User:Ed Poor

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About me

Hi, my name is Ed Poor and I'm a former developer, admin & bureaucrat from Wikipedia.

I know quite a bit about the internal workings of Wikipedia: the database structure, formatting, templates, dispute procedures, content and style guidelines; and, oh, yes, all the politics and gossip of the first few years.

Dpbsmith asked me to come over, so here I am. I'm finding the environment much more congenial.

My chief aim here is to facilitate the highest standards of encyclopedia development.

Wikipedia

Ed poor in Newark

I was one of the earliest members of the Wikipedia project (UserID #188). I helped institute the following practices or software features there:

• Marking edits as 'patrolled' (co-conceived with Maveric who in one marathon period personally checked every Wikipedia edit for vandalism!)
• Ability of blocked users to edit their own user talk page
• Community ban - i.e., increased authority for sysops to block a disruptive user
• The practice of bureaucrats "running" for office (I was the first one elected, when as a developer I could simply have granted myself the rights)

Pages I'm proud of there:

• Wikipedia:Avoid personal remarks

Favorite contributors

This is a partial list. Don't get all bent out of shape because I haven't placed your name here (yet). :-) And it's not in any particular order.

• TK (talk • contribs • count) - straight to the point
• MountainDew (talk • contribs • count) - refreshing, like a can of soda!
• RSchlafly (talk • contribs • count) - forthright
• Aschlafly (talk • contribs • count) - erudite
• Dpbsmith (talk • contribs • count) - out of sight!
• Hojimachong (talk • contribs • count) - all right!
• Sid 3050 (talk • contribs • count) - a big help
• Jaques (talk • contribs • count) - a lot of interesting stuff

A new role

To my surprise and pleasure, I was voted in as a sysop here - reportedly it was unanimous. Thank you for your support.

I believe that users who are here to contribute should get a helping hand, and those who cannot or will not make useful contributions should be shown to the door. But since, "His mercy is forever sure", I don't like applying infinite bans; it's always possible for a person to make up his mind to take a new direction.

I've unprotected a handful of pages and am watching them. I have hopes that eventually all content pages can be freely edited, once they reach a mature and stable state.

Welcome

Welcome, I'm Dan. I see that you have made many great article improvements in your week here. MountainDew 17:45, 26 March 2007 (EDT)

Thanks, Dan. I try. And I've learned a lot from watching you. --Ed Poor 18:50, 28 March 2007 (EDT)

Ideas I'm looking at

• Popularity
  • of certain articles
  • of the project as a whole
  • Are they just laughing at us out there? (See 'liberal bias' below)

• Student accounts - some kind of indication that here is a young person still in high school, so go easy on them?
  • Andy's not so keen on this

• Standards of conduct:
  1. for sysops
     • Not arbitrarily banning users
  2. for ordinary users

• Reliability

• Bias
  • Liberal bias
  • Conservative bias

• Agreeing to disagree
  • NPOV
  • Compromise

• Collaboration

• Registration

  Registration is closed late at night and early morning (Eastern Time). It's open during the day and early evening. Also, you can email the webmaster or User:Aschlafly (he's at aol) for manual accounts.

• Leadership
  • Should there be a "lead sysop"?
  • I'd be glad to follow TerryK's lead