Forum:Stubborn Contributors

A question for the fellow admins/founders of wikia's on here; what do you do with stubborn contributors? For example I got one contributor who feels the need to act like an admin and I've told him many times before he ain't admin, just a contributor, but after a while he just goes back to pretend he's an admin. I don't like it. He's moving pages without me knowing, or he let'sme know until after he moved them, he adds new headers though I said I want him to talk about that with me first, and worst of all, he orders other contributors around and now they seem to think he really is an admin and they come to him to ask questions and ask him to confirm stuff. Just now he ordered someone to upload a sh*tload of pictures, but they're not even related to my Wiki so they can all be deleted again. So he pretends to be admin and also makes errorfilled decisions as an admin... I really don't like it. Thing is, he is really stubborn, not a bad person or anything, just very very stubborn... what should I do? He really doesn't seem to listen... -- Zantam03 13:52, April 6, 2010 (UTC)

If he keeps doing it I'd just ban him... At first very little, but if he keeps doing it, higher bans. If people won't listen I suppose they'll have to feel it? -- Light Daxter |  Talk  14:32, April 6, 2010 (UTC)

style="color:black;">Progman ]][[User talk:Progmansp|SP ]] 15:24, April 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * You should of course warn him first. Tell him that if he continues he will be banned.--[[User:Progmansp|<span

Before giving my opinion, I first want to address something I think is important for all wiki founders to know, since it’s a common misconception and, indeed, seems like it could possibly be a misconception here: founders, bureaucrats, administrators, etc. are not the boss. There are a lot of telling signs in your post—“moving pages without me knowing,” “adds new headers though I said I want him to talk about that with me first,” and so forth—that lead me to believe that this misconception may be here. Just remember, neither you nor any other bureaucrat or administrator is the boss of the wiki. All Wikia wikis are public and decisions should be made through consensus, not arbitrary administrative discretion. Administrators are no different than anyone else, with the exception of a few extra special editing tools. =)

Now even if this guy is thinking he’s like an administrator, he still has the totally wrong mindset. With the exception of matters that do require administrative action, like blockings or deletions and so forth, no administrator should really be ordering other contributors around, confirming things (unless you’re speaking about things you’re not just deciding arbitrarily), or ordering people to upload a lot of pictures. You should remind him of what I reminded you, namely that neither administrators nor anyone else for that matter have authority over anyone else, except in the case of blockings and speedy deletions, etc.

Another thing you may want to keep in mind, because this is something I myself had problems with awhile back, is that he may not have this “I’m an administrator” mindset at all. It may simply be a more formal, commanding way of writing, and it may be completely subconscious. Unless he’s told you that he thinks he’s like an administrator, this best thing to do would be to assume good faith and have a polite and respectful conversation with him about your concerns, while reminding him that no one on your wiki is the boss of anyone else. Doing this instead of instead of telling him “he ain't admin, just a contributor” would be a much better option.

I would try that conversation before considering anymore action. Like you said, he’s not a bad person, and what he’s saying doesn’t seem to be harming your wiki at all. Further action would, IMO, be ill advised, and I’d strongly advise you not to ban him, like the two previous repliers said, unless he actually becomes a legitimate detriment that is harming the wiki. I hope that helps you out a bit! =) - Brandon Rhea (talk) 17:18, April 6, 2010 (UTC)