Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Numberguy6

Numberguy6

Voice your opinion on this candidate (talk page) (0/0/0); Scheduled to end 01:36, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

Nomination

Numberguy6 (talk · contribs) – I have been editing Wikipedia for nearly 8 years, and I have over 43,000 edits (120,000+ edits across all projects). I have experience as an AfC reviewer, new pages patroller, template editor (see Template:Expand language), and bot writer (see Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/Numberguy6Bot, and please expedite the review process if possible). I have been awarded the following barnstars: Categorization; Energy; Random Acts of Kindness. I have received 250 thanks. Numberguy6 (talk) 00:58, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

Candidate, please indicate acceptance of the nomination here:

Questions for the candidate

Dear candidate, thank you for offering to serve Wikipedia as an administrator. Please answer these questions to provide guidance for participants:

1. Why are you interested in becoming an administrator?

A: I am very active on Wikipedia, and I already have a very large amount of editing experience.

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

A: Toss-up between three things:

• I am the site expert on Template:Expand language. I have made edits to the template itself, and I have added and removed the template from a very large number of articles, aided by my Python scrapers.
• I created more than half of the articles titled "Plug-in electric vehicles in [country/state/province]."
• I have dealt with Template:Page needed by writing a Python script to search through the citations with the template, extract the ISBN, and check to see if the book is available at my local library; I then go to the library and go through the list.

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

A: In the past year, I have not had any major issues. I have been told to reduce my usage Template:Expand language, but I haven't gotten into any arguments over that.

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You may ask optional questions below. There is a limit of two questions per editor. Multi-part questions disguised as one question, with the intention of evading the limit, are disallowed. Follow-up questions relevant to questions you have already asked are allowed.

Optional question from CanonNi

4. Hi Numberguy6, if this RfA succeeds, which areas of adminship do you think you'll be active in?

A: I would go through Category:Administrative backlog and do the stuff there. Also, I would deal with users who I caught vandalizing pages on my watchlist.

Follow-up: Thank you for your answer. You mentioned that you would like to deal with vandalism, but when looking at your reverts, I found little to no anti-vandalism work. Do you plan on working in those areas in the future?

A: Yes. Once I have the authority to block people, I will pay more attention to this area. (And yes, I am familiar with WP:UWS.)

Optional question from HouseBlaster

5. Looking at Special:PageHistory/Template:Expand language, I don't see any edits by Numberguy6. What exactly do you mean by I have made edits to the template [{{expand language}}] itself in your answer to question 2?

A: I am referring to the sub-templates, e.g. Template:Expand French.

Optional questions from Wilhelm Tell DCCXLVI

6. Hi Numberguy6, and thank you for running. You mention the discussion over your template overuse, yes, but the one-year time period you've chosen to examine is rather short. Have you been in any content or conduct disputes before that time? Of course, I'm not asking about stuff from like a decade ago or anything, but say the last 3-4 years.

A: In December 2022, I was accused of "topic-spamming" when I added a whole bunch of links to "Plug-in electric vehicles in [location]" articles from the "See also" section on the page for "[location]". See [links to articles on electric vehicles in cities].

7. A lot of your "Plug-in electric vehicles in X" articles are Start-class, and many genuinely can't be developed beyond what you've already put in them. I would argue that they can be merged into more substantial articles. I think the articles for hybrids in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and the Faroes can probably be merged into something like Plug-in electric vehicles in Northern Europe or something like that. And even more importantly, the articles arranged by US state and Canadian province should probably go to Plug-in electric vehicles by US state and similar. What say?

A: When I created the articles, I (initially) submitted them as AfC's, so another editor could review them and make sure they were long enough; this is despite being an AfC reviewer myself.

Optional question from SchroCat

8. Why are you interested in becoming an administrator? (Your answer above is not an answer: many people are "very active on Wikipedia, and ... already have a very large amount of editing experience" but zero interest in becoming an admin, but you don't say why.)

A:

Optional question from DandelionAndBurdock

9. Please could you expand on being asked to reduce your use of {{Expand language}}, from your own understanding what happened there?

A: My initial criterion was "the foreign-language article is at least twice as long as the English article" (adjusted for script byte density), so that I could use a Python scraper. Then, other users gave me criticism such as: "twice as long" is too short; foreign-language articles are unsourced; foreign-language Wikipedias don't have reliable sourcing standard. I changed my rule and Python scraper to "the foreign-language article is at least three times as long and has twice as many sources as the English article, and the foreign-language Wikipedia has a page at wikidata:Q59821108". But then a fourth editor told me that the foreign-language articles often have unnecessary amounts of detail that would be inappropriate for ENWP; I have no fix for this.

Optional question from Grabup

10. I saw that you just participated in 15 AfDs, and the majority of them are your nominations. Why don't you participate in AfDs more often?

A: Mostly, it's because I have better things to do. My Wiki to-do list is already eight pages long, and I can't remember the last time I checked an item off of it (although I will once someone approves my bot).

11. Will you handle closing AfDs after becoming an admin?

A: Yes.

Optional question from Innisfree987

12. Hi and thank you for running. You mention the backlogs, much appreciated. To help me understand your plans for adminship better, could I ask if there are any in particular you see as especially well suited to your skills and interests, or any you would plan not to tackle?

A: I would most likely work on WP:CfD, WP:RfD, and WP:RM.

Optional question from RoySmith

13. There have been a number of cases over the past couple of years where admins have been found to have violated WP:INVOLVED, or been accused of such and it was later determined not to be so. Could you talk about what WP:INVOLVED means and how you would apply it to yourself?

A:

Optional question from CanonNi

14. You have answered above that you will participate in various areas of adminship. Do you have any past experience in the areas you've mentioned?

A:

Optional question from Just Step Sideways

15. You say above that you intend to deal with users who I caught vandalizing pages on my watchlist. What do you think you would do if you saw multiple IP and very new accounts all vandalizing the same page?

A: I would warn all of them and lock the page.

Optional questions from Chaotic Enby

16. Do you see the role of admins as closer to wielding authority over the community, or to being responsible for enacting the community's wishes?

A: I think that "enacting the community's wishes" is more important.

17. Are there specific areas you wouldn't be interested in involving yourself in as an admin?

A: I probably wouldn't do WP:PERM or CAT:RFU.

Optional questions from Shaws username

18. What would be your approach for moving into areas that you don't have a lot of experience yet?

A:

19. You've said that you'd like to deal with vandalism and that you're aware of WP:UWS, looking through your reverts I can't see messages or warnings that you've left on talk pages after. Why haven't you used them so far? (If I'm wrong and you have please correct me)

A: I thought that only admins had the authority to leave such messages. I did not learn otherwise until I applied for adminship.

Optional question from ToadetteEdit

20. A followup from Q4: As an admin, are you familiar with the administrative pages that may appear at CAT:AB?

A:

Optional question from AviationFreak

21. There's been some concern about the brevity of your answers here, and I see that across your many years editing Wikipedia, you've only edited your own talk page 24 times. As an admin, would you be more responsive and communicative on-wiki?

A:

Optional question from Valereee

22. Did you consider approaching an experienced nominator?

A: No.

Discussion

• Links for Numberguy6: Numberguy6 (talk · contribs · deleted · count · AfD · logs · block log · lu · rfar · spi)
• Edit summary usage for Numberguy6 can be found here.

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Please keep discussion constructive and civil. If you are unfamiliar with the nominee, please thoroughly review his contributions before commenting.

Support

Per a recent RFC, this RFA is in trial for a new voting system. Voting opens at 01:36, 27 May 2024 (UTC). In the meantime, discussion may only take place under § General comments.

Oppose

Voting opens at 01:36, 27 May 2024 (UTC). In the meantime, discussion may only take place under § General comments.

Neutral

Voting opens at 01:36, 27 May 2024 (UTC). In the meantime, discussion may only take place under § General comments.

General comments

• Numberguy6: could you expand on your answers to the three questions? As far as I can see, you haven't stated what you would do if you become an administrator. —Ingenuity (t • c) 01:55, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
• Experienced, no skeletons in the closet as far as I can see. Sure, there's no "need" for the tools, but do I care? Not really. Maybe you could argue that they haven't shown the appropriate familiarity with the most up-to-date guidelines, but do they need to? If they don't, that's what the new desysop process is for. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 02:32, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
• Is there a listing somewhere of the articles you've written, Numberguy6? I went through some of your contributions in search of articles you'd written that were beyond start-class and came up empty-handed. It would be helpful for us to assess your contributions if we could see the articles you consider your best work (like, 5 or fewer specific articles, with links). Trainsandotherthings (talk) 02:40, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
  • FYI, articles that Numberguy6 has created. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 02:49, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
    • While article creation isn't something I care about much personally, it's worth noting for those who do care that only three articles they've created are above Start-class (two C-class, one B-class). Suntooooth, it/he (talk/contribs) 05:20, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
• Thanks for your interest in becoming an administrator. Be aware that your lack of nominator and your short answers to questions is an unorthodox way to do RFA, and may create apprehension among some community members. Especially the short answers thing. That may raise some concerns about communication style, effort, and evasiveness. But hey, with the recent RFA reforms, we're also in a time of RFA experimentation, so maybe short answers aren't a big deal anymore. Guess we'll see soon. Good luck. –Novem Linguae (talk) 05:19, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
• As Novem Linguae said above, the very short answers to questions worry me a bit. Good communication skills are something I look for in prospective admins, and very short, undescriptive answers don't give me much faith in their ability to communicate. Suntooooth, it/he (talk/contribs) 05:22, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  It's not only the terseness but also the answers' lack of depth. "To clear admin backlogs" and opacity over what template was imtended is really rather vague. ——Serial Number 54129 09:43, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  Yep - ironically, that was what I was trying to communicate in my comment, and didn't quite get there :P Suntooooth, it/he (talk/contribs) 19:30, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

• It's very neat to see your use of Python in creating these bots for use in the Templates. I'm wondering if there are other scripts that you use for Wiki editing. Personally, I don't mind the short quick answers. However, it matters more when communicating with another user when it comes to conflict. Conyo14 (talk) 05:29, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  @Conyo14: I'd recommend asking a question up in the appropriate section if you want an answer :) theleekycauldron (talk • she/her) 06:22, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  Fortunately, my wondering is just rhetorical :) Conyo14 (talk) 13:35, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

• I'm slightly concerned by Q1, but I largely concur with Airship here. Depends on how they respond to Q8, I guess. Queen of Hearts (talk) 06:05, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
• The lack of experience in Wikipedia's administrative areas and projectspace is an issue. Numberguy6 has over 40,000 edits, but the majority of them just change a few bytes; these are valuable, but they don't give us much to demonstrate an understanding of content policies or editing practices. His combined edits to projectspace and project talkspace only come out to about 800, and he hardly ever uses edit summaries, which is a key indicator of understanding Wikipedia's culture and processes. He cites NPP experience, but he only had access to NPP for 30 days back in 2022. Numberguy6 is a good editor and clearly valuable to Wikipedia, and I think he could be a good admin candidate if he gets involved in some of these areas for a while. But at this moment I'm not convinced that he's spent enough time learning the ins and outs of Wikipedia's behind the scenes areas, especially those where administrators are most commonly active. As indicated by the answer to question one, this RfA seems to exist simply because it's something that editors with high edit counts are supposed to do. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 06:34, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
• My most major concern is that there is nothing the user even needs admin tools for. I look to see if there's something the user has already been doing that can be made easier if they are an admin, but in this case there doesn't appear to be something that can't be done in a normal editing capacity. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 07:56, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
• i'm not at all concerned with a "need for tools" as, well, no one really needs them, but we do really need more admins. however, i concur with above comments that a little more is to be desired from the candidate's answers to the questions. ... sawyer * he/they * talk 08:05, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  the follow-up response to Q4 doesn't give me confidence: Once I have the authority to block people, I will pay more attention to this area. this isn't really the attitude i'd like to see in an admin, and the link to UWS is irrelevant. ferret says it best right below. ... sawyer * he/they * talk 15:24, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  Seconding this. Most anti-vandalism work can be done without blocking, with a revert and warn being enough. Even in more egregious cases, it would be more careful for you to start with making AIV reports (even if you have the technical ability to block as an admin) and see how they are processed, in order to familiarize yourself with the nuances of when to block or not to block. Chaotıċ Enby (talk · contribs) 17:10, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

• The answer to Q10, that you're too busy and have better things to do than participate at AFD, and the answer to Q12 as well as Q1, Q4, seem contradictory. You don't seem to really know what you want to do as an admin, and at least one area admins work, you've described yourself as too busy to deal with. When someone wants to work CFD, CSD, AFD, AIV, RFPP, the first thing I go and look for is that they have been active in those areas already and can demonstrate that they know the guidelines and policies. However, there doesn't appear to be much if any work done in these spaces for me to judge. The link to Wikipedia:UWS in regards to "Once I can block people, I'll work vandalism" is weird: This is a Wikiproject for improving the text of warnings. It isn't a policy or guideline on how to handle patrolling, warnings, or blocking. I also have concerns with your editing in general: There's a lot of edits, but the vast majority are very fast and clearly semi-automated adjustment to Expand language templates, which your talk page currently has 3-4 recent complaints about. -- ferret (talk) 12:55, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  The awnser to Q10 sounds like a good reason why someone might not want to be an admin, but on the other hand it also pretty reasonable that not all admins do admining in all areas. The awnser to Q11 I'm disapointed by because there doesn't really seem to be any attempt to reconcile the two awnsers, I'm wondering if Numberguy6 sees the apparent contradiction there. -- D'n'B-t -- 19:02, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

• Competent, experienced, doesn't seem like a jerk, is able to string a sentence together. My one concern is that there is very little AfD participation, and not much antivandal work, and they say they will close AfDs and block vandals. I hope they will gain experience in those areas before diving in. Short answers to questions are a tad concerning, but hey, it's their first RfA. But the need for tools is not clear. I like self-noms, but I'm not crazy about the slightly self-congralutary tone set by counting up thanks and barnstars. Cremastra (talk) 15:26, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
• Your answers to the questions are the vaguest I have ever seen on an RFA. "I am very active on Wikipedia, and I already have a very large amount of editing experience." Really, that's it? Why don't you clarify further? What are your motives? Why does it seems like you don't really know what you're going to do when you become an admin? Your communication feels very evasive for me. Mox Eden (talk) 15:35, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
• I probably will not leave a formal !vote in this RFA. I do recommend that the candidate revise their answer to Q1. I am very active on Wikipedia, and I already have a very large amount of editing experience. is a statement that applies to a lot of people in WP:WBE. Perhaps it would be better to ask: Why should someone !vote for you in particular? As admin, what could you provide that other admins cannot, and/or how could you help alleviate existing admins' workload? I'm not really concerned about the need for tools, but other !voters do take "need for the tools" into consideration at an RFA. Epicgenius (talk) 16:01, 25 May 2024 (UTC)
• I kind of echo what others have said so far: Answers to the questions are vague, the candidate doesn't seem to have enough experience in actual administrative areas to explain why they need the toolset, and ... I'm not confident they have the mindset to perform administrative tasks due to lack of a track record in such places. I'm not trying to discourage the candidate here, but I'm about to be blunt: Such a nomination, in the past prior to the waiting period, would usually be a WP:SNOW close due to WP:NOTYET. If this is what the candidate wants to do, I'd recommend getting some more exposure in various WP:XFD boards or WP:RM, or just really any other place where an editor can help out by reporting problems that are addressed (such as WP:AIV, WP:SPI, WP:RFPP, etc.), and then try again afterwards. (Not setting a timeframe since I'm not sure how long that could take.) Steel1943 (talk) 16:30, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  @Steel1943 Most such RFAs would be withdrawn by the candidate. I don’t think a NOTYET close would ever be appropriate by a third party for someone with 40k+ edits Mach61 20:29, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

• I appreciate the answer to my question (12). I suppose I am concerned about lack of relevant experience; I checked the CFD archive and found only three comments from Numberguy6 and none in RFD. Innisfree987 (talk) 17:23, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

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• Just a procedural question about the new RfAs, will we receive a reminder to vote when voting opens? Numberguy6 is excused from answering this one :) SportingFlyer T·C 07:07, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  We probably should update the watchlist notice to say something like "A request for adminship is now open for voting". MassMessage is another option but it won't reach those who have opted out. Liu1126 (talk) 12:34, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  Agree. Problem is you can just click dismiss so easily, then you forget. SportingFlyer T·C 15:44, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  Could users who dismiss the initial RfA notice receive a new notice once voting opens? LEPRICAVARK (talk) 18:13, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

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• Are we allowed to demand pictures when people say they have pets? Polygnotus (talk) 14:23, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

How is this related to the RFA? Mox Eden (talk) 15:35, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

It's not. I just want to know. Polygnotus (talk) 16:32, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

asking nicely is one thing, demanding is quite another. Turini2 (talk) 16:39, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

Cat tax evasion is both immoral and illegal. Polygnotus (talk) 17:15, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

The toxic culture of RfA has gone too far; now we're asking our poor editors for collateral? And to use his innocent pets too. :CryingEmoji::CryingEmoji: Template:LunaEatsTunaSig (talk), posted at 16:59, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

Strong oppose candidate didn't share pet pictures Queen of Hearts (talk) 17:08, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

It's because we can't ask whether whether he has stopped kicking his cat yet  :) ——Serial Number 54129 17:10, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

Why has no one created WP:CATTAX yet? Polygnotus (talk) 18:38, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

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• Probably an excellent candidate but the brief (bordering on flippant) answers prevent people from seeing the real you and also make it look like there might be a communication weakness. Suggest keeping that in mind in the answers to the RFA questions. I also applaud the self-nom. North8000 (talk) 17:34, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

  Maybe I'm a minority, but I appreciate not having to read a dissertation to every answer. "Omit needless words" is a good dictum, the answers are short but eminently responsive to the questions. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 19:09, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

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• No big concerns except one: the user has not said anything specific on what they will work if they were to be an admin; this may attract oppose !votes. I have nothing to say about the candidate, just saying... Toadette^Edit! 18:40, 25 May 2024 (UTC)