Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Coordination

2011 Arbitration Committee Elections

Status

• Thank you for participating in the 2011 Arbitration Committee Election. The results have been verified and published.
• Please offer your feedback on the Election process.

Coordinator resources

Responsibilities of coordinators

• Quickly and accurately responding to questions and problems raised at the election talkpage.
• Setting up and monitoring the required candidate pages.
• Identifying and stopping disruption (mostly in the form of inappropriate commentary and questions from voters, edit warring and so on).

Useful links

• ACE2010 – to get an idea of what is in store.
• Feedback 2010 – the feedback from last year's election.
• 2011 ACE RfC – this year's discussion on election parameters.
• Recent changes for all pages in the election category

Are there admins among us?

Might come in handy, but hard to tell at a quick look. Tony (talk) 15:01, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

Not officially, though one has been pretty active and is just not on the list. Beyond that, I'm sure we can dig up an admin if the tools are needed for anything. Monty₈₄₅ 15:05, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

If there's half the mischief of previous years, someone on watch with block and protect triggers will certainly be necessary. It's just MuZemike thus far, so a few more would be handy. Skomorokh 15:17, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

Jehochman might be willing to be on stand-by again. Tony (talk) 06:20, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Depending on a few personal things, I might request the tools back sometime soon. If I do, it will be closer to the voting period if anything. And @Tony, there is a user script that highlights admins, FYI. -- DQ (t) (e) 09:10, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, Delta. I didn't know that. Tony (talk) 11:25, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

You all still need an admin?--Tznkai (talk) 22:46, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

I'm sure any old admin should be available if a situation arises (besides, when drama really ignites, they normally come in droves). I prefer not to emphasize a "huge admin presence" here if we can help it. –MuZemike 09:00, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

I'm in again as well - though you're right about the drama bringing admins by the dozen. It's rare indeed to see something left undone for too long come election time. UltraExactZZ ^Said ~ Did 19:29, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Role of scrutineers: a useful document for coordinators

Instructions for scrutineers, written last year by election admin Happy-Melon, will be useful background for coordinators. Tony (talk) 11:25, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Election admins

Do we have any? The scrutineers and developer are listed on the election page, but not the election admins. Skomorokh 15:11, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Nope, but they haven't been asked, yet. I was going to post on WP:AN calling for any able-bodied and WMF-identified users to step forward. –MuZemike 15:32, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps a call out on the functionaries mailing list? Skomorokh 15:36, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

But Tznkai is WMF-identified, I think. Could he be an election admin? Tony (talk) 16:01, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Sure, if hw wants. –MuZemike 16:02, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Can a clerk be an election admin? The Signpost's coverage just out includes mention that the election is conducted by the community, not arbs or clerks. Tony (talk) 15:04, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Tznkai is no longer a clerk. Skomorokh 15:21, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

I was actually one three election admins in the first SecurePoll use, and I recall still being a arbclerk at the time.--Tznkai (talk) 20:26, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

I've posted a notice at WP:AN as well as at WT:OTRS to call for election admins. –MuZemike 17:35, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Paperwork for the addition of new candidates

Just to give coordinators a heads-up if you are looking for a way to help out, here is what currently needs to be done when a new candidate enters the fray:

• Eligibility: Check whether they meet the eligibility criteria (150 mainspace edits before Nov 1); if you're sure they do not, delist their candidacy and leave a polite explanatory note on their user talkpage
• Welcome: If the candidate is eligible, welcome them to the elections by subst'ing {{ACE2011 candidate}} on their talkpage. I've not done this for the initial two candidates because they are obviously familiar with the procedures (a briefer note might be in order), but the template should be deployed for first time runners and those who don't have all their pages set up properly or haven't complied with the nomination statement criteria (WMF identification & alt account disclosure.
• Paperwork: Check over each candidate's nomination statement (i.e. Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Example/Statement), profile page (i.e. Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Example) , and questions page (i.e. Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Example/Questions) and make sure they are in order (compare with those of earlier candidates). Fix them if you can, report errors here if you can't.
• Candidate talkpage: Set up the candidate's profile talkpage (i.e. Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Example). Use the following code:

==[[Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Example|Example]]== <noinclude>{{ACE2011 discussion}} <!-- Please discuss the candidate below this line using third-level headings--></noinclude>

• Redirect: The talkpages to the nomination statements (i.e. Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Example/Statement) and candidate question pages (i.e. Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Example/Questions) should be redirected to their candidate profile talkpage (i.e. Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Example), for simplicity, so that there is only one page specifically for discussion of each individual candidate.
• List: List the candidate profile talkpage (i.e. Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Example) on the main discussion page (Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Discussion). If you're not sure what to do, follow what was done for earlier-listed candidates.
• Guide: Add the candidate to the candidate guide (Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Guide). This may require a bit of research, so if you're not sure about the results, it can be a good idea to ask the candidate themselves to review it, and verify any corrections they might have before amending it.

I know I've forgotten bits, but I'll add them in as they come back to me. If anyone has any ideas about how to automate or otherwise streamline any of this, I'm all ears. Skomorokh 14:56, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Nice work, Sko. Could this, or whatever version we end up with, go into a Guide for ACE coordinators, perhaps compiled after the election? We have one for scrutineers (which includes mention of the role of election admins, I think). Then the election will be easier for first-time coordinators in subsequent years. Tony (talk) 15:03, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Absolutely, and I'd be happy to write such a guide, but I'd like if someone technically-minded could take a look at the above with a view to simplification before we immortalise the monstrosity of paperwork for future generations. Skomorokh 15:09, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Header updating

In past years, one of the more time-critical tasks was updating the header. At one point, we used a parserfunction to change the text based on the official server clock, and it might make sense to do that again here, if there are no objections. I can work on it over the next couple days. Thoughts? UltraExactZZ ^Said ~ Did 19:20, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Found it - see Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2009/Candidate statements and the code there. UltraExactZZ ^Said ~ Did 19:24, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

I suggest using the code from the watchlist announcement, MediaWiki:Watchlist-details. Should be easier to configure. Monty₈₄₅ 20:39, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Many, many accounts

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Michaeldsuarez&diff=460845578&oldid=460837449 – Would it be alright if I don't list all of the accounts Geni has created over the years on Wikipedia:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_December_2011/Candidates/Guide? Common sense tells me that I can't list all of those accounts, but I would to obtain a second opinion before I send a reply to Geni. --Michaeldsuarez (talk) 21:56, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Any account from which Geni has edited must be listed, as well as any bots. I wouldn't object to a handwave of "I also have the usual doppleganger accounts, none of which have actually edited" or some such. UltraExactZZ ^Said ~ Did 13:10, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Geni + Courcelles

Can anyone who has the time run through the full paperwork for these candidates? Steps listed above.

At a glance, neither of their disclosures are up to scratch - they need to list (or link to) all accounts, and state categorically something like "These are all the accounts I have ever used" or "I have never edited Wikipedia from another account than the following", so there is no wiggle room if someone discovers an unnamed account later.

The disclosures don't affect the 400-word limit, but they need to be airtight. Thanks for any help, Skomorokh 14:41, 16 November 2011 (UTC)