[Theforum] An Idea ...

[Michele Foster]

Hi Everyone.. :)

Taking a break here .. yippee!!

Been thinking a lot about Article Reviewers and the current Admin process
and how to allow more people to be involved.. and how they can "prove"
themselves to the group, so that they can Edit/Approve articles directly.

I've been thinking back to when David Mc., Matt and I joined Admin at the
beginning of this year.  Wow, was there ever a learning curve and a lot to
learn.  However, taking a back seat and watching how things happen, paying
attention to what was going on, and asking questions .. a lot of questions
;) .. one builds up their confidence in order to take on tasks, such as
Article reviewing/approving.  Everything was so 'new' to me at the time, I
can't speak for Matt or Dave.  For myself, it was a while, maybe a couple of
months before I felt confident to edit articles .. but I asked .. I followed
the process of saying "I got it" to a new alert, and I asked questions when
they arose (which was almost all the time .. what category does this belong
in?).  In other words, I learned from watching others, and then when I felt
ready, asking if I could jump in on the fun.  ;)

I've always been a strong supporter of having article reviewing done in a
more open manner.  I will agree that decorum is definitely required.
Comment like "this article is a piece of crap", should be avoided.  hehehe
I know there was/is the feeling of closeness/camaraderie within Admin that
many members didn't choose the nicest words when critiquing articles.  So,
that would need to change if the archives were open.  (Please note, I am NOT
at all saying the current nor past Admin archives .. I'm talking about a
future scenario for Article Reviewing Process.)  I think that small amount
of behavioural modification weighed against truly answering to the community
at large,  the learning associated with expertly reviewing/critiquing others
work, is a small price.

I was giving some thought to how could all of theforum review (i.e. see)
articles, but only allow those that know how to do it, have been brought up
to speed, etc. to edit the articles.  What I thought of was another Priv
level (/me hears Rudy groan).. let's say 2.5 for the sake of argument.
Anyone with this Priv level would be allowed to view all of the admin
interface that currently exists.  However they would not have the Edit,
Approve, Reset and Delete buttons available to them (both comments and
articles).  This would allow everyone that wants to, to participate in the
discussions of article worthiness, accuracy, etc.  This would allow those
that are interested to pay attention to the article review process .. not a
hard thing to do with the Article Alert headlines that are automatically
generated.  It will also allow for the new people to slowly get their feet
wet .. they can still provide constructive criticism on each article, via
email.  Which is exactly how it is (or was, I don't know if this changed
since I left Admin) done now within the Admin group.  Once someone feels
confident enough and wants to take on the "official" role of
editing/approving articles, they can tell/ask the group.  e.g. "Article X
needs a lot of editing, I've got time, no one else has taken on the task,
can I edit it?"

Ultimately, the final decision is up to those with "God" privs .. they are
the ones that have to set the user's priv level.  There will always be that
"final" catch, in case a mistake happens.  Who was it that said the other ..
Evolt never sleeps.  So very true .. there's always people around to make
sure things are running smoothly.

Anyway, just some rambling thoughts of mine.

Comments ?

Mich