User blog:Tigernose/Changing the wiki

Hi, it's Tigernose with my first blog post. This one is about changing the wiki, which is the prime reason why I came back and why I quit. Since I came back I've decided to bring a couple of ideas to the wiki to cure it, because at the moment Wikia won't accept helping the CPW. This is because of a bad relationship caused by crisises and vandalism on the wiki. I've been editing Wikia since April 2008, and I've learnt a few things since. I've edited at numerous wikis and made a couple as well.

So, I'm looking to put these ideas into use. Oh and please don't say I'm copying Joeyaa because I've been trying to help the wiki since I quit, and that was months ago. Before I came back, I messaged Sharkbate with my most descriptive message ever. Here it is:

Hello. Remember me, Tigernose. Seeing as you've turned webmaster, I was wondering if I could ask you something. As you know, before and after quitting I had always wanted to make this wiki a better wiki. I wanted to get rid of vandals and all conflict. Remember my VandalWatch idea, I tried that but it's not working anymore. Then I posted several messages about making this wiki better. Now I just want to give you some messages. This may be my last, if this does not work. Check out User:Test404/PROJECT:VISITOR. It's about focusing on the wiki to other people, rather than on the inside. I should know, I gave him idea practically, with proof being on a forum page that Metal posted, which I think was deleted after he quit. Anyway. This is one thing I want to say. WHAT IS THE POINT OF EDITING HERE AND MAKING ARTICLES IF NO ONE IS GOING TO READ THEM?

Have you ever read any articles here, when you're in need of help. Very few I'm guessing. I don't seem to like this attidute that goes on around the wiki. Everyone has forgotten that this a wiki for other people. We are simply here to provide the info. The homepage is supposed to be visitor-friendly. To give the visitor useful links, useful info, featured articles! Compare the homepage of this wiki to this homepage, this one, and this homepage (note that the latter one is the largest wiki in the whole of WIKIA). Our wiki has absolutely no info that matters to any visitor at all! WHAT IS THE POINT OF MAKING ACCOUNTS HERE, AND PUTTING ANNOUNCMENTS ON THE FRONT PAGE if they are going to help in NO way at all. Give me a good reason why there shall be announcments on the front page for visitors to see. WHAT IS THE POINT OF BANNING PEOPLE because they vandal, if no one is reading the wiki as a person looking for help! Just remember that this is something to help people. A great thing to do would be to wipeout all user info on the homepage, and put on Featured articles, featured users and featured pictures, and then move the user info to a subpage or a community page. THIS IS TURNING INTO A SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE! I do not mind friends, and frankly what would the point of no friends or users here if this is a wiki, but user conflict and friendship does not matter to the visitors of this wiki. Users here are simply using this database as mask for a social networking, or even I say un-social networking site by the looks of it. Remember that there is no point in editing here if no one is reading. If people are reading here, then they would have probably signed a guestbook or gave a message to you or some other users to say this wiki is brilliant! I'm not saying the wiki is bad, in fact the articles are pretty good, but what is the point of them if no one is going to read them.

This brings me onto my final statment. Adminship. It is overused. I'm not sure if you know Sharkbate, but if you look on other wikis, they usually have about 5 sysops and 2 beauracrats. 'Tis not the case here. ADMINSHIP IS BEING TREATED HERE AS PROMOTION AND RANKING. In reality it is not. Ask anyone that isn't related to this wiki. Admniship ain't a privilige either, what you are doing is getting the ability to use 5 extra buttons in order to keep the wiki safe and to make it a fun yet educational place. But there are about 30 sysops here! They all think that being a sysop means you are cool and have made loads of edits. But that's not true. The benchmark here is 500 edits for rollback, 1000 edits for sysop and 2000 for beuaracrat. That's nonsense. There shall be no benchmark. Adminship is not about edits for the last the time! It's driving me mad. If you are a beauracrat you do not run this wiki! The wiki is run by all the editors here! Everyone is equal! Beuaracrats do not have more power than other users. Also, there is no difference in being a sysop and beuararcat, Sharkbate. All you do is get an extra button to give adminship to other people, which should be used very rarely, maybe twice a year if lucky. Also, there is no such thing as being promoted to rollback, then promoted to sysop then to beauracrat. There is no tree of promotion! Rollback adminship should be given to people who help make the wiki safe, and fix up vandalasing. Sysop should be given to people who edit a lot and make hundreds of articles here. Beauracrat should be given to someone who has the responsbility to represent the wiki, when presenting it to others. Everyone here becomes an admin when they have made a certain amount of edits. Note that no one takes in the fact that most of those edits were talk page edits. What is the point of talk page edits when you're not actually helping the wiki. That is what Forums are for. I have been editing Wikia for about 1.5 years and I know that the ClubPenguin wiki is disusing wiki powers. Also, webmastership is a term made by a previous wikia editor. It's a false statement. Webmastership is given to people here when they are thought to be responsible to run this wiki. That's false. Webmasters and all other admins are equal. No such thing exists. No one runs this wiki.

Let that be a lesson to Wiki editors over here, and if you do not take at least a bit of advice here, the wiki will soon fall apart. Like it seems to have already happened. -- TЙГЭPHO3Ь  ( Chat| Edits| Vandals) 08:33, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Right, that was my message. Step-by-Step I will be hoping to help the wiki, and collectively (as a team) we can all try to become friends with Wikia.

Additional information
I don't like people who feed the troll on Wikia. If anyone says Joeyaa's "Step One" operation was stupid and pointless, then I have something to counter that. If you're wondering about what is the point of deleting Str00delization, Vandal Templates and NotWelc templates, then listen to this. Ben is gone. He is blocked. No IP can touch this wiki because it's protected. Understand? So what is the point of trying to block Ben Wikia-wide! What is the point of making templates and polls about him! You're just spamming and feeding the troll. He can simply make another account if he wants to and start vandalising again. Trying to block him Wikia wide won't work either. No petition, no matter if it's very big or very persuasive will ban him. WIKIA WON'T BAN HIM. Some of us have constantly asked Wikia about helping us, but they won't because it's our problem and that we are acting immature. Listen to my advice and close the petition.

Operations
Here are a list of the operations I'm going to carry to help this wiki. These operations will carried out collectively, as soon as a few people comment on them.

Learning the adminship system
This is regarding how you elect admins and how this affects them. This is the most important issue that most people on here don't know because they have been falsely taught by a previous user. As you all know, the CPW adminship system works like this: first a rollback, then a sysop and then a beauracrat.

This is not how it works. If you check out Special:ListUsers, you will see a list of users and what user groups there in. A user group is self explantory: a group of users which have a special ability that is only available to people who are in the group. Now, lets take Sharkbate for example - he is in the beauracrat, sysop and rollback group. This means he has the power to promote users; rollback vandalism and delete articles, edit MediaWiki code and block users. If someone is in the sysop group, they can delete articles, edit MediaWikia code and block users. However they cannot rollback edits. Someone in the sysop and rollback groups can do the above, and they can rollback edits. No one on this wiki though, who is sysop is not in a rollback group. This is because when we give rights on this wiki, we first give them rollback rights, then afterwards we give the user sysop rights which means: sysop group + rollback group = sysop and rollback. On this wiki, as someone has falsely taught us, we take a sysop as someone who can delete, edit MediaWiki, block and rollback. In reality, a user who is a sysop cannot rollback, unless they are in the rollback group as well.

This completely counters the ranking system we have on this wiki: first rollback, then sysop and then 'crat. The users on this wiki falsely hand out rights to users. We need to change this. This means you don't have to be a rollback to be a sysop or a sysop to be a crat. None of these groups rank below eachother, they are simply groups.

From now on, this is what we should be doing: the rollback power should be given out to someone who regularly prevents vandalism. Someone should be put in the sysop group because they edit regularly, are active, are involved in projects and are helping in any way possible to make this wiki better for the visitors and the users. e.g Someone who has been actively involved in making 1000 articles for this wiki should be a sysop. Then there comes the beauracrat. Someone should be put in the 'crat group because they are trustworthy and are ready to help the wiki a step better. Some people don't realise, but beauracrat powers is simply the power to hand out rights to people. Not to "lead" the wiki.

Also, the webmaster is a false term. Like Joeyaa explained, the CPW invented the term, and yes other wikis do use it, but only because the majority of the users there have edited at the CPW. Haven't you ever realised what extra powers a webmaster gets? NOTHING. They simply get a title. Wikia have never approved of a rank called Webmaster and it makes no difference to the user. They do not lead the wiki if they are "webmaster". No one leads the wiki.

So, my first operation is that the wiki users learn how the admin group system works. I will be adding operations later.

Now it's time to discuss by leaving a comment. Note that I will not accept immaturity on this forum. I am only saying this because it clogs up the page, like it did on Joeyaa's blog. The lag was unbearable. If you are going to disagree, then give a constructive reason and do not spam!