Forum:Symbols of bureaucratship?

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The mop and bucket are the symbols of sysopship, but what about cratship? -- Nx / talk 01:26, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

squirt-bottle and squeegee? ^{-- Unsigned, by: some pinko rat bastard}

Scouring pad and Clorox®? Steel wool and floor buffer? I dunno. Aboriginal Noise ^{Theist, barely hanging by a nail} 02:24, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I'd prefer something that's not related to the cleaning up theme, that's already taken by sysops. -- Nx / talk 02:27, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, in keeping with the theme started with the bucket and mop for sysops (i.e. that sysopery is not a reward, but rather something mundane and tiresome), and bureaucrats are called bureaucrats, why don't we have a stack of paperwork as their symbol? Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 02:30, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Good call. Make sure they are all in the "in" box. Aboriginal Noise ^{Theist, barely hanging by a nail} 02:35, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Maybe something like this?:

My condolences to you for becoming a bureaucrat. Here's your paperwork.

Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 02:36, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

You silly 'crats and your "responsibilites". It's nice and carefree just to have a mop and clean brain lubricant off the floor every once and a while. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 03:32, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm stuck on the idea of tortue and capital punishment, but that seems to fit. How about a gallows or a gibbet. Perhaps a guillotine to make the French feel at home? --^{Ask me about your mother} 12:42, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Sorry abut the cleaning image, but the squirt-bottle and squeegee represent yet another level of degradation demotion. hanging around at traffic lights waiting for some fat cat to roll up with a dirty windshield and halt just long enough for you to make with the cleaning. You spend most of your time shivering, hoping for a skimpy reward that seldom comes.^{-- Unsigned, by: some pinko rat bastard}

Fasces and a golden crown? Jerry 14:22, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Something on the theme of onanism? I would also like to request a "drunk" editing space (drunk:space) - a space where people can say what they like after a few drinks on the assumption that it will be erased in the morning.--Bob^{Not Jim} 18:00, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Show RWians for what they really are

How about a picture of the One True Ring? Only this would properly convey the average RWian crat's persual of fake internet authority as a means of escapism. I think the metaphor works quite well considering it would display the best form of literary escapism ever created (The Lord of the Rings) In ironic contrast to the bufoonary and vacousness of the average RW cretin. ^{— Unsigned, by: 134.226.1.234 / talk / contribs}

Not a bad idea. A dunce cap could also be funny. This image is a funny one: Dunce Cap. The writing on the board serves as a constant reminder that crats they shouldn't edit while drunk or incompetent. --^{Ask me about your mother} 13:41, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

File:Dunce.png

Here you go. -- Nx / talk 14:26, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Perfect! I like the brain theme in all the images so far. Tis a branding thing, and reminds me of a Futurama episode. Combined with a blackboard effect, it would be a pretty cool banner thing for crats. --^{Ask me about your mother} 14:31, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I like the concept, but I couldn't tell it was a blackboard until I read the ongoing commentary--perhaps we can re-jig the execution--one of our less-aesthetically-challenged members (Kels?) might be a good go-to. TheoryOfPractice (talk) 15:37, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

It's black and it's a board. Where's the problem? -- Nx / talk 16:25, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I was thinking of puttering around with it to see if I could add something to the board. I agree it's not immediately obvious without there being something written on it. That board is just begging to be used, and it's the only way dunces learn. --^{Ask me about your mother} 16:31, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Ok, but don't bother with photoshop, just upload whatever you want to have on the board and I will rerender the image with it. -- Nx / talk 16:34, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Can we upload white text on a transparent background and layer them? ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse513 / Talk / Block} 16:36, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

300px

You mean like this?

-- Nx / talk 16:49, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Cool beans. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse513 / Talk / Block} 16:59, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

300px

I will not steal the xanthochroi

I will not steal the xanthochroi

I will not steal the xanthochroi

I will not steal the xanthochroi

I will not steal the xanthochroi

I will not steal the xanthochroi

I will not steal the xanthochroi

I will not steal the xanthochroi

I will not steal the

I will not steal the

Cute idea to allow the board to be modified. I've been trying to get a kind of feathered look, and the horrific stuff I have above is the closest I can get. --^{Ask me about your mother} 17:04, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

You don't need a separate div for every line btw. -- Nx / talk 17:10, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Ta, I normally avoid HTML like the plague. I suppose in a proper template it could be done by a loop. Nice work. --^{Ask me about your mother} 17:19, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Perfect Image

...with potential copyright issues: [1]. –SuspectedReplicant^{retire me} 21:10, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

No symbol

My personal feeling is that:

• On principle, there should be few crats.
• A clear reason should exist for the creation of new crats.
• Crats should not in any way advertise the fact that they have extra powers.
• As a consequence of the above there should be no special "crat" symbol.

I would also like to suggest that creating crats should be subject to more community input than it is at present.--Bob^{Not Jim} 22:24, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

It was meant for the crat pledge. -- Nx / talk 22:35, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I understand, but I feel that in the ancient spirit of RW "crat" should be low-profile. A position which manifests itself more by its deeds than by its its symbols.--Bob^{Not Jim} 22:55, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

The crat pledge template already has a snarky animation on it, which is far preferable to all this dunce-hat crap. Wẽãšẽĩõĩď^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 23:19, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, I meant the crat pledge in my sandbox. I am of course not going to touch the regular crat pledge. -- Nx / talk 10:11, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I think Bob has a point, but it's not as these symbols mean a great deal. If a crat or sysop and waved a badge around for no good reason then they'd likely to have to find a 24-hour proctologist willing to retrieve the badge from where the sun doesn't shine. It's not like CP where certain types feel the need to include their "rank" in their signatures. The demotion thing is a willingly accepted self-defacing thing, I trust that we're disorganised enough to avoid some crazy bugger staging a coup. --^{Ask me about your mother} 23:36, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

If you need a symbol for a 'crat then maybe a bag of candy would be suitable. They certainly seem to have been dished out like sweets; why, even I was given one. There are already far too many.  Lily ^{Inspirate me.} 00:50, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I have to disagree, but for this to work we'd have to rethink the entire meaning behind it. As you get a growing community, you need leaders, people to solve problems, people to make the place worth visiting, people with the dreaded "r-word"; responsibility. I'm not saying we need a series of assholes to patrol the place with an iron fist like most forums (who'll ban people for having signatures that are too big, or posting even vaguely off-topic or using even mild swearing) but we do need people who can step up to the plate and Take Care Of Things, and someone like that does need to be advertised quite well. So far, we have Nx, but if you're a brand new user, how do you know who to go to who will be helpful, and which one will just say "fuck off n00b, here's your manual. Get the fuck out of my sight" (which isn't far off some greetings I've seen). ^theist 10:08, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Also, I was thinking of something that shows that crats are not better users, like the mop and bucket indicates that sysops are just janitors. -- Nx / talk 10:11, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Certainly true, but I think you can still be "not a better class of user" and responsible for something. ^theist 10:18, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

"we have Nx, but if you're a brand new user, how do you know who to go to who will be helpful..." —Armondikov. What's this? I spend a year and a half bending over backwards to be helpful to whatever newbie I come across, and I don't even make the "this person is helpful and nice to noobs short list"? Tch... Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 17:42, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

You misunderstood. She was not referring to me being nice to newbies, she was referring to me trying to be king of the wiki. -- Nx / talk 18:02, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

I know. I just like being difficult. : ) Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 18:02, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

You're good at that, yes, you're indeed one of the better ones to lead by example, but since you were mostly dead or comatose during my most active times, I keep forgetting. ^theist 18:57, 21 December 2009 (UTC)