User:OlYeller21/Self improvement

RfA toolebox
I'd like to use the tools in this template. Obviously, this isn't an RfA/RfB.  Ol Yeller21 Talktome  17:18, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Summary
I plan on tacking a look at my editing habits here on Wikipedia and attempting to improve my habits. I'm not here to look like a martyr or elicit anything other than improvement from myself. I do this a lot outside of Wikipedia and it's time I do it here.  Ol Yeller Talktome 18:46, 19 October 2011 (UTC)


 * I should note what spurred me to do this. I was contacted by an admin through email who brought up the idea of attempting to become an administrator.  I've read through many RfAs and feel that I have a good understanding of what being an admin involves but I'm not sure if it's for me.  If I do decide that I would like to become an admin, this is a crucial first step, in my opinion.  If not, I'm a better editor.  It's a Win-Win situation.  I'm leaning towards not becoming an admin.  I'm almost always able to handle issues without admin intervention and I'm not sure that I want the weight of the additional responsibilities of adminship.  If I decided that I do wish to become an admin, be sure that I will be 100% committed. OlYeller21  Talktome 20:23, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Note to visitors
I have attempted to assess myself here as best as I can. If you feel that my assessment isn't accurate, that I'm way off base, or that I'm totally missing a problem area, please trout me, slap me, kick me, punch me, or whatever else you think fits. I'm trying to better myself here and coddling won't be as valuable as asserting your opinion quickly and clearly. OlYeller21 Talktome 20:27, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

WP:COIN
I have spent approximately four months working at WP:COIN trying to identify potential COIs, identify if there's actually a problem, and solving those problems without needing admin intervention. I actually find it very fun. Sleuthing to identify a COI is fun but not why I like it. I really like working with new editors who are excited enough to venture into the Wiki-jungle. It's exciting to help them understand the problem (if there actually is one) and fix whatever problem they have run into. It's really rewarding when they end up liking it so much that the stick around as an editor which admittedly has little do to with me.  Ol Yeller Talktome 19:35, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Assessment

 * I think I generally do a good job at COIN although I would like to hear from other editors like user:Atama whose actions at COIN I respect. user:OrangeMike is also at COIN often but I, for some reason, haven't interacted with him often.  If there's one thing that I may need to improve it's that I generally spend most of my time investigating the possibility of a close connection and whether or not that connection is causing a problem.  I don't think that's not valuable but I may better round my experience by editing the articles in question more to remove the result of a COI. OlYeller21  Talktome 20:16, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

CAT:CSD
I used to spend a lot more time here than I do now. I would attempt to spot articles that, with a very quick action, may be savable. It got to the point where that was generally not possible so I moved to New Page Patrol. I think I worked on articles at CAT:CSD for at least 6 months. I don't have a way to tell now.  Ol Yeller Talktome 19:35, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Assessment

 * I think my work there was generally helpful. Quickly establishing a subject's notability in an article is a good practice, especially for new editors.  As for how much I helped there or helped WP, I have no idea.  I think that it's probably less valuable than other areas than I'm involved in, both to me and Wikipedia. OlYeller21  Talktome 20:16, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Articles for Deletion
This is where I learned many of the policies and guidelines that govern Wikipedia. I had fights with people, civil and not, based on my perception of what was "right" as many new editors do. I was never blocked or got anywhere near a block during these fights. I also never edit warred. I mostly just made poor arguments. After a few months, I decided that just !voting wasn't really helping anything and lost interest. From there I moved to attempting to save articles at CAT:CSD and through WP:ARS.  Ol Yeller <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 19:35, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Assessment

 * This is an area that I would like to get involved in again. I feel that articles are often nominated for deletion without WP:BEFORE being applied.  Between that and a lot of "per nom" !votes, an article can be deleted without a whole lot of investigation being done.  With my current knowledge of policies and guidelines, I think I can do a lot more good at AfD than I used to.  I worry though that focusing more on AfD will continue to keep me from actually editing articles.  I don't that's a bad thing for WP but editing articles more than I do but I think it will make me more well rounded. <font style="color:#827839;">Ol<font style="color:#FBB117;">Yeller21  <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 20:19, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

WP:ARS
I worked at WP:ARS for a while attempting to save articles. I eventually roped myself into long winded conversations between supporters and attackers (I can't think of a better word) of ARS. I eventually got sick of all the discussion that detracted from actually improving WP so I left there and began patrolling new pages.  Ol Yeller <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 19:35, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Assessment

 * I'm not really interested at participating with ARS anymore, exactly. I think I can do what's best for WP without the goal of "saving" articles or having my home-base be a Wikiproject setup to do so.  I'm not saying ARS is bad but just not for me.  I think saving articles, however I do it, will make me a more well rounded editor, though. <font style="color:#827839;">Ol<font style="color:#FBB117;">Yeller21  <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 20:16, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

New Page Patrol
I patrol new pages via tag filters (Large unwikified new articles, Possible COI new articles, Very short new articleNew article with no mention of title, Removal of CSD template). When those filters don't need work, I'll work on unpatrolled new pages. This is where the large bulk of my edits come from. This has taught my a plethora of patterns that you see in new pages that have issues. I tag pages for improvement, remove copyvios, remove external links, add occasional categories, redirect, tag for speedy deletion (which has taught me CSD categories in great detail), and nominate articles for deletion. This has taught me a great deal about how to identify and establish notability of a subject as well as how to distinctly prove that a subject does not appear to be notable at this time.

This also made WP feel very cold to me. I'd say one out of ten articles that appear in those filters actually exists on WP after a three day period. Constantly dealing with upset editors whose article "I deleted" wears on me and is rarely fruitful. This duty obviously has a great deal of value for WP but I had to keep myself sane by doing increasing my participation in other areas. I still worry that copyvios are getting through and with the recent influx of copyvios, I'm genuinely worried that the quality of WP will slip.  Ol Yeller <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 19:35, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Assessment

 * Patrolling new pages has taught me a great deal about Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. Also, I think that the experience I have gained is not only very valuable to Wikipedia but not widely had.  While constantly deleting pages sometimes gets me down, I know that it's a very valuable task for WP.  Regarding the accuracy of my assessments, I've never analyzed any data.  With the new Twinkle change though, my CSD log can quickly show that my accuracy is high although I have idea how high "good" is.  I plan on asking veteran page patroller, user:Kudpung if he has any pointers or criticisms for me. <font style="color:#827839;">Ol<font style="color:#FBB117;">Yeller21  <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 20:16, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Article editing/creation
I have constantly monitored almost every article that I touch. I mostly watch for bias and vandalism but also flesh out articles that I'm really interested in.  Ol Yeller <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 19:35, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

As for creation of articles, I have created several including a template that currently has 1138 transclusions (catimprove). I would like to create more but between not caring enough to create more and feeling like I'm needed at WP:COIN and patrolling paged, it hasn't been high on my priority list.  Ol Yeller <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 19:35, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Assessment

 * Quite simply, I think I need to edit articles more and create more articles to make myself a more well rounded editor. As of this edit, 3,165 of my 10,960 edits are to article space and I imagine most of those are a template of some sort. Perhaps focus on a particular article and attempt to take it to GA status.  <font style="color:#827839;">Ol<font style="color:#FBB117;">Yeller21  <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 20:16, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Civility
I get defensive sometimes and lose my cool. When I lose my cool, I don't start yelling at people or cursing but I'm not confident that I don't let my feelings cloud my judgement.  Ol Yeller <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 19:35, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Assessment

 * I think I used to let me feelings get to me sometimes. Now that I've spent much more time on Wikipedia, my feelings are greatest for Wikipedia meaning that, in a way, I have an anti-COI with Wikipedia.  Anyway... between that and some things going on in my life outside of Wikipedia, its much easier for me to keep a level head.  Furthermore, I think that's a permanent change.  I'm very interested to hear what other editors have to say though. <font style="color:#827839;">Ol<font style="color:#FBB117;">Yeller21  <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 20:16, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Follow through/thoroughness
I do my best to follow through with any claim I make. I say claim because I don't like when people feel that they need to "promise" something. To me, it implies that there's some sort of middle ground between not saying anything and promising to do something (like a semi-promise). You either say you will do something or do not.

As for how thorough I am, I take great pride in my thoroughness. When a particularly tricky situation pops up, I have started making reports (like this one) to help editors, including myself, make the best decision possible. My other reports can be seen here.  Ol Yeller <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 19:35, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Assessment

 * I think I'm very thorough but sometimes when I am dealing with a particularly green editor who is having trouble picking things up, my desire to help them wains. I've always kept my word but think I should find a way to better deal with this issue so that it's never as much as a problem for me. <font style="color:#827839;">Ol<font style="color:#FBB117;">Yeller21  <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 20:16, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Taking offense
I would occasionally take offense to personal attacks made against me on Wikipedia during a conversation. That had a lot to do with my life at the time. Now, when personally attacked, the attack itself doesn't bother me. I'm not a robot but it's much easier to focus on what I know is right rather than take a personal attack to heart.  Ol Yeller <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 19:35, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Assessment

 * I have been doing my best to not take offense to things. I almost never take offense to things unless I feel like I've been attacked or insulted personally.  Simply noticing this fact has lead to me having a much cooler demeanor.  As with my assessment of civility, this issue continue to get better over time and will not ever get worse. <font style="color:#827839;">Ol<font style="color:#FBB117;">Yeller21  <font style="color:#827839;">Talktome 20:16, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Conclusion
(This section will be filled in after my goals and methods of improvement have been decided.)