Wikipedia:Dispute resolution noticeboard/Volunteering

At the dispute resolution noticeboard we help editors work out their differences.

Hello, and thank you for showing an interest at the dispute resolution noticeboard. This is a guide for people who are thinking of volunteering to help resolve disputes as neutral third parties. There are no formal requirements for helping, so feel free to get stuck in! Often in disputes it is better to have many opinions, so your input is greatly encouraged. Don't be afraid if there is already another comment on a dispute; go ahead and give your two cents.

Things to bear in mind

Here are some things you might want to bear in mind when commenting:

• Editors who discuss disputes at this board may be distressed or emotional. Try to use language that calms down disputes, rather than language that escalates them.
• Keep your answers focused on Wikipedia policy and how it affects the dispute. Disputes can often be solved by gently clarifying policies to editors who haven't yet fully grasped their intricacies.
• Address the content issues that editors are disputing before addressing conduct. When editors realize that their content issues are being dealt with thoughtfully and respectfully, conduct issues often disappear.
• This noticeboard is a gateway into Wikipedia's dispute resolution system; we don't have to solve every dispute here. If there is a better venue for a dispute, such as RfC or the Mediation Cabal, then suggest it.
• There needs to be discussion on a talk page about a dispute before it can be brought here. If there hasn't been any discussion, point this out politely to the participants, and close the thread.
• That's it!

The guidelines above should be enough to resolve 99 percent of the disputes that arrive at the noticeboard. For anything else you can ask for advice at the noticeboard talk page. Also, if you are really keen, you can read up on some advanced techniques courtesy of the Mediation Cabal.

Closing discussions

When the discussion comes to an obvious conclusion, it is time to close the thread. This could be because you have found a resolution, because there is a better venue for the dispute, because there was no talk page discussion, or because the discussion has grown stale. You can close the thread by putting {{DRN archive top|<reason for closure> ~~~~}} at the top of the section, underneath the section title, and {{DRN archive bottom}} at the bottom. You should also remove the HTML comment at the top that says <!-- [[User:DoNotArchiveUntil]] TT:TT, DD Month YYYY (UTC) --> so that the thread can be archived automatically. If you have a long closing comment to make you can put it in a new section at the bottom and just leave a brief message at the top. Beware of closing discussions too early, as it tends to annoy editors who think their disputes have not been fully considered. Err on the side of fully discussing the issues.

Participation

If you volunteer at the noticeboard, even only for a short period of time, consider adding yourself to the list of volunteers below. Note, however, that you don't need to list yourself here to comment on a dispute. You can also add the {{User DRN}} userbox to your user page, or alternatively add Category:Wikipedians who assist at the dispute resolution noticeboard to your user page if userboxes aren't your thing. Your support is very much appreciated!

Volunteers

1. Mr. Stradivarius (talk · contribs)
2. TransporterMan (talk · contribs)
3. Hasteur (talk · contribs)
4. Steven Zhang (talk · contribs)
5. ItsZippy (talk · contribs)
6. Ebe123 (talk · contribs)
7. Scjessey (talk · contribs) - Temporarily inactive
8. Alpha Quadrant (talk · contribs)
9. thehistorian10 (talk · contribs)
10. Sleddog116 (talk · contribs)
11. John Carter (talk · contribs)