With your new moderator tool belt, what sorts of tasks are you looking forward to tackling?
Near the top of my list is a clean up of the Tags. Tags don't always get the attention that they deserve, but they are vital in organising content and helping tag subscribers to watch desirable posts. There are some redundant tags that should be consolidated and some new tags that should be generated to cover obvious topics.
The current moderators will tell you that I have been helpful in identifying spam accounts to be deleted, flagging posts, and a couple weeks back I flagged a post to be "undeleted" because I felt it was unjustly deleted by the community.
A handful of the moderation tasks (which I am accustomed to performing with my privileges on Stack Overflow) cannot be instantly executed here - they require moderator review first. I would rather be more immediately effective since I am confident of my moderation abilities on Stack Exchange sites.
If a posted question is essentially a programming issue that is not exclusive to Joomla but was encountered during Joomla development, should it be migrated to another network or allowed to stay on JSE? Please justify your response.
For the current phase of this relatively small/young site, I think the interpretation of what is "Joomla-centric" should err on the side of inclusion. There are a couple reasons for my belief:
- We need more activity here. I wouldn't want to stifle Joomla users who are concerned that their post is off-topic when it is in a "grey area".
- A fair portion of Joomla users are not well-versed in web development, and they may not know where to /research/post the issue that they are experiencing.
I don't want Joomla users to be apprehensive, I'd rather them post something and gain clarity -- no matter what the outcome is.
Have you conducted any activities outside of JSE which encourage/promote JSE?
I have in the past and continue to promote JSE online and IRL. I notice that, tragically, many of the [joomla] tagged questions on Stack Overflow stall out or get downvoted without comments. This is no good for Joomla or its users. When I see that a Joomla question has stalled on SO, I invite the user to join us on JSE and to post their question here. I tell them that we are a diverse audience with Joomla expertise and that their post is more likely to be cared for by our members.
I have directed people from social networks, forums, chatrooms, and my local JUGB (Brisbane) Meetup to post their issues, discoveries, and solutions on JSE because it is currently THE best place on the web to share knowledge and support each other.
Finally, I am very proud to be presenting a workshop at JoomlaDay Australia 2019 in Brisbane (August 3-4). I will be enthusiastically introducing and explaining the sheer awesomeness of JSE then supporting attendees in signing up (if they don't already have an account), posting good questions, hunting for questions that they can answer, crafting good answers, and generally fielding any/all questions that may arise. My only fear is that I'll run out of time.
Are there any occurrences on JSE which you will endeavour to prevent or encourage? Please clarify the nature of these occurrences, why you are keeping an eye out for them, and how you intend to engage with the associated users.
I keep a watchful eye for misinformation here (and I've found some). When a new post is giving unrefined or incorrect advice, I will leave a comment that explains what can be ratcheted up or post a comprehensive answer that explains the relevant points. If an answer is not new, has several upvotes, and is flatly incorrect, I am saddened because the upvotes indicate that researchers may have used the solution and effectively "poisoned" their own project by blindly trusting a post. When another post on the same page represents the correct/appropriate solution, I would probably call a pow-wow with the other moderators to consider deleting the erroneous post because correcting the post to mirror another answer would be encouraging redundant content (this would only waste the time of researchers). Of course if a post can be remedied, it is best to leave a comment to the user and ask them to fix up their post. I have done this before, and in rare cases, the poster claims they have no intention of repairing their answer -- again, this is leads me toward purging the bad content from the site.
Consider this example where I identified incorrect advice, posted a comprehensive and correct solution, notified the incorrect poster, withheld my downvote so that they could earn the Disciplined badge, then only downvoted after I exhausted all other tactics.
As per Could we please be a bit nicer to new users? and https://medium.com/@jayhanlon/welcome-wagon-dd57cbdd54d9 etc, Stack Exchange websites are often accused of poor treatment of new users. How will you ensure that new users have a positive first experience of Joomla Stack Exchange?
I don't feel that JSE has the same atmosphere as Stack Overflow. Actions are noticeably more aggressive there, but I think that comes from factors like site age, wealth of pre-existing content, repetition of under-researched, poorly composed, and unattempted questions, not to mention jaded volunteers that need to acknowledge that their burnout is affecting their decision making.
The same factors are not present here on JSE. I think the active members here are genuinely good-natured and happy to help with what they can.
That said, I espouse the philosophies described here: https://codereview.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1946/141885 and I relish the opportunity to engage with new members.
Have you volunteered in any other areas of the Joomla community?
I am an assistant organiser for the Joomla User Group Brisbane Meetup and have spoken a few times.
I had a brief dabble with contributing to the core development via GitHub, but that fizzled out because I was too concerned that I would foul something up so that is something that I'll re-engage with in the future.
As I mentioned earlier, I will be presenting at the JoomlaDay conference next month.
Please express the depth and breadth of your experience with:
- Joomla
- Mambo (if you go that far back) and
- the Stack Exchange Network
I only got involved with Joomla about a year and a half ago. I was able to transfer my native php knowledge to Joomla development with the support of my employer and his associate team. It was only through discussions at my local Joomla meetup that I became aware of Mambo and Joomla's early founders.
As for the Stack Exchange Network, I've been scooting around here for years. I am greatly indebted to StackOverflow because before becoming active there, my skills were minimal. Only through researching and helping others did I sharpen my developer skills to the caliber they are today (and I am still sharpening). Over nearly 6 years, I have thousands of reviews, flags, votes, answers, and edits. I've also been on Stack Overflow for the last 875 days -- I reckon that makes me rather fanatical.
My JSE stats are much smaller because there is less activity here and I've only been here for a year and 3 months.
I spent a fair chunk of time on Meta since joining here, and plan to continue because it helps me to integrate with the community.
Do you have any experience moderating other Stack Exchange websites or other similar forums?
I have done lots of moderating at Stack Overflow, but was never a community moderator there.
I was a forum moderator and volunteer developer for PowerPinochle a long time ago (well, I guess I still technically am) but that site is no longer vying for my attention. That site did not have the mod tools that SE sites are afforded!
As a moderator, if there are little or no new posts, comments, or flags to review since your last check in, what tasks will you undertake to best benefit JSE?
I am never at a loss for things to do when I log in. I typically start at the Review Queues, then check for new posts, then sometimes I do a random dive into the pool of questions, or drift though Meta, or comb through the tags to see if I can improve one. This broad spectrum of activities is important. I believe activity spurs more activity. If we all do a little bit, then it will energise others and help this community to bloom.
Elected moderators enjoy a lifetime term. It is not likely that someone will tap a moderator on the shoulder and ask them to step down (especially if there has been no behavioral violation) because that might be too rude/confrontational. If elected as a moderator, how will you decide when it is time to step and make way for a new moderator?
If something drastic happens with my family and my life is thrown a permanent curve ball which inhibits me from performing my regular duties, it will be time for me to walk away. This is not something to be ashamed of. It is mature to consider the end of a phase. I will endeavour to groom and empower other members here so that when it is time for me to move on, someone capable will fill my shoes.
On Stack Overflow, it has been said that elected moderators should be dedicating at least 30 minutes per day to their duties. The Joomla Stack Exchange community doesn't receive the same volume of daily actions from its members, but then it doesn't have as many moderators either. If you do not intend to invest 30 minutes or more per day, how much time are you willing to commit and why do you feel that that amount is sufficient?
I think 30 minutes is fair. After this election, there will be just 4 moderators on this site -- and 24 hours in a day. We should be keeping a constant eye on things. I mean, 30 minutes? Pfft, that's nothing. How long do you think I am taking to type this post out (...hours). This is proof that I care ...or that I am mad as a cut snake.
What are your aspirations for this community? Do you have any measurable goals that you would like this community to achieve?
Yes, I have some bold and perhaps controversial aspirations:
- Reach 10,000 total JSE accounts in the next 12 months by promoting JSE at Joomla events.
- Reach 8000 questions in the next 12 months (due to influx of new users).
- Graduate out of Beta ASAP!
- Encourage the prioritised use of JSE over Joomla Forum for on-topic, English support because the thread-based bulletin board software doesn't offer the cleanest, most efficient interface for contributors and researchers.
- Bring back the [Not A Robot] badge. I want to really push Joomla users to sign up and embrace JSE. I wish I could get my hands on some JSE stickers to distribute them at the JoomlaDay Brisbane and I don't think it would be very hard to implement the Not A Robot process either. Again, I'd like to see JSE strenuously recommended at every Joomla event so that people stop seeking support on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Gitter, Slack, etc. You might be able to give or receive help, but that help will vanish away into the cyber-abyss. Posting your "stack" here is the best way share your experiences with people who can benefit from them.
p.s. I'd also like to share that I do use supplemental tech to assist my actions/decisions within the network.
On my home laptop, I use the Roomba Forecaster and the Request Generator.
On my phone, I use the Stackoverflow app to receive instant notifications (when I receive a comment or answer) from anywhere in the Stack Exchange Network.
These props help me to serve the community effectively and efficiently.
