Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2006-05-19 WP:TfD of *Many* Userboxes

Mediation Case: 2006-05-19 WP:TfD of *Many* Userboxes
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Request Information

 * Request made by: Ssbohio 00:14, 19 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Where is the issue taking place?
 * Primarily in Templates for Deletion.


 * Who's involved?
 * Well, there's me, Cyde Weys, & Fake User, for the most part.


 * What's going on?
 * Cyde & Fake User, as well as a few others are nominating many userboxes for deletion, which has led myself & others to question whether that is a good kthing to do while the community is struggling toward consensus at the same time. It skates along the ragged edge of disrupting Wikipedia to make a point.  The nonuserbox TfD's are drowning in a sea of userboxes.  Further, Cyde is going to userpages & userfying the userbox templates that have been placed there, such that without looking carefully at the code & the behavior, one could miss the removal of his userbox template(s) from his userpage entirely.  He's also requested to create a bot that will automate his substituting of userpage code for userbox templates.  I believe the acts by all involved are well-intentioned, and I assume good faith in their actions, but using TfD for a campaign against userboxes (in any degree) further stokes the fires. The userbox dispute needs to be resolved on a meta basis, once & for all, rather than by the death of a thousand small cuts. Fighting over userboxes one by one seems an unproductive way to go about achieving consensus.


 * ''What would you like to change about that?
 * I'd like to be able to dialogue with Cyde & Fake User toward achieving a voluntary moratorium on TfD'ing userboxes one by one. I oppose the removal of userbox templates, but, that said, I'm concerned here about the process, not the outcome.  If ureboxes end up being deleted by consensus, then so be it.  I doubt anyone comes here for the userboxes.  I just want these pointless useerbox TfD battles to be held in abeyance until there is consensus on what to do with userboxes as a class.  Before anything else, though, I'd like to talk with a mdeiator and explore what I could do to better achieve compromise with Cyde, Fake, etc.


 * If you'd prefer we work discreetly, how can we reach you?
 * I'm comfortable with talk page content, or I can be emailed @ [mailto:steveb_ohio@yahoo.com Yahoo] or IM'd via Yahoo (SteveB_Ohio) or AIM (ssbohio). However, before anyone else is contacted, I'd like a mediator to discuss the matter with me & maybe point out some different strategies I can use to at least open a dialogue & work toward compromise with the other participants.


 * Would you be willing to be a mediator yourself, and accept a mediation assignment in a different case?


 * This is, following the Categorical Imperative, the idea that you might want to do
 * what you expect others to do. You don't have to, of course, that's why it's a question.


 * I'd be glad to help in any way I can.

Mediator response
Summary close. The Userbox issue involves Jimbo Wales, members of the arb committee, former members of the arb committee, bureaucrats, board members and thousands of community members of all different levels on either side. This is way beyond the pull of anyone in the mediation cabal. Heck this may be beyond the mediation committee. No one here carries anywhere near enough respect to be taken seriously on this issue. I'm not trying to be a jerk just to be realistic. We can't help.
 * Yes, I'd have to agree. The scope of this issue is much too wide and it would probably be better to bring this up on the administrator's noticeboard for questioning people more familiar with the issue. Cowman109Talk 01:55, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Evidence
Please report evidence in this section with for misconduct and  for 3RR violations. If you need help ask a mediator or an advocate. Evidence is of limited use in mediation as the mediator has no authority. Providing some evidence may, however, be useful in making both sides act more civil. Etiquette: Although it's understandably difficult in a heated argument, if the other party is not as civil as you'd like them to be, make sure to be more civil than him or her, not less.


 * In his request for Adminship, Cyde made a statement that doesn't seem to comport well with his current course of action. To quote:
 * I'd just like to make one thing clear: I've never deleted a userbox and I don't forsee myself getting involved with that in the future. Why? Because I now realize that my actions weren't helping matters, so I've decided not to get involved with that anymore. There's plenty other stuff to do on Wikipedia. I'll leave the userboxes up to other people. --Cyde Weys 20:43, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Not getting involved anymore would seem incompatible with making so many TfD nominations. Of course, it's also an interpretation issue, because, without feedback from Cyde, I don't really know why he's doing what he's doing.  In light of what I know now, Cyde seems to be backtracking on one of the things he said in the course of becoming an admin.--Ssbohio 01:57, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Compromise offers
This section is for listing and discussing compromise offers.

Discussion
To be clear, I wasn't really looking for a Cabalist to jump into this issue as much as I'm trying to get some advice how to reach resolution with the participants. If I need to take this to WP:AN, I guess I can, but I'm still kind of green here, and not 1000% comfortable walking in the hall of the giants just yet. :-) Advice? Suggestions? Ideas short of that? --Ssbohio 02:08, 19 May 2006 (UTC)


 * If you just want a suggestion start commenting all over the place and get involved in Mackensen's Proposal. That's a compromise that's gaining steam.jbolden1517Talk  02:39, 19 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Wow! Great minds think alike...  I just left a comment at Mackensen's Proposal...  I'm afraid I didn't see it as much of a compromise.  That's beside the point, however.  My request here was about how to resolve the bombardment in TfD.  However the "war" resolves itself, I can't see how these massive deletions do anything to help such a controversial situation.--Ssbohio 03:42, 19 May 2006 (UTC)