user119: In connection with the moderator elections, we are holding a Q&A thread for the candidates. Questions collected from an earlier thread have been compiled into this one, which shall now serve as the space for the candidates to provide their answers. 
Due to the submission count, we have selected all provided questions as well as two of our back up questions for a total of 10 questions.
As a candidate, your job is simple - post an answer to this question, citing each of the questions and then post your answer to each question given in that same answer. For your convenience, I will include all of the questions in quote format with a break in between each, suitable for you to insert your answers. Just copy the whole thing after the first set of three dashes. Please consider putting your name at the top of your post so that readers will know who you are before they finish reading everything you have written, and also including a link to your answer on your nomination post.
Once all the answers have been compiled, this will serve as a transcript for voters to view the thoughts of their candidates, and will be appropriately linked in the Election page.
Good luck to all of the candidates!
Oh, and when you've completed your answer, please provide a link to it after this blurb here, before that set of three dashes. Please leave the list of links in the order of submission.
To save scrolling here are links to the submissions from each candidate (in order of submission):

Nick Gammon
Avamander
Anonymous Penguin
jose can u c
Majenko




A question is flagged as "off-topic" because it only peripherally involves an Arduino. For example "How do I get my Arduino to turn on a motor using a transistor?". Should it be closed altogether, migrated to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (where they are used to questions about transistors), or left here as a good beginner's Arduino question? Alternatively would you dismiss the flag and let the community handle the question via down-votes or vote-to-close?
A question has a lengthy number of comments under it suggesting various possible solutions to the asked problem. Once the number of comments reaches 20 the system (Community) automatically flags it suggesting that the comments be moved to chat. You move the comments to chat as suggested, and then get a complaint from a user that "valuable information is now hidden away in chat rather than under the question where it should be". How do you respond?
A question is flagged as "not an answer" because it basically only has a link in it. The question is "Where can I find the datasheet for the Atmega328P" and the answer is a link to the datasheet. There is a school of thought that link only answers are not good answers. However in this case there isn't really any other way of answering the question. Copying and pasting a huge datasheet into the answer isn't really an option. Also see Should I flag answers which contain only a link as “not an answer”?. As a moderator, would you delete the answer, or let it stand?
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?
How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?
Regarding why something has to be flagged/closed, do you believe that the actual system (a fixed list of reasons) can be improved or changed for a better one? If you do, how do you propose it could be accomplished?
What level of knowledge do you demand from users asking questions? Do you believe there's a minimum standard required?
What would you do if two users start insulting each other about not having sufficient knowledge to post on this site? Assume that both users have flagged each other's comments as rude or abusive.
In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?
In your opinion, what do moderators do?



user11529: My name is Avamander. You can find my nomination post here.


A question is flagged as "off-topic" because it only peripherally involves an Arduino. For example "How do I get my Arduino to turn on a motor using a transistor?". Should it be closed altogether, migrated to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (where they are used to questions about transistors), or left here as a good beginner's Arduino question? Alternatively would you dismiss the flag and let the community handle the question via down-votes or vote-to-close?


I know what the intention is by asking this question from me, these questions are interesting to solve as it's hard to say what exactly counts as an Arduino. But in this case, that specific question is Arduino specific. The transistor is an important part, but not what turns motors on by itself. I would dismiss the flags, comment why it's Arduino specific and also mention to use up- and down-votes if people think the question is bad because that's another topic.


A question has a lengthy number of comments under it suggesting various possible solutions to the asked problem. Once the number of comments reaches 20 the system (Community) automatically flags it suggesting that the comments be moved to chat. You move the comments to chat as suggested, and then get a complaint from a user that "valuable information is now hidden away in chat rather than under the question where it should be". How do you respond?


If the comments are important to solving the issue I would possibly keep them there because it does cause confusion when some key detail is only in chat. Moving to chat should happen if there's really a lot of discussion  going on maybe not directly related to solving the question. But if I already have moved the discussion I would probably respond that I'll keep that in mind for the next time but this time solve the issue in chat. Chat opening on hover would also help, but that's not in my power to add.


A question is flagged as "not an answer" because it basically only has a link in it. The question is "Where can I find the datasheet for the Atmega328P" and the answer is a link to the datasheet. There is a school of thought that link only answers are not good answers. However in this case there isn't really any other way of answering the question. Copying and pasting a huge datasheet into the answer isn't really an option. Also see Should I flag answers which contain only a link as “not an answer”?. As a moderator, would you delete the answer, or let it stand?


I would close the question, for two reasons, answers are all going to be a link-only (with no good solution) and the datasheet is not hard to find. Google in this case will always have a better result and maintaining such question is just a waste of time.


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?


Amount of answers is irrelevant, one good and one bad doesn't equal 0. I would warn if the amount of arguments gets too high (assuming nothing banal or offensive though), delete after it isn't toned down or when it's flagged by someone else and lastly warn the user(s) privately if it might be needed.


How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?


I use the moderation chat and discuss. Maybe there's something I don't know about the question or the asker.


Regarding why something has to be flagged/closed, do you believe that the actual system (a fixed list of reasons) can be improved or changed for a better one? If you do, how do you propose it could be accomplished?


The current system is good, it allows one to add their own reason. One small improvement that could be made is a button in "Reopen" queue to let the user know they're on the right path with their edits, possibly just adds a comment.


What level of knowledge do you demand from users asking questions? Do you believe there's a minimum standard required?


I don't demand anything, this is Arduino SE, people have usually just started with electronics and programming. Maybe only knowing how to use Arduino IDE and being literate would suffice.


What would you do if two users start insulting each other about not having sufficient knowledge to post on this site? Assume that both users have flagged each other's comments as rude or abusive.


As I am not omniscient, it is quite likely I can't determine and even shouldn't be determining which of the users is right. I would possibly convert the discussion to chat, tell them to discuss calmly (and without insults there if there were any), if that's not possible (knowing user's history), a warning and deletion of the comments.


In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?


10k or even 20k reputation is hard to achieve with retention being as low as it is. Main benefit would be for example the ability to retract edits, quickly deleting spam and doing other more dangerous tasks like migration/deletion/conversions.


In your opinion, what do moderators do?


As much as needed, as little as possible. A moderator should use moderation tools only for things that are exceptional.

user220: 

A question is flagged as "off-topic" because it only peripherally involves an Arduino. For example "How do I get my Arduino to turn on a motor using a transistor?". Should it be closed altogether, migrated to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (where they are used to questions about transistors), or left here as a good beginner's Arduino question? Alternatively would you dismiss the flag and let the community handle the question via down-votes or vote-to-close?


Most of these types of questions, although they might also be a good fit for Electrical Engineering, should stay on Arduino as long as they are related directly to Arduino. The transistor question probably would stay since knowing the current and voltage characteristics of an Arduino are essential to answering the question.
On the other hand, if the question was about the thermal characters of a transistor that just happened to be connected to an Arduino, we could consider moving that question to Electrical Engineering. Likewise, if a question asks about the specifics of the syntax for a for loop, we could consider migrating that question to Stack Overflow.


A question has a lengthy number of comments under it suggesting various possible solutions to the asked problem. Once the number of comments reaches 20 the system (Community) automatically flags it suggesting that the comments be moved to chat. You move the comments to chat as suggested, and then get a complaint from a user that "valuable information is now hidden away in chat rather than under the question where it should be". How do you respond?


First of all: even with 20-30 comments, there are still a lot of "discussion" comments that don't really add much value. Since I always read the comments before migrating them to chat, I can go back and undelete the comments that are useful for everyone to see.
If someone did become upset at me because of migrating comments to chat, I would consider figuring out a better way to get the information added to the post that they feel is missing. I might also explain to the user the reasoning for why comments are moved from chat, and back up what I say with links to Meta Stack Exchange.


A question is flagged as "not an answer" because it basically only has a link in it. The question is "Where can I find the datasheet for the Atmega328P" and the answer is a link to the datasheet. There is a school of thought that link only answers are not good answers. However in this case there isn't really any other way of answering the question. Copying and pasting a huge datasheet into the answer isn't really an option. Also see Should I flag answers which contain only a link as “not an answer”?. As a moderator, would you delete the answer, or let it stand?


If the question is well phrased and is asking for a link, there's no reason not to answer with a link. I've deleted plenty of link-only-answers that do not provide sufficient explanation, but I pretty much leave library questions alone, although I may comment and ask the poster to edit to include a basic example, 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?


If they're acting rudely, I will talk to them and tell them that their behavior isn't okay. As with any time a user is rude/mean, it's good to be a little lenient as people who are very knowledgable are often very passionate about their work. But, I will not let a user create an unwelcoming environment just because they are knowledgeable.


How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?


Privately contact them. There's often info you may not know about the situation, or the other mod may provide a different viewpoint on the matter. I would hope that any other mod would be open to take constructive criticism and openly talk about matters. 


Regarding why something has to be flagged/closed, do you believe that the actual system (a fixed list of reasons) can be improved or changed for a better one? If you do, how do you propose it could be accomplished?


Pretty happy with what we already have here already, but I would be open to change if anyone else had any ideas. Don't have a lot of input here mostly because I, as one of the "pro-tempore" mods for Arduino Stack Exchange, try not to interfere with the natural process of voting to close a post. A mod can close/open a question with a single vote, so I step in when needed, but let the community handle most of the close voting.


What level of knowledge do you demand from users asking questions? Do you believe there's a minimum standard required?


Sometimes users need a little more guidance than others, but that's no reason to push someone away. Be nice and patient. If they still aren't getting it, maybe suggest some reading materials/etc. so they can improve their understanding of Arduino. We were all beginners once.


What would you do if two users start insulting each other about not having sufficient knowledge to post on this site? Assume that both users have flagged each other's comments as rude or abusive.


Again, it's an expectation that users need to be nice. If they aren't, they need to be talked to. In the case that a stern warning doesn't work for either one or both, a short term suspension might have to be considered, after talking with the other moderators about the issue and trying alternative solutions to resolve any underlying issues and to help neutralize the situation.


In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?


Handle flags, settle disputes, be a public figure for the community, and plan and propose new things to help build and expand Arduino Stack Exchange. All of those things are very difficult (if not impossible) to do with 20K rep. A moderator has more of a higher-level role than 20K rep users. Although they are just as important, high rep users work more with closing questions and handling the review queues.


In your opinion, what do moderators do?


Be a flight attendant. I know it sounds silly, but it's a fairly good analogy:

Both are forced to put on a smile, even when they don't want to.
Both deal with angry customers/users.
Both are responsible for the general wellbeing of the customers/users.
Both have a lot of obscure, small jobs behind-the-scenes that most people don't know about.
Both hand out free mini bags of peanuts and pretzels.


user4143: 
A question is flagged as "off-topic" because it only peripherally involves an Arduino. For example "How do I get my Arduino to turn on a motor using a transistor?". Should it be closed altogether, migrated to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (where they are used to questions about transistors), or left here as a good beginner's Arduino question? Alternatively would you dismiss the flag and let the community handle the question via down-votes or vote-to-close?

It's most likely a duplicate anway, so the system would take care of it. If it is technical and the question is applicable to any microcontroller then I may well migrate it to EE.

A question has a lengthy number of comments under it suggesting various possible solutions to the asked problem. Once the number of comments reaches 20 the system (Community) automatically flags it suggesting that the comments be moved to chat. You move the comments to chat as suggested, and then get a complaint from a user that "valuable information is now hidden away in chat rather than under the question where it should be". How do you respond?

Tell them to post the information as an answer. If it's really that valuable they will take the time to do it.

A question is flagged as "not an answer" because it basically only has a link in it. The question is "Where can I find the datasheet for the Atmega328P" and the answer is a link to the datasheet. There is a school of thought that link only answers are not good answers. However in this case there isn't really any other way of answering the question. Copying and pasting a huge datasheet into the answer isn't really an option. Also see Should I flag answers which contain only a link as “not an answer”?. As a moderator, would you delete the answer, or let it stand?

Probably let it stand in that instance, however the question that elicited such an answer is another matter...

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?

You mean me? ;) 
Probably take the side of the person with the higher rep. We gotta have each others' backs...

How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?

If the question is that valid it will probably be asked again. Or the user will whine. Either way nature will take its course.

Regarding why something has to be flagged/closed, do you believe that the actual system (a fixed list of reasons) can be improved or changed for a better one? If you do, how do you propose it could be accomplished?
  What level of knowledge do you demand from users asking questions? Do you believe there's a minimum standard required?

The system is tried and tested and has enough flexibility in it already. I have suggested other close reasons before in another thread, but can see no benefit in changing the underlying methodology.

What would you do if two users start insulting each other about not having sufficient knowledge to post on this site? Assume that both users have flagged each other's comments as rude or abusive.

You're talking about me again, aren't you?
I'd probably move the discussion to chat and leave them to it in private. The rest of the world doesn't need to watch them.

In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?

Faster deletion of spam. That's my pet hate, and there seems to be a major influx of it recently.

In your opinion, what do moderators do?

Rule with an iron hand wearing kid leather gloves. 

user10794: I'm Nick Gammon. My nomination for moderator is here.


A question is flagged as "off-topic" because it only peripherally involves an Arduino. For example "How do I get my Arduino to turn on a motor using a transistor?". Should it be closed altogether, migrated to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (where they are used to questions about transistors), or left here as a good beginner's Arduino question? Alternatively would you dismiss the flag and let the community handle the question via down-votes or vote-to-close?


This is a tricky one. It happens quite a bit, believe me. If the question shows some attempts to involve the Arduino (not just mentioning the word), like a schematic and/or a sketch, then I would probably dismiss the flag. A bit also depends on whether it has got good answers by the time I see the flag. 


A question has a lengthy number of comments under it suggesting various possible solutions to the asked problem. Once the number of comments reaches 20 the system (Community) automatically flags it suggesting that the comments be moved to chat. You move the comments to chat as suggested, and then get a complaint from a user that "valuable information is now hidden away in chat rather than under the question where it should be". How do you respond?


There is a Meta Stack Exchange post about that. From that page "Comments are disposable: unlike posts, there's no revision history, and they can be deleted without warning by their authors, by moderators, and in response to flags.". 
The post When should comments be used clarifies that comments under questions are to:

Request clarification from the author;
Leave constructive criticism that guides the author in improving the post;
Add relevant but minor or transient information to a post (e.g. a link to a related question, or an alert to the author that the question has been updated).

Therefore I would point out to the person complaining that comments under questions are not for attempting to answer the question.


A question is flagged as "not an answer" because it basically only has a link in it. The question is "Where can I find the datasheet for the Atmega328P" and the answer is a link to the datasheet. There is a school of thought that link only answers are not good answers. However in this case there isn't really any other way of answering the question. Copying and pasting a huge datasheet into the answer isn't really an option. Also see Should I flag answers which contain only a link as “not an answer”?. As a moderator, would you delete the answer, or let it stand?


Arduino Stack Exchange is different from sites like Cooking, where you can usually answer without having to have an off-site link. I would look at the link and see if the linked site has information that could be usefully copied into the answer, thus making the answer more useful if the site goes down. For things like datasheets, perhaps I might suggest that the answer be modified to provide a way of finding the datasheet without giving a literal link. For example: "Go to atmel.com and use the search function to find the datasheet". (And even that isn't a great answer, because it is like saying "Google it").


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?


If necessary I would remind them of the Stack Exchange Be Nice policy. These flags can be a bit subjective - sometimes new users take offence at being asked to write a better question. If I thought that the flag wasn't warranted I would dismiss it.


How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?


If I felt strongly enough about it, I would contact the other moderator through the private moderators' chat room. Between us we would come to an agreement about whether to let things stand, or change them.


Regarding why something has to be flagged/closed, do you believe that the actual system (a fixed list of reasons) can be improved or changed for a better one? If you do, how do you propose it could be accomplished?


The "in need of moderator attention" flag allows for a reason to be typed, so I don't see any reason to add more reasons. Too many reasons and it is hard to choose which one applies.


What level of knowledge do you demand from users asking questions? Do you believe there's a minimum standard required?


The Arduino is a beginners' platform - it was designed to be a low-cost introduction to computing and electronics in school. Thus I personally cut people a bit of slack if they seem to only have beginner knowledge. However if a question is more like "do my homework for me" then I am less tolerant of them. As a moderator I would allow the community to vote a question down if they thought it showed insufficient research - we don't need moderators to do that.


What would you do if two users start insulting each other about not having sufficient knowledge to post on this site? Assume that both users have flagged each other's comments as rude or abusive.


I would remind them of the Stack Exchange Be Nice policy. If the comments are just trading insults I would delete all of the insults (from both parties). Possibly if a comment had a combination of insult and useful information I would delete the insult part.


In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?


It lets me intervene in the (rare) occasions when moderators are needed like a flame war. It also lets me more quickly deal with really egregious posts (such as spam) which I might notice when activity here is low, without having to wait for other people to also flag something for deletion.
It also lets me handle unusual situations like lock posts, protect posts, roll back unsuitable edits, and things like that.


In your opinion, what do moderators do?


The Stack Exchange Theory of Moderation explains quite well what moderators are for. They are there to handle exceptional situations. The normal voting rights that privileged users get are normally enough to handle most situations.
Moderators are there for those odd cases where normal user voting is insufficient, or perhaps would not take place quickly enough.

119: <p>In connection with the moderator elections, we are holding a Q&amp;A thread for the candidates. Questions collected <a href="https://arduino.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2459/2017-moderator-election-qa-question-collection/">from an earlier thread</a> have been compiled into this one, which shall now serve as the space for the candidates to provide their answers. </p>

<p>Due to the submission count, we have selected all provided questions as well as two of our back up questions for a total of 10 questions.</p>

<p>As a candidate, your job is simple - post an answer to this question, citing each of the questions and then post your answer to each question given in that same answer. For your convenience, I will include all of the questions in quote format with a break in between each, suitable for you to insert your answers. Just <a href="https://arduino.meta.stackexchange.com/revisions/d3acf70e-e35c-41e1-bf52-2de49d997d48/view-source">copy the whole thing after the first set of three dashes</a>. Please consider putting your name at the top of your post so that readers will know who you are before they finish reading everything you have written, and also including a link to your answer on your nomination post.</p>

<p>Once all the answers have been compiled, this will serve as a transcript for voters to view the thoughts of their candidates, and will be appropriately linked in the Election page.</p>

<p>Good luck to all of the candidates!</p>

<p><strong>Oh, and when you've completed your answer, please provide a link to it after this blurb here, before that set of three dashes. Please leave the list of links in the order of submission.</strong></p>

<p>To save scrolling here are links to the submissions from each candidate (in order of submission):</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://arduino.meta.stackexchange.com/a/2478/10794">Nick Gammon</a></li>
<li><a href="https://arduino.meta.stackexchange.com/a/2480/10794">Avamander</a></li>
<li><a href="https://arduino.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2476/2017-moderator-election-qa-questionnaire/2481#2481">Anonymous Penguin</a></li>
<li><a href="https://arduino.meta.stackexchange.com/a/2483/10794">jose can u c</a></li>
<li><a href="https://arduino.meta.stackexchange.com/a/2484/10794">Majenko</a></li>
</ul>

<hr>

<blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li><p>A question is flagged as "off-topic" because it only peripherally involves an Arduino. For example "How do I get my Arduino to turn on a motor using a transistor?". Should it be closed altogether, migrated to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (where they are used to questions about transistors), or left here as a good beginner's Arduino question? Alternatively would you dismiss the flag and let the community handle the question via down-votes or vote-to-close?</p></li>
  <li><p>A question has a lengthy number of comments under it suggesting various possible solutions to the asked problem. Once the number of comments reaches 20 the system (Community) automatically flags it suggesting that the comments be moved to chat. You move the comments to chat as suggested, and then get a complaint from a user that "valuable information is now hidden away in chat rather than under the question where it should be". How do you respond?</p></li>
  <li><p>A question is flagged as "not an answer" because it basically only has a link in it. The question is "Where can I find the datasheet for the Atmega328P" and the answer is a link to the datasheet. There is a school of thought that <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/8231/are-answers-that-just-contain-links-elsewhere-really-good-answers">link only answers are not good answers</a>. However in this case there isn't really any other way of answering the question. Copying and pasting a huge datasheet into the answer isn't really an option. Also see <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/92505/should-i-flag-answers-which-contain-only-a-link-as-not-an-answer">Should I flag answers which contain only a link as “not an answer”?</a>. As a moderator, would you delete the answer, or let it stand?</p></li>
  <li><p>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?</p></li>
  <li><p>How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?</p></li>
  <li><p>Regarding <strong>why</strong> something has to be flagged/closed, do you believe that the actual system (<em>a fixed list of reasons</em>) can be improved or changed for a better one? If you do, how do you propose it could be accomplished?</p></li>
  <li><p>What level of knowledge do you demand from users asking questions? Do you believe there's a minimum standard required?</p></li>
  <li><p>What would you do if two users start insulting each other about not having sufficient knowledge to post on this site? Assume that both users have flagged each other's comments as rude or abusive.</p></li>
  <li><p>In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?</p></li>
  <li><p>In your opinion, what do moderators do?</p></li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>
 11529: <p>My name is Avamander. You can find my nomination post <a href="https://arduino.stackexchange.com/election/1#post-43763">here</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li>A question is flagged as "off-topic" because it only peripherally involves an Arduino. For example "How do I get my Arduino to turn on a motor using a transistor?". Should it be closed altogether, migrated to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (where they are used to questions about transistors), or left here as a good beginner's Arduino question? Alternatively would you dismiss the flag and let the community handle the question via down-votes or vote-to-close?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>I know what the intention is by asking this question from me, these questions are interesting to solve as it's hard to say what exactly counts as an Arduino. But in this case, that specific question is Arduino specific. The transistor is an important part, but not what turns motors on by itself. I would dismiss the flags, comment why it's Arduino specific and also mention to use up- and down-votes if people think the question is bad because that's another topic.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="2">
  <li>A question has a lengthy number of comments under it suggesting various possible solutions to the asked problem. Once the number of comments reaches 20 the system (Community) automatically flags it suggesting that the comments be moved to chat. You move the comments to chat as suggested, and then get a complaint from a user that "valuable information is now hidden away in chat rather than under the question where it should be". How do you respond?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>If the comments are important to solving the issue I would possibly keep them there because it does cause confusion when some key detail is only in chat. Moving to chat should happen if there's really a lot of discussion  going on maybe not directly related to solving the question. But if I already have moved the discussion I would probably respond that I'll keep that in mind for the next time but this time solve the issue in chat. Chat opening on hover would also help, but that's not in my power to add.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="3">
  <li>A question is flagged as "not an answer" because it basically only has a link in it. The question is "Where can I find the datasheet for the Atmega328P" and the answer is a link to the datasheet. There is a school of thought that <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/8231/are-answers-that-just-contain-links-elsewhere-really-good-answers">link only answers are not good answers</a>. However in this case there isn't really any other way of answering the question. Copying and pasting a huge datasheet into the answer isn't really an option. Also see <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/92505/should-i-flag-answers-which-contain-only-a-link-as-not-an-answer">Should I flag answers which contain only a link as “not an answer”?</a>. As a moderator, would you delete the answer, or let it stand?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>I would close the question, for two reasons, answers are all going to be a link-only (with no good solution) and the datasheet is not hard to find. Google in this case will always have a better result and maintaining such question is just a waste of time.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="4">
  <li>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?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Amount of answers is irrelevant, one good and one bad doesn't equal 0. I would warn if the amount of arguments gets too high (assuming nothing banal or offensive though), delete after it isn't toned down or when it's flagged by someone else and lastly warn the user(s) privately if it might be needed.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="5">
  <li>How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>I use the moderation chat and discuss. Maybe there's something I don't know about the question or the asker.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="6">
  <li>Regarding <strong>why</strong> something has to be flagged/closed, do you believe that the actual system (<em>a fixed list of reasons</em>) can be improved or changed for a better one? If you do, how do you propose it could be accomplished?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>The current system is good, it allows one to add their own reason. One small improvement that could be made is a button in "Reopen" queue to let the user know they're on the right path with their edits, possibly just adds a comment.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="7">
  <li>What level of knowledge do you demand from users asking questions? Do you believe there's a minimum standard required?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>I don't demand anything, this is Arduino SE, people have usually just started with electronics and programming. Maybe only knowing how to use Arduino IDE and being literate would suffice.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="8">
  <li>What would you do if two users start insulting each other about not having sufficient knowledge to post on this site? Assume that both users have flagged each other's comments as rude or abusive.</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>As I am not omniscient, it is quite likely I can't determine and even shouldn't be determining which of the users is right. I would possibly convert the discussion to chat, tell them to discuss calmly (and without insults there if there were any), if that's not possible (knowing user's history), a warning and deletion of the comments.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="9">
  <li>In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>10k or even 20k reputation is hard to achieve with retention being as low as it is. Main benefit would be for example the ability to retract edits, quickly deleting spam and doing other more dangerous tasks like migration/deletion/conversions.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="10">
  <li>In your opinion, what do moderators do?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>As much as needed, as little as possible. A moderator should use moderation tools only for things that are exceptional.</p>
 220: <blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li>A question is flagged as "off-topic" because it only peripherally involves an Arduino. For example "How do I get my Arduino to turn on a motor using a transistor?". Should it be closed altogether, migrated to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (where they are used to questions about transistors), or left here as a good beginner's Arduino question? Alternatively would you dismiss the flag and let the community handle the question via down-votes or vote-to-close?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Most of these types of questions, although they might also be a good fit for Electrical Engineering, should stay on Arduino as long as they are related <strong>directly</strong> to Arduino. The transistor question probably would stay since knowing the current and voltage characteristics of an Arduino are essential to answering the question.</p>

<p>On the other hand, if the question was about the thermal characters of a transistor that <em>just happened to be connected to an Arduino,</em> we could consider moving that question to Electrical Engineering. Likewise, if a question asks about the specifics of the syntax for a <code>for</code> loop, we could consider migrating that question to Stack Overflow.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="2">
  <li>A question has a lengthy number of comments under it suggesting various possible solutions to the asked problem. Once the number of comments reaches 20 the system (Community) automatically flags it suggesting that the comments be moved to chat. You move the comments to chat as suggested, and then get a complaint from a user that "valuable information is now hidden away in chat rather than under the question where it should be". How do you respond?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>First of all: even with 20-30 comments, there are still a lot of "discussion" comments that don't really add much value. Since I always read the comments before migrating them to chat, I can go back and undelete the comments that are useful for everyone to see.</p>

<p>If someone did become upset at me because of migrating comments to chat, I would consider figuring out a better way to get the information added to the post that they feel is missing. I might also explain to the user the reasoning for why comments are moved from chat, and back up what I say with links to Meta Stack Exchange.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="3">
  <li>A question is flagged as "not an answer" because it basically only has a link in it. The question is "Where can I find the datasheet for the Atmega328P" and the answer is a link to the datasheet. There is a school of thought that <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/8231/are-answers-that-just-contain-links-elsewhere-really-good-answers">link only answers are not good answers</a>. However in this case there isn't really any other way of answering the question. Copying and pasting a huge datasheet into the answer isn't really an option. Also see <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/92505/should-i-flag-answers-which-contain-only-a-link-as-not-an-answer">Should I flag answers which contain only a link as “not an answer”?</a>. As a moderator, would you delete the answer, or let it stand?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>If the question is well phrased and is asking for a link, there's no reason <em>not</em> to answer with a link. I've deleted plenty of link-only-answers that do not provide sufficient explanation, but I pretty much leave library questions alone, although I may comment and ask the poster to edit to include a basic example, etc.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="4">
  <li>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?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>If they're acting rudely, I will talk to them and tell them that their behavior isn't okay. As with any time a user is rude/mean, it's good to be a little lenient as people who are very knowledgable are often very passionate about their work. But, I will not let a user create an unwelcoming environment just because they are knowledgeable.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="5">
  <li>How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Privately contact them. There's often info you may not know about the situation, or the other mod may provide a different viewpoint on the matter. I would hope that any other mod would be open to take constructive criticism and openly talk about matters. </p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="6">
  <li>Regarding <strong>why</strong> something has to be flagged/closed, do you believe that the actual system (<em>a fixed list of reasons</em>) can be improved or changed for a better one? If you do, how do you propose it could be accomplished?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Pretty happy with what we already have here already, but I would be open to change if anyone else had any ideas. Don't have a lot of input here mostly because I, as one of the "pro-tempore" mods for Arduino Stack Exchange, try not to interfere with the natural process of voting to close a post. A mod can close/open a question with a single vote, so I step in when needed, but let the community handle most of the close voting.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="7">
  <li>What level of knowledge do you demand from users asking questions? Do you believe there's a minimum standard required?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Sometimes users need a little more guidance than others, but that's no reason to push someone away. Be nice and patient. If they still aren't getting it, maybe suggest some reading materials/etc. so they can improve their understanding of Arduino. We were all beginners once.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="8">
  <li>What would you do if two users start insulting each other about not having sufficient knowledge to post on this site? Assume that both users have flagged each other's comments as rude or abusive.</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Again, it's an expectation that users need to be nice. If they aren't, they need to be talked to. In the case that a stern warning doesn't work for either one or both, a short term suspension might have to be considered, after talking with the other moderators about the issue and trying alternative solutions to resolve any underlying issues and to help neutralize the situation.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="9">
  <li>In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Handle flags, settle disputes, be a public figure for the community, and plan and propose new things to help build and expand Arduino Stack Exchange. All of those things are very difficult (if not impossible) to do with 20K rep. A moderator has more of a higher-level role than 20K rep users. Although they are just as important, high rep users work more with closing questions and handling the review queues.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="10">
  <li>In your opinion, what do moderators do?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Be a flight attendant.</strong> I know it sounds silly, but it's a fairly good analogy:</p>

<ul>
<li>Both are forced to put on a smile, even when they don't want to.</li>
<li>Both deal with angry customers/users.</li>
<li>Both are responsible for the general wellbeing of the customers/users.</li>
<li>Both have a <em>lot</em> of obscure, small jobs behind-the-scenes that most people don't know about.</li>
<li><strike>Both hand out free mini bags of peanuts and pretzels.</strike></li>
</ul>
 4143: <blockquote>
  <p>A question is flagged as "off-topic" because it only peripherally involves an Arduino. For example "How do I get my Arduino to turn on a motor using a transistor?". Should it be closed altogether, migrated to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (where they are used to questions about transistors), or left here as a good beginner's Arduino question? Alternatively would you dismiss the flag and let the community handle the question via down-votes or vote-to-close?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>It's most likely a duplicate anway, so the system would take care of it. If it is technical and the question is applicable to any microcontroller then I may well migrate it to EE.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A question has a lengthy number of comments under it suggesting various possible solutions to the asked problem. Once the number of comments reaches 20 the system (Community) automatically flags it suggesting that the comments be moved to chat. You move the comments to chat as suggested, and then get a complaint from a user that "valuable information is now hidden away in chat rather than under the question where it should be". How do you respond?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Tell them to post the information as an answer. If it's really that valuable they will take the time to do it.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A question is flagged as "not an answer" because it basically only has a link in it. The question is "Where can I find the datasheet for the Atmega328P" and the answer is a link to the datasheet. There is a school of thought that link only answers are not good answers. However in this case there isn't really any other way of answering the question. Copying and pasting a huge datasheet into the answer isn't really an option. Also see Should I flag answers which contain only a link as “not an answer”?. As a moderator, would you delete the answer, or let it stand?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Probably let it stand in that instance, however the question that elicited such an answer is another matter...</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>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?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>You mean me? ;) </p>

<p>Probably take the side of the person with the higher rep. We gotta have each others' backs...</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If the question is that valid it will probably be asked again. Or the user will whine. Either way nature will take its course.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Regarding why something has to be flagged/closed, do you believe that the actual system (a fixed list of reasons) can be improved or changed for a better one? If you do, how do you propose it could be accomplished?
  What level of knowledge do you demand from users asking questions? Do you believe there's a minimum standard required?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The system is tried and tested and has enough flexibility in it already. I have suggested other close reasons before in another thread, but can see no benefit in changing the underlying methodology.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>What would you do if two users start insulting each other about not having sufficient knowledge to post on this site? Assume that both users have flagged each other's comments as rude or abusive.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>You're talking about me again, aren't you?</p>

<p>I'd probably move the discussion to chat and leave them to it in private. The rest of the world doesn't need to watch them.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Faster deletion of spam. That's my pet hate, and there seems to be a major influx of it recently.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In your opinion, what do moderators do?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Rule with an iron hand wearing kid leather gloves. </p>
 10794: <p>I'm <strong>Nick Gammon</strong>. My nomination for moderator is <a href="https://arduino.stackexchange.com/election/1#post-43681">here</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li>A question is flagged as "off-topic" because it only peripherally involves an Arduino. For example "How do I get my Arduino to turn on a motor using a transistor?". Should it be closed altogether, migrated to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (where they are used to questions about transistors), or left here as a good beginner's Arduino question? Alternatively would you dismiss the flag and let the community handle the question via down-votes or vote-to-close?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>This is a tricky one. It happens quite a bit, believe me. If the question shows some attempts to involve the Arduino (not just mentioning the word), like a schematic and/or a sketch, then I would probably dismiss the flag. A bit also depends on whether it has got good answers by the time I see the flag. </p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="2">
  <li>A question has a lengthy number of comments under it suggesting various possible solutions to the asked problem. Once the number of comments reaches 20 the system (Community) automatically flags it suggesting that the comments be moved to chat. You move the comments to chat as suggested, and then get a complaint from a user that "valuable information is now hidden away in chat rather than under the question where it should be". How do you respond?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>There is a <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19756/how-do-comments-work/19757#19757">Meta Stack Exchange</a> post about that. From that page "Comments are disposable: unlike posts, there's no revision history, and they can be deleted without warning by their authors, by moderators, and in response to flags.". </p>

<p>The post <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/139809/when-should-comments-be-used">When should comments be used</a> clarifies that comments under questions are to:</p>

<ul>
<li>Request clarification from the author;</li>
<li>Leave constructive criticism that guides the author in improving the post;</li>
<li>Add relevant but minor or transient information to a post (e.g. a link to a related question, or an alert to the author that the question has been updated).</li>
</ul>

<p>Therefore I would point out to the person complaining that comments under questions are not for attempting to answer the question.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="3">
  <li>A question is flagged as "not an answer" because it basically only has a link in it. The question is "Where can I find the datasheet for the Atmega328P" and the answer is a link to the datasheet. There is a school of thought that <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/8231/are-answers-that-just-contain-links-elsewhere-really-good-answers">link only answers are not good answers</a>. However in this case there isn't really any other way of answering the question. Copying and pasting a huge datasheet into the answer isn't really an option. Also see <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/92505/should-i-flag-answers-which-contain-only-a-link-as-not-an-answer">Should I flag answers which contain only a link as “not an answer”?</a>. As a moderator, would you delete the answer, or let it stand?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Arduino Stack Exchange is different from sites like Cooking, where you can usually answer without having to have an off-site link. I would look at the link and see if the linked site has information that could be usefully copied into the answer, thus making the answer more useful if the site goes down. For things like datasheets, perhaps I might suggest that the answer be modified to provide a way of finding the datasheet without giving a literal link. For example: "Go to atmel.com and use the search function to find the datasheet". (And even that isn't a great answer, because it is like saying "Google it").</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="4">
  <li>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?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>If necessary I would remind them of the Stack Exchange <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/be-nice">Be Nice</a> policy. These flags can be a bit subjective - sometimes new users take offence at being asked to write a better question. If I thought that the flag wasn't warranted I would dismiss it.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="5">
  <li>How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>If I felt strongly enough about it, I would contact the other moderator through the private moderators' chat room. Between us we would come to an agreement about whether to let things stand, or change them.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="6">
  <li>Regarding <strong>why</strong> something has to be flagged/closed, do you believe that the actual system (<em>a fixed list of reasons</em>) can be improved or changed for a better one? If you do, how do you propose it could be accomplished?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>The "in need of moderator attention" flag allows for a reason to be typed, so I don't see any reason to add more reasons. Too many reasons and it is hard to choose which one applies.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="7">
  <li>What level of knowledge do you demand from users asking questions? Do you believe there's a minimum standard required?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>The Arduino is a beginners' platform - it was designed to be a low-cost introduction to computing and electronics in school. Thus I personally cut people a bit of slack if they seem to only have beginner knowledge. However if a question is more like "do my homework for me" then I am less tolerant of them. As a moderator I would allow the community to vote a question down if they thought it showed insufficient research - we don't need moderators to do that.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="8">
  <li>What would you do if two users start insulting each other about not having sufficient knowledge to post on this site? Assume that both users have flagged each other's comments as rude or abusive.</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>I would remind them of the Stack Exchange <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/be-nice">Be Nice</a> policy. If the comments are just trading insults I would delete all of the insults (from both parties). Possibly if a comment had a combination of insult and useful information I would delete the insult part.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="9">
  <li>In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>It lets me intervene in the (rare) occasions when moderators are needed like a flame war. It also lets me more quickly deal with really egregious posts (such as spam) which I might notice when activity here is low, without having to wait for other people to also flag something for deletion.</p>

<p>It also lets me handle unusual situations like lock posts, protect posts, roll back unsuitable edits, and things like that.</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="10">
  <li>In your opinion, what do moderators do?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>The <a href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2009/05/18/a-theory-of-moderation/">Stack Exchange Theory of Moderation</a> explains quite well what moderators are for. They are there to handle <em>exceptional situations</em>. The normal voting rights that <a href="https://arduino.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/">privileged users</a> get are normally enough to handle most situations.</p>

<p>Moderators are there for those odd cases where normal user voting is insufficient, or perhaps would not take place quickly enough.</p>
