As most forum readers know by now, yesterday I de-admined two valuable members of our community. I stand by my decision and have opened up the avenue for the admins to reverse the decision, if they wish. But that is not what this post is about. I’d like to apologize to Monica and Caidoz for the way they found out about the de-admining. They both found out by people other than me telling them on IRC or via email, and that’s pretty lame. I should have had the guts to tell them over email in private before the news went public. It would have softened the blow and made the news feel less humiliating. I’m sorry about this mistake. While I hope to never de-admin anyone again, if I do have to do it, I’ll do it in this order: 1. Press the de-admin button on the site, which leaves a public log but one that might not be widely noticed for a little while. 2. Send a private email or PM to the person I just de-admined. 3. Wait a few hours, then explain the decision to the broader community in a forum post. Ideally do #3
before the rumor mill starts to generate discussion. That said, I hope never to have to de-admin someone again! Finally, I’d like to repeat that Monica and Caidoz have long histories as great members of this community. They have both done amazing work here. One mistake doesn’t wipe out years of good work. I want them to always feel welcome and appreciated at wikiHow. So if you know either of them, please reach out to them and let them know you still appreciate them here. I’m not sure if they are checking talk pages, but you can try here: http://www.wikihow.com/User_talk:Bokehmon
http://www.wikihow.com/User_talk:Caidoz
And since the last forum thread on this topic got unnecessarily heated, I’m going to keep this thread closed. Our community needs to put this behind us and start healing.
I’d like to make a quick follow up post. I’d like to re-stress that Caidoz and Monica are good faith community members. When these unfortunate events happened, they were not malicious vandals on a protest to hurt wikiHow. They were merely following the request of a friend. It was a lapse in the impeccable judgement we expect from admins, but it wasn’t malicious. Niether Monica or Caidoz would do anything to intentionally hurt wikiHow. And if I had de-admined them days after the initial forum announcement, I don’t think they would have gone on some sort of mass deletion / vandalism spree. (That said, de-admining prior to a announcement is still the sound standard practice that will be followed in all de-admining situations.) I think the vast majority of wikiHowians understand this, but I just wanted to re-stress it again in case any misperceptions are out there. I know I’d be delighted to see Monica and Caidoz back on wikiHow. I’m sure others would too. So if you see them editing on the site, please be sure to offer them a warm welcome back.
