[wp-forums] Titles/Promotions/Labels

[Scott Merrill]

Podz wrote:
> - and of course, who decides ? I favour transparency - I always have in 
> all things where people are concerned. So:
> 
> - nominations are sent to a defined set of people who say yes/no
> or
> - the mavens decide alone
> or
> - we set 'rules'. But what ?? Of course in all the above there are rules 
> of course, it's just that if we set rules as the pass, we could be gamed 
> whereas with the first two, judgements are also made. These have to be 
> defended too....

Again, my preference is that the default "Member" title be removed.  I 
think it's silly to list "member" status on a forum that does not permit 
anonymous posting.

Then, users who satisfy whatever criteria is established can get 
whatever title(s) we decided upon.

> - and as for titles..
> Everyone is a Volunteer.... I've just tried looking through 
> dictionary/thesaurus.com but nothing leaps out at me.

Not everyone is a volunteer.  The person who asks questions without 
contributing back is not volunteering.  Only those who take the time to 
help answer questions are volunteers.

> I suppose what we need to think about is the 'job spec' for what we are 
> after. So we need, and the forum users should expect, someone with this 
> title to..
> 1. Have consistently over a period of time answered posts correctly in 
> the forums.
> 2. To have a sound knowledge of the Codex
> 3. To have a sound knowledge of how WP works (Note - this is not code, 
> just the overall thing - if that makes sense)
> 4. Is trusted by their peers

Although it will be nearly impossible to articulate successfully, I 
would very much like to also require some measure of "decorum": it's 
insufficient to just give the right answer.  One must be demonstrably 
supportive (within measure) when providing answers, instead of just 
spitting out correct facts without context.
(Yes, I've changed my mind a bit on the practice of merely dropping 
links to the Codex; thanks largely to this list.)

Should we tier the title structure, to make it clear what a person's 
effort / expertise / contributions are?
* Support Volunteer
* Documentor
* Jack-of-all-trades

Or, should we insist that titles are only assigned to people who 
contribute at least one article to the Codex?  I suppose in the long run 
this will be terribly exclusionary, as the Codex gains material; and 
since not everyone will be interested / able to fill in the missing parts.

-- 
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