Volunteer Response Team/Volunteering

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OTRS volunteers are always welcome, but there is a fairly selective application process, given the nature of the work. Generally, OTRS administrators must be familiar with you and your work on Wikimedia projects before accepting you as a volunteer and issuing you an account. It may take some time before you receive a response in regards to your request, so please be patient.

If you are truly interested in helping out with OTRS and have not yet received a response as to that status of your application, please feel free to join the IRC channel and introduce yourself to some of our members. You still may be able to help out without an OTRS account (for more information, check out OTRS/IRC channel).

Before applying to volunteer, please read OTRS/info-en recruiting and make sure that the following statements accurately describe you:

• you're willing to work on difficult, sensitive, and at times hostile messages;
• you're courteous, skilled at resolving disputes, friendly even in the face of hostility, sensitive to the needs of those outside Wikipedia, and have exemplary discretion;
• you're willing to provide identification to the Wikimedia Foundation (please see Access to nonpublic data policy for why we ask for this).

Please note that there is a firm recommendation of 16 as a minimum age for participation in the OTRS system, to ensure people have adequate real life and Wikimedia experience before taking on what is a considerable and important responsibility for the Foundation and the projects.

====[[User:Example|]]====

*'''languages you can reply in:''' Zulu, English-3, Inuktitut-3, and Sinhala-2
*'''most active user talk pages:''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Example]
*'''Email sent''': Yes

I'd like to help out on OTRS because . ~~~~

Feel free to specify if you are entrusted with any special tools on wikis (sysop, bureaucrat, checkuser, etc.). You may also add to your application links to archives of help desk posts, or identification on active mailing lists if you think they are relevant.

Please also send an email to volunteers-otrswikimedia.org linking to your application on this page and giving your age, each time you apply. Thanks.

Note: Additional language skills are a plus. Currently, additional help is needed in: Arabic (العربية), German (Deutsch), Spanish (Español), Portuguese (Português), Dutch (Nederlands), and Hebrew (עברית) queues (in order of backlog). Please make sure you mention any language skills you have.

Stifle

• languages you can reply in: English-5, Irish-N, French-3, German-2
• most active user talk pages: [1]
• Email sent: Yes

I'd like to help out on OTRS because I do a lot of work with images on enwiki. I am requesting access to permissions queue only in order to review claimed permissions and also to deal with pending emails granting permission. I am a sysop on enwiki and also active with the account creation toolserver tool. I am willing to identify to the WMF. Stifle 11:29, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

I have now sent the email requested. Stifle 18:55, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

• Comment - Positive contributor and respected sysop on en.wiki. Should be helpful with permissions work, thanks for offering to help out. Slàinte! Cirt (talk) 11:51, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

  Close, you're looking for sláinte ;) Stifle 18:47, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

• Comment - As noted thoroughly above, there is a backlog in permissions and Stifle's multi-lingual experience would be very useful. From my work with him in deletion debates, he has the required focused to understand nuanced situations. MBisanz ^talk 12:26, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
• Permissions only. Not info-en though. I have serious issues with Stifle's communication skills on en-wiki. It's not the kind of thing I can give diffs for. Just a general feeling through every edit. But permissions is backlogged, and doesn't require good empathy as much as info-en often does. Majorly ^talk 13:39, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

  I have neither the time nor, as you suggest, the finesse to deal with info :) Stifle 18:54, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

• Permissions only as requested, it definitely helps given its current backlog. - Mailer Diablo 15:47, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
• Sure. Daniel (talk) 00:32, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
• Should be fine. Lontime respected admin. Endorse. Durova 02:32, 4 November 2008 (UTC)
•  Support - I see no problems, very respected and trusted admin. Soxred93 22:00, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
•  Support - he'll do splendidly on the permissions queues. John Vandenberg 07:02, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry

• languages you can reply in: English-N, basic knowledge of other European languages, especially Norwegian, but not enough to reply in comfortably.
• most active user talk pages: enwp
• Email sent: Yes

I'd like to help out on OTRS because I have experience in customer relations work previously, including positions at The Law Society, dealing with anxious and occasionally irate solicitors; and the London Deanery, doing slightly different work with doctors and surgeons. My current work - in the RN - requires a certain amount of decorum and the ability to deal with angry people without shouting - or shooting - back, and have dealt with sensitive issues in my real life work in the past. I have excellent English skills and a good knowledge of the English Wikipedia. I am, however, admittedly lacking in knowledge of our other projects or strong knowledge of other languages. Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry 01:53, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

• Endorse. Trusted sysop on en.wiki, and furthermore I have seen Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry (talk · contribs) maintain a polite and evenhanded demeanor when stepping in as a neutral admin in a tough circumstance, he'll do fine with OTRS access. Thanks for offering to help out and volunteer in this capacity. Cirt (talk) 10:26, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
• Endorse. Good record on en:wiki, respected admin. Durova 21:50, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
• Endorse Good real life experience. Majorly ^talk 20:12, 3 November 2008 (UTC)
• Chase me would be a good choice, yes. Good attitude and (from what I've seen of him on enwiki) competence in dealing with upset folks. Trustworthy and will represent OTRS well. Anthøny 23:21, 13 November 2008 (UTC)
• Endorse, in addition to being well suited to customer support type queues, CML,ITC also has broad experience with images. I have checked all of his deleted image uploads, and scanned through his image maintenance and deletion - everything looks in order here. If he is interested, I recommend that he is given access to the permissions-en queue. John Vandenberg 07:01, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Zureks

• languages you can reply in: Polish-N, English-3
• most active user talk pages: PL-Wiki (preferred), EN-Wiki
• Email sent: Yes

I was an admin for several webpages which required extensive emailing with customers. For some time my favourite self-task in wiki was to aks for permission of use of external graphics, which required the highest level of professionallity and enormous patience as well. Main reason for applying here though is to help the Polish Wikipedia, as now we have only half a dozen people who deal with OTRS, and I know I can be very useful there, especially that I prefer to work on emails rather than Wikipedia these days. Zureks 19:31, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

A photo barnstar, is that? Do you know much about copyright and photo use? Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry 18:10, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Please define "much"? I think I know enough, GFDL, CC-BY-SA, PD, the like. I wrote a condensed one-stop help for newbies explaining in short and simple words the meaning of "free license" (in Polish: [2], currently working also on new help system for Polish wiki: [3]), so Copyright and Wiki-Rules are not strange to me at all. --Zureks 16:30, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

 Support Trusted and active admin on pl-wiki. Pimke 14:04, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

 Support Trusted and active admin on pl-wiki. --PMG 14:22, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

 Support Trusted and active admin on pl-wiki. --Wyksztalcioch 20:09, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

 Support Trusted and active admin on pl-wiki. Smat 15:42, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Comment: This is not a poll. →Na·gy 16:43, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Miraceti

• languages you can reply in: Czech-N, English-3, Finnish-2, Slovak-Almost N
• most active user talk pages: [4]
• Email sent: Yes

I'd like to help out on OTRS because the Czech Wikipedia is looking for a new OTRS stuff. Current people are not enough as a certain member of OTRS team recently expressed.[5] I am an administrator at the Czech Wikipedia for several years. Miraceti 07:17, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Support. Trusted and active sysop on cs.wiki. His help would be highly appreciated. --Mercy 09:13, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Support. --Tlusťa 13:12, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Comment: This is not a poll. →Na·gy 16:43, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Trödel

• languages you can reply in: English-N, Français-3, Español-2, and I have successfully communicated with others in Norwegian (Nynorsk), German(Deutsch), Dansk(Danish), and Português - using google translate and altering sentence structure to romantic language style.
• most active user talk pages: [6]
• Email sent: Yes

I'd like to help out on OTRS because I have been annoyed at what I see as a lack of courtesy, helpfulness, and respect/trust in the dealing with images on commons. After some thought I thought I'd do what I can to help - and spend my time doing that rather than complaining and wasting the time of others who are at least trying to help. I've been an admin on en for some time. Trödel 17:31, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

SyP

• languages you can reply in: Hungarian-N, English-4
• most active user talk pages: [7]
• Email sent: Yes

I'd like to help out on OTRS because Hungarian Wikipedia hasn't enough OTRS staff. I am an editor since 2004, administrator at huwiki since 2007. Syp 22:10, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

He is indeed a trusted user, and we (I) do need help in answering the tickets, please let him join our team. --Dami 22:39, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

Secret

• languages you can reply in: English-N, Spanish-3, and Italian-1
• most active user talk pages: [8]
• Email sent: Yes

I'd like to help out on OTRS because I do a fair of work with BLPs, copyrights and at times images in the English Wikipedia. I also feel like I could be a help to OTRS because my experience with this project. have been a editor of the project since August 2005, and a administrator since July 2006. I was previously known as Jaranda there, but I lost the password of that account because of a major controversy over a year ago and I became known as Secret. I have been denied once before back in 2007, but that was because I was involved in a controversy back in en, but it's been over a year ago and was clean since. Thanks Jaranda | wat's sup 16:44, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

• Question: - Any way you could SUL merge these accounts to one particular account for WMF projects somehow? Cirt (talk) 17:30, 20 November 2008 (UTC)