User:UninvitedCompany/becoming

Here are my criteria for supporting candidates on WP:RFA:

• Participation in the project for at least four months
• Adequate edit history. At least 500 edits, but more depending on the quality, extent, and subject of the edits.
• Substantive contributions to truly encyclopedic topics.
• Respect for the project and the community.
• Interest in administrative matters.

Rationale and discussion

Four months

I believe that it is important to be around the project and to be able to observe firsthand how things get done. This takes time and is mostly independent of the intensity of involvement. In four months, a contributor will see a fair number of featured articles, a certain number of policy discussions, arrivals of various users (good and bad), and will see how other users go through a maturing process after they arrive. These are all important.

500 edits

500 edits is really not that many. I do review quality and content. Generally I don't consider articles about television shows, fictional realms, or sports figures in my count, unless the edits appear to be unusually well researched. Where many edits to the same article are made in succession, I only consider those edits that are substantive.

Substantive contributions to truly encyclopedic topics

Writers who add new, well referenced, informative, properly organized content are worth their weight in gold. I expect prospective admins to do at least some of this, to show that they can, and to show that they value such work.

Respect for project and community

Prospective administrators should show, through their actions, that they see Wikipedia as both an encyclopedia project and as a community. They should refrain from adding or defending dubious content. They should respect community consensus even when they do not agree with it. They should avoid personal attacks. They should revert only with care and thought. They should respect the community's time by refraining from bringing up matters recently discussed and settled. They should use edit summaries in a way that will make others' work more efficient.

Interest in administrative matters

Use of administrative features for the furtherance of Wikipedia's goals involves:

• Following WP:VFD
• Following Recentchanges
• Reviewing disputes

Prospective administrators should show some interest in at least one of these areas, otherwise granting adminship accomplishes nothing for the project.