When you become a Supervisor it means that you are entrusted with continuing your good work editing the Q&A and with contributing in some more advanced tasks.
You will find below a compilation of WikiAnswers guidelines and some suggestions presented by WikiAnswers supervisors to help new supervisors in their work . They are not meant to replace the WikiAnswers Terms of Use or other WikiAnswers guidelines.
As a supervisor you are asked to watch over some specific situations in the topics you have chosen to supervise. Here are some of the situations you should watch out for:
Vandalism
All vandalism should be quickly reverted or removed and vandals should be warned blocking them if necessary.
Spam
All commercial links, sales pitches, recruitment speeches and blatant publicity should be removed, the spammers warned and if necessary blocked.
Wrong categorization
Q&A pages under your supervision should be under the right topic(s). Questions in the wrong topics should be sent to the right topic.
Clarity and spelling
Questions under the topics you supervise should be as concise and clear as possible as well as correctly spelled. Edit also the answers for spelling and grammar if possible and structure them in a way that conveys clear information.
Duplicate questions
Many times questions may be identical with only a different wording. Those questions should be merged into one clear question.
Duplicate answers
Answers sometimes repeat the same information. You should edit those answers into a single, more complete answer trying to respect the content and purpose of the original contributors as far as this does not interfere with the main guidelines, style and policies of WikiAnswers.
Chain posting
Some contributors choose to post answers to previous answers or comments to an answer. This should be discouraged. Kindly tell the contributors about their error and edit the paragraphs to present relevant information and not a chain of messages.
Debate
Debate on Q&A pages, under the topics that you supervise, should not be allowed. Inform the sides in the controversy that any debate must be carried only at the Discussion page and not at the Q&A pages (ideally not at the personal messages board either).
The answers can be edited for reflecting a subject with diverse views, with an introduction as 'This is a controversial subject, some of the views are …' or something alike. You can bullet each entry or introduce each one by headings as 'One view' and 'Another view' not just 'Answer' as this may confuse the readers. Another good idea is to split the question in two. Use a wording that allows each of the questions to be answered by one view. You can also create a question 'What are the arguments in favor or against …' where the answers of both sides can be presented as 'One view' 'Other view'.
If there is a controversy, the views of each side must also be free of expressions as 'the correct' or 'it is obvious'. Instead you can insert 'Some think' 'in the view of many' and similar expressions that convey the idea that it is only one side of the story.
When it is not possible to achieve a consolidated answer with a neutral point of view, the use of a neutral tone by both sides of the argument, when presenting their points of view, might be the least desired.
In all cases, discussion or debate should be carried at the Discussion page only.
Links
All links should, if possible, be presented only under 'Related Links' and not within the answer. You should check that links lead to a noncommercial and not biased site. A link should point to direct related information only and to a site that has that information available and free. Basically, a link should point to a page where the reader finds further information, unbiased and freely available, not to where the reader will find an offer to pay for more information, to register, to buy something or where the reader will get biased information.
If commercial links are necessary ('where to buy xx') you should include at least three options, leaving the choice to the reader. If a link points to a biased site, a link to a site with the opposite view should be included or the link must be avoided.
Multiple answers
It is best to combine multiple answers into one; trying to avoid redundancy and respecting as much as possible the original content and purpose as far as it is within WikiAnswers guidelines and policies. However, if multiple answers are needed, better than to leave several headings with the word 'Answer' is to create secondary headings with i.e. 'More about' or a short description of what comes next. The idea is that the answer must look as one good piece of information not as several loose patches.
Signatures and personalization
No signatures, personal data and phrases as 'I hope it helps' should exist at the Q&A pages. The answer should also be edited for removing phrases as i.e. 'in my opinion', 'I think that…', 'It happened to me' and similar. Remember, the answer is from WikiAnswers team, not from an individual contributor.
Beyond watching over the Q&A pages under the topics that you supervise, you are entrusted with upholding and relaying a team spirit with and towards other fellow supervisors. Help others and request help when you need it, all in a kind and cordial manner. Supers are not only a bunch of good people but also a hardworking team who benefits from teamwork and enjoy a good laugh now and then. Visit the Super's Forum and keep updated on what is going on and who needs help. Also apply all the guidelines described above, not only to your topics but to any page you come around, the supervisor of that topic will surely be most thankful.