User:Zondi/admin coaching

July 2007
Hello! Let the coaching commence! For starters, tell me a little about yourself, why you're a Wikipedian, what you like best about the 'pedia, etc. Feel free to ask me questions as well. :) --Fang Aili talk 18:47, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Hi Fang Aili! Thank you once again. Here’s brief information about me: I am a student in my 20s studying in CA. I spend a lot of time on the Internet doing research, and that’s how my interest in Wikipedia started -- I saw there wasn’t much information about Azerbaijan and its culture on it. So I decided to create pages about Azerbaijani musicians, writers, poets, cinema, etc. So far I’ve created about 20 articles and am planning to create more as I go. Apart from that, I see that Wikipedia needs constant maintenance, therefore lately I’ve been trying to help with stub-sorting, vandal fighting, correcting spelling errors and tagging articles for speedy deletion (that’s when I see there is absolutely no chance to save the article). Zondi 04:54, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Initial comments
I know we just started, and you haven't had a chance to respond above yet. But I wanted to get some thoughts down, while they were fresh in my mind. I was looking over your last 1000 contribs. A few comments: --Fang Aili talk 19:12, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
 * 1) You do a lot of wikignoming, and that's great. The only negative aspect to that is that it looks like you don't do any actual writing. Can you point to some examples of your additions to articles?
 * 2) I see you are doing some vandal fighting, and warning vandals appropriately. Good job. :)
 * 3) Some of your older edits do not have edit summaries. If you haven't already, go to your preferences and check the little edit summary reminder box.


 * Here are some of the articles I've created: Cinema of Azerbaijan, Mir Jalal Pashayev, Almas Ildyrym, Alakbar Rezaguliyev, Vasif Adigozal and Natig Rasulzade.
 * Thank you:)
 * Done! By the way, what format should use to reply to your individual comments? Like this you think is okay? Zondi 04:54, 26 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Cool! Whatever format seems to make the most sense is fine by me. Have any initial questions or admin secrets you want revealed? ;) --Fang Aili talk 14:36, 27 July 2007 (UTC)


 * From what I understand, every admin specializes in a certain area, right? But is there a list of things that every potential admin should know? If yes, I would appreciate if you could send me those. Thank you. Zondi 03:23, 30 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Some end up "specializing" in a certain area just by virtue of doing a lot in that area. But it's not required.
 * About stuff every admin should know, there's the Administrators' reading list. --Fang Aili talk 16:11, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

All that reading is probably overwhelming. Perhaps you can focus on one area for a while, like AfD. When you have a question about an AfD, go back and read the guidelines. That way the info has relevance to what you're currently doing. --Fang Aili talk 03:12, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks Fang Aili, that's a good idea. One step at a time:) In the meantime, could you please take a look at this Speedy Deletion issue: Image:Mirza Shafi Vazeh.jpg. This person lived in the 19th century, so the picture has already been released into the public domain. How should such cases be handled? Thanks. Zondi 05:41, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I removed the speedy tag. You should add what you said in the talk page to the image page. And some information about where the website got the image wouldn't hurt either. When you upload an image, more information is better. :) --Fang Aili talk 13:53, 2 August 2007 (UTC)