User:Valereee/RfA questions

Irrelevancy Hall of Fame

This is a listing of the more irrelevant questions asked at RfA.

2024

I don't have any concerns about the candidate but really want to ask a question

How would you react if Wikipedia had to shut down?
A hypothetical close friend of yours who's aware of your presence on the English Wikipedia informs you that they would like to create an account. Would you encourage them to?
Do you still going to edit articles besides the admin stuffs?
How strong is your password for Wikipedia?

Canned goods

Out of the Five Pillars of Wikipedia, which one would be the most personally important one to you and why? (Perennial favorite)
Do you disagree with any of our policies or guidelines or any other established/informal general practises? If so, which and why?

Pop quiz

What's an example (hypothetical is fine) of a userspace page that could be deleted under G11 but not U5?

So, tell me about yourself

How do you pronounce your username? (Slight twist on a perennial favorite)
How did you come up with your name? (Slight twist on a perennial favorite)
Please explain the meaning or significance of [your username]. (Perennial favorite)
Please explain the meaning or significance of your bot's name. (Slight twist on a perennial favorite)
Is humor on Wikipedia important? Why or why not
Do you have any hobbies outside of Wikipedia?
Do you have an area of this encyclopedia you prefer to edit over others (i.e. sports, science, politics, history, etc.)?
What topics do you enjoy editing the most?

But I was giving them a chance to say how they'd improve!

Please choose a moment in your editing career where your behaviour was most unbecoming of an editor, or otherwise exhibited bad judgement in an administration-related area, and describe how you would correct the mistake if the event took place when you have the mop.
Have you ever made any decision or taken any action in the wiki community that you later regretted after much consideration?

I haven't read any of the other questions

What will you do after becoming an Admin?

Life, the universe, and everything

If you "owned" Wikipedia, like Elon Musk with Twitter/X, what would you change?
Academic and Wikipedia writing styles differ. What do you wish academics and non-academics alike would understood better to bridge these differing background?

Because I sure do

Do you have the temptation to attack people that assume ownership of content?

Throw them in the deep end

A newish user, say around 500 edits, creates a stub - short, perhaps, but neutral, referenced, and not in an A7able category - in mainspace and a very slightly longer version in draft. A somewhat more experienced editor redirects the mainspace version to the draft one, and a few hours later a much more experienced editor tags it for deletion as a {{db-r2}}, which you discover in CAT:CSD. What do you do?
- So how come, a week and a half ago, you were editor #3?

2023

I don't have any concerns about this candidate but really want to ask a question

If you could change anything about the English Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, what you change?
Wikipedia is building a new deck and you have been tasked with selecting a sixth pillar to act as a vertical support element. What's your Sixth Pillar?
A recent Signpost article noted that active administrators and administrator activity is at an all time low. In your opinion, what significant causes are there to this phenomenon and how would you propose to overcome them?
What are your feelings on the phenomenon of minority opinions being flooded with opposing comments, at RfA or elsewhere?
You have my support, but can you tell me which you think is the most important of our WP:PAGS

I don't really understand this place

...but liberal arts majors need not apply

We desperately need new administrators with expertise in the sciences in order to help resolve disputes over scientific facts and scientific consensus. I'm not convinced that we need more administrators who are not knowledgeable about science and technology. Do you have any experience in any area of science?

Throw them in the deep end (and take the life raft away while you're at it)

Here are two examples where an admin was accused of misusing their tools while INVOLVED: Administrative abuse by User:Drmies and Request for review of Discospinster as admin. In your opinion, were the accused admins allowed to use their tools?
You wake up one day, open Wikipedia, and find that a long and bitter AN/I thread about your conduct has been started. It's not clear yet where the discussion is going, but at least two editors have suggested bringing the case to ArbCom for desysoping. What's your writing process for your first response on the matter?

Canned goods

Which Wikipedia pillar is the most important and why? (perennial favorite)
You see several newly created accounts. Their names are as follows. What action, if any, do you take regarding these?

So, tell me about yourself

What article have you found to be your biggest Wiki rabbit hole?
Why did you start editing Wikipedia, and why have you stayed?
How do you pronounce your username? (Slight twist on a perennial favorite)
What questions would be the easiest and hardest for you to manage at the WP:Teahouse and WP:Help Desk and why?

Please provide a peer review for my featured article nomination

I've recently been working on Tolui, our article about the youngest son of Genghis Khan. It just passed GA, and will arrive at FAC by the end of the day. What in your opinion could you improve/have already improved?

But I was giving them the chance to say how they'd improve!

Please choose a moment in your editing career where you came closest to violating WP:ADMINCOND, or otherwise exhibited bad judgement in an administration-related area, and describe how you would correct the mistake if the event took place when you have the mop.

2022

So tell me about yourself

What are your plans after adminship?
Why do you edit wikipedia?
What is the significance of your username? (Perennial favorite)
- Your account name seems to literally mean (X). Please elaborate.
So far, what have you regretted the most out of your Wikipedia activities?
What do you truly wish for the project itself?

How can I get someone to nominate me, too?

Would you kindly disclose if you approached the nominators, or they approached you? Also, when did the first contact take place regarding that?
Is there any advice you would give to users becoming administrators in the future?

Pop quiz

Under what circumstances should an admin indefinitely block an IP address?
Would you please comment on your understanding of REVDEL? Please describe a specific example of material you would deem appropriate to remove under each of criteria 2 and 3 of CFRD.

Gaze into the crystal ball

What is one field of sysop Wikipedia you plan to never be involved in, if you are successful in your RFA? And why?

Let's talk hypotheticals

When performing an admin role (reviewing a close challenge, reviewing user conduct, etc.) that involves a controversial discussion/issue (politics, gender, religion, etc.), can you completely separate your own opinion regarding the subject and act fairly and impartially towards the users regardless of the side they've taken on this controversial issue?

Huh?

In relation to the increasing number of sysops who work in the categories you identify yourself as, but the decreasing number of total sysops, what do you think about the entirety of possible areas to work in in general? Especially areas that don't relate to any user groups; sysops are still editors.
Let me change the topic from diversity of our "flags" to our human being psychology. Do you pay attention to the personality differences of users? You know that Wikipedia is approaching its 20th anniversary, but "blocking" is still the last option. And the most interesting thing is to judge users based on block log, not the number of articles they have written. Can you take a step to change this "tradition"?
Suppose that someone publicly identifies as a supporter of the actions of the Stasi on their User page and that they have a userbox that states This user supports the actions of the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit in its anti-fascist struggle against the internal enemies of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik. If you were to encounter this in the wild as an administrator, what would be your next steps and why?

2021

I haven't read any of the other questions

How will you deal with disputes?
What will you focus on if and when you become an admin?

Canned goods

While we know that neutrality is one of the most important concepts in Wikipedia, how do you approach contentious situations that are on the opposite spectrum of your religious or political beliefs? (For example: Let's pretend you are Armenian and the case is about Armenian genocide, or pretend that you are conservative and the case is about liberalism)
Which of the 5 pillars do you feel is most important?
In what areas of Wikipedia do you lack experience/are you weakest? (Perennial favorite)

So tell me about yourself

What is the significance of your username? (Perennial favorite)

Life, the universe, and everything

Why do you think people enjoy editing Wikipedia?
Could you describe your philosophy/ideology/views regarding Wikipedia as a whole and as it specifically regards to editing?

Not like this

What are your suggestions for becoming an administrator? Some tips won't go amiss. How do I become good in senior editors' eyes.

Throw them in the deep end

There's probably no correct answer

You're writing a BLP of an older trans person who has recently come out. They don't use neo-pronouns, but they do describe themselves with the older term "transsexual", and have openly spoken of the time before they came out using their previously-used pronouns. You consult with other editors, but ultimately, the decision on what to write and how to write it falls down to you, as everyone else is swamped under in differently articles and projects. Though you don't feel the need to lay out a precise outline before you start writing about this person, what angle do you approach it with?At the same time, you're working on a BLP of a younger trans person, who has openly stated that they commonly use slurs they have reclaimed to describe themselves, but do not use the term 'queer', as they believe it to be an unreclaimed slur, and offensive when used in reference to them. Though they have not spoken about how long they have identified differently - no statements on "I always considered myself to be X", "I started identifying as X at Y age", or "when I look back, I can see that I never identified as Z" - they have also not stated a preference for how they should be referred to when speaking of the time in their life before they came out. Again - everyone else is swamped under writing about ducks or something, criminally vital articles they just cannot put down. Without needing to write up the Iliad on the Talk page before yuu edit, what's your approach?

What was that middle part again?

Suppose in WP:RFPP you see a semi-protection request for article XYZ. In looking at XYZ, you find a slow edit war going on among the handful of edits per day. Not all the edits are warring. There have been more than three reverts by both sides but 3RR doesn't really apply because the reverts span more than a week. In the edit history you don't see much actual vandalism, maybe averaging one random incident per week. The most frequent anonymous IP edits, however, involve an anon attempting to add well-sourced material that a regular editor has been reverting, characterizing the anon's contribution as WP:UNDUE-weight POV-pushing. This regular editor, who is well-established and respected with thousands of productive edits, made the semi-protection request. The anon has no talk page contributions, although the anon's edits are explained with edit summaries. What do you do, and why?

2020

Life, the universe, and everything

If Wikipedia were to shut down tomorrow, how would you feel?
Are there any Wikipedia policies or guidelines which you disagree with? If so, why?
What is the biggest issue facing Wikipedia right now, and how do you intend to address it as an administrator?
In your opinion what is the most important policy on Wikipedia and why? (Perennial favorite)
How would you make Wikipedia a friendly place and more encouraging for new editors?

So tell me about yourself

What is the significance of your username? (Perennial favorite)
You almost never edit between 3AM to 11AM UTC. Without giving out personal details, could you explain why?

Pop quiz

You find the following list of usernames at WP:UAA. What do you do for each of them. (Perennial favorite)
What would be your minimum requirements to protect a page. (One for each protection level, PC, Semi, Full, etc.)

I ask everyone this...

An editor creates an article on an elementary school that entirely comprises material copied and pasted from that school's website. What criterion for speedy deletion applies, and in particular which criterion/a do(es) not apply?
In what area of Wikipedia are you weakest?
What is your interpretation of WP:IAR, and when is it appropriate to invoke it?
What is your view of Process is important?

...because I'm making a point, here

Would you ever block an admin, when necessary, and would your process for doing so be the same process as blocking a non-admin? If not, what would you do differently?

I don't really understand this place

Do you think to have Mainspace edits > 50% is important in RfXs?
How long have you been editing Wikipedia?
Most of your edits are semi-automated edits which by an humourous essay called editcountitis has proved that back in history or present people don't support rfa when semi-automated is over non-automated. Is this supposed to be taken as a serious or minor case?

Teahouse is that way

What is your view on AfD (or its "opposite", AfC) in regards to notability vs stubs?
How do you consider notability when creating an article? And how do you evaluate the reliability of a source for a given statement?

Coming in red hot

I dug up dirt on you and found something from the ANI archives from about 13 months ago. Explain.
Based on your experience in dealing with administrators, what would you say constitutes being a "bad" administrator? (by "bad" I mean someone who should never have been approved to be an administrator). Please provide two examples to support your answer.
Have you ever used or are you currently using any other alternate accounts, or is this your only Wikipedia account?

Throw them in the deep end (aka "Please resolve my arbcom case for me")

An IP adds an infobox to Buckingham Palace as their first edit. Two minutes later, an established editor with 5 confirmed contributions to WP:FAC reverts this edit with a summary "no consensus". The IP adds the infobox back with the edit summary "looks better". The established editor reverts "no consensus, go away". The IP re-reverts with a summary "pls leave my edits alone you bully", which is reverted by the same editor with the summary "you wouldn't know a FA if it came up and gave you a haircut, now piss off". Immediately after this, you stumble on the article history - what do you do?
A user is a member of a fringe political group and is a prolific contributor to Wikipedia. He disagrees with the provisions in WP:FRINGE, believing that they are unfair to fringe viewpoints, and has written alternative versions of WP:FRINGE and more policies that might impact how Wikipedia describes fringe viewpoints. The editor welcomes new users and provides them with links to his own versions of policy rather than the actual policy pages. However, in discussions, he prefers to cite the actual policy pages, only rarely citing his own versions. What do you do?
Editor 1 changes "Taiwan" to "Republic of China" in an article. Editor 2 reverts with edit summary saying there is consensus for "Taiwan" and to discuss on the talk page. Editor 3 changes "Taiwan" to "Republic of China" again. Editor 2 reverts again. Editor 4 changes it back. Editor 2 reverts again. Editor 5 changes it back. Editor 2 reverts again. Editor 1 comes to you and asks you to block Editor 2 for edit warring with multiple other editors. If you were an admin, how would you respond?