User talk:Valjean/BlockLog

Tone

I think certain pieces of this page display an unfair or inappropriate tone.

The first one to block me, Jaranda, is no longer editing.

The second one to block me, DragonflySixtyseven, still edits and nothing ever happened to them for blocking without warning and the personal attack ("being a jerk").

The third one to block me, Chris G, stopped editing for awhile after the bad block. He finally replied and apologized.

The one who denied my unblock request, Anthony.bradbury, apologized for denying the request. A real gentleman.

Many editors and admins believed the block was improper, and they asked for an explanation from Chris G. He finally returned to Wikipedia and apologized.

Chris G didn't retire or quit in a huff. He didn't edit for a while, something that is perfectly acceptable. Jaranda isn't actively editing any longer (possibly, he's changed names quite a few times and I haven't looked thoroughly), but he's hardly alone in this regard. Is there a point to noting he's no longer editing?

While I can somewhat sympathize with feeling aggravated or annoyed by a bad block (I know I certainly wasn't pleased when I got my first), this subpage seems to be about more than that. Something you've seemingly failed to address is that nobody cares about block log entries. Or at least nobody using common sense does. You may feel "besmirched," but hundreds of administrators have block logs, for example. The harm done by obfuscating the logs far outweighs the benefits to keeping information open and public (and defensible by those blocked).

The final point that I think your subpage fails to address is that administrators are human (read: fallible). This isn't a reason to go around pretending their actions didn't happen. It is a reason to expect occasional mistakes from administrators, however. And, of course, users are entitled to an apology for any obviously-bad blocks (this case was no exception in any of these regards).

Just a few thoughts to consider. --MZMcBride (talk) 17:59, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the excellent advice. It's always good to see things from another angle. I'm going to revise it accordingly. I have to do something right now (we're travelling, as always), but I'll get to it. Please keep an eye on this subpage and reply/advise accordingly after I've done something. Brangifer (talk) 18:50, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Looks better. :-) The focus has shifted from particular users to particular behaviors—nice work. --MZMcBride (talk) 00:53, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Glad you like it. Good advice is well worth following. Brangifer (talk) 18:45, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]