User talk:DarkMatterMan4500

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Apology for posting on a locked and closed wiki
I'm very terribly sorry for posting on a locked wiki that had a ManageWiki bug issue. But, for what it's worth, thanks for deleting them anyway. DarkMatterMan4500 (talk) (contribs) 16:21, 24 January 2021 (UTC)
 * DarkMatterMan4500 ✅. It was related to a bug, so it was good in that sense in that it identified a bug. Dmehus (talk) 17:34, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

Can I be unblocked on Rotten Websites Wiki
I didn’t do anything wrong there, the block summary says “An SJW” even though I am not an SJW and political beliefs are not a reason for a ban. The user who blocked me, SpazJR61, is globally locked so I figured I would ask you instead. Blubabluba9990 (talk) 22:54, 16 February 2021 (UTC)


 * I already unblocked you on that wiki as soon as I saw the feed on Discord. DarkMatterMan4500 (talk) (contribs) 02:00, 17 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Ok Blubabluba9990 (talk) 14:25, 17 February 2021 (UTC)

Editing Archived Discussions
Hi, I have reverted your edits to an archived discussion. Once a discussion gets closed, except under exceptional circumstances they shouldn’t be edited. Typos do not fall under exceptional and the value a correction after a discussion gets closed is extremely minor compared to a live discussion or one where no reply has been received for. Thanks John (talk) 15:33, 22 February 2021 (UTC)


 * Thanks anyway. I did spot the mistake in my sentence there. DarkMatterMan4500 (talk) (contribs) 15:34, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Wiki creator helpful tips
Hi DarkMatterMan4500,

First off, I will just start by welcoming you to the wiki creator team. Thank you for volunteering. As you are no doubt aware, Content Policy is our key global policy that guides us in creating wikis for customers. Essentially, every wiki needs to have both a clear purpose, some sort of scope (broad or narrow), and a topical focus. This is the main criterion that helps us to determine whether a wiki will have any potential Content Policy problems.

Second, I wanted to share with you a few tips that I found helpful when I first joined as a wiki creator:


 * 1) Study the wiki creator's guide. It contains many best practices, some of which are required steps wiki creators are required to undertake in approving requests.
 * 2) "Request comments" tab. Intuitively, one would think to use this tab when requesting more information, but as Amanda Catherine (and others) pointed out to me shortly after I joined as a wiki creator, there used to be a known issue with this in that the requestor wasn't notified via e-mail unless their wiki is either (a) approved or (b) declined. While there are now notifications, it's still advantageous to decline wiki requests needing more information to maintain a streamlined queue and to take "ownership" of requests, in a sense. Thus, when requesting more information on a wiki request, you really either (a) use the "decline" tab, referencing your follow-up comments in that text box and telling them to back into Special:RequestWikiQueue/  in order to add to, but not replace, their existing description with the needed information or (b) use either the "request comments" or "decline" tab in combination with a message on the requestor's user talk page on Meta. The approach you use is entirely up to you. I personally prefer option A, but either one is fine;
 * 3) Private wikis. Private wikis can generally have a shorter description and a less specific purpose, scope, or topic, but they do still need one. If you have some reservations about approving it as, say, a public wiki, due to that vagueness, you can tell them, in your comments prior to approving it, that you're approving it only as a private wiki and remind them to ensure their wiki complies with all aspects of Content Policy;
 * 4) Eurovision song contest and fictional worldbuilding wikis. These are two types of wikis that have few, if any, problems with them. So, as long as there's a clear sitename, URL, and at least a few words in the description that indicates this as the purpose, it's fine to approve them;
 * 5) Reception wikis (positive and negative). Many of the Reception wikis tend to give us the most the grief, especially in terms of content that is very negative about users. If it's a Reception wiki that focuses on terrible fast-food restaurants, that's usually less problematic than, say, one that focuses on gamer or YouTube celebrities, mainly because you're not dealing with content about real, living people. Please don't hesitate in asking follow up questions, sometimes multiple times, of these wikis, trying to narrow down whether the wikis will write about real people in some way and, if so, how they will do it. And, at the end of the day, if you are still not comfortable approving, you can write "on hold" for review by another wiki creator in "request comments";
 * 6) Chinese language mini-world wiki requests. These ones are tricky, but cause us arguably the most grief, particularly when they publish personal information of real people without their consent. Stewards have recently closed a swath of them following a detailed report on stewards' noticeboard, but some of the tricks I've observed them using are odd descriptions like "anti-dog wiki" or to "expose the truth and scandal". Somewhat less common, they will use a completely different, but vague, description, then change their tune when you follow up with them and use some of those key phrases I mentioned in the previous sentence;
 * 7) Google Translate. Don't hesitate to use Google Translate to review non-English public and private wikis. Notwithstanding the above point, most of these wikis' descriptions translate surprisingly well. As you've probably already noticed, I like to copy and paste the translated to English description into "request comments," so other wiki creators can see it easily. This is optional, but it's a good practice, I think; and,
 * 8) Don't hesitate to reach out on Discord and ask for a second opinion. If you are still unsure about approving a wiki, or just want a second opinion, don't hesitate to reach out to any wiki creator on Discord. This might be the most important guideline.

Cheers,

Dmehus (talk) 18:05, 15 March 2021 (UTC)

A couple more great best practices
Hi again DarkMatterMan4500,

A couple more essential best practices I thought I'd share, one or both of which may already be doing...


 * 1) After approving a wiki, it's a very good  required practice to either (a) visit the wiki you created and use Special:ListUsers to make sure the requestor has   rights on the wiki or (b) use Special:CentralAuth on Meta to verify the requestor has   rights on the wiki. I personally use option B now as it is (a) quicker, (b) I manage the number of wikis to which I attach my user account, and (c) with private wikis, you can't view Special:ListUsers anyway; and,
 * 2) It's helpful, I think, to provide comments prior to your approving a wiki. Again, this is technically optional, but is definitely a good practice to continue, if you want.

Cheers,

Dmehus (talk) 18:05, 15 March 2021 (UTC)