Grants talk:IdeaLab/Reduce harassment by eliminating the power of elitist "editors" to harass and ban users. This power is frequently abused.

Latest comment: 7 years ago by I JethroBT (WMF) in topic Grants to improve your project

Well... we'd need a bit more explanation on things. Here's my rundown:

  • I think you might be talking about infoboxes when you mention badges. Infoboxes are things that people can give themselves to reflect upon how much they've edited and where, as well as various other details about them. These are no guarantee of the quality of the editor, nor should they be construed as such. I think that people go a bit overboard with them, but that's just me. Now if you're talking about barnstars, those are a different thing entirely and those are typically given out by other editors in recognition of another person's skills. They should not be given to oneself.
  • Now when it comes to admins (the only people who can block), they exist because they're necessary. (Admin here.) If we couldn't block someone on Wikipedia then the site would be open to vandals, spammers, and other types that would quickly make Wikipedia an unhelpful mess. Now these blocks should only be handed out in specific circumstances and only when the situation warrants, like repeated vandalism, spam, and so on. Taking away the ability to do this would not result in anything good and blocking is something you'll experience on any given site that has moderation.
  • As far as userpage editing goes, it's considered to be rude to edit another person's userpage except in specific situations. The talk page is fair game, since that's how we communicate with one another, but our userpages are sort of ours alone. The only time they can be edited by someone else is when they contain material that goes against Wikipedia's guidelines, like harassment, spam, the editor is using it to circumvent Wikipedia article requirements, and/or they're trying to use it like a website or social media site. These can result in the content being tagged for deletion or removed, depending on the situation. Of course people will tag the page if someone has been blocked for sockpuppetry, since that's necessary for record keeping. Otherwise people shouldn't be editing someone else's userpage. There's no set rule against it, just a general etiquette guideline.

What I need to know is what situations you're specifically thinking of, as otherwise none of this is really something that can be put into action. Tokyogirl79 (talk) 06:23, 16 June 2016 (UTC)Reply

Seconded. Also, when you say "ban," do you really mean "report to ANI, etc."? Darkfrog24 (talk) 17:41, 22 June 2016 (UTC)Reply

Grants to improve your project edit

Greetings! The Project Grants program is currently accepting proposals for funding. The deadline for draft submissions is tommorrow. If you have ideas for software, offline outreach, research, online community organizing, or other projects that enhance the work of Wikimedia volunteers, start your proposal today! Please encourage others who have great ideas to apply as well. Support is available if you want help turning your idea into a grant request.

The next open call for Project Grants will be in October 2016. You can also consider applying for a Rapid Grant, if your project does not require a large amount of funding, as applications can be submitted anytime. Feel free to ping me if you need help getting your proposal started. Thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) 22:49, 1 August 2016 (UTC)Reply

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