User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/Tips for becoming an admin/@comment-168424-20121218010231/@comment-452-20121221190818

Definitely, which reminds me of something I've always done, both before and after becoming an admin: trying to have discussions about non-minor changes rather than just being maverick.

Particularly with merges, splits and deletes, but also with major overhauls, I often leave talk page messages discussing my ideas for the page and asking for feedback. (We also have an index of active talk page discussions, for easy reference)

So I think another good tip for becoming an admin is to engage other users in discussions about improvements.

There doesn't have to be a committee and a vote about every little thing, but other people will always have a different viewpoint, so discussions are always helpful, and starting discussions also communicates that admins aren't rulers.

This also reminds me of a discussion I had recently with an admin from another wiki: I had left a message on a talk page, but because I hadn't contacted an admin directly, they said I hadn't "contacted the wiki". As far as I'm concerned, admins should be monitoring all talk pages via RecentChanges anyway.