) blankfaze | (беседа!) 20:05, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- There's a couple more under User:80.126.238.189 (I thought those had been reattributed? Ah well, no matter :-) ) Kim Bruning 22:51, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Neutral:
Comments:
Questions for the candidate
A few generic questions to provide guidance for voters, if you care to respond:
- 1. Have you read the section on Administrators?
- A. Yup.
- 2. Are you interested in, and do you think you'll have some time to perform, the chores that only sysops have access to do, to help keep Misplaced Pages up to date?
- A. I usually look at Misplaced Pages during short breaks, while waiting for my computer to catch up with me.
- 3. If you become a sysop, which sysop chore or chores (WP:VFD, recent changes, watching for vandals and vandalism, responding to editor requests for assistance, any other) do you especially think you would be able to help with.
- A. I've managed to nab a number of vandals from time to time. Admin powers would probably be really handy for that.
- 4. In your opinion, what article have you contributed the most succesfully and helpfully to?
- A. Republic has gotten kind of stable now.
- 5. In your opinion, what has your best contribution to the running and maintenance of Misplaced Pages been? (i.e., have you reverted a bad stretch of vandalism, done extensive work categorizing articles, helped mediate a dispute?)
- A. I've managed to keep people talking with each other, I hope.
- 6. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or do you feel other users have caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and will deal with it in the future?
- A.I end up solving conflicts a lot, maybe because I think it's a fun challenge. I deal with conflicts by looking at peoples' behaviour logically, and trying to figure out what's causing them to behave that way in the first place. Kim Bruning 22:43, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
User:Robin Patterson (14/2/0) Ends 03:45 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I nominate Robin Patterson for adminship. I know that his 605 edits since January 30 are at the lower end of Wikipedians' tolerance range, but from my own dealings with him I know that he strives for quality over quantity. I hope that all will take note of the high standard of his work, and elect him to a position to which he is well suited. David Cannon 01:57, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Thank you for the votes of confidence, David and others. I may not actually DO anything with the position (seeing my main "responsibility" as a continuation of being the major operator as a sysop on Misplaced Pages Maori over the last few months), but one never knows. Kia ora! Robin Patterson 03:45, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Support
- David Cannon 01:57, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC).
- Lst27 02:14, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Good edits indeed. GeneralPatton 02:32, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Neutrality 03:54, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Absolutely older≠wiser 04:15, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Ambivalenthysteria 05:15, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Merovingian✍Talk 11:31, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- Seems like a thoughtful, balanced contributer to me. Quadell (talk) 18:10, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- Support, the quality is definitely there, even if the quantity is low, and I think Robin is a very helpful, friendly and level-headed contributor. —Stormie 00:17, Jul 29, 2004 (UTC)
- Cribcage 04:22, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- (See below). —Lady Lysiŋe Ikiŋsile | Talk 06:29, 2004 Jul 29 (UTC)
- Kim Bruning 16:04, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC) Lots of useful edits on New Zealand information. + Also contributes at another language wikipedia. (see under comments)
- A quality contributor. Being a sysop elsewhere doesn't automatically make you a sysop here, but I trust Robin is familiar with our policies, since it's probably been necessary to draw from them in the effort to build the Maori Misplaced Pages. I also don't expect admins to necessarily be highly active in that capacity, so I'm not concerned with how Robin divides time between here and there. --Michael Snow 21:00, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- In my experience, Robin would be deserving of "important and ponderous privileges" if we had any to offer here -- in the absence of them, I heartily approve of entrusting Robin with the few abilities of an administrator (and their attendant disadvantages). :-) Jwrosenzweig 21:28, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Oppose
- Sorry, seems like a genuine and good contributor, but far too few edits for me. blankfaze | (беседа!) 17:54, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I'd just like to point out that a person's edits are not and should not be the only factor in adminship decisions. Certainly, they are an important indicator, but it should be asked as well what a prospective admin will do for Misplaced Pages. No offense, but it seems like Mr. Patterson is quite involved with the Maori Misplaced Pages, and, as he himself has stated, "may not actually DO anything with the position." Perhaps more people need to view adminship as an important and ponderous privilege rather than a social title. --Slowking Man 06:04, Jul 29, 2004 (UTC)
- Adminship is not an important and ponderous privilege. It's the technical ability to perform certain administrative actions, and the trust from the community that one can perform those actions in an accepted and helpful manner. At least, that's how it should be; in reality administrators are (through no fault of their own) somewhat revered as Important People and their admin status gives them an elevated social position. I am therefore supporting this nomination on the grounds that whether or not this user intends to, or will, make use of their privileges, there is no reason for hir not to have them. —Lady Lysiŋe Ikiŋsile | Talk 06:29, 2004 Jul 29 (UTC)
- On the contrary: Fewer people should view adminship "as an important privilege" -- or else, we need to change the official policy ("no big deal"). In the meantime, since adminship remains officially nothing more than acknowledgement that a contributor is competent and trusted, a contributor's intention to use admin options (or not) is hardly relevant. Cribcage 06:40, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Lysine states that adminship involves the giving of trust from the community to the adminee. This is exactly right, and this is why adminship is important. Among other things, admins have the ability to ban users and IP ranges from accessing and/or editing the Misplaced Pages, to use the revert function, to move and delete pages, and to protect pages. While admins do not have unilateral leeway over executing such responsibilities, these certainly are not unimportant abilities. I disagree with the tendency for people to be viewed as qualified for adminship solely based upon edits. If people should recieve adminship after reaching some quota of edits, then voting is unnecessary. However, since adminship is important, I don't see why we should grant a person adminship if he or she is going to be inactive. Do we elect people to legislatures who publicly claim that they won't have time to attend sessions or vote on laws? --Slowking Man 08:10, Jul 29, 2004 (UTC)
- You're missing the point of a wiki. Yes, an admin is able to protect pages or ban users. But an anonymous user is able to come along and edit nearly any page of our encyclopedia. We don't restrict that ability to registered users, on the logic that, "It's too important." (You may have noticed that fact is our single most consistent source of criticism.) We've chosen to restrict a few select options, and our official policy is basically: "Anonymous users shouldn't be able to ban people; and since registration is free, there's little difference between an anonymous user and a day-old user ID. So we'll restrict these few options temporarily -- once we're sure you're on the level, you're in." As has been stated time and again and again: If you want to change the official policy, then do so. Otherwise, abide by it. Cribcage 13:50, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- People should not automatically receive adminship after a certain number of edits: rather, a certain number of edits may be regarded as the base qualifications for adminiship. There are generally a fixed or limited number of members of a legislative body; it is therefore important to elect those who will make the most desirable difference. However, there are no practical limits to the number of sysops at any one time, so there is no inherent disadvantage to appointing sysops who may end up doing less work then their fellows. I agree that number of edits is not the sole, or most important criteria for adminship; however, proper assessment of a nominee's temperament can only take place after they have reached a certain amount of participation, which in real terms often translates to a minimum number of edits or length of time. —Lady Lysiŋe Ikiŋsile | Talk 08:23, 2004 Jul 29 (UTC)
Neutral
Comments
- The idea is to determine whether we can trust Robin Patterson not to do anything crazy with admin privileges. One way is to look at some number of edits, and some period of time to statistically figure out if someone is trustworthy. But there's more ways. In this case Robin Patterson also contributes at another language wikipedia, and is apparently trusted there already. This tips the balance in this editors' favor for me. Kim Bruning 16:12, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Questions for the candidate
A few generic questions to provide guidance for voters, if you care to respond:
- 1. Have you read the section on Administrators?
- A. Yes, some of it more than once, a few months ago.
- 2. Are you interested in, and do you think you'll have some time to perform, the chores that only sysops have access to do, to help keep Misplaced Pages up to date?
- A. Slightly, and yes, but see my main reply above.
- 3. If you become a sysop, which sysop chore or chores (WP:VFD, recent changes, watching for vandals and vandalism, responding to editor requests for assistance, any other) do you especially think you would be able to help with.
- A. Anything requested, but no guarantee of noticing anything urgently, because my visits are relatively rare and short compared with those of some contributors. My New Zealand timezone may be an advantage.
- 4. In your opinion, what article have you contributed the most successfully and helpfully to?
- A. I don't recall anything outstanding; but my village, Plimmerton, and city, Porirua, have substantial contributions, with more to come if I get time and can avoid more distant distractions such as Tom Lehrer and Colonization (game). There was also the list of trees that I added after creating it for the Maori version. Robin Patterson 06:14, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- 5. In your opinion, what has your best contribution to the running and maintenance of Misplaced Pages been? (i.e., have you reverted a bad stretch of vandalism, done extensive work categorizing articles, helped mediate a dispute?)
- A. Misplaced Pages Maori (see main response above) and the welcoming of newcomers. Robin Patterson 06:14, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- 6a. Of your Misplaced Pages edits and experiences thus far, what is your biggest regret?
- A. None of the world's estimated 130,000 Maori language speakers has yet shown his or her hand in any significant way (except in the English Misplaced Pages).
- 6b. What do you wish you'd done differently?
- A. Found WP years ago... Robin Patterson 06:14, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
User:Nikola Smolenski (5/14/7) Ends 15:08, 3 August 2004
I would like to nominate User:Nikola Smolenski for an admin. He has been the member of the Misplaced Pages since 18th May 2003, had impressive 3500 edits and wrote 150 new articles. He has uploaded couple of dozens of pictures. Nikola promoted Misplaced Pages project in Serbia and Bosnia and you can see his speech at IT convention in Bijeljina in 2003 here. He made couple of patches for MediaWiki. His edits are mostly about themes concerning Serbia and the Balkans. He was fighting vandalism strongly since the beginning. He is also administrator and bureaucrat on Serbian wiki, and is one of the best examples of the work from that encyclopedia. I think he deserved to become an admin long time ago, but it`s never too late. ] 15:08, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Support
- Support off course ] 15:08, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I will forgive for the edit war; he lives in Serbia! --Merovingian✍Talk 17:19, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- I call this-common sense :). He was in edit war but about Serbian province. Of course he knew much more than other users.] 17:22, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Everyking 20:50, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Lst27 02:14, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Of course not this time, but I suppose he might become a sysop. It's not a political office, and Nikola would be a good "garbage collector". Read comments for details. Dr Bug (Volodymyr V. Medeiko) 22:30, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Oppose
- Snowspinner 16:47, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC) Dori's comments below, combined with quality of judgment usually showed by nominator makes me exceedingly wary. Snowspinner 16:47, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- Oppose, based solely on the fact that I don't like the nominator. (Avala should understand this one!) blankfaze | (беседа!) 16:48, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I am really happy that you don`t like me. Miserable people don`t actually deserve my comments. I am happy to see that I did a right thing when voting against Snowspinner, because it`s nominator blankfaze seems to be the same problem as GeneralpPatton.] 16:58, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Pardon me, I'm really reaching to try to make sense out of this one... but you did change a vote from neutral to oppose because you didn't want to be on the same list as Patton. Never mind that, when you were voting neutral, you were already not on the same list as Patton. I think frustration and puzzlement at you is pretty fair. Snowspinner 17:12, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- Sorry , but I said I will vote for you if you give up of his support. You told me he didn`t support you and then I saw his vote. All this made me vote against.] 17:15, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I told you I didn't support his personal attacks against you. It's hardly my fault whether he supports me or not. Nor am I quite sure how to give up his support. It's his vote, not mine, and he's free to cast it wherever he pleases. Snowspinner 17:28, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- Sorry , but I said I will vote for you if you give up of his support. You told me he didn`t support you and then I saw his vote. All this made me vote against.] 17:15, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Pardon me, I'm really reaching to try to make sense out of this one... but you did change a vote from neutral to oppose because you didn't want to be on the same list as Patton. Never mind that, when you were voting neutral, you were already not on the same list as Patton. I think frustration and puzzlement at you is pretty fair. Snowspinner 17:12, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- I am really happy that you don`t like me. Miserable people don`t actually deserve my comments. I am happy to see that I did a right thing when voting against Snowspinner, because it`s nominator blankfaze seems to be the same problem as GeneralpPatton.] 16:58, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I am really not liking this situation. I'm sorry. Oppose. Mike H 16:54, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- As I can see some users wanted that whole article should be referred to as Kosovo only not Kosovo and Metohija, also some claimed ,as I have seen, that Kosovo is not in Serbia. Of course Nikola had a reaction to thos wrong statements. He was maybe harsh, but I am sure that user from Serbia knows much more than a user from Colombia about Kosovo.] 16:58, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- He's made some good contributions, and I hope he continues to work as an editor. Unfortunately, I think his strong feelings on the topic of Kosovo may hurt his ability to use his admin priveleges wisely. moink 17:37, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Oppose. Is this a joke? I have no confidence at all that this user would not misuse admin privileges. Ambivalenthysteria 19:38, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I would be first to vote him desysoped but I can assure that that will never happen. He has the face we can trust to. :) ] 20:02, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- It's not his face I'm worried about. It's his actions. IMHO, this is the most absurd nomination since User:Plato. Ambivalenthysteria 20:07, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- . Ambi did you go on IT coventions to hold speeches about Misplaced Pages? Ever? I think that such action of his shouldn`t worry you. Plus that Plato guy is not even similar with Nikola.] 20:21, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Not exactly an IT conference, but a meeting organized by a Serb library focusing on how to present the Serb "cause" online.--GeneralPatton 22:35, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Just as illustration of the extent of GP's lies, I have translated titles of all the works presented at the conference and attached it to the bottom. There are people here who are not Serbs but know Serbian and can confirm this. Nikola 08:05, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Nikola, I see you are name calling, once again, but as i've said, the list precisely shows that the event was about presenting the Serb view of things online. There is no need for you or Avala to be over-reacting like this. I presume you are Orthodox, so do you know what your Patriarch Pavle said the other day? *There ought to be more peace and tolerance*, you and Avala should take note to that and stop seeing me as some kind of an enemy just because im a Croat. To be an administrator you need to be less emotional, less biased and more cooler-headed. GeneralPatton 09:11, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- The whole Project Rastko thing is pretty much about presenting Serb view of Balkans History, and it*s ok, everyone has every right to their own opinion, and the right to spin or interpret stuff their own way, but here at wiki, we try to do it differently, we try to have a neutral point-of-view, not advocating any side. You are probably surprised to hear this from me, but I don*t think you are that bad of a contributor at all, some of your non-controversial stuff is really decent, it*s just that you tend to be biased and with an agenda. Now, that is not a problem when you are just a contributor, since other users will argue until the NPOV is reached, but it is definitely not good to have really biased administrator. That is why I personally would never accept being an admin, I am biased, I admit it, but so are you, and the truth is somewhere in between. You need to understand that and learn to accept other people*s opinion and agree to common consensus, and not just vilify and demonize everyone who doesn*t agree with you. GeneralPatton 09:21, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- GenralPatton are you sure you know what are you talking about? I mean you called me a cunt and reverted everything!!! How can you sat something like not just vilify and demonize everyone who doesn*t agree with you when you are doing that? Also how dare you to call for tolerance when you always call me :YOU SERB! I think that such calling shows that you have some problem with Serbian people, not me with Croatian. ] 09:52, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Ahem ? I think this may be bothering to the non-initiated, but Rastko project is a mixture of valuable (say, 30%) presentation of Serbian culture and virulent lies expressed in obsolete books and articles, used in particular against Croats and Bosniaks (and Albanians). It falsifies general history of Bosnia, it lies about the standard languages Croatian and Serbian (e-books by infamous linguists like Branislav Brboric), it falsifies the demographics of Kosovo (for instance, it avoids the facz that in 1931. census Albanians constituted more than 60% of Kosovo populace), it propagates serbdom in: Montenegro, Bosnia and parts of Croatia like Dalmatia (not bad per se, but it falsifies everything by claiming the state of these lands were/are ethnically Serb); it gives false info on virtually all aspects of Croatian culture-from scripts to the architecture and tries to present them as parts of Serbian heritage (in Miroslav Pantic's disgraced articles); it intends, as a new project, to put on the Web a chauvinist-looney book by Sima Lukin Lazic (who claimed that Jesus was a Serb and half of Roman emperors; also, that Serbs waged the Trojan war). This site has not presented one text of any critical Serbian scholar that had dealt with examination of Serbian propagandist myths (for instance, Miodrag Popovic in the debate on Dubrovnik in 1967. that costed him academic position, Djura Danicic when he opposes classical Serbian linguistic nationalism, Dimitrije Tucovic, Svetozar Pribicevic in his autobiography, ...). We can only see a parade of old (Stanoje Stanojevic, Vasa Glusac,..) and new Serbian nationalist propaganda generally rejected by the world (Djordje Jankovic, Miroslav Pantic, certain picturesque Jeremija Mitirovic, Dusan Batakovic,..). So much for Rastko: good e-books by Serbian classical writers (Laza Lazarevic, Bora Stankovic, Petar Kocic,.., but overwhelmingly dated propaganda. Mir Harven 12:13, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- GenralPatton are you sure you know what are you talking about? I mean you called me a cunt and reverted everything!!! How can you sat something like not just vilify and demonize everyone who doesn*t agree with you when you are doing that? Also how dare you to call for tolerance when you always call me :YOU SERB! I think that such calling shows that you have some problem with Serbian people, not me with Croatian. ] 09:52, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- The whole Project Rastko thing is pretty much about presenting Serb view of Balkans History, and it*s ok, everyone has every right to their own opinion, and the right to spin or interpret stuff their own way, but here at wiki, we try to do it differently, we try to have a neutral point-of-view, not advocating any side. You are probably surprised to hear this from me, but I don*t think you are that bad of a contributor at all, some of your non-controversial stuff is really decent, it*s just that you tend to be biased and with an agenda. Now, that is not a problem when you are just a contributor, since other users will argue until the NPOV is reached, but it is definitely not good to have really biased administrator. That is why I personally would never accept being an admin, I am biased, I admit it, but so are you, and the truth is somewhere in between. You need to understand that and learn to accept other people*s opinion and agree to common consensus, and not just vilify and demonize everyone who doesn*t agree with you. GeneralPatton 09:21, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Nikola, I see you are name calling, once again, but as i've said, the list precisely shows that the event was about presenting the Serb view of things online. There is no need for you or Avala to be over-reacting like this. I presume you are Orthodox, so do you know what your Patriarch Pavle said the other day? *There ought to be more peace and tolerance*, you and Avala should take note to that and stop seeing me as some kind of an enemy just because im a Croat. To be an administrator you need to be less emotional, less biased and more cooler-headed. GeneralPatton 09:11, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Just as illustration of the extent of GP's lies, I have translated titles of all the works presented at the conference and attached it to the bottom. There are people here who are not Serbs but know Serbian and can confirm this. Nikola 08:05, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Not exactly an IT conference, but a meeting organized by a Serb library focusing on how to present the Serb "cause" online.--GeneralPatton 22:35, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- . Ambi did you go on IT coventions to hold speeches about Misplaced Pages? Ever? I think that such action of his shouldn`t worry you. Plus that Plato guy is not even similar with Nikola.] 20:21, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- It's not his face I'm worried about. It's his actions. IMHO, this is the most absurd nomination since User:Plato. Ambivalenthysteria 20:07, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- And, yes, that's what I had in mind: classic example of manipulation with figures. It boils down that Albanians were ca. 60% majority in Kosovo in 1921. and 1931. censa (despite efforts to cleanse them). However, the page http://en.wikipedia.org/Demographic_history_of_Kosovo_and_Metohia gives false figure for 1921. and the muddle for 1931.- while even pro-Serbian propaganda page at http://www.agitprop.org.au/stopnato/19990922borba.htm was more "honest": "..Under the 1931 census, Serbs accounted for 151,000 of the province*s 552,000-strong population, while ethnic Albanians accounted for 332,000.". Now-if this isnt a distortion of the facts the nominee had administered- I dont know what it is ? Mir Harven 20:26, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I would be first to vote him desysoped but I can assure that that will never happen. He has the face we can trust to. :) ] 20:02, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Most definitely not. RickK 20:34, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- Hilarious.--Neutrality 21:40, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- User Nikola is a Serb nationalist hard-liner who along with his friends Avala and Igor is promoting a Serb radical POV through wiki. The nominator, user Avala has been a problem maker for a while Misplaced Pages:Requests_for_comment/Avala.--GeneralPatton 22:25, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I don`t count your vote because you have been calling me cunt. Also I saw you were using ZDS Ustasha salutation which crosses every line of normal behavior. ] 09:52, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Here you go again, slander, insults half-truths and distortions. Well, you say ZDS is fascist, but you know ZDS as an abbreviation means Zagorska Demokratska Stranka (Zagorje Democratic Party), a moderate, centrist, regional party in Croatia. see for yourself @ zds.hr
- One of your many lies. Of course ZDS is that party also but you admitted using that Za Dom Spremni. And there are no comments about attacks? ] 16:41, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Here you go again, slander, insults half-truths and distortions. Well, you say ZDS is fascist, but you know ZDS as an abbreviation means Zagorska Demokratska Stranka (Zagorje Democratic Party), a moderate, centrist, regional party in Croatia. see for yourself @ zds.hr
- GeneralPatton, please stop those blatant ad hominem attacks. Igor would pass as a something of a hard-liner, but to describe Nikola like that is by and large unfair, let alone Avala. --Shallot 22:13, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Shallot, as Mir Harven has just shown, Nikola's agenda tends to be on the far fringe of the Serbian extremism. Some of his manipulations of facts are highly offensive to the Croats, Bosniaks and the Albanians, others are just an insult to the Misplaced Pages*s NPOV policy. But I do agree that Avala is far less radical, he doesn't spin the facts as much, but as others can attest, he*s having major problems communicating. Personally, I*d rather have Avala as an administrator than Nikola.--GeneralPatton 22:41, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Hmmm....I dislike this personality dissection, but a few things got to be stressed. I dont think that anyone should have the definite say- anytimes-if they entertain following notions, as NS has shown innumerable times. It's not nuances, but completely unacceptable Serbian chauvinist junk (pardon my French). He advocates/d:
- Shallot, as Mir Harven has just shown, Nikola's agenda tends to be on the far fringe of the Serbian extremism. Some of his manipulations of facts are highly offensive to the Croats, Bosniaks and the Albanians, others are just an insult to the Misplaced Pages*s NPOV policy. But I do agree that Avala is far less radical, he doesn't spin the facts as much, but as others can attest, he*s having major problems communicating. Personally, I*d rather have Avala as an administrator than Nikola.--GeneralPatton 22:41, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I don`t count your vote because you have been calling me cunt. Also I saw you were using ZDS Ustasha salutation which crosses every line of normal behavior. ] 09:52, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- that Serbs were essentially expelled from Kosovo during Tito rule and that Albanians succeeded to become majority in Kosovo province only after WW2. Lie. Albanians were the majority (ca. 60%) in Kosovo in the entire 20th century (as all censa had shown), and were subject to massacres during Balkan wars (Trotsky himself was a witness) and persecution during Royal Yugoslavia when Serbian settlers were intentionally settled on disposessed Albanian ex-properties. See for instance Cubrilovic and Andric plan for "making Kosovo Serb again".
- that Dubrovnik is "essentially" Serbian city and that only "Croatian nationalists" (and not the entire populace, Croatian authorities and the UN) opposed Serbian JNA's siege in 1992.+
- that Croatian language is a "stolen Serbian" (an opinion prevalent among only most extremist and most ignorant Serbian linguists-to their intellectual and professional detriment)
- that major part of Croatian culture is "essentially" Serbian (or Italian, in Dalmatia). Again, a mixture of chauvinism and ignorance about history, art history and general culture development
- that ca. 600,000 Serbs were murdered in Jasenovac concentration camp, while virtually all realistic estimates are bracketed between 50,000 and 85,000 of *all* victims (Serbs, Croats, Jews, Romany). The motive ? Bigger Serbian death toll, bigger Serbia in future as a sort of emotional-territorial compensation. Morbid ? Yes. That's the Greater Serbia mindset.
- that Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) are Islamized Serbs (false-he's ignorant of the complex process of islamization) and somehow "ethnic traitors". Srebrenica number of victims is inflated. Serbs did not start the war in Bosnia (although they got 99.999999999% of the artillery, ammo, tanks and everything back in 1992.)
- Serbs were ethnically cleansed from Croatia in Operation Storm. Never mind they fled, never mind that they cleansed 400.000 Croats in 1991., supported by JNA and Serbia proper. Never mind that negotiations were held to persuade to stay. They fled-like French from Algeria or Portuguese from Mocambique.
- Nikola Smolenski's expertise in history, historical linguistics and dialectology, history of art, history of literature, history of culture (architecture, paleography, ethnology, relevant historical sources and their status re credibility) is very, very meagre, and even such as is-it is completely selective and geared upon the achievement of the goal of spreading the propaganda for the Greater Serbia myths. It boils down to that Bosnia and Herzegovina and at least 70% of Croatia are, "essentially", Serbian and all Bosniaks and the majority (say, 70%) of Croats are, essentially, "Serbs"- the first category islamized, the 2nd catholicized.
Therefore- this nominee (the correct word ?) is, I guess, beyond remedy. Only complete change in attitude could make him acceptable. As it is now, the web of distortions, fabrications, illusions, ..is too much to stomach. Mir Harven 18:41, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- What is really worrying is that this nomination seems to be a part of some deal between Avala and Nikola based on their discussions on serb wikipedia it seems Avala got to be an administrator on Serb wiki but in return he apparently had to nominate Nikola on the English wiki. Nikola suggested the text of the nomination on the talk and then approved it on a separate page GeneralPatton 12:01, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Jerzy(t) 23:34, 2004 Jul 27 (UTC) Oppose, based on general recollection of past behavior, opinions of others with more specific recollections, and tone of the campaign for him.
- Oppose. This nomination is dumb, too. Cribcage 02:35, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Opposed. Apart from being a Serbian nationalist (IMO, not a disqualification per se), Mr. Smolenski doesnt bother to explicate his views which are Serbocentric to the extreme. Thanks to his "contributions" (not only his), the articles on Kosovo, Greater Serbia, various histories of neighboring countries....are distorted and very flawed in the passages where his handiwork can be detected. So, what could we get with him ? Serbian POV on ramapage. Censorship in favor of Serbian nationalist agenda, and enmity towards Bosniaks, Croats and Albanians as such. Not to mention that SYSOP should (I may be wrong) have a broader view on things, more general knowledge and interests- and, the vital point: more tolerance towards opposing views. No, it wouldnt be a good choice. Mir Harven 11:45, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Gentgeen 17:11, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Rmhermen 19:27, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC) Not at this time.
- Oppose because of a history of confrontational editing. I completely agree with Shallot's comment below. Zocky 00:05, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Neutral
- Dori | Talk 16:39, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC) (Close to oppose, see comments below)
- Acegikmo1 16:50, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC). I am going to look into what Dori says below. I may change my vote after that.
- Jwrosenzweig 16:53, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC) He seems to have done many good things here, but his behavior at Talk:Kosovo was borderline -- certainly it was far more polite than behavior I've seen elsewhere around here, but it wasn't exactly productive. The clincher for me is that Nikola said if the vote concerning naming conventions at Kosovo went against him, he'd just mark all affected pages with a factual dispute marker -- strikes me as a bit too petulant a response, and one that indicates he still work to do in terms of respecting consensus (a key part of being an admin). I am, however, open-minded, and interested to see other reactions -- perhaps I haven't seen enough of Nikola's work recently.
- I'm sorry, but I'd rather stay neutral for now.Ilyanep (Talk) 15:41, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Chris 73 | Talk 00:44, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC) (See comments below)
- 172 01:06, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC) At root of Nikola Smolenski's conflicts seems to be a Serb nationalist POV (not bad quality of judgment), which naturally makes him the odd man out in a site dominated by Westerners. Many admins also edit from a strong POV (often from a strong nationalist POV-- I can name names but I won't); the only difference is that their nationality is a bit more prevalent on Misplaced Pages, and their POV a bit more accepted.
- Shallot 09:40, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC). Like Dori, close to oppose, see comments below.
- Kim Bruning 16:47, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC) Needs a little more practice wrt using his own POV to his advantage. Might change to support in a couple of months if Nikola manages to get the hang of it.
Comments
I would be in the oppose, except that I have personally had some arguments with Nikola. He is a very POV editor. The evidence rests in many pages regarding the Balkans. The most egregious and non-admin-like act that I have seen from him involved him removing my announcements for a vote on the village pump, the RfC page, and the talk page of the article (Kosovo). This was done several times, and he was reverted by a couple of people. He then proceeded to ignore the result of the vote which he claimed was invalid. I can dig for the diffs if someone really feels the need to check for him/herself. Dori | Talk 16:19, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- I don`t know about that article, but maybe you were wrong. Also I have seen myself some situations where the vote is invalid(when voters are not from neutral side).Anyways it is nothing to compare with his great contributions and how well he worked to promote Misplaced Pages.] 16:28, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- The vote was perfectly valid, well advertised (despite his efforts to cover it up), and voted on by uninvolved users as well. Also, Nikola spends a good deal of time just reverting articles to his POV version. I don't consider him good admin material (or editor for that matter when it comes to certain kinds of articles). Though I won't deny his committment to the Misplaced Pages project. Dori | Talk 16:31, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- I will answer to this, when I have more time. Nikola 08:16, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
About Kosovo problem: Nikola was the part of edit war in that article. He is the user from Serbia, and I can say that his knowledge about Kosovo. Some users which argued didn`t see any difference between names Kosovo(short unofficial name), Kosova (local Albanian short name), Kosovo and Metohija. Many other users thought that he was pushing some weird POV but actually he was posting the right info. He was harsh though. As Misplaced Pages needs complete information, not just easier to write one, he wanted the name K&M to be used. Also some user disputed what is Kosovo and compared Kosovo and Metohija term with Kosova Republic term. First one is officialy used and the second one is proclaimed by separratists. After all I think that dispute is over and that we should all give him a support for his great contributions.] 17:10, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Me being also part of the Kosovo edit war, I would like to add some comments. I got involved when User:Dori dropped a note on the VP about a vote. After checking, I found that Nikola removed the vote three times (, , ), and unilaterally declared the vote invalid. A move of the page to Kosovo following the vote was reverted two (three?) times by Nikola. He also removed a Misplaced Pages:Requests for comment three times (, , ) I believe these actions go against proper Administrator behavior.
- On his good side, however, I would like to point out that in the following naming dispute he used proper channels, requesting page protections, and listing me (correctly, i have to admit) on Misplaced Pages:Requests for comment for using admin rollback to revert pages in the edit war (). To my knowledge he did not repeat such blunders as above. Also, I would like to point out that during the entire controversy he always used a polite and proper tone. The worst he called me was anti-serb, after I called him pro-serb. Nevertheless, I have my doubts about Nikola being an administrator. (Vote Neutral above) Chris 73 | Talk 00:44, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Nikola has been making worthy contributions all over the place, and yet he has also been involved in notable problem spots. In the controversial items that I've observed, most recent examples being Bokeljs and Greater Serbia, he has held a position directly opposed to User:GeneralPatton and User:Mir Harven, which is certainly useful for the dialectic nature of Misplaced Pages editing. However, this has since evolved into slow edit wars which are rather pointless, and he has not been eager to discuss various things in Talk, even less eager than Mir Harven (who generally gets dissed much more because of his emotional writing). I'm not particularly afraid that Nikola would abuse his sysop rights, because Misplaced Pages likely already has decent mechanisms to deal with such things and he would know better than to cross the line. But I am concerned whether it is a good idea to award people with privileges when they haven't shown a particular ability to handle emotional editing situations. We lowly Wikipedians should be able to rely on admins to be able to handle conflicts gracefully and use their elevated rights for the greater good. In this case, I don't think I could stop myself from second-guessing Nikola's decisions. Sorry! --Shallot 09:40, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Indeed, Nikola is still engaged in some perpetual edit wars, just look at Greater Serbia and Bokeljs, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. He refuses to compromise and find middle ground, and just reverts everything opposing his "agenda" without any serious discussion or sufficient fact based explanation. It’s like he’s working based on hard-line Serb nationalist Talking Points made by Dobrica Cosic.
I'm worried by the fact that the discussion looks like we decide whether or not to grant Nikola some political power. Sysops don't have a power, but have a technical ability to collect garbage with a bit less efforts. It's hard to abuse "sysop powers" - desysop'ing would be imminent and prompt, not to mention that sysop don't have any ability to make something really awful. I don't see real risks.
On the other hand, considering that Nikola has a bit special area of knowledge, he could recognise some vandalism, trolling, or simple disinformation that no other sysops see. He is very attentive to what he considers to be duty. Therefore, opposing him we just abandon an option to make Misplaced Pages a bit better.
However, of course, it's just my oppinion. I see and understand why some other wikipedians afraid that Nikola could be a troublesome sysop.
I don't have illusions, the nomination will definitely fail this time. He is maybe just a bit too young. Dr Bug (Volodymyr V. Medeiko) 22:30, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Questions for the candidate'
A few generic questions to provide guidance for voters, if you care to respond:
- 1. Have you read the section on Administrators?
- A. Now, yes :)
- 2. Are you interested in, and do you think you'll have some time to perform, the chores that only sysops have access to do, to help keep Misplaced Pages up to date?
- A. I am interested, though I have to say that I am not sure that I won't get bored later ;) My time varies; sometime, I could devote 8 hours per day, and sometime, I might be absent for weeks.
- 3. If you become a sysop, which sysop chore or chores (WP:VFD, recent changes, watching for vandals and vandalism, responding to editor requests for assistance, any other) do you especially think you would be able to help with.
- A. I think, VFD; I think that I could help about identifying foreign topics and their notability, and maybe RC; currently, I'm not following RC oftenly, but it might be interesting for me.
- 4. In your opinion, what article have you contributed the most succesfully and helpfully to?
- A. I think that my best contributions are new articles; I'd like to single out Book of Veles, subject relatively unknown in English world (when you google for it eight of ten hits on the first page are Misplaced Pages and its clones) and controversial, but I think presented in a NPOV manner and containing AFAIK the only translations of the book's text to English; Serbs, probably the most complete article on an ethnic group; and the short but sweet Ya; outside of the main namespace, Template:Europe and Misplaced Pages:Language recognition chart. But an already existing article to which I have contributed the best to would probably be Racak incident which seems to be the only non-disputed article about the whole Kosovo conflict; I'm sorry that I don't have time and nerves to contribute in the same way to other articles. I'd also like to mention User:Nikola Smolenski/Cyrillic tables, which is/will be a contribution to a lot of articles.
- 5. In your opinion, what has your best contribution to the running and maintenance of Misplaced Pages been? (i.e., have you reverted a bad stretch of vandalism, done extensive work categorizing articles, helped mediate a dispute?)
- A. I have reverted vandalism, but I can't recall of reverting a stretch of vandalism which was non-nationalist based. Few times I reverted a vandalism that was long-unnoticed. Maybe it could be said that my best contribution could be several removals of copyvio inserted to an article after its creation; it seems that most of the time only copyvio at the creation of articles is noticed.
- 6. Of your Misplaced Pages edits and experiences thus far, what is your biggest regret? What do you wish you'd done differently?
- A. I would surely fight Dori's vote in a smarter way.
- Thanks and good luck! -- Cecropia | Talk 05:21, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
List of works at the Bijeljina IT convention:
1st part
- Zoran Stefanovic: Values and limitations of Cyrillic in globalisation, on the example of Yugoslavian Internet
- Dr Stanislav Polic: Open Source and Cyrillic
- Marjan Conic: Serbian Orthodox Church on the Internet and localisation of programs
- Milorad Simic, institute for Serbian language of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts: Programming package RAS
- Nikola Smolenski: Program "Vucko" by Aleksandar Veselinovic - transliterator of HTML pages from Latin to Cyrillic
- Presentation of electronic catalogua and site of the national and university library of RS from Banjaluka
- Evelina Haca, Dusan-Vladislav Pazdjerski University of Gdansk, Poland: Serbian cyrillic on the Gdansk university
- Alaksandar Rakovic: Official state sites and Cyrillic
- Ljubisa Radovanovic: Overview of translated Windows programs
- Dusanka Novakovic and Olivera Mazibrada: Multimedia publication "Bijeljina"
2nd part
- Dragoljub Zbiljic: Activity of Society for protection of Cyrillic and Serbian language in last two years
- Dragoljub Zbiljic: Serbian language and script after Vuk
- Dragoljub Zbiljic: Short today's view of Serbian language and script
- Dragoljub Zbiljic: (Un)solved question of Serbian script in Serbian ortography
- Prof. Dr Nedeljko Bogdanovic, Faculty of Philosophy, Nis: From work of the Board for standardisation of Serbian language
- Mirko Gasovic: Proposal for a law of free access to information of public importance
- Mr Milan Secujski, Prof. Dr Vlado Delic, Darko Pekar and Radovan Obradovic, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Novi Sad: Automatic reading of texts on both scripts of Serbian language. Automatic speech synthesis based on text.
- Aleksandra Turanjanin, Dr Srbislav Bukumirovic, Dragan Turanjanin: Some questions and problems of Old Slavic and modern Cyrillic in multimedia publications
- Nikola Smolenski: Misplaced Pages in Serbian language and Cyrillic
- Nikola Smolenski: Method for searching and editing of Cyrillic texts in solutions which don't support Cyrillic
- Nikola Smolenski: Program Cyr-Lat for transliteration of Cyrillic texts in Latin
- Milutin Atanackovic: Multimedia publications of monasteries of eparchy of Ras and Prizren on Cyrillic
Dejan Skrebic: Presentation of Cyrillic translations of known programs
3rd part
- Ljubisa V. Jovanovic, prof.: Question of the script of Serbian language at the beginning of the third millenium
- Jelena Grmusa, Mathematical faculty, Belgrade: Use of Cyrillic script in the world of global communications
- Nenad Vuckovic, Dragan Turanjanin, Aleksandra Turanjanin: Multimedia chess primer on Serbian language and Cyrillic
- Dr Milos Malis, assistent on the Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade: First Serbian edition of "Atlas of human anatomy: 3D osteology"
User:Lupo (13/0/0) Ends 00:59, 2 August 2004
User:Lupo is an encyclopedia addict and on Misplaced Pages since 18 Dec 2003. He has 1713 mainspace edits and 2812 edits altogether. He is active in almost all areas of Misplaced Pages (WP:RCP, WP:CU, WP:FAC, VfD, WP:CP, WP:SD, etc.). He got three of his new articles on Did you know (Frankfurt kitchen, Short-horned Lizard, Amerigo Vespucci), and is currently working on turning Kitchen into a featured article. A calm and reasonable editor in exchanges with other editors. He has been nominated for adminship before on 25 Mar 2004, and the main objection was the lack of experience on Misplaced Pages. I believe he has now enough experience and would be an excellent admin. -- Chris 73 | Talk 00:59, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Thank you, Chris. I am honored and accept this nomination. Lupo 19:23, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Support
- Chris 73 | Talk 00:59, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Neutrality 03:35, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Spectatrix 06:17, 2004 Jul 26 (UTC)
- "A statement of trust and appreciation." Indeed. Cribcage 06:25, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- ] 10:08, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC) Teached one ex-communist resident about copyright-me.Thank you.
- Warofdreams 12:03, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Very good at maintenance. --Merovingian✍Talk 13:08, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC)
- Gentgeen 17:12, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Seems just what an admin should be. Quadell (talk) 18:33, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- Patient and polite character when dealing with problematic users is just what an admin should have. Also very good contributions and maintenance. --Romanm 21:21, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- blankfaze | (беседа!) 22:42, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Positive record, no abuses. Dr Bug (Volodymyr V. Medeiko) 22:53, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Kim Bruning 17:01, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC) Good at maintenance.
Oppose
Neutral
Comments
Questions for the candidate'
A few generic questions to provide guidance for voters, if you care to respond:
- Oh yeah. The standard questionnaire. My answering here does not relieve any responsible voter from checking my contributions him- or herself and form his or her own opinion.
- 1. Have you read the section on Administrators?
- 2. Are you interested in, and do you think you'll have some time to perform, the chores that only sysops have access to do, to help keep Misplaced Pages up to date?
- 3. If you become a sysop, which sysop chore or chores (WP:VFD, recent changes, watching for vandals and vandalism, responding to editor requests for assistance, any other) do you especially think you would be able to help with.
- Answer to (1), (2), and (3): I'm not running for a political office here, and neither am I applying for a job. I accepted the nomination because I'd be willing to expand some of my housekeeping activities a little bit if the community considers me trustworthy enough—getting the "janitor's keys" would allow me to do some of these chores myself instead of having to ask others to do them. I would have declined Chris's offer for a nomination if I wasn't familiar with the relevant reading list.
- 4. In your opinion, what article have you contributed the most succesfully and helpfully to?
- See the nomination statement by Chris, or check my selected contributions.
- 5. In your opinion, what has your best contribution to the running and maintenance of Misplaced Pages been? (i.e., have you reverted a bad stretch of vandalism, done extensive work categorizing articles, helped mediate a dispute?)
- Nothing spectacular. I'm helping out a little bit here and there.
- 6. Of your Misplaced Pages edits and experiences thus far, what is your biggest regret? What do you wish you'd done differently?
- Not having checked up on the nominator of my nomination back in March prior to nomination.
- Thanks and good luck! -- Cecropia | Talk 05:21, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- You're welcome. Lupo 12:14, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
User:Snowspinner (54/6/2) Ends 17:06, 31 July 2004
A good, good, good editor. Had the unfortunate experience of coming through RfA way too early. But he's a good deal more established now. He's eager and energetic and has already delved into chores-type activities. I can't think of a single non-admin Wikipedian right now that would be better suited for adminship. 2629 edits, been registered for 3 months, 6 days. - blankfaze | (беседа!)
- I accept. Snowspinner 17:18, Jul 24, 2004 (UTC)
Support
- blankfaze | (беседа!) 17:15, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Cribcage 17:19, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I thought he already was an admin! Full support, of course. Neutrality 17:20, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
I do believe Snowspinner is a he.Either way, I support. Mike H 17:21, Jul 24, 2004 (UTC)- It's still very early for my tastes (just above my personal minimum) but my interactions with Snowspinner convince me he'll make a fine admin. →Raul654 17:24, Jul 24, 2004 (UTC)
- Cyrius|✎ 17:46, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I said I expected to support after he'd been here 3 months, and ... -- Cecropia | Talk 18:46, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- David Gerard 19:51, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC) Hell yeah.
- Support strongly. Arminius 20:45, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- -"- --Romanm 20:58, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- VV 22:58, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Dpbsmith 23:11, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Most definitely. RickK 23:23, Jul 24, 2004 (UTC)
- Starx 23:25, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Couldn't agree more. Ambivalenthysteria 00:39, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- theresa knott 00:56, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Dori | Talk 01:22, Jul 25, 2004 (UTC)
- James F. (talk) 01:42, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- About time. —No-One Jones 01:43, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Hephaestos|§ 01:49, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Yes. An exceedingly worthy Wikipedian. - Mark 01:52, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I supported last time, so I guess I had a good reason for doing so :). anthony (see warning) 02:20, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- This guy's okay in my book. - Nat Krause 06:44, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Support -- Chris 73 | Talk 07:19, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Support 172 07:27, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Merovingian✍Talk 09:30, Jul 25, 2004 (UTC)
- Spectatrix 18:41, 2004 Jul 25 (UTC)
- Of course he should be an administrator. He is so nice... Lst27 20:18, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Sarcasm? Acegikmo1 21:11, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Of course this is not sarcasm. Snowspinner is a really nice guy... He supported my nomination in June, and when my nomination failed, he posted comments on and asked what I can do to get their support the next time... That is so nice... I am also impressed by his edits... How can anyone not support Snowspinner? --Lst27 02:08, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Acegikmo1 21:11, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- older≠wiser 21:52, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- --GeneralPatton 21:53, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Rhymeless 22:14, 25 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Definitely. SWAdair | Talk 06:26, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Warofdreams 12:00, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- - JCarriker 13:07, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC)
- Darn. I wanted to be one of your top 3 supporters. Missed first post, I guess. - Fennec (はさばくのきつね) 13:08, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Michael Snow (no relation) 18:16, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Support, just because I don't want to be in the same group as Avala; fractured logic like that could be contagious. j/k, snowspinner's great. - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 18:47, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC)
- What the...you're not an admin yet? Unbelievable! An excellent Wikipedian who carries himself well and makes great edits. Johnleemk | Talk 14:46, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Tεxτurε 17:43, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Ilyanep (Talk) 23:24, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC). Hate to ruin the nice even 40 :D
- Nunh-huh 23:36, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Love your work. —Stormie 01:14, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- Support. I'm sorry I overlooked your nomination earlier, Snowspinner. You have my unqualified support. David Cannon 10:37, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Gentgeen 17:14, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Quadell (talk) 18:39, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- MykReeve 19:32, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Cimon 22:56, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- snoyes 23:29, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Yes, of course. john k 02:07, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- ALargeElk | Talk 12:14, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- David.Monniaux 12:46, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- JFW | T@lk 12:57, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC) Avala's rioting is senseless.
- Kim Bruning 16:29, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC) You can tell a lot about a person from how they deal with their own mistakes.
Oppose
- ] 10:01, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC) - You have support of the GP, who calls other users "cunts", and uses fascist abbrevations. It is outrageous and I can`t get over it. My vote can still turn to yes but not under any condition, I am very sad to vote no because of third party, but I am affraid that users like GP will be able to continue with such behavior. ] 10:01, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- This very well may be the dumbest, dumbest, dumbest vote I've ever seen on RfA. Vote on the candidate's merit, not that of the people supporting him... blankfaze | (беседа!) 11:51, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I don`t want to be in the same group with such people as GP. And please don`t call my votes - dumb. We have no personal attacks policy in here.Avala 12:14, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Sorry, but that vote is dumb. If you don't want to be in the same group, then just don't vote at all! Voting against someone on account of something they have absolutely no control over and that relates in no way to their potential to be a good admin... makes you look like an 8-year-old. blankfaze | (беседа!) 12:52, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Just utterly baffled here. a) Who is GP? b) What actions, exactly, would you have wished and expected Snowspinner to take? Not taking sides, just puzzled. Dpbsmith 13:07, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- To answer your first question, Dpbsmith, I think "GP" means GeneralPatton. --Merovingian✍Talk 13:19, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC)
- On b) It looks like you are asking the question to blankfaze but presumably you mean avala. Pcb21| Pete 10:33, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- This thing with Avala has been going on for a while, for more see Misplaced Pages:Requests_for_comment/Avala. -- GeneralPatton 02:46, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Just utterly baffled here. a) Who is GP? b) What actions, exactly, would you have wished and expected Snowspinner to take? Not taking sides, just puzzled. Dpbsmith 13:07, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Sorry, but that vote is dumb. If you don't want to be in the same group, then just don't vote at all! Voting against someone on account of something they have absolutely no control over and that relates in no way to their potential to be a good admin... makes you look like an 8-year-old. blankfaze | (беседа!) 12:52, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I don`t want to be in the same group with such people as GP. And please don`t call my votes - dumb. We have no personal attacks policy in here.Avala 12:14, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I'll second the opinion that your vote is dumb. (A personal attack would be calling you dumb.) It's unfortunate you can't muster the maturity to separate one user's behavior from another's reputation -- but it's not surprising, reviewing your history. Glass houses, pal. Cribcage 18:07, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Well, I, for one, am glad. I think George Washington should be the only American to have the honor of being elected unanimously. Waitamminit, is Snowspinner even American at all? Rats, I should have asked him that before I voted! - Nat Krause 10:24, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Are you kidding?Oh, yeah, you are. The not funny thing kinda got to me for a minute, there. Mike H 15:16, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- This very well may be the dumbest, dumbest, dumbest vote I've ever seen on RfA. Vote on the candidate's merit, not that of the people supporting him... blankfaze | (беседа!) 11:51, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I oppose solely because people are jumping on Avala for opposing. Who cares? If he feels like opposing, then allow him that privilege. Frankly, I don't care what his reasons are. And anyway, Snowspinner has 40 votes in favor... I do expect people to jump on me for this one as well. And Cribcage -- have you even read the personal attack page? If I were to say, "articles written by Cribcage are dumb", that's obviously a personal attack... or, "every article written by ugen64 is racist"... ugen64 21:40, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)
- If it makes you feel better, I think your vote is just as dumb. Cribcage 02:38, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- No, dumber. At least Avala's was (peripherally) related to the current nomination. My discretion as a beaurocrat is to totally ignore both Avala's and this objection, and I recommend any other beaurocrat do the same. If this weren't such a landslide in Snowspinner's favor, I would make frivilous objections like this a serious policy matter. →Raul654 18:47, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- If it makes you feel better, I think your vote is just as dumb. Cribcage 02:38, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Oppose. . Lirath Q. Pynnor
- (Personal attack was "Snowspinner is a jerk." I feel that especially on voting records like this, confidence in the system requires transparency, and transparency requires not altering someone else's words. I also note that Misplaced Pages:Remove personal attacks was never passed, and so is not policy. -- orthogonal 23:51, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC))
- I think Lir should have been banned a long, long time ago -- but for the record, I don't like the idea of censoring others' comments, particularly on a ballot. Cribcage 02:43, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I don't think Ambi was out of line. It was an unsubtle and unequivocal personal attack, and was well justified under Misplaced Pages:Remove personal attacks. I'd have done it if it were any RFA other than my own. Snowspinner 13:50, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- But Misplaced Pages:Remove personal attacks was never passed; it's partly Snowspinner's reliance on non-policy policy that led to my vote. -- orthogonal 23:51, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- That's a reasonable point. Cribcage 19:53, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- But Misplaced Pages:Remove personal attacks was never passed; it's partly Snowspinner's reliance on non-policy policy that led to my vote. -- orthogonal 23:51, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I prefer to leave a link to the diff showing personal attack removal. But that's me. -Fennec (はさばくのきつね) 17:05, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I don't think Ambi was out of line. It was an unsubtle and unequivocal personal attack, and was well justified under Misplaced Pages:Remove personal attacks. I'd have done it if it were any RFA other than my own. Snowspinner 13:50, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- I think that Ambivalenthysteria should remove, or all personal attacks or none. ] 09:40, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Oppose. sorry snowy maybe next time!--Plato 22:00, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Reluctantly oppose. After reading User:Snowspinner/Avala Evidence, in which Snowspinner includes as "evidence" against Avala that Avala opposed Snowspinner's previous nomination here, and that Avala nominated a candidate Snowspinner finds unworthy, I'm worried that Snowspinner doesn't clearly enough distinguish between his personal opinions and Misplaced Pages policy, and is too likely to see mere differences of opinion as actionable "rule breaking". I say this as someone who also finds Avala difficult, and as someone who had planned to vote for Snowspinner both here and for ArbCom. -- orthogonal 22:54, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- My objection was not that Avala nominated a candidate that I find unworthy - it's that he does not seem to consider "engages in edit wars and deletes other people's polls" to be a reasonable grounds for opposition, while finding "I don't want to be on the same list as person X" to be reasonable, which is part of the larger problem of not respecting or engaging with the community of Misplaced Pages and its consensus and conventions. Since that's unclear, I'll edit the evidence page to make that clearer. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Snowspinner 23:07, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- Oppose, based on the tendency for confrontation and rash judgement evident on his edits to this page. Zocky 23:14, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- In the name of openess, I think, though I'm not sure, that what zocky is objecting to is that I removed a pair of nominations under the policy that obviously unsupported nominations may be removed. I did so because they were becoming exceedingly vicious and hateful, and, in the case of one of them, because it appeared to be posted by a sockpuppet and seemed designed to foster exactly the kind of flame war that it did foster. Were I an administrator, I would have done exactly this, and probably warned some people for personal attacks as well. I say this by way of saying that, yes, I am willing to be decisive in my actions. If something is causing a problem, I will attempt to fix it. I will note in my defense, however, that I did not remove the nominations once they were reinstated. I will be decisive - I will not be stubborn and insistent. Unless there's something else entirely that you're referring to here, in which case I confess curiosity as to what it is. Snowspinner 23:24, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- That is a part of it. Removing a nomination in less than 24 hours on an international website means that people from some parts of the world don't even get to see it. I call that rash judgement, yes. The other is including "Avala's limited fluency in English" as a reason to oppose his RFA. That's either a serious misunderstanding of Misplaced Pages (which I choose to believe) or a sneaky perpetuation of personal antipathy. I found both very undesirable in someone who is trusted with the Delete button.Zocky 23:44, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Limited fluency in English is a perfectly valid reason to oppose. This is the English Misplaced Pages. Admins especially should be fluent in the language as they must communicate frequently with other users. blankfaze | (беседа!) 23:48, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Honestly, I don't think the amount of time matters as much as you do... there's just no way that Avala's nomination is going to pass, and I think that was clear when I removed it. A nomination with 12 votes in opposition, which was what I think it had at the time, needs 40 supporters to pass. Only one RfA has ever passed 39 votes. It was not concievable that it was going to pass, no matter how many people had time to vote on it. Clearly there was disagreement with this. I stand by my decision, but I'm not rushing to take it down again, as I said. As for the other... I personally attribute a lot of Avala's seeming hostility to difficulty expressing himself in English. I find that a more sympathetic opinion than that he's a hothead. I think we're reacting to the same set of behaviors here, at least, though attributing different causes to it. Looking at my wording, though, i can see how it could be misinterpreted - I'll clarify. But both of those are neither here nor there, and I don't want this to turn into a lengthy debate on the matter. Feel free to bring it up with me on my talk page or on IRC if you want (And please do - I'm happy to explain myself). I just wanted to note that my approach towards this page regarding Avala's nomination and its removal would in fact be consistent with my approach towards conflict as an administrator, so that, should anyone else find it extremely objectionable, they would be aware and would vote accordingly. :) Snowspinner 23:54, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- OK, I think I'm entitled to the last word on my vote. Removing anything of consequence in less than 24 hours keeps even regular editors, who take time to follow the running of Misplaced Pages, out of the loop and denies the user's right to reply to objections.
- The other thing is, Avala's English is nowhere near as bad as you claim. I read all his comments on this page carefully. He has problems with articles and tenses, but so do most Slavic speakers. All his text is in fact perfectly understandable, if one reads it carefully. Zocky 01:08, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- That is a part of it. Removing a nomination in less than 24 hours on an international website means that people from some parts of the world don't even get to see it. I call that rash judgement, yes. The other is including "Avala's limited fluency in English" as a reason to oppose his RFA. That's either a serious misunderstanding of Misplaced Pages (which I choose to believe) or a sneaky perpetuation of personal antipathy. I found both very undesirable in someone who is trusted with the Delete button.Zocky 23:44, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- In the name of openess, I think, though I'm not sure, that what zocky is objecting to is that I removed a pair of nominations under the policy that obviously unsupported nominations may be removed. I did so because they were becoming exceedingly vicious and hateful, and, in the case of one of them, because it appeared to be posted by a sockpuppet and seemed designed to foster exactly the kind of flame war that it did foster. Were I an administrator, I would have done exactly this, and probably warned some people for personal attacks as well. I say this by way of saying that, yes, I am willing to be decisive in my actions. If something is causing a problem, I will attempt to fix it. I will note in my defense, however, that I did not remove the nominations once they were reinstated. I will be decisive - I will not be stubborn and insistent. Unless there's something else entirely that you're referring to here, in which case I confess curiosity as to what it is. Snowspinner 23:24, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC)
- It is a reluctant opposition and does not reflect any personal feelings I might have toward Snowspinner's past or continuing contributions to the site and project. However, I reviewed the evidence against Avala, and I felt that there were a number of occasions when an appeal to a broader community might have easily forestalled the animosity. Avala's English is not fluent, and he is a citizen of the former Yugoslavia. Consequently, some of his arguments were hampered by the language barrier, but, additionally, many of Snowspinner's misunderstandings were caused by not seeking out other, more fluent, English speakers from the area to help negotiate opinions. After a certain point, it seems like the fight was about the fighting, and not about any particular issue, article, or decision. That it reached such a point without outreach, without seeking the aid of neutral parties, does reflect somewhat poorly on Snowspinner's reactions to a belligerant fellow editor. Finally and ultimately, though, I feel that Snowspinner's time on Misplaced Pages is simply too brief. I say this not because I believe there is a magic number of days or edits, but because the motivation to move to administrator quickly worries me. If one's desire is based upon getting one's will, then it is bad. If one's desire is based upon changing the course of the project, that, too, is bad. If one's desire is to particpate in a social world of admins, then, I feel, the motivation is suspect. Only if the desire is based upon duty and a belief that the project is far more important than any of the project's participants is it appropriate. I do not in any way whatever mean to imply that I believe that Snowspinner's motives are bad. In fact, I think Snowspinner is a reasonable, intelligent, and dilligent contributor to the project who has shown himself of the highest commitment. Instead, I oppose because I feel that it takes a great deal of time as a regular user to show a person's continued perseverance and to establish how such a person will react to others in opposition. I do not think there is enough of a track record. Hoping by all means that I offer no offense and provoke only thought, Geogre 17:53, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Neutral
Well, after some consideration, I am compelled to oppose here. I do not often vote in such things, but I am not at all certain I agree with many of this user's views on WP administration, particularly regarding resolution of disputes without recourse to enforced procedure and regulations. Specific examples include Avala's RfAr evidence (which, while not containing any specific objections which would on their own disqualify a user from adminship, exemplifies my general feelings), and an opinion that mediation is not helpful; however, I also have a broad non-specific objection to hir general attitude and opinions in such matters. While adminship should be something bestowed upon anyone willing to enforce the community's decisions, rather than an ability to enforce one's own views, there is at present a certain status associated with adminship and it does result in one's own opinions, however inadvertantly, carrying more weight than a normal user's. I therefore cannot personally support adminship for those whose desired procedures differ so much from my own. —Lady Lysiŋe Ikiŋsile | Talk 00:27, 2004 Jul 29 (UTC)Having considered this further, I am changing my vote to neutral; not because my opinion has changed, but because I do not feel comfortable opposing a nomination on the grounds that I personally disagree with the direction the community is taking. The solution to the exhalted admin status seems to be in having more admins, not less. —Lady Lysiŋe Ikiŋsile | Talk 06:41, 2004 Jul 29 (UTC)- Guanaco 11:55, Jul 29, 2004 (UTC) For the same reasons as Lysine.
Comments
A few generic questions to provide guidance for voters, if I care to respond:
- 1. Have you read the section on Administrators?
- A. Yes.
- 2. Are you interested in, and do you think you'll have some time to perform, the chores that only sysops have access to do, to help keep Misplaced Pages up to date?
- A. Yes. Hell, I already do some of those chores. Now I can just speedily delete things myself instead of having to tag them and wait for someone else to do it. :)
- 3. If you become a sysop, which sysop chore or chores (WP:VFD, recent changes, watching for vandals and vandalism, responding to editor requests for assistance, any other) do you especially think you would be able to help with.
- A. I watch recent changes for vandal updates and either revert or tag them for speedy deletion. I intend to continue this. I track vandalizing users and report them frequently to ViP. I intend to continue this, and also to monitor ViP for reports that need to be dealt with.
- 4. In your opinion, what article have you contributed the most succesfully and helpfully to?
- A. At the moment, I'm pretty proud of 2004 Tour de France. I would be proud of Michel Foucault, but I got distracted before I really finished work on it. Oh, and Video game theory is pretty spiffy, though also in need of expansion. (Yes, I confess, I have a bad habit of writing half of an article before flitting off to some other task. But I really like the halves of articles I write!)
- 5. In your opinion, what has your best contribution to the running and maintenance of Misplaced Pages been? (i.e., have you reverted a bad stretch of vandalism, done extensive work categorizing articles, helped mediate a dispute?)
- A. Misplaced Pages:What is a troll. It didn't pass, and I'm sympathetic to people who say it needs more work (I intend to put that work in once the vote ends), but I think it's a great start towards a real problem.
- 6. Of your Misplaced Pages edits and experiences thus far, what is your biggest regret? What do you wish you'd done differently?
- A. Heteronormativity. I tried to settle a dispute between some users and wound up basically pouring gasoline on the fire, leaving the article still a mess. I should have stayed a bit cooler, and couched my objections in existant Misplaced Pages policies like verifiability. Big learning experience. Snowspinner 17:27, Jul 24, 2004 (UTC)
- Thanks and good luck! -- Snowspinner 17:27, Jul 24, 2004 (UTC)
There is one condition for my support. Could you give up of support (he supported you earlier) of User:GeneralPatton who called me "cunt", then he said "I will shit on your kings picture" etc. He used abbrevation ZDS of Ustasha movement, the fascist movement. Only thing I ask to give up of him and similar users to show that you are an example of dealing with such users and that you are ready to become an admin. ] 20:13, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- For more about Avala and his way of doing things see Misplaced Pages:Requests_for_comment/Avala.-- GeneralPatton 02:44, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I never requested comment of GeneralPatton attacks, for an example when he called me a cunt. ] 09:40, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- For more about Avala and his way of doing things see Misplaced Pages:Requests_for_comment/Avala.-- GeneralPatton 02:44, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I am uninterested in doing favors in return for support, for obvious reasons, however, to make clear, I have never supported personal attacks, and, in fact, actively oppose them, including GeneralPatton's attacks to Avala, as well as Avala's hostile responses. Personal attacks are against Misplaced Pages policy, and there is no excuse for them. Snowspinner 20:21, Jul 24, 2004 (UTC)
Favor? I just wanted to make things clear. I will be neutral for the next few days to see the situation and then I will decide. ] 20:26, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Maybe it's none of my business, but I'm curious since you announced it: What does "to see the situation" mean? Is it basically, "I like to follow the pack -- so if there's a consensus, that's how I'll vote"? Cribcage 06:20, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
For everybody's reference, the previous (failed) RfA can be found at . Snowspinner 22:30, Jul 24, 2004 (UTC)
Self nominations for adminship
- Self-nominators, please review the qualifications above. Many editors feel that self-nominees should "exceed the usual guidelines by a good measure," have an account name that is many months old and have many hundreds of edits. This is not to say that self-nominators are necessarily any less qualified than "sponsored" nominations; however, many editors use their knowledge of the nominator as a "jumping off" point for considering nominees, and it is human nature to be more skeptical of those asking for a position than those being proposed by others. If you self-nominate, a good solid background is therefore very important.
Requests for bureaucratship
- Request by Briseis moved to m:Requests for permissions.
Please add new requests at the top of this section (and again, please update the headers when voting)
Other requests
- Requests for permissions on other Wikimedia projects
- Requests for adminship or bureaucratship on meta
- Requests for self-de-adminship on any project can be made at m:Requests for permissions.
- Requests to mark a user as a bot can be made at m:Requests for permissions following consensus at wikipedia talk:bots that the bot should be allowed to run.
- Requests for comment on possible misuses of sysop rights