User:Sbirdsong/Sandbox/Patrolling Guidelines draft

What to look for when patrolling
Check the anatomy of the article to make sure the main parts of it are there and correct:
 * Breadcrumbs
 * SEO properly written
 * Category
 * Wikitext and format general working

Cases requiring special handling:
Before you begin patrolling, you need to know that some pages are handled differently than the mainstream. Here's a list of the ones you will run into most often: Note: serious content problems trump the special instructions above (don't forget, anyone can edit a Wiki page, add links, etc.)

Handling problematic content
Additional things to watch for are:


 * That pages are assigned to the correct namespace
 * That categories are assigned to the page


 * Problems with the content will be:


 * Tagged by adding the appropriate Maintenance Template to the page
 * Resolved by working with the contributors to help them become successful in the wiki.




 * If there is a concern about small bits of text within an article - a sentence or even a paragraph - it can be deleted with an explanation in the summary.
 * If the information to be deleted is more extensive, it would be good to put an explanation on the talk page.


 * Entire articles outside the scope of the Wiki


 * If the entire article is about a topic related to genealogy but is outside the scope of the Wiki, such as an article or page about a specific ancestor, or LDS-specific doctrinal information, it will be vitally important to work with the individual to help them understand the purpose and scope of the Wiki, and to help them in the future be able to make valuable contributions to the Wiki.

Patrolling Talk Pages

 * On Talk pages, after ensuring that the policies and guidelines are followed, we are also looking for:


 * Questions that patrons ask
 * Problems, concerns, or other issues that may need to be resolved
 * Trends that may indicate larger concerns or issues to resolve

Your patrolling toolbox
These are a few of the references and tools you can use to help you patrol:


 * Your mentor and instructor
 * Other team members
 * Use Skype if quick, non-policy response needed
 * Use Yammer if policy response needed or more general input needed (may take longer)
 * Maintenance templates
 * Try another wiki
 * Message Boards
 * Your watchlist
 * User page, talk page, user contributions, user email link
 * or search specifically by geographical location and compiled genealogies

Patrolling Recent Changes

 * Recent Changes are patrolled for the same reasons as patrolling new pages. Again, we are looking for:


 * Questions that patrons ask
 * Problems, concerns, or other issues that may need to be resolved
 * Trends that may indicate larger concerns or issues to resolve

Instructions

 * See Help:Patrolling recent changes for instructions on how to patrol recent changes.