Wikipedia talk:Requests for checkuser/Archive 2

What happened?

What happened? It seems like nobody has been checkuser-ing for a while. Look at how many requests there are. What is the problem? --GeorgeMoney ^T·C 00:03, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Since I'm the only one running checks here, it gets done when I do it. I'm a volunteer here too, and people would do well to remember that. Essjay (Talk • Connect) 02:53, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I thought there were about 5 more checkusers other than you? --GeorgeMoney ^T·C 03:54, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think George was implying any laziness on your part Essjay. I think he was simply saying it was backlogged and wondering why. Why are you the only one doing it? Paul Cyr 04:04, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Exactly. --GeorgeMoney ^T·C 04:08, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There are thirteen users with checkuser on this project:

The majority are current members of the Arbitration Committee, and are occupied with thier Arbitration duties.
The others are former Arbitrators, and have done thier turn running public requests; they have all come to the realization that attending to RfCU is a never-ending and thankless task, and that thier efforts can be better directed elsewhere.
The vast majority of people with the permission are quite active in using it, just not for public requests (that is, RfCU); they run checks at the behest of the Arbitration Committee, the Foundation, and in response to other situations that arise.

That leaves me to run requests, and I have been more than happy to do it. I am quite capable of keeping up with the queue, I handled over 75% of the requests in May, though I estimate I ran between 70-80 hours worth of checking last month, minimum; people tend to forget/not know that checking is not just clicking buttons and watchig IPs pop out, it's a very involved and time consuming investigation based on the results produced. I'm currently reassessing whether I want to spend hour upon hour running checks, as well as the time spent trying to streamline and standardize the system, when all I seem to get for it are complaints.

I could offer a long list of suggestions that would increase the liklihood that checkusers would pay attention to these requests, but I don't feel my warnings that this was coming were listened to, and I don't want to waste time. There was a time not too long ago when the only way to get a checkuser was to file an Arbitration case, and I fear that time is very quickly returning. Essjay (Talk • Connect) 04:23, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I now understand that checkusering takes hard work and understand that you want thank-yous. But, people actually do appreciate your checkusering, because you help ...... alot. So, everybody, what do we say to Essjay?

Thank You! *Imagine a whole group of little kids screaming "Thank You Essjay" *

--GeorgeMoney ^T·C 04:41, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It's not about thank yous. Granted, having people say thanks does mean a lot, but I can deal with not having people jumping up and down screaming "We love you."

What I want, not for a few days, but from now on, is:

Some backup from regular editors and admins.
People to check back on requests they've made, provide extra information when requested, and see that the results are acted on.
A few people, preferably some experienced and trustworthy editors, to check in every so often and make sure things are getting in the right sections, that old requests with new sections are getting moved back to the top where I can find them, and that old stuff is getting attended to and archived off.
People to stop turning RfCU into ANI; RfCU is for requests, ANI is for discussing.

I don't think any of the above are unreasonable, nor are they really anything I should have to say.

Perhaps people feel like they're "not supposed to touch anything": Please do, you're welcome to. If you see a section that should be in the outstanding requests section, move it there. If you see that there are several dozen week-old checks in the complete and rejected sections, archive it off.

If you requested a check, expect you're going to get a result here, and make a note to check back. If you request it when I'm online, you'll probably have a result within a couple hours; there are cases where I have to wait to talk to another checkuser, to get additional information or something, but most checks are answered fairly quickly, giving consideration that it may take an hour or longer to check and investigate.

Admins especially, but to all experienced editors, watch what goes on here (one or two passes a day will do), and when you see someone biting my head off for doing my job, back me up. If they're ranting without any basis whatsoever (as quite a lot do) then warn them off; if they've got a legit question but are wrapping it up in personal attacks, then give them a few pointers on how to get things done without being hateful.

For the love of Jimbo, if you're arguing about the merits of a check, please, please, please do it somewhere else. Move it to ANI and discuss, or here on the talk page, but please don't turn requests into discussion threads. If you feel confident enough to do so, move such threads off the request page, preferably by cutting out everything past the initial request, unless what is being said sounds like it's something that really, absolutely, positively has to be included.

Finally, don't argue over the trivial. There are a number of rather trivial things that assist me greatly in doing this job and keep me doing it, and I'd greatly appreciate it if they were left alone. I really don't want to be one of those people who says "Give me my toys, or I won't come out and play," but it's much easier for me to just not run any checks, and thereby avoid the arguments, than it is to spend several hours running checks and several more arguing over something stupid that isn't hurting anyone.

So, there you have it. That's why checks aren't being run, and a pretty good outline for how to get them running again. Essjay (Talk • Connect) 06:05, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]