Tardis:User rights nominations

Please put nominations (including self-nominations) for special user rights below. Do so by using the following format. Please cut and paste the entirety of this format, and put it underneath the most recent nominee in the section. Where the format says "UserName", please ensure you change it to their actual user name.

UserName

 * The rationale for nominating this user is:

Support

 * Please outline the reasons you support this nomination below:

Oppose

 * Why do you oppose this nomination?

Neutral

 * Feeling lukewarm about this user? Tell us why.

Comments and concerns

 * Do you have specific concerns about this user that are getting in the way of you making up your mind? Leave them here for the nominee to address.  To the nominee: failure to respond to comments left here may weigh against you when it comes time to close the nomination.

Adjustments may be made for special circumstances, but in general there will be at least a one week comment period.

See How do I become an admin? for additional questions and information on administrator roles on the Tardis Data Core Doctor Who Wiki. For more general information about becoming an administrator see Community Central - Tips for becoming an admin

For more information on these roles see Help:User access levels. Special:Listusers/sysop shows the current admins, bureaucrats and staff IDs.


 * Archived nominations

Admins
An administrator has special responsibilities to watch over the wiki. In order to make it easier to fulfill those responsibilities, and admin can block user IDs or IP edits, protect pages and revert pages more easily.

Nominations:

NateBumber
Hi! I'm User:NateBumber, and I'm putting myself forward for admin user rights.

I've maintained a more-or-less steady level of activity on the wiki since I started the Faction Paradox inclusion debate seven years ago. Aside from the many articles I've written about (largely non-TV) stories, characters, and concepts, throughout this time I've maintained a special interest in moves and merges. For over six years my user page has included a list of requested renames, as well as mergers, most of which I've prepared manually by moving the information (with proper CC-BY-SA attribution) or drafting the changes on a sandbox.

Besides the aforementioned FP inclusion debate and the massive editorial project which followed, here are some of my notable efforts:
 * I wrote Tardis:Subpage policy, proposed the recent changes to Tardis:Spoiler policy, and designed the new tabular format of /Appearances pages (including creating ). Thanks again to the admins who ratified and helped implement these proposals!
 * I argued for validity of differing accounts from novelisations in Thread:231243 and Forum:Names from novelisations in page titles. In the process, I pored over dozens of sources to catalogue more than 100 characters who were given distinct names in novelisations.
 * When the retirement of the old forums was still on the horizon, I helped our admin team by indexing the many open threads which in my judgement were ready for closure. Years later, I helped coordinate the discussion which paved the way for the forums' return.
 * And I'm particularly proud of pages I created which set precedents that other editors picked up on and continued, including Eighth Doctor novels, The Doctor's ninth incarnation, The Doctor's early life, and Thirteenth Doctor's forced regeneration (or, for a more visible example of the latter, Romana I's regeneration).

Outside of Tardis, I have some wiki admin experience from the ; elsewhere around the internet, I help run the DoctorWho and Gallifrey subreddits, the Discord-partnered Doctor Who server, and a number of traditional phpBB forums, as well as non-Who-related communities like r/Stoicism. Through these roles, especially the Reddit ones, I have built up years of experience in communication and conflict resolution which I hope to bring to the admin team.

To briefly answer some other questions from Tardis:How do I become an admin?, I'll add that as an occasional professional copyeditor I have a strong grasp on spelling and grammar; I have read and understand both Tardis's and Fandom's policies; and I'm proud to say that I've dipped my toes into every single known corner of the Doctor Who universe.

Lastly, a personal note: after being on the wiki for such a long while, why do I want adminship now?
 * 1) Firstly, with RTD's recruitment year sure to bring the biggest influx of new fans and new editors the wiki has seen yet, we need more admins more than ever.
 * 2) Secondly, the forums returned with a vague goal of resolving proposals after about a month, and I'd like to help our overworked admin team fulfill that goal.
 * 3) Lastly and most importantly, ever since the resolution of the subpage threads, I feel that I've checked off the list of big changes I've hoped to propose for the wiki. My ambitions have been fulfilled, and admin n8 isn't going to be making controversial changes unilaterally. I'm finally ready to shift into maintenance mode.

It's time to start giving back (and make a dent in Category:Articles that need renaming 😄). I hope you'll have me! – n8 (☎) 18:15, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Support

 * Please outline the reasons you support this nomination below:

I am in full support of this proposal; Nate would be, in my opinion, a valuable addition to the administration team. He has provided valuable additions to many forums, and is a good writer and editor. Additionally, we have very little administrators over all, and I believe that we are going to see an influx of new users with the new Disney+ deal, and the return of REDACTED, and of course they will need to be taught our policies, and N8 is one of very few users whom I think would be suitable for the task. Moderation experience is also a useful skill to have. I fully support this proposal. Aquanafrahudy  📢   🖊️  18:29, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

I support this self-nomination, especially highlighting the fact that many articles n8 made inspired my editing, and that he was part of what helped me begin editing in the first place. His attitude of change is very welcome, although I'm glad to hear the reassurance he won't be making unilateral decisions as an admin. Cousin Ettolrahc ☎  18:35, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

It might sound like damning with faint praise, but Nate is the obvious candidate for the next admin. I support this proposal. Jack &#34;BtR&#34; Saxon ☎  18:41, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

I agree with all reasons given. And feel I can add no moreAnastasia Cousins ☎  18:44, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

I support the nomination. In fact, for the first 7 years I’ve been on this wiki, I was somehow convinced that Nate was already an admin on wiki. So I can’t see any reason as to why not. Danniesen ☎  19:11, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

I am adding my full support to this nomination. Not only is n8 a really helpful editor on this wiki, and many of his edits & changes have made this a better place, but as I mod the r/gallifrey sub with him, I know for a fact that he's a good moderator, fully able to take time & eplain policies to newer users, have fruitful discussion & overall work well in a team. With everything coming up this year, this wiki will certainly need some new pair of hands to help out, and n8 is well suited for that role. Liria10 ☎  19:25, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Support: Nate is an excellent contributor to the wiki in pretty much any aspect— he makes frequent and quality edits, participates constructively in discussions, and most of all shows dedication and care towards the wiki. So I think he shows all the signs of a good admin. I think this wiki would benefit from more admins and Nate is a perfect choice. Chubby Potato ☎  20:13, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

I am happy to support the nomination. Through no fault of their own, a few of the admin team have been fairly unavailable lately, and I myself have not had quite so much time as I wish I would, though I do of course still edit regularly. I think it's time for a new admin to come onboard — and Nate is eminently qualified both as a mod in general, and as a Tardis Wiki editor. Certainly we don't see eye-to-eye on all matters of philosophy of editing, but I wholly trust him to hold by the same pledge I made when I (metaphorically) stood where he is now, and not use admin status to arbitrarily enforce his preferred view of things. Scrooge MacDuck ⊕ 20:22, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Oppose

 * Why do you oppose this nomination?

Neutral

 * Feeling lukewarm about this user? Tell us why.

Comments and concerns

 * Do you have specific concerns about this user that are getting in the way of you making up your mind? Leave them here for the nominee to address.  To the nominee: failure to respond to comments left here may weigh against you when it comes time to close the nomination.

I have two (well, three) main lines of questioning here. Certainly Nate is qualified in terms of his editing experience, there can be no doubt about that. Najawin ☎  20:11, 20 November 2023 (UTC)
 * To what extent should the wiki enshrine in policy ambiguity? I mean this in two senses, first, if we simply despair of the notion that we can find hard and fast lines to draw, do we always default to vague ones? Do we default to these even if we don't spend weeks or months trying to rigorously find lines we all can agree on? Secondly, do we wish to enshrine ambiguity to preserve the ability for people to edit in different ways based on different aesthetic preferences, different views on how the wiki should operate? We've had a very noticeable shift in active admin composition over the past few years. And I'd never accuse anyone of knowingly participating in an echo chamber in the past, present or future, least of all Nate. But to what extent should we actively put in place guardrails to mitigate against such things? Are our current rules sufficient?
 * Do you feel confident that you won't be stretched too thin? You mention many areas where you moderate, and you have fingers in other pies as well. Not to mention real life (/shudder/). You're your own best judge, but I do think it's worth making sure of. Especially as it concerns closing forum threads. (/Glances at Forum:Rule 4 by Proxy and its ramifications: considered in the light of the forum archives and weeps/)
 * (Regarding R4BP, I do feel compelled to clarify that User:Bongolium500 is set to close that one already, once we all agree that we have nothing more to say under the present paradigm… which hasn't happened yet. I'm still chipping away at something. Just… busy. And maybe I'll be a little less o'er-busy once Nate is an admin!) Scrooge MacDuck ⊕ 20:22, 20 November 2023 (UTC)
 * (Oh, I'm sure, no pressure on Nate to be the closer. My point was the absurd length that threads can get to.) Najawin ☎  20:25, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

I actually have similar concerns. I think I support but on the request that Nate does not close forums that involve rules that they have created - for instance, Nate would not close a forum about NOTCOVERED policy. OS25🤙☎️ 21:24, 20 November 2023 (UTC)


 * Oh absolutely. I agree with that. Otherwise any admin could just open a debate about something and close it to their own satisfaction. Danniesen ☎  22:04, 20 November 2023 (UTC)


 * Najawin, those are two incisive questions.
 * It's a difficult challenge to come up with rules that generalise perfectly to every case. When a rule forces you to do something misaligned with the wiki's goals, I think it's good to bite that bullet and follow the rule, but every bullet should be remembered as ammunition for a better or more nuanced version of that rule down the road. Rather than accepting exceptions to the rules willy-nilly, it's best to find principles underlying patterns of would-be exceptions and explicitly codify those principles as amendments or new rules in and of themselves. This is why, during the period between forums, I advocated strongly for putting our informal common practices in writing, as you later made official in Forum:T:BOUND Reform: what is any unwritten rule but a vague default? Regarding aesthetic preferences, I'm not sure I've understood the entirety of your question – could you maybe offer some examples, or an analogy? – but if you yourself are brainstorming some sort of guardrail policy, that's certainly a proposal I'd be very interested in learning more about.
 * Each platform and community comes with distinct demands. On most, it's just a quick scroll for spam removal; on some, it's checking a few boards or channels which are my responsibility; on others, it's much more involved. But on all, I share those demands with teams of others. I'm not concerned about becoming the time demand of adminship because, despite these other things, I already spend time on Tardis checking Special:RecentChanges, scrolling through maintenance categories, reading through complicated talk pages and forum threads, etc. I do appreciate this prompt as a sanity check though 😄


 * OS25, that's an interesting idea, and I'm not opposed. I certainly believe very strongly in the age-old principle that an admin who argues for or against a position in a debate should not and cannot be the one to close that debate (which I think addresses Danniesen's comment). But extending this beyond the scope of a clearly demarcated thread or talk page gives me some pause. For instance, NOTCOVERED was a result of Forum:Subpages 2.0 – would I similarly not be able to close any other discussions regarding current or future types of subpages? The R4BP ramifications thread or some successor seems likely to result in a major rewrite of T:VS – would any other major participant, who later becomes an admin, similarly be banned from future validity discussions? If it's the current implementation of NOTCOVERED that you want me to say away from, I could agree to that. But without a clearer scope, I don't think it would be wise for me to declare myself, uniquely among the other admins, useless in potentially very large areas of duties before I've even started. – n8 (☎) 22:48, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Bureaucrats
A bureaucrat has the same rights as an administrator and the additional permission to create new administrators and bureaucrats.

Nominations: