###Openers###

• What do you believe is the biggest issue currently facing WPA? How do you plan to handle it?

I believe new users who are ignorant of the rules and conventions of the site are at least a big issue facing us right now. I think those users fall into two rough groups: 1)Well-intentioned folks who are willing to cooperate and contribute, and 2)People who here for a quick answer and will not be back, and thus don't care about the rules and conventions. In both cases, I'd handle the issue with a "lead by example" approach - politely asking people to observe our rules and customs and giving them an opportunity to make any corrections necessary, and if they don't do so in a reasonable amount of time, using mod powers to correct any 'violations'.

###Personal###

• Should we be afraid you'll burn out or become even more fanatic?

No. I use WordPress to make a living. However, I by no means know everything there is to know about it, so regardless of whether I'm elected to be a moderator, I'll be visiting the site on a daily basis for the foreseeable fture.

• How do you expect becoming a moderator will change or influence the way you use WPA?

Because I've been a moderator pro tem since September, my usage of the site won't be immediately changing to any signifiant degree. However, I will always try to be attentive to the changing needs of our community and adjust my behavior accordingly.

• Will you have the time to spend moderating the site? How much time do you think you'll spend modding?

Yes, I know I will, since I've been doing so for six months already. I typically visit the site several times per day, and usually perform moderator actions at least once a day (tending to any flags, leaving comments asking folks to delete or move errant posts, etc.).

• What is it of being a moderator that appeals to you? You will be, for many users, the overlords of the site, and will have to make decisions on behalf of the community. Is it so you can show people you have a pointy diamond next to your name, to give back to the community, because you really, really like power, or something else?

My serious answer is that it's to give back to the community. WordPress Answers is an incredibly valuable resource for me professionally, and being able to volunteer my time to support it over the past six months is something I've really enjoyed, especially because I'm not one of the most knowledgable people here (so I don't feel like my answers are as much of a contribution as some other folks here). Additionally, I'm just very interested in online communities, and figuring out how to best help them grow and succeed.

Lastly, the pointy diamond is awesome.

Topics

• What are your opinions on the various WordPress versioning tags? Do you feel they benefit the site and make it easier to use?

I think version tags should only be used when the question being asked is very specific to a particular version, and not knowing which version that is would make answering the question difficult or impossible. Practically, I think that most of the time the person asking the question won't know if that's the case! As a result, I suspect that most of the time a version tag is appropriate, it will be discovered as such by people helping to troubleshoot whatever the issue is, and can then be added (by the asker or someone with edit powers). As such, I think that adding a version tag when asking a question should typically be discouraged.

• What's your stance on duplicates and how should they be handled?

If the question being asked is truly a duplicate, it should be marked as such and closed.

• Do you feel it is the role of a moderator to promote the site? How would you promote WPA to the wider WordPress community?

Absolutely! I already promote the site, mostly through Twitter (which I use mostly as a way of connecting to other people who use WordPress in their work). I'd also like to explore promotional efforts that we can participate in as a group - things like creating a community blog at wordpress.blogoverflow.com (similar to superuser.blogoverflow.com), as well as working to get more coverage from WordPress sites like wpcandy.com.

• How do you feel that WPA fits in with the overall WordPress ecology?

I believe it can continue to be the best place to gain practical knowledge about WordPress. The site is structured in a way the helps the 'cream rise to the top', and thus makes learning a much easier task than through a forum-based site (or other structure). I also feel that because of the way this site is structured, it naturally discourages the drama and politics that come along with any large organization. WordPress is not immune to said drama and politics, but I think our site largely avoids that (and I'll do my best to help it stay that way).

Moderator Powers

• How will you deal with having a binding close vote?

My tendency in the past (and what I'll do in the future) has been to leave a comment asking the user to change or close their question (or answer), and only close it unilaterally if they refuse or don't comply in a timely manner. If it's blatantly off topic, offensive, or if there are several other close votes already, I'll go ahead and close.

• How do you feel about suspensions? in what cases should it be used? and not?

They're rarely appropriate given our site structure, in my opinion. This isn't a discussion forum where the line between appropriate and inappropriate is blurry - you're either contributing and on-topic, or you're not. Typically, the voting mechanism takes care of people who aren't contributing, are posting wrong information, or are off-topic, and they either leave or improve.

I have no mercy or patience for spammers. If I see that someone is spamming the site with links and they've not contributed anything of value (and I've never seen a case where they have, by the way), I destroy the account with no warning. Harsh, perhaps, but so is spamming our community.

Users

• What do you feel is a good way to deal with new users posting bad questions?

Usually a comment offering some advice is all it takes. If they have any desire to be a part of the community and want to stick around, they'll typically be quite eager to correct their mistakes. I should mention that I don't see this (dealing with new users posting bad questions) as solely a job for moderators. Quite the contrary - anyone who observes this should be willing to offer some friendly advice to the user about what they can do to get answers and be a part of our community. If they continue to post bad questions, that's where a moderator comes in (emailing them with more information, suspending as necessary, etc.).

• How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

I'd send them a message explaining the issue, and offer some advice on how to correct whatever they're doing 'wrong'.

Closers

• Which three nominees do you think are the most suited to become the next moderators and why?

MikeSchinkel - unquestioned commitment to the site. Does an incredible, incredible job of "lead by example" with regard to how questions should be answered.

EAMann - knowledgable, great contributor, and exhibits genuine care for the community.

Jan Fabry - I've noticed Jan does a great job of prompting us as a community to carefully consider issues and address them before they're a problem. His participation on meta is fantastic.