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Stewards/Elections 2013/Questions

< Stewards | Elections 2013
The following discussion is closed: This election is closed and these pages are an archive of that event.
English: Eligible voters (see application guidelines) can ask questions to all candidates on this page. Please keep questions as concise and relevant as possible. Candidates, please answer as briefly and simply as possible.

Per candidate

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Amqui

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Questions from Snowolf :

  • What timezone are you located it and when do you think you'd be active as steward (time of the day wise)? Snowolf How can I help? 20:49, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    UTC -7 during winter, UTC -6 during summer. Since I'm a wikiholic, I'm around Wiki and IRC a lot of times, mostly at night. Amqui (talk) 00:07, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • What do you see the role of a steward as? Snowolf How can I help? 20:49, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    The role of stewards is to perform bureaucrat tasks that cannot be perform on a local wiki because there isn't any active bureaucrats. They also have a global role. Such tasks include checkuser, blocks, giving admin rights, etc. They can also assist global sysop with sysops task on wikis without active sysops. I don't see the steward`s role as being of arbitration or conflict resolutions, but more in purely performing what had already been decided by local community consensus and discussions Amqui (talk) 00:07, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Have you ever dealt with issues on wikis in language different from those you speak? Snowolf How can I help? 20:49, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    I have been (or am) administrator on three Wikipedias that I don't speak the language (not including Wikipedias in Incubator). Please also refer to my previous answer, as I don't see the role of steward has taking any decisions instead of local wikis, the language issues is not that critical. Amqui (talk) 00:07, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    What I mean is that language issues are not critical to me in order to be able to perform steward's work, not that I don`t give importance to language issues, which is obviously the inverse since I'm very active in Canada in efforts to preserve endangered languages and worked with Google Endangered Projects with the goal to set up a cooperation with Wikimedia. I'm actively learning Spanish at this time to try to move from es-1 to es-2. I don`t underestimate the importance of languages in working crosswiki-wise in any way, but am confident that issues regarding languages won`t be critical for me when working on any project. Amqui (talk) 04:17, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Rschen7754 :

Questions from Quentinv57 :

  • Dear Amqui, Please consider the following hypothetical situation. Please describe and detail how you would handle this if you were elected as a steward, and try to answer it without asking somebody for more information. Please note that these senarios are not taken from real-life situations but are purely fictional stories. Thanks by advance -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:04, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    A sysop from sl.wikipedia.org contacts you on IRC, to tell you that a bureaucrat promoted an account to sysop without any vote or local decision. He tells you that, judging on his on-wiki discussions, the contributor has become mad. He asks you to be as descrete as possible as he’s afraid that the bureaucrat will remove his sysop status if he publicly oppose him.
    First, I would be polite with the sysop on IRC and ask him to give me couple minutes to check that while warning him that the issue would most likely not being solve immediately. Then, I would check the history of actions on sl.wp to make sure that the facts mentioned are true (I would also check that the user on IRC is indeed a sysop on sl.wp). If they are (which assumed they are in your scenario), I would privately contact the concerned bureaucrat on sl.wp to ask him where is the vote (or the community consensus depending on the policies on sl.wp) for the election of the other sysop, and if there isn`t why he has granted him the admin rights without community discussion. I would suggest him to remove the admin rights to this user and go through the proper process. The rest of the scenario would depends of his answer and actions. This is obviously if there isn`t any emergencies nor massive abuse from any of the sysop involved. Amqui (talk) 22:59, 2 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for answering, Amqui. And what if he doesn't answer you and ignores your warning ? -- Quentinv57 (talk) 10:03, 3 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    I will check if he is active or not, to know if he only ignores me or he is absent. I will check if there are other active bureaucrats on this project and let them know of this issue with this bureaucrat. (I'm still trying to answer without getting input from anybody else as you asked, but at this point I would obviously seek some advice from other stewards on IRC.) In my opinion, if nobody answer I would open a community discussion myself on the project to seek advice from the community. Amqui (talk) 18:49, 7 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • If you are elected as a steward, which tasks will you mainly handle ? Which ones are you sure you won't handle ? Why ? -- Quentinv57 (talk) 10:03, 3 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    I would handle mainly requests for change of permissions and other miscellaneous requests made on Meta at first. I don`t refrain myself from any task, and would surely increase the variety of the tasks I perform with time. Amqui (talk) 18:49, 7 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Teles :

  • Concerning procedures and rules related with stewards activities, what is "emergency" in your opinion? Can you provide an example?—Teles «Talk to me ˱@ L C S˲» 19:36, 7 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    The main emergency I can see are the ones where private or personal info are put online on one of the projects (either by mistake by the person himself or by somebody else with or without bad intent). Other than that, massive continuous spam or vandalism accross projects that won't stop if no actions are taken would also constitute emergencies to a certain degree (example: a spam-bot that post on several projects, if not stopped soon will require more work to clean/revert everything). Also, vandalism to highly visible pages could also be considered emergencies, but projects with those kind of pages often have their own sysop and crats to take care ot it. That's only my personal view, I'd like to hear what other people think about that question. Amqui (talk) 21:27, 7 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Ansei: Please help us get a glimpse of your good judgment.

  1. Do you look forward to being an active catalyst for consensus-building, especially in small wiki contexts?
    Consensus have to arise from the community, in my opinion it's not the role of any stewards to weight in in communities' decision especially in small wikis. They can obviously share their concerns from their point of view, but should leave the discussion and the decisions to the communities themselves. If I'm personally active in the building of a consensus, I will not act as the steward to implement this particular decision. I will of course, be always there to give advice to anybody who ask me. Amqui (talk) 20:42, 10 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Do you see your role as a passive bystander with a few tools?
    If the tools are not used, they are not very useful in my opinion. I intent to use the tools I have to the fullest of my capacity and to improve the range of my activities with time and experience. Amqui (talk) 20:42, 10 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Are you able to make balanced guesses about why, when and how "it is better not to reach than to go too far"? --Ansei (talk) 20:52, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    I think I am, but will always be open to constructive criticism and recommendations from others on that topic, or any other. Amqui (talk) 20:42, 10 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Please feel free to ask more questions if you think my answers were too brief, thanks, Amqui (talk) 20:42, 10 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, Amqui. Thank you. Your responses help me discover who you are. You show understanding of the difference between being "personally active" and what it means to "act as a steward". Your answers help us to make better guesses about how you will think and act in the future. --Ansei (talk) 17:40, 12 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Arbitrarily0

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Questions from Ajraddatz :

  • Hello. You last ran for steward in the 2011-2 election, but were not elected due to a lack of cross-wiki experience and being monolingual. What steps have you taken, if any, to rectify these concerns? Ajraddatz (Talk) 12:34, 26 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Since 2011 my work has greatly diversified - I am more actively involved across a range of wikis, rather than just at en-wiki. It should be duly noted by voters, however, that my only language is English. Arbitrarily0 (talk) 14:23, 26 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Snowolf :

  • Stewards implement technical changes on projects which lack the mechanics to do so themselves, when directed by the local community. Responding to cross-wiki emergencies is an exception to this, but in general, stewards exist to neutrally support small wikis. Arbitrarily0 (talk) 16:39, 2 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • The Stewards' scope is global in nature and spans well over 700 wikis, most of them small wikis. Are you active or have you ever been active on a small wiki? If not, do you think this would hinder you in dealing with them? Snowolf How can I help? 12:44, 30 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from PiRSquared17:

Questions from Quentinv57 :

  • Dear Arbitrarily0, Please consider the following hypothetical situation. Please describe and detail how you would handle this if you were elected as a steward, and try to answer it without asking somebody for more information. Please note that these senarios are not taken from real-life situations but are purely fictional stories. Thanks by advance -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:06, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    A sysop from the french Wikinews sends you a private mail with the following text :
    « Bonjour. J’ai commencé à contribuer à Wikinews en 2008, lorsque la communauté était presque encore inexistante. Depuis ce temps, celle-ci a beaucoup évolué, et les nombreuses tensions dont je suis victime m’ont forcé à abandonner. J’ai fait mon possible et ai toujours été ouvert à la discussion, mais les nouveaux arrivants n’ont pas l’air de vouloir coopérer et je m’avoue être dépassé face aux évènements. C’est pourquoi je vous demande si, en tant que steward, vous pourriez suspendre mes outils d’administrateurs. Merci. »
  • As I am a poor reader (and even worse writer) of French, I would first consult a French speaking steward. I would predict, however, that this query lands outside of the role of stewards. It seems that fr.wikinews may have the technical capabilities needed to handle this issue, but even if not, stewards are only to act alongside local community consensus, barring emergencies. Arbitrarily0 (talk) 16:59, 2 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Nice. French-speaking steward translates :
    « Hi. I began contributing on the french Wikinews in 2008, when there was almost no community. Now it has evolved, and I am a victim of numerous tensions which led me to withdrawn. I've made what was possible for me and was always open to discussion, but the new users don't want to cooperate. I'm overtaken by events, and that's why I'm asking you if, as a steward, you could remove my sysop tools. Thanks. »
    What would you do now ? Thanks. -- Quentinv57 (talk) 10:27, 3 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Teles :

Questions from Ansei: Please help us get a glimpse of your good judgment.

  1. Do you look forward to being an active catalyst for consensus-building, especially in small wiki contexts?
  2. Do you see your role as a passive bystander with a few tools?
  3. Are you able to make balanced guesses about why, when and how "it is better not to reach than to go too far"? --Ansei (talk) 20:53, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Bletilla

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Questions from Snowolf :

  • You have been a sysop on the Japanese Wikipedia since February 2008. However in these 5 years you have done only 127 logged administrative actions. May I ask the reasons behind such a low level of activity and what motivates you to seek an additional workload? Snowolf How can I help? 20:36, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • In my opinion, 127 logged administrative actions does not mean that I have read and edited 127 times only. I read Japanese Wikipedia almost everyday. I do not think I have to do something as a sysop whenever I read them. So I do not think my activity is in low level. My motivate is my hope for better and better Wikipedia in the world.
    That makes an average of one admin action every 14 days. Of these only 5 deletions and 5 blocks. Considering there are currently over ten pages tagged for deletion, this not a lot. Is there any particular reason for this low number? What experience as a sysop do you think will be useful to you as a steward? What do you mean by "being a coordinator"? Savhñ 14:39, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • What timezone are you located it and when do you think you'd be active as steward (time of the day wise)? Snowolf How can I help? 20:50, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • I live in Tokyo, Japan and Japan is UTC+9. Because my job is shift work, I would be active in irregularity.
  • Most of the steward activity either stems from IRC or is often discussed there, if you are not currently active in #wikimedia-stewards, do you plan on becoming active? Snowolf How can I help? 20:50, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • I began action in #wikimedia-stewards.
  • What do you see the role of a steward as? Snowolf How can I help? 20:50, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • A steward should change any and all user rights and groups and solve problems including vandalism and confrontation.
  • The Stewards' scope is global in nature and spans well over 700 wikis, most of them small wikis. Are you active or have you ever been active on a small wiki? If not, do you think this would hinder you in dealing with them? Snowolf How can I help? 20:50, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • No, I have not been active in any small wiki yet. No, nothing would hinder me at that time.
  • Have you ever dealt with issues on wikis in language different from those you speak? Snowolf How can I help? 20:50, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • Unfortunately, I have never done it. Because I am good at coordination, there would be no problems, especially in English.

Questions from Rschen7754 :

  • It's been noted that you do not have control over Bletilla@ruwiki or enwiki. What will you do if you need to perform a steward action there? --Rschen7754 08:37, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • I was told that I had got Bletilla@enwiki. There will be no problems on English Wikipedia to perform a steward action. I want to have Bletilla@ruwiki but I do not know how to get it. For the time being, I will ask other stewards having a local account when there would be a problem.
  • Piggybacking off Snowolf's question, I noticed that you only have 7404 edits globally over roughly 7 years. Is there any particular reason for this? --Rschen7754 09:40, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • I have no particular reasons. I have only edited 7404 times as Bletilla and my edits ought to be more and more as other local accounts.

Questions from Teles :

Questions from Pmlineditor :

Questions from Quentinv57 :

  • Dear Bletilla, Please consider the following hypothetical situation. Please describe and detail how you would handle this if you were elected as a steward, and try to answer it without asking somebody for more information. Please note that these senarios are not taken from real-life situations but are purely fictional stories. Thanks by advance -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:07, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Somebody contacts you on your meta user talk page to ask you if you could handle his request at SR/SUL page, which has been unhandled for weeks. On the SUL conflict resolution page, there is indeed a request asking for a user account to be usurped on ja.wikipedia.org, pl.wikibooks.org and rw.wiktionary.org. How and under which conditions will you handle these requests ?

Questions from Ansei: Please help us get a glimpse of your good judgment.

  1. Do you look forward to being an active catalyst for consensus-building, especially in small wiki contexts?
  2. Do you see your role as a passive bystander with a few tools?
  3. Are you able to make balanced guesses about why, when and how "it is better not to reach than to go too far"? --Ansei (talk) 20:53, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

BRUTE

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Questions from Snowolf :

Questions from Bencmq :

  • Do you use your admin tools on small wikis, if you see there are active administrators? --Bencmq (talk) 04:51, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • I always try to refrain from interfering with the local communities if there are active administrators. But sometimes local administrators don't respond to a case when quick actions (such as blocking) are needed. In such an emergency situation, if there is a clear evidence of vandalism/spamming, I'd prefer blocking the responsible account myself. –BruTe talk 15:05, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • If you become a steward, you will have admin tools on all wikis. Will you use them on non-GS wikis? --Bencmq (talk) 04:51, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • As I said above, I don't use my GS tools on projects that have active administrators. Non-GS wikis' communities should have been active enough to have a quick reaction against vandalism and spamming and protect the best interests of their projects. That is why I will not have to use my tools on non-GS projects; this does not include managing user rights and checking users because there are many non-GS wikis that have no local bureaucrat or checkusers. –BruTe talk 10:22, 26 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Quentinv57 :

  • Dear Brute, Please consider the following hypothetical situation. Please describe and detail how you would handle this if you were elected as a steward, and try to answer it without asking somebody for more information. Please note that these senarios are not taken from real-life situations but are purely fictional stories. Thanks by advance -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:08, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    A user on the english Wikipedia aproaches you privately because he inserted his credit card number in his user page without willing it. As this information is really critical, he urges you to remove this private information as soon as possible. Unfortunately it’s the wrong time and you’re the only steward available.

Questions from Ansei: Please help us get a glimpse of your good judgment.

  1. Do you look forward to being an active catalyst for consensus-building, especially in small wiki contexts?
  2. Do you see your role as a passive bystander with a few tools?
  3. Are you able to make balanced guesses about why, when and how "it is better not to reach than to go too far"? --Ansei (talk) 20:54, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • I think stewards should always stay neutral. Their task is just to implement a local community decision but not to override it. Any user can freely share his/her point of view, including stewards, but this should never be done from the role of a steward.
    • Stewards are not only responsible for granting rights and blocking global vandals. They should also use their judgment when the abuse takes place, so, NO, I don't see myself in the role of a passive bystander.
    • it is better not to reach than to go too far when it's impossible to avoid conflicts of interest or we are not impartial enough to the decision. –BruTe talk 11:18, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, BruTe. Thank you. Your responses help me discover who you are. You can imagine situations which test your ability to be "impartial enough to the decision". Your answers help us to make better guesses about how you will think and act in the future. --Ansei (talk) 20:48, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Ahonc:

If you have ru-2 why do you have no statement in Russian?--Anatoliy (talk) 21:45, 12 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry for the late answer, now translated. My Russian is not perfect and there might be some mistakes. :-) Thank you. –BruTe talk 17:01, 22 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Cekli829

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Questions from Rschen7754 :

Thanks for the question. Beko said, Հակահայկական պահվածք և վանդալություն. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 10:06, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
You didn't actually answer the question tho. Rschen is perfectly capable of looking up the log. They're asking you to explain what led to the block. Snowolf How can I help? 15:01, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Can you at least translate this Armenian message "Հակահայկական պահվածք և վանդալություն"? Why did you write "Va siyaan işi lima pat" on some talk pages? What does this mean? Can you translate [1] into English? Can you explain why you and Beko were adding and removing images of flags on your userpage? (example: [2])? What exactly was the reason for your block? πr2 (t • c) 15:31, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
To add to that, I can't read your mind and understand your point of view. Was the block justified? If so, have you learned anything from it? etc. --Rschen7754 18:04, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
This is a problematic block (Armenia and Azerbaijan are in conflict). I was blocked because I placed flag of Azerbaijan in my user page:))) --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 06:04, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Bencmq :

Yes, you're right. Last time, my english is so advanced. I did about the change: [3] --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 10:16, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Savh :

  • As I can't possibly understand your statement, I'd like to know whether you think you have learned something from your past mistakes. If you are not willing to speak English, how are other users supposed to contact you? What would you do if I wrote to you in Spanish or in Dutch? Savhñ 14:26, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  You asked a very good question. The answer to your question is as follows: then you may need the help of Google Translate. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 14:57, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
You should know that Google translator is far from perfection and contains lots of mistakes. Please, show some more respect to the users that are making questions. It appears that you are not giving enough importance one should give to this election. You were not forced to apply. If you don't bother to spend such a short time by answering these questions, don't take other people time.—Teles «Talk to me ˱@ L C S˲» 16:55, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I understand you. I agree. However I would like to serve as a Wikimedia steward. I know the technical sense to do so. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 07:02, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
@Cekli829: Would you mind (seriously) answering the other questions as well? It seems to me you don't understand you are the candidate, and that it is in your interest to respond the questions right and to make your statement understandable. If you are only here to make a point by refusing to correctly answer questions and to translate your statement into the main language used by the overall Wikimedia community (which is not my mother tongue either), please just move on and withdraw this request. Savhñ 17:24, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
@Savh: Thank you for your attention! I would like to support other your favorite candidates. Please support all candidates of your trust with your vote! --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 07:23, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
@Cekli829: You have diverted the question again, answering to Savh unwisely. Likewise, it seems you have shrugged off the matter so far; you're clearly taking it lightly. I believe, with such behaviour, you will be scarcely elected. --Frigotoni ...i'm here; 14:24, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
@Frigotoni: I respect your ideas. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 04:27, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Pmlineditor :

Although primarily theoretical, partly practical ways and etc... --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 14:25, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
That's extremely vague and doesn't answer the question at all. If you don't understand, please answer these questions: what's different from last time? Have you worked to solve problems and concerns about your last election? πr2 (t • c) 14:32, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
For example, en-1 → en-2. I worked according to the technical point of view. I'm member of the Small Wiki Monitoring Team. I'm trying to constantly WP development. For example, I have been doing quite a bit of work organizing stuff below on Commons Category:Stamps and uploaded several hundred files on that topic. The most important problem on hy.wikipedia (for example, there block). --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 15:28, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
May we know what you did exactly as a member of the SWMT ? Can you give some links showing some active and consistant cross-wiki work ? Thanks by advance. -- Quentinv57 (talk) 11:55, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
For example, [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] etc. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 15:29, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the quick answer. -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:48, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Philosopher :

Wikipedia is a project dedicated to the building of free encyclopedias in all languages of the world. I'm opposed merely to english domination on WP. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 14:22, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Again, you didn't really answer the question. How would this affect your work as a steward, if at all? πr2 (t • c) 14:32, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
It does not have a negative impact. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 04:29, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Can you please be more specific? What do you think would be a "negative impact"?--Jasper Deng (talk) 04:32, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Inefficient use of time spent in WP. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 04:42, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Do you believe that your belief would cause you to be biased when acting in the role of steward?--Jasper Deng (talk) 04:44, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Bias opposite to me, stewards should always be neutral. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 04:51, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Filzstift :

  • I tried to translate your text into German. Some parts are unclear (my Dutch colleague had the same problems). I discovered, you used Google Translate to translate parts of your Azerbaijani text to English. My main problem is the following part: "Belə ki, fəaliyyətimin daha da təkmilləşməsində, peşəkar bir vikiçi kimi formalaşmağımda seçkilərin mühüm rolu vardır." You ""translated" it to "Thus, further improvement of activity, such as a professional wikipedist completeness has an important role in the elections.". But this sentence makes no sense. The sentence "Since March 27, 2009 I remain active on wiki projects. About the 872 possible accounts of the project site - almost all of the sites is turned on." is also unclear. Could you explain what you wanted to say? Thank you very much. --Filzstift (talk) 18:30, 24 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your help, in the translation. I will try to correct defects noted in statements. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 04:55, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Jasper Deng :

I have enough time to devote Wikipedia. Local bureaucrats are responsible for granting sysop, bureaucrat, and bot rights. Stewards should only grant these rights on a project if there are no active bureaucrats available on that project. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 04:47, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Quentinv57 :

  • Dear Cekli829, Please consider the following hypothetical situation. Please describe and detail how you would handle this if you were elected as a steward, and try to answer it without asking somebody for more information. Please note that these senarios are not taken from real-life situations but are purely fictional stories. Thanks by advance -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:10, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    You just received a new mail, with the following content :
    « Dear Cekli, I’m an editor on the chinese Wiktionary for two years, and was blocked today without any valid reason. The administrator did this only because I told him at this user talk page that I did not agree with him on some editorial points. I sent him a mail, and he refuses to answer. The other admins have not reacted yet, because they are busy or didn’t see this. Please do the necessary to resolve this unfair problem. Thanks. »
  • Sorry Quentinv57, 2 days later I answered because I'm not in the virtual world. First, I would like to offer: to ensure transparency; stewards should use their judgment to avoid conflicts of interest, situations where they are not impartial to the decision. Generally stewards should not override consensus, such as whether or not a user should be given a particular user right. Their task is to implement valid community consensus within the bounds of the Foundation's goals. Because, discussion of steward actions should occur on Meta, rather than privately, so editors can understand the stewards' decisions... --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 09:28, 4 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Teles :

Questions from Ansei: Please help us get a glimpse of your good judgment.

  1. Do you look forward to being an active catalyst for consensus-building, especially in small wiki contexts?
  2. Do you see your role as a passive bystander with a few tools?
  3. Are you able to make balanced guesses about why, when and how "it is better not to reach than to go too far"? --Ansei (talk) 20:55, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  1. I think stewards should always stay neutral. Their task is just to implement a local community decision but not to override it. However in cases where guidance is needed I will be more than happy to help, especially in small communities.
  2. No. No way. I don't see myself in the role of a passive bystander.
  3. Unfortunately, this did not quite understand your question. But as much as I understand it, the answer is probably yes. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 10:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Sən kimsən? Bu sözləri istifadə edin
Azərbaycan dilində sual verdiyiniz üçün minnətdaram. Mən kiməm? Cavabım guman ki, təvazökarlıqdan çox uzaq olacaq. Bir vikiçi kimi mən
  • əvvəlki illərlə müqayisədə indi daha ədalətli yaxşı hökm verə bilirəm;
  • mümkün olduqca aktiv fəaliyyət göstərirəm;
  • müəyyən vaxtlarda katalizator rolunu öhdəmə götürə bilirəm;
  • Lazım gələrsə, bağışlayın - bu o, The legendary folk hero deyil;) lazım gələrsə, ümumi işin xeyrinə konsensus əldə etməyim mümkündür;
  • çox nadir hallarda passiv ola bilərəm ki, bu da internetsiz qaldığım dövrlərdə və s. vaxtlarda mümkündür;
  • aktiv bir tamaşaçı olmağı passiv oyunçu olmaqdan daha əhəmiyyətli hesab edirəm;
  • məncə suallarınıza kifayət qədər balans formasında cavab verdim.

Hörmətlə, --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 10:40, 20 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Irada: In 2011, when I blocked you in Azerbaijani Wikibooks for your edit warning, you started insulting me on my talk page on Wikipedia (I translated only names of your topics):

Now tell me, can any user, especially administrator do that, especially if he wants to be a steward? Moreover, you did not ask forgiveness. But you require from me to ask for forgiveness. --Irada (talk) 13:10, 10 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

İradə xanım, ilk əvvəl seçkiyə diqqət ayırdığınız üçün təşəkkür edirəm. Azərbaycan dilini bildiyinizi nəzərə alaraq, ingiliscə cavab vermək fikrində deyiləm. Onsuz da ingiliscəni zəif bilirəm. Amma tənqidləri təhqir hesab etməyinizdən belə görürəm ki, Azərbaycan dili ilə bağlı da problemləriniz var. Yoxsa, hazırda idarəçisi olduğunuz Azərbaycandilli Vikikitabda rus, ingilis və yaxud da başqa dillərdə, əksər hallarda vikiqaydalara zidd olan səhifələrin olmasına şərait yaratmazdınız. Nəzərinizə çatdırım ki, 2011-ci ildəki hadisə barədə mövqeyim dəyişməyib və dəyişə də bilməz. Çünki mövqeyim vikiqaydalara tam uyğundur. Məni bloklayarkən, səbəb kimi "Redaktələr müharibəsi" qeyd etmişdiniz. Amma heç bir halda elə bir fəaliyyətim olmamışdır. Çünki mən üç dəfə geri çəkmək qadağasını pozmamışdım. Əksinə redaktələr müharibəsini özünüz apararaq, statusunuzdan özbaşına istifadə edirsiniz. Vikikitabdakı məqalələrin müvafiq qaydalara zidd olması və Sizə doğru yolu göstərərkən, əksinə hərəkət etməyiniz, hazırda o layihənin biabırçı bir vəziyyətə düşməsi ilə nəticələnmişdir. Sizin o layihədə bir idarəçi kimi qüsurlu fəaliyyətiniz kifayət qədər zəngindir. Bu faktlardan da bunu görmək olar: [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] və s. Bəli, Xocalıya ədalət (Justice for Khojaly) lazımdır! Amma Sizin fəaliyyətinizdəki kimi yox! Bəli, www.milli.az saytında da qeyd etdiyiniz kimi bir zamanlar Vikimənbədə də buna "nail olmuşdunuz". Amma indi oradakı vəziyyətə baxın görək? Son olaraq onu da nəzərinizə çatdırım ki, əleyhimə nə qədər qara piar aparsanız da gec-tez mən stüard olacağam. Çünki hər seçki fəaliyyətimin daha da təkmilləşməsi ilə nəticələnir. Yeganə problemim dil problemidir. Onu da inşallah, vaxtı çatanda aradan qaldıracağam. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 13:41, 17 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You did not answer my question. --Irada (talk) 10:16, 18 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Mən Sizin sualınıza cavab verdim. Sadəcə Sizə belə cavab sərf etmir. --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 10:21, 18 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Ahonc:

If you have ru-2 why do you have no statement in Russian?--Anatoliy (talk) 21:49, 12 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Ru-N на уровне перевода, которая была бы лучше. (Ru-N səviyyəsində bilən birinin tərcümə etməsi daha məqsədəuyğun olardı.) --►Safir yüzüklü Ceklimesaj 13:45, 17 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Ezarate

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Questions from Snowolf :

Hi, I live in Argentina (UTC-3), and I often edit (except the thast days because I am in Mar del Plata enjoying my vacations) on morning, afternoon and if I can on the evening.
I am member of the IRC team of eswiki and I am often connected on IRC (also in #wikimedia-stewards)
A steward may help to the communities (specially small and new wikis) doing the tasks that the community ask. A steward must analize the local consensus and proceed acording it.
  • The Stewards' scope is global in nature and spans well over 700 wikis, most of them small wikis. Are you active or have you ever been active on a small wiki? If not, do you think this would hinder you in dealing with them? Snowolf How can I help? 20:48, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I am active on eswikibooks (I am an administrator there) and I supervise (but I have very few edits) the Aymara Wikipedia, the portuguese, francaise and others wikinews and other wikis (using the capabilities of #cvn-sw IRC channel)
I try to do all that I can on all wikis, specially countervandalism and fix edits

Best Regards Snowolf Esteban (talk) 01:13, 22 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Quentinv57 :

Hi Quentin, I tried to do more crosswiki editions, I got the globalrollback flag, I did some countervandalism edition in some wikis specially in eswikibooks where I got the local admin flag and often check differents wiki to prevent vandalism. Best Regards!!! Esteban (talk) 12:23, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

PS: It is neccesary to mention the later elections to stewards? I didn't see it neccesary Esteban (talk) 12:23, 25 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

  • Dear Ezarate, Please consider the following hypothetical situation. Please describe and detail how you would handle this if you were elected as a steward, and try to answer it without asking somebody for more information. Please note that these senarios are not taken from real-life situations but are purely fictional stories. Thanks by advance -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:16, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    While on IRC, you received a request on the #wikimedia-stewards channel from a trusted cross-wiki patroller, asking you to lock some spambots he detected. He also wants them to be checked and globally blocked to prevent further abuse.
Hi Quentin: In that case first I'll check if the request is true, the damage that the bot is causing and the numbers of wikis affected. If the problem is in one of two wikis, the problem is isolated and may solved with local blocks, in that case I'll try to contact local admins to report the problem or in case of small wikis without actives sysop I'll block the spambot to stop the damage. If the spam is global then I'block the global account of the bot. Regards Esteban (talk) 00:26, 2 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thanks for answering, Esteban. Sorry for my numerous questions, but I really need to be convinced to make my choice and that's why I need further information. In which areas do you plan to work if elected as a steward ? Which tasks will you handle, and which tasks are you sure you will not handle ? Why ? -- Quentinv57 (talk) 13:01, 4 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
If I elected steward, I'll try to do all the tasks that a steward is able to do, specially manage users flags (assign and remove flags according to local consensus on the wikis). I know all the tasks that a steward handle and I'll try to colaborate where I can Esteban (talk) 19:33, 4 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Teles :

lock: A user can't login on the Wikimedia projects. Actually is used to prevent the vandalism only accounts.
block:A user can't edit on the Wikimedia projects. Actually is used only on Ips to prevent vandalism. Ip blocking is actually the only form of global block that is technically possible
  • You are on stewards' channel on IRC (#wikimedia-stewards) and somebody asks you to make an oversight. Can you describe how would you answer to this user? Can you give also two examples on which you consider necessary to oversight a revision? Thanks.—Teles «Talk to me ˱@ L C S˲» 09:38, 3 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
First, I ask to the user why he wants to oversight the edition, if the reason is valid, according to the oversight policy I'll proceed to see if in the source wiki there isn't actives oversighters, if there is an active oversighter I'll ask him via email to do the action. If that wiki hasn't actives oversighters I'll do the action.

The oversight policy is quite clear, one example may be that a vandal put non-public personal information of a user in a userpage, this edit must be removed and other example that a newbie do a copyright violation and the Wikimedia Foundation counsel ask me to remove that edition Esteban (talk) 19:39, 4 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Where exactly would you ask the user why he wants to oversight a revision?—Teles «Talk to me ˱@ L C S˲» 03:43, 7 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
When the reason given by the user isn't clear that violates the policy, example, in a edition appears a number and the user says that it is his credit card, for example
Emergency is when there is damage or potencial damage in a wiki and there isn't another way to solve it, nobody in that wiki can solve it immediately, for example anyone is blanking page, the same article in differents small wikis, I try to find actives admins and I can't find nothing then I have to act to stop the emergency, Esteban (talk) 19:59, 7 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Ansei: Please help us get a glimpse of your good judgment.

1. Do you look forward to being an active catalyst for consensus-building, especially in small wiki contexts?
A steward isn't part of the communities where acts, but in cases of small wikis where reach a consensus according the context or the circunstance the steward may procceed as a neutral part, analysing and judging all the proposals and try to help the community to choose the best Esteban (talk) 14:37, 9 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
2. Do you see your role as a passive bystander with a few tools?
My role isn't a passive watcher of a problem, If I can help to another steward to solve a problem so sure I do it. The fact than another person is acting under a situation isn't reason to the others persons around him can't act Esteban (talk) 14:44, 9 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
3. Are you able to make balanced guesses about why, when and how "it is better not to reach than to go too far"? --Ansei (talk) 20:56, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't know that precept but I think that it means that it is better analyze the problem, not to be hurry to take a solution and let the problem without solution if that fact is a potential damage Esteban (talk) 15:05, 9 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, Ezarate. Thank you. Your thoughtful analysis help me discover who you are. Your responses help everyone to make better guesses about how you may think and act in the future. --Ansei (talk) 15:18, 9 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]


Questions from Quintucket: Hello Ezarate, you're the only candidate I haven't voted on yet. I guess that while I don't see anything wrong with you, I can't understand why you want to be a steward.

1. You're already an admin on several large wikis which form the bulk of your activity, and the examples you give of working with a small wikis are mostly those in languages you're familiar with (mostly related to Spanish), in which you apparently already have admin privileges. In what way would stewardship meaningfully enhance the work that you already do?

I am admin on eswiki, eswikinews and when I start to do x-wiki edits I started to edit on eswikibooks where I got the admin flag. The steward flag may delete vandalism on small wikis such eswikiversity, eswikisource or others. Furthermore may help assigning and removing flags to the users or doing global blocks/locks.

Thanks for the quick response. In general, I believe that stewards aren't supposed to perform admin/bureaucrat actions on small wikis unless the action is urgent and there's no local admin/crat around to perform it. If your concern is mainly related to the smaller Spanish Wikimedia projects on which you don't have admin privs, wouldn't it be simpler to request the admin tools for those projects, or global sysop priviledges? —Quintucket (talk) 22:52, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
2. You mention "supervising" the Aymara Wikipedia, the only project you've mentioned working with that doesn't use English or a Romance language. Could you tell us a bit more about how you contribute there?

I see frequently recent changes if there is vandalism but there is very few editions in that wiki.

Regards Esteban (talk) 20:58, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

3. Have you read the policies on stewards, particularly steward handbook? Your reasons for wanting to be steward seem to be primarily those that would be covered by local/global sysops. Further, though you do state that you "might" assign or remove flags on projects you're active on (presumably without bureaucrats of their own) the election guidelines and stewards policy state that using steward rights on wikis you are active on represents a conflict of interest and should be avoided.
Yes, I read the policy, I know that I can't act as steward where I am active but in this projects (eswikiversity and eswikisource I am no often edit) --Esteban (talk) 00:20, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Кадыров, Элдос

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The following user neither holds nor has held administrator rights on any Wikimedia Foundation project for at least 3 months. In accordance with the election prerequisites, this candidate is disqualified. Details can be found on the talk page. --PeterSymonds (talk) 18:03, 18 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Eldos. What experience have you in countervandalism cross-wiki? Érico Wouters msg 01:40, 18 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Jon Harald Søby

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Questions from Rschen7754 :

  • Just one question: why did you resign as a steward previously? --Rschen7754 23:36, 27 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Hi, sorry about the late reply. The reasons I resigned previously are here; mainly it was because I didn't feel I have enough time, but that has obviously changed. I can't promise to be as active as I was before, but that's probably because I was way too active back then. ;-) I do, however, have more time for steward stuff again, and despite what I said when I resigned, I don't think the tasks have changed too much since I was a steward. I certainly have stayed up-to-date with what the tasks are, and know what changes there have been since I left, so I feel confident that I could serve well this time around as well. :-) Jon Harald Søby (talk) 18:57, 28 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Snowolf :

  • What timezone are you located it and when do you think you'd be active as steward (time of the day wise)? Snowolf How can I help? 12:45, 30 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    I'm in CET, but when I'm active depends on when I work. My work schedule isn't set, and I have a very messed-up sleeping pattern, so you will often find me online in the middle of the night. Jon Harald Søby (talk) 23:36, 30 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Most of the steward activity either stems from IRC or is often discussed there, if you are not currently active in #wikimedia-stewards, do you plan on becoming active? Snowolf How can I help? 12:45, 30 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    I've been in #wikimedia-stewards for more than seven years now, so yeah. ;-D (Have been neglecting IRC a bit in the past six months though, but am getting back in there more regularly.) Jon Harald Søby (talk) 23:36, 30 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • What do you see the role of a steward as? Snowolf How can I help? 12:45, 30 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    The role of a steward is to perform the duties that they are the ones technically capable of according to community consensus and relevant policies. In theory stewards don't decide things, they only act on things that have already been decided, but cannot be performed by local users (etc.). Then in practice there are also emergency situations that can make the job exciting, like admins going rogue or vandals going on a multi-wiki spree, where you will "shoot first, ask later" (in lack of a better analogy). You just have to use common sense, and in situations like that, you should always consult other stewards first, of course. Jon Harald Søby (talk) 23:36, 30 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Quentinv57 :

  • Dear Jon, Please consider the following hypothetical situation. Please describe and detail how you would handle this if you were elected as a steward, and try to answer it without asking somebody for more information. Please note that these senarios are not taken from real-life situations but are purely fictional stories. Thanks by advance -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:23, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    A local checkuser on the dutch Wikipedia contacts you because he lacks data to answer one of his requests for check. The first user was blocked six months ago, and then moved to other wikis and contributed there recently. The second one has been created in recent days but has obviously the same behaviour.
    Hi, sorry about the late reply. Depending on which other wikis the disruptive user has moved on to, I would urge the nlwiki checkuser to coordinate checks with local checkusers on these projects (if they exist) or stewards (if no local checkusers exist) via a page on the checkuser wiki. Jon Harald Søby (talk) 23:30, 4 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Trijnstel :

  • Don't know exactly what you all do, but I see that you are a member of the language committee & an admin, crat and CU on nowiki + some other tasks on Wikimedia and rights elsewhere probably. How do you combine this with the tasks of a steward? Do you have enough spare time left for the 'job' of a steward you think? Trijnsteltalk 21:11, 3 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    It's true, I do a lot of different things in the movement, and some times balancing everything can be a challenge. I do think I should manage this too though – after all, the most important thing for being an active steward is being available. Most requests I've dealt with in the past have been pretty quick ("Please remove my sysop rights" or "There is consensus to make user X an admin on project Y that has no bureaucrats"), and I am online a lot, and able to deal with those requests quickly. I'm not saying I won't take on any time-consuming tasks, but in my experience there aren't that many of them. And if I wouldn't have time to do something, I would ask other stewards for help, so as not to be a bottleneck. If I need more time for something I'll cut down on playing FIFA or goofing around on the interwebs. ;-) Jon Harald Søby (talk) 23:30, 4 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Ansei: Please help us get a glimpse of your good judgment.

  1. Do you look forward to being an active catalyst for consensus-building, especially in small wiki contexts?
  2. Do you see your role as a passive bystander with a few tools?
  3. Are you able to make balanced guesses about why, when and how "it is better not to reach than to go too far"? --Ansei (talk) 20:57, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  1. Yes, in cases where guidance is needed I will be more than happy to help, especially in small communities.
  2. I'm not entirely sure what you're asking here. Are you asking whether I would act if I saw someone doing something they shouldn't do instead of assuming someone else will act? In that case, the answer is that I would consult other steward colleagues about the situation, then reach a decision on what to do (or not do).
  3. I believe so, yes, but I can't remember any scenarios I've been involved with where this would apply, and it is probably very open to interpretation, so I can't say for sure. Jon Harald Søby (talk) 21:26, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Mathonius

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Questions from Frigotoni :

As Mathonius did a great work as a GS, I reckon that the following questions (that Ajraddatz did, more or less, the last year) fit the bill particularly. Also, can be a good cause for reflection about GS scope.
  • What would you consider the purpose of global sysops to be, and in what cases are you normally used to intervening? I mean, is a GS allowed to use his tools when 2/3 sysops are active in a small wiki in your opinion?
  • Are there situations in which global sysops would be better suited to handle a problem than a steward, or not?--Frigotoni ...i'm here; 16:30, 17 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
      Comment The first question has no bearing whatsoever on steward duties. Snowolf How can I help? 16:32, 17 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for your questions. By the way, if elected, I think I would continue to do the work I usually did as a global sysop.
    • Global sysops are supposed to protect and maintain the smaller wiki's, especially in those cases wherein the local community is unable to properly protect and maintain their wiki themselves. I think that the amount of active local sysops correlates with the need for GS support. A wiki with 2/3 active sysops probably doesn't need our help, but I must say that I sometimes delete spam and block spammers on such wiki's anyway, because our assistance might be considered useful. There are two important principles: the GS policy and the self-governance of the local communities. In my opinion, global sysops should only use their tools for as far as the local community agrees. For example, if a local community opposes a global sysop action, then the GS involved should accept that, although he may of course discuss the issue. Please mind the fact that this is just my opinion and that others might disagree with me.
    • Of course, there are situations in wich a GS would be better suited than a steward, but that depends on the user, not his status. For example, MoiraMoira has dealt with many long-term abusers for years and her approach as a global sysop might be more effective than a steward's, because of her expertise and knowledge. Also, I think global sysops and stewards complement each other. For example, there was a spambot attack some time ago: I blocked and deleted, while PeterSymonds CU'ed, locked the accounts and blocked the underlying IP's.
    Kind regards, Mathonius (talk) 16:52, 17 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    @Snowolf, since global sysops are a group appointed, monitored and removed by stewards, I would say that his opinions are definitely relevant, and that the question is good. I'm also impressed by Mathonius' answer :) Ajraddatz (Talk) 21:54, 19 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Snowolf :

  • What timezone are you located it and when do you think you'd be active as steward (time of the day wise)? Snowolf How can I help? 20:51, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • What do you see the role of a steward as? Snowolf How can I help? 20:51, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • Good question, Snowolf. I know (from being a bureaucrat and having been an ArbCom member, etc.) that it's easier to answer such questions when you've actually been in the role yourself, so I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. From my point of view, stewards should serve the communities of the WMF wiki's. I think they do this by executing community decisions or assessing consensus (often across language barriers), and by helping out where needed, especially when there are no local checkusers or bureaucrats around, or simply when something can't be taken care of on a local level (e.g., cross-wiki issues). Mathonius (talk) 17:05, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Quentinv57 :

  • Dear Mathonius, Please consider the following hypothetical situation. Please describe and detail how you would handle this if you were elected as a steward, and try to answer it without asking somebody for more information. Please note that these senarios are not taken from real-life situations but are purely fictional stories. Thanks by advance -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:28, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    You just noticed that a long-term abuse from nlwiki, who was already blocked several times there, has moved cross-wiki with multiple accounts. For now, he doesn’t seems to do anything really hurting, but you’re almost sure this won’t last.
    • Thank you for your questions, Quentin. This hypothetical case isn't really clear-cut... Please let me know if there's anything unclear about the following answer, or if you disagree with anything I write. Anyway, I think it wouldn't be appropriate to act when there's so little information available (in most cases, "almost sure" isn't sure enough). It's allowed to use multiple accounts on multiple wiki's: someone can use one name on wiki X and another name on wiki Y, and even the use of multiple accounts on one wiki isn't forbidden per se. Also, the measures taken by administrators on one wiki don't necessarily affect the situation on another wiki. Someone who has been misbehaving on nlwiki may very well do wonderful work elsewhere.
    If the person actually starts to misbehave or if there's a serious threat (e.g., potential privacy violation), then I'd inform the local community by posting a message on the local administrator's noticeboard or - if that page doesn't exist there - on the talk page of the community portal, and maybe on the talk page of an active sysop. It might also be appropriate to initiate a request for comment and see how this matter is regarded on a meta/cross-wiki level. If there's an immediate threat and immediate steward action needs to be taken, then I'd probably (b)lock the accounts involved, all depending of course on the wiki's where the abuse takes place. Some wiki's are able to take care of misbehaving people themselves, so communities like that would only need to be informed about the problem.
    Obviously, when in doubt, I'd first discuss this with the other stewards and ask them for advice. Mathonius (talk) 22:39, 2 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Just another question : why did you request the local sysop access on outreachwiki ? -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:28, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Ansei: Please help us get a glimpse of your good judgment.

  1. Do you look forward to being an active catalyst for consensus-building, especially in small wiki contexts?
  2. Do you see your role as a passive bystander with a few tools?
  3. Are you able to make balanced guesses about why, when and how "it is better not to reach than to go too far"? --Ansei (talk) 20:58, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Interesting questions, Ansei, thank you! For as far as I know, they all seem to focus on the involvement of stewards.
    • I think a steward should only get himself involved in the local process of consensus-building if his involvement is needed or requested. I wouldn't describe the steward's role like "an active catalyst". In most cases, an active involvement in local discussions (i.e., the practice of consensus-building) is unnecessary and probably also unwanted. A steward might have an advisory role though when someone asks for a proposal to be carried out by a steward while there's no consensus for it yet, for example, (some) permission requests require the prior "on-wiki approval of [the] local community".
    • I've already described my ideas about stewardship in response to the questions of Quentin and Snowolf. If something bad is happening, I would try to help if that's needed or requested. My involvement and also my use of the steward tools, depends on the wiki where the abuse takes place. I don't see the steward's role like "a passive bystander", because, from my point of view, that would mean we would allow bad and unwanted things to happen on the WMF wiki's, which we're actually supposed to help and protect.
    • It could be better not to reach than to go too far if your involvement is likely to make things worse. I think it's important to think before you act, especially in conflict situations.
    Kind regards, Mathonius (talk) 21:15, 10 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, Mathonius. Thank you. Your responses help me discover who you are. Your pairing of "unnecessary and probably also unwanted" goes below the surface. Your answers help us to make better guesses about how you will think and act in the future. --Ansei (talk) 18:06, 12 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

MF-Warburg

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Questions from Snowolf :

  • What timezone are you located it and when do you think you'd be active as steward (time of the day wise)? Snowolf How can I help? 20:51, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • I'm in Central European Time/UTC+1 resp. UTC+2 in summer. I guess I would be active with steward actions at times similar to those in which I already edit, i.e. anything mostly within 16-24 h of the local time. --MF-W 00:00, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • What do you see the role of a steward as? Snowolf How can I help? 20:51, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • Stewards have the role to help wiki communities with doing stuff that cannot be done locally, either because it's a global task (like global (b)locks), or because there are no local users who have the rights to do it (like user renames and sysop rights assignment on wikis without bureaucrats; checkuser/oversight assignment on all wikis; checkuser/oversight/sysop actions on wikis which don't have active users in these groups). --MF-W 00:00, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Rschen7754 :

  • Your edit count is a bit low compared to that of the other candidates; is there any particular reason for this? --Rschen7754 10:08, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • Well, I think that's a bit difficult to give a specific reason; but - without analysing all their contributions in detail - I'd say other candidates doubtlessly are or have been more active in writing articles than me. An additional reason might be that, for some time, ca. 2009 and a few months beyond, I've been inactive in such a way that I pretty much ceased to edit other wikis than Incubator. (There wasn't any conscious decision to do that, but I noticed it when going through edit count stats for some wikis). --MF-W 01:47, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Do you think that your experience as a new wiki importer will be helpful as a potential steward? --Rschen7754 10:08, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • Not necessarily. The experience I got from using the Import tool itself because of it is probably not of so much use in steward work, because importing isn't really part of what stewards do. However, I do think that by doing the imports I also get familiar with the communities of the new wikis (at least a bit; e.g. most of the time I am around when they discuss things like the global bot policy or the first local sysops), which can probably be useful when being a steward to anticipate what actions might be needed from you resp. other stewards there etc. --MF-W 01:47, 23 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Quentinv57 :

  • Dear MF-Warbung, Please consider the following hypothetical situation. Please describe and detail how you would handle this if you were elected as a steward, and try to answer it without asking somebody for more information. Please note that these senarios are not taken from real-life situations but are purely fictional stories. Thanks by advance -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:30, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    While doing some cross-wiki work, you just noticed that one of the two checkusers of a wiki has become inactive. Judging on the delay of the inactivity, which measures will you take ?
    Well, if the user is already inactive for one year (which is the time that CheckUser policy prescribes for the removal of inactive checkusers, of course), I would notify him and also the other local checkuser of this & of the fact that the community needs to elect a new checkuser, if the rights of the other one should not be removed as well. If the community then chooses a new one (& requests the rights on SRP, etc.), I will remove the status from the inactive user; if they don't choose a new one, both checkusers' statuses will be removed. — If the time of inactivity is lower than that, I would merely inform the two checkusers of the inactivity policy and say that the community can of course elect more checkusers to prevent having none if the one of them stays inactive. — If the time of inactivity is already much longer than a year (e.g. 2 years), I will remove the statuses of both CUs and inform them that the inactivity policy requires this and that the non-inactive user can get the CU status back if the community elects more checkusers; to ensure that there is a mutual control of CU actions. --MF-W 18:33, 2 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    OK. Thanks for your quick answer :-) -- Quentinv57 (talk) 10:13, 3 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Trijnstel :

  • I see that you are a member of the language committee & a new wikis importer (besides being a global rollbacker, global sysop, an admin and crat on incubatorwiki, an admin on meta & a few small wikis). How do you combine this with the tasks of a steward? Do you have enough spare time left for the 'job' of a steward you think? Trijnsteltalk 21:07, 3 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • This is a question I also asked myself before putting up my candidature, and I figured I would have enough time for it. With regard to some of the "functions" I have, I think for global rollback/sysop, it's an important aspect that I would be able to do further-reaching stuff like g(b)locks or checkuser actions myself, without needing to ask a steward. Also e.g. the new wiki importing rights can only be used a few times per year, so I don't expect there to be massive conflicts of time demands between what tasks I already do & what I would do as a steward. --MF-W 01:04, 5 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Ansei: Please help us get a glimpse of your good judgment.

  1. Do you look forward to being an active catalyst for consensus-building, especially in small wiki contexts?
  2. Do you see your role as a passive bystander with a few tools?
  3. Are you able to make balanced guesses about why, when and how "it is better not to reach than to go too far"? --Ansei (talk) 20:58, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  1. It is not the task of stewards to effect consensus in small wiki communities nor anywhere else, but only to implement local consensus. Certainly users (esp. in small wikis) can ask me for my opinion as a user or to help mediate in a certain issue, if they wish, but that would be nothing to do as part of the steward role.
  2. No; first of all, stewards do not have few tools only (and neither do I have few "tools" at the moment only, I believe). Additionally it would be completely useless to be a steward who does not react when there is abuse (which is what the Wikipedia article section you link suggests to be the behaviour of passive bystanders).
  3. I think so. --MF-W 03:32, 10 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, MF-Warburg. Thank you. Your words are prudent, but not revealing. Your answers help us to make better guesses about how you will think and act in the future. --Ansei (talk) 18:20, 12 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

QuiteUnusual

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Questions from Snowolf :

  • As the neutral arbiter of consensus on wikis without a large enough community to have local bureaucrats. As the technical implementer of consensus led changes where the community does not have the rights or in some cases the skills (so it involves assisting inexperienced admins and 'crats in their roles). As a protector of the WMF projects as a whole against spammers, vandals and others who would disrupt the good work of volunteers. In essence, I see the role as providing assistance within the constraints of the Stewards Policy, based on the policies of the individual projects and the policies of the Foundation itself. QuiteUnusual TalkQu 21:12, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • The Stewards' scope is global in nature and spans well over 700 wikis, most of them small wikis. Are you active or have you ever been active on a small wiki? If not, do you think this would hinder you in dealing with them? Snowolf How can I help? 20:52, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • I'm active on en.wikibooks which is "medium" size in terms of content but "small" in terms of the size of the community. While it probably doesn't have the exact characteristics of a very small Wiki I think I have had sufficient exposure to the differences small Wikis have to the large projects to understand how to deal with them. QuiteUnusual TalkQu 23:11, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Rschen7754 :

  • I don't think so, no, but I'm open to the views of those who think it may be a problem. As Stewards need to be cautious (or not act) on projects where they are part of the community, then being an admin on multiple projects could at least slightly reduce their effectiveness. While I am only an admin on one project, I'm a very busy admin there and have been exposed frequently to the full workload of an admin. That's in contrast, for example, to an admin on enwiki who may never perform a history merge or mediawiki edit. So from a technical perspective I don't see it as a problem. I accept that there may be soft benefits in being an admin on more than one project as it would help in gaining a deeper understanding of the different cultures that pervade on different wikis. But, I think I am sufficiently sensitive to these issues. QuiteUnusual TalkQu 12:07, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Trijnstel :

  • I requested a local IP block exemption on the CheckUser wiki via email because I was trying to add details via a mobile device from a CU on en.wikibooks for an ongoing crosswiki investigation. I was able to email Billinghurst from Wikibooks as I am an admin there and therefore I could bypass the IP block (admins of course are IP block exempt on their own wikis). Rather than add a local exemption, Billinghurst set the global IP block exemption. Sorry but I don't know why this was the solution he chose. Do I need it anymore? Probably not although I do occasionally edit from mobile devices that get blocked; but it is not usually urgent. QuiteUnusual TalkQu 23:33, 27 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • One more question: I see that you failed an RfA on enWP last October. You probably already know that as a steward you have adminship on all projects, including enWP, but aren't supposed to use them on the projects with local and active administrators. How will you cope with this? And will this influence your work as a steward or not? Trijnsteltalk 22:10, 31 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • I'm aware of the limitations on Stewards acting on projects with active administrators. enWP limits Stewards to using rollback, viewing deleted revisions in the course of a Steward action and suppressing abusive usernames. Given the large number of administrators and other functionaries on enWP I think it is highly unlikely that I would find myself using any of these rights and I had assumed that this was the case (I have local rollback on enWP which I would still use in line with the local policy). In other words, I will cope with not using the rights on enWP because I never expected to. In general the large projects dislike involvement from Stewards except in the direst emergency and I would respect that. I certainly didn't volunteer to be a Steward as a "back door" to getting rights on enWP. Running an RfA on enWP was suggested by another editor I trusted, and I thought I had experience I could bring that would be valuable. During the RfA questions were raised about my understanding of the acceptable line in paraphrasing sources during content creation. These questions were all fair and my RfA rightly failed primarily because of those concerns. If anything I've taken positive lessons from the RfA that I would apply to Steward work, in particular ensuring I properly understand local policies and customs before acting. QuiteUnusual TalkQu 22:47, 31 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Quentinv57 :

  • Dear Neil, Please consider the following hypothetical situation. Please describe and detail how you would handle this if you were elected as a steward, and try to answer it without asking somebody for more information. Please note that these senarios are not taken from real-life situations but are purely fictional stories. Thanks by advance -- Quentinv57 (talk) 17:32, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    You’re about to answer to a request for permissions on SRP. A user from a small wiki is requesting the bureaucrat flag. While looking to the local request page, you see that there are 18 support votes and no oppose. Digging further, you notice that most of the voters are recently created accounts with less than ten contributions...
  • Hello Quentin. I'll start by saying that if I wasn't sure what action to take I would always read the relevant policies first and ask for help if necessary.
  1. I would check if there are already local bureaucrats. If there are, then I would direct the user to the existing bureaucrats.
  2. Assuming there is no local bureaucrat, I would check if there was a policy on the wiki for granting permissions. 18 support votes may not meet the criteria of the local policy. There may also be rules about the age or activity levels of accounts eligible to vote (e.g., less than 10 contributions, per your example, may not be enough to be allowed to vote according to the local policy). The user may need to already be an admin - in which case I would check this. If the vote did not meet the criteria of the local policy I would notify the user accordingly and not action their request.
  3. I would check the community is large enough and active enough to have a local bureaucrat. There is no hard and fast rule on this, but a good test would be if there are several permanent local admins. If there are only temporary local admins then the community is almost certainly too small to have a local 'crat.
  4. I would examine the contribution history, etc., of the newly created accounts to determine if there was evidence of sock puppetry. If there was, then suspicion of vote stacking is a valid criterion for performing a CheckUser. If there was sufficient evidence to support performing a CU, I would do so (assuming there is no local CU on the project). If the project has a policy on logging CU actions locally then I would comply with this.
  5. If the CU indicated vote stacking by sock puppets was taking place I would discount those duplicate votes and determine if based on the remaining votes there was sufficient demonstration of consensus.
  6. If the candidate themselves was the sock master, then I would notify the local community and local admins (if any) accordingly. This may also be grounds for blocking the socks and / or sock master, depending on the local policy.
  7. If I'd reached this point (community large enough, vote is in line with local policy, no evidence of vote stacking) then I would apply the community consensus and grant the right.
QuiteUnusual TalkQu 23:25, 1 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
OK. Thanks for your quick answer :-) -- Quentinv57 (talk) 10:14, 3 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Teles :

  • An emergency is any situation where there is a real and continuing risk of harm and no local functionary responds via all the normal channels for requesting assistance within a period of time appropriate to the level of risk. Let's say an article on a Wikipedia about a high profile and controversial political figure was edited to add the address and telephone number of their children. To leave a high traffic page with this kind of personal information for more than a few minutes risks harassment of the children and therefore needs suppression. This is an emergency, and if a local functionary is not available then a Steward can and should act. There will always be judgement involved in these cases and the immediacy of action required depends on the type and level of the risk. I deliberately chose an extreme case for my example. QuiteUnusual TalkQu 21:13, 7 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Questions from Ansei: Please help us get a glimpse of your good judgment.

1. Do you look forward to being an active catalyst for consensus-building, especially in small wiki contexts?
I see the role of a Steward as assisting small wikis while they grow and develop into self-sustaining communities. The major part of this role is to use additional tools to perform tasks that the local community cannot. However, I have learned from watching SRP over the years that on occasion a community struggles to reach the consensus necessary for a Steward to act. In these circumstances the Steward needs to help with consensus building, and yes I look forward to having a role in this. QuiteUnusual TalkQu 22:06, 9 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
2. Do you see your role as a passive bystander with a few tools?
No, I don't think a Steward is a passive bystander. Much of what the Stewards do is reactive to requests where the local community has already worked to a consensus. However, there are also Steward activities that require a proactive approach and in such circumstances I would not be a bystander. QuiteUnusual TalkQu 22:06, 9 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
3. Are you able to make balanced guesses about why, when and how "it is better not to reach than to go too far"? --Ansei (talk) 20:59, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I know my limits, I know there are always problems on the path and I will always stop and reflect on problems before pushing forward. I've faced wiki challenges, like the en.wikipedia RFA referred to above, that led me to reflect on mistakes I'd made and change rather than push on. I'm not so arrogant to believe I know best. QuiteUnusual TalkQu 19:45, 10 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, Neil. Thank you. Your words help me discover who you are. Your analysis opens up a nest of related issues; and you highlight balancing reactive and proactive intervention. Your answers help us to make better guesses about how you will think and act in the future. --Ansei (talk) 01:57, 10 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
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