Concern over mod queue coverage

albert said:
More than 100 favorites means they visit the site with some regularity.

Not necessarily true at all. I've been on this site for over a year, visit the site almost daily, and have done enough to reach contributor status, but only have 2 pages of favorites simply because I don't use the feature. If I like something enough I just save it.

Kayako said:
Not necessarily true at all. I've been on this site for over a year, visit the site almost daily, and have done enough to reach contributor status, but only have 2 pages of favorites simply because I don't use the feature. If I like something enough I just save it.

I also save the pics I like onto my HD and tend to only use Favorites as a way to tag certain ones for quick future reference (an element in the picture, discussion in the comments, etc.).

It's somewhere to start in trying to gauge activity though. While there may be users that don't use the option much (e.g., you and me), it's at least a quick reference to what a certain person likes and whether or not they have the appropriate mindset to be a janitor on danbooru.

People with a lot of favorites that are high quality by danbooru standards have a higher probability of being both active and a good judgment of image quality, which is what I believe the starting criterion is considering.

I would start with contributors, I can think of several I would ask first, if it were up to me.

Choosing Janitors using a quiz is a bad idea IMO, like Fencedude said it's better to make some good Contributor we already know into a Janitor. Maybe make a thread where we can put some names and vote in favor/against?

Agreed, I didn't like the quiz idea much, at least not on its own. It gives too much weight to chance and who just happened to answer because they browsed the thread.

As for gauging the activity, what data is collected on users' doings? In particular I mean data not directly reported by the profile page.

I'd say a combination of these things is probably the best approach. First, start with a pool of well-known, active Contributors, then take a look at the quality (rather than the quantity) of their favorites and their uploads* (the random posts feature in their profile should be a good spot-check). If they pass muster that far and you still want to be sure they'll be acceptable, then offer those people the quiz. Those that are interested in the position and pass should serve as good Janitors.

*I think it's important that we look at both favorites and uploads because most people probably favorite only things of better quality than their average upload. If the person can identify the best images, but still uploads crap, they might not be the best person to pick which posts gets in and which don't.

True, although I'd say that contributors with very good uploads and no favs should also be considered. I've noticed many people just don't use favourites at all, and that doesn't seem to be correlated with whether they can judge uploads' quality.

If I were choosing janitors, my own rubric (in no order) would be:

1) Are they helpful on the forums?
2) Do I like their uploads?
3) Do I think like the images they've favorited?

Not all three are necessary, but the more the better, and #2 is pretty essential. And the more significant the contribution in each, the better.

By the way, just so people know: I don't think I'll respond if anyone mails me to nominate themselves, but I do read it. I just don't want to respond and seem like I'm promising anything either way. So if you mail me, I got it, and took note that you're interested.