User blog:Mdouglas3/Six Weeks Later

Six Weeks Later
Six weeks ago I wrote my first blog post about why I joined this wiki and what I hoped for this community. Today I write my second (and probably last) blog post to reflect on what's happened since then and look to the future.

When I started editing six weeks ago it was out of sheer gratitude for this wiki having been so vital to my understanding and enjoyment of Tekkit. The wiki was in a bad place, it had been neglected for many months, and it was recently adopted by a new group of admins who had just gotten it back on track and given it direction. I'm glad I came in shortly after they did, as they were able to do the heavy lifting and I could follow their lead (I'm not a leader, more of a follower).

I wrote about three areas I felt the wiki needed to concentrate on: Strong Leadership, Standards, and Civility. Here are my thoughts on the progress so far.

Strong Leadership. The same leadership is in place, though Watson_777 has been appointed as Bureaucrat to work alongside the current Bureaucrat, MinecraftRogue. I have always been in favor of having two bureaucrats for several reasons - most importantly so the wiki cannot be "abandoned", which is what happened to it before, and also so there isn't a feeling of a dictatorship. I supported the decision and I think it will work out well.

Some of the admins are barely active, leaving a heavier load for those that are regularly active. I would think stipulations should be in place that if someone is an admin they should have a certain minimum level of activity to retain those privileges. And by "activity" I don't mean "editing". While editing is one factor in an admin's activity, the main part of it is the stuff we never see - warning users, following up on warnings, banning users, deleting offensive comments, etc. The hard work admins do that few users recognize or thank them for. Admin team, you have my thanks for your hard work.

What I don't see is a whole lot of organization going on. Granted, it could be happening behind-the-scenes. But recent comments on one of the monthly coup blogs suggests some admins aren't involved in the discussions going on. Part of the problem is time zones, but the biggest road blocks are poor planning and expecting quick decisions. If a question comes up, instead of relying on instant chat, what about posting an admin-only forum message, asking for feedback from all admins, then waiting 48 hours? Yes, we want decisions quickly, we want them now, but in reality it's not really necessary. A little self-discipline for the sake of the community is worth it. And the discussions should be public, even if the public can't comment, so everything is open to the community. Nothing should ever be deleted, only archived.

Standards. Some forward momentum on standards has been accomplished, and many of the wiki pages are looking consistent. Consistency is vital to the design of a wiki so users know exactly what to expect and how to find important information on whatever page they hit. There's still some work to be done in this regard, but the momentum is there and it will just take time.

Civility. This was the area where the most work was needed at the time of my first blog post. And it's probably also the one area where there will always be room for improvement, mostly because of the transient nature of a community - new trolls come in and stir the pot. I believe Admins should always show civility, setting the example for users, and prompting users to be civil in return. Some admins, though, seem to always be impatient in their reply. It never makes a situation better, only worse.

The bottom line is that the wiki is moving forward and is in a better place than it was six weeks ago. Certainly this is not because of my efforts, but I feel I've helped in my own small way. I set several goals for myself and I've met all of those goals. And while I will continue to reference this wiki (because nobody can memorize Tekkit!), and will occasionally make edits as I see them, I won't be nearly as active as an editor for the time being. Maybe when Tekkit is updated I'll be back to help cleanup what has been removed and add some of the new stuff.

Thanks for reading! See you around!

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