Proposals can be new features, the removal of previously-added features that have tired out, or new policies that must be approved via consensus before any action is taken.
Voting periods last for two weeks, but can close early or be extended (see below).
Any autoconfirmed user can support or oppose, but must have a strong reason for doing so.
All proposals must be approved by a majority of voters, including proposals with more than two options.
If you would like to get feedback on an idea before formally proposing it here, you may do so on the proposals talk. For talk page proposals, you can discuss the changes on the talk page itself before creating the TPP there.
If someone has an idea about improving the wiki or managing its community, but feel that they need community approval before acting upon that idea, they may make a proposal about it. They must have a strong argument supporting their idea and be willing to discuss it in detail with other users, who will then vote on whether or not they think the idea should be implemented. Proposals should include links to all relevant pages and writing guidelines. Proposals must include a link to the draft page. Any pages that would be largely affected by the proposal should be marked with {{proposal notice}}.
Rules
Only autoconfirmed users may create or vote on proposals. Anyone is free to comment on proposals (provided that the page's protection level allows them to edit).
Proposals conclude at the end of the day (23:59) two weeks after voting starts (all times GMT).
For example, if a proposal is added at any time on Monday, August 1, 2011, the voting starts immediately and the deadline is two weeks later on Monday, August 15, at 23:59 GMT.
Users may vote for more than one option, but they may not vote for every option available.
Every vote should have a strong, sensible reason accompanying it. Agreeing with a previously mentioned reason given by another user is acceptable (including "per" votes), but tangential comments, heavy sarcasm, and other misleading or irrelevant quips are just as invalid as providing no reason at all.
Users who feel that certain votes were cast in bad faith or which truly have no merit can address the votes in the comments section. Users can ask a voter to clarify their position, point out mistakes or flaws in their arguments, or call for the outright removal of the vote if it lacks sufficient reasoning. Users may not remove or alter the content of anyone else's votes. Voters can remove or rewrite their own vote(s) at any time, but the final decision to remove another user's vote lies solely with the wiki staff.
Users can also use the comments section to bring up any concerns or mistakes in regards to the proposal itself. In such cases, it's important the proposer addresses any concerns raised as soon as possible. Even if the supporting side might be winning by a wide margin, that should be no reason for such questions to be left unanswered. They may point out any missing details that might have been overlooked by the proposer, so it's a good idea as the proposer to check them frequently to achieve the most accurate outcome possible.
If a user makes a vote and is subsequently blocked for any amount of time, their vote is removed. However, if the block ends before the proposal ends, then the user in question holds the right to re-cast their vote. If a proposer is blocked, their vote is removed and "(blocked)" is added next to their name in the "Proposer:" line of the proposal, which runs until its deadline as normal. If the proposal passes, it falls to the supporters of the idea to enact any changes in a timely manner.
Proposals cannot contradict an already ongoing proposal or overturn the decision of a previous proposal that concluded less than four weeks (28 days) ago.
If one week before a proposal's initial deadline, the first place option is ahead of the second place option by eight or more votes and the first place option has at least 80% approval, then the proposal concludes early. Wiki staff may tag a proposal with "Do not close early" at any time to prevent an early close, if needed.
Tag the proposal with {{early notice}} if it is on track for an early close. Use {{proposal check|early=yes}} to perform the check.
Any proposal where none of the options have at least four votes will be extended for another week. If after three extensions, no options have at least four votes, the proposal will be listed as "NO QUORUM." The original proposer then has the option to relist said proposal to generate more discussion.
If a proposal reaches its deadline and there is a tie for first place, then the proposal is extended for another week.
If a proposal reaches its deadline and the first place option is ahead of the second place option by three or more votes, then the first place option must have over 50% approval to win. If the margin is only one or two votes, then the first place option must have at least 60% approval to win. If the required approval threshold is not met, then the proposal is extended for another week.
Use {{proposal check}} to automate this calculation; see the template page for usage instructions and examples.
Proposals can be extended a maximum of three times. If a consensus has not been reached by the fourth deadline, then the proposal fails and cannot be re-proposed until at least four weeks after the last deadline.
All proposals are archived. The original proposer must take action accordingly if the outcome of the proposal dictates it. If it requires the help of an administrator, the proposer can ask for that help.
After a proposal passes, it is added to the appropriate list of "unimplemented proposals" below and is removed once it has been sufficiently implemented.
If the wiki staff deem a proposal unnecessary or potentially detrimental to the upkeep of the Super Mario Wiki, they have the right to cancel it at any time.
Proposals can only be rewritten or canceled by their proposer within the first four days of their creation. However, proposers can request that their proposal be canceled by a staff member at any time, provided they have a valid reason for it. Please note that canceled proposals must also be archived.
Unless there is major disagreement about whether certain content should be included, there should not be proposals about creating, expanding, rewriting, or otherwise fixing up pages. To organize efforts about improving articles on neglected or completely missing subjects, try setting up a collaboration thread on the forums.
Proposals cannot be made about promotions and demotions. Staff changes are discussed internally and handled by the bureaucrats.
No joke proposals. Proposals are serious wiki matters and should be handled professionally. Joke proposals will be deleted on sight.
Proposals must have a status quo option (e.g. Oppose, Do nothing) unless the status quo itself violates policy.
Basic proposal formatting
Below is an example of what your proposal must look like. If you are unsure how to set up this format, simply copy the following and paste it into the fitting section. When updating the bracketed variables with actual information, be sure to replace the whole variable including the square brackets, so "[insert info here]" becomes "This is the inserted information" and not "[This is the inserted information]". Proposals presenting multiple alternative courses of action can have more than two voting options, but the objective(s) of each voting option must be clearly defined. Such options should also be kept to a minimum, and if something comes up in the comments, the proposal can be amended as necessary.
===[insert a title for your proposal here]===
[describe what issue this proposal is about and what changes you think should be made to improve how the wiki handles that issue]
'''Proposer''': {{User|{{subst:REVISIONUSER}}}}<br>
'''Deadline''': {{subst:#time:F j, Y|+2 weeks}}, 23:59 GMT
====[option title (e.g. Support, Option 1)]: [brief summary of option]====
#{{User|{{subst:REVISIONUSER}}}} [make a statement indicating that you support your proposal]
====[option title (e.g. Oppose, Option 2)]: [brief summary of option]====
====Comments ([brief proposal title])====
Autoconfirmed users will now be able to vote on your proposal. Remember that you can vote on your own proposal just like the others.
To vote for an option, just insert #{{User|[your username here]}} at the bottom of the section of your choice. Just don't forget to add a valid reason for your vote behind that tag if you are voting on another user's proposal. If you are voting on your own proposal, you can simply say "Per proposal".
Talk page proposals
Proposals concerning a single page or a limited group of pages are held on the most relevant talk page regarding the matter. All of the above proposal rules also apply to talk page proposals. Place {{TPP}} under the section's header, and once the proposal is over, replace the template with {{settled TPP}}. Proposals dealing with a large amount of splits, merges, or deletions across the wiki should still be held on this page.
All active talk page proposals must be listed below in chronological order (new proposals go at the bottom) using {{TPP discuss}}. Include a brief description of the proposal while also mentioning any pages affected by it, a link to the talk page housing the discussion, and the deadline. If the proposal involves a page that is not yet made, use {{fake link}} to communicate its title in the description. Linking to pages not directly involved in the talk page proposal is not recommended, as it clutters the list with unnecessary links.
Recently, I have noticed a lot of edits made to Template:DidYouKnow that were, to the most part, kinda bad. They were either unsourced in their original article, poorly-written, or just not notable enough for a section on interesting stuff (there was one that treated bomb cars exploding like something amazing).
But don't fear: this proposal will set things straight.
The DYK Committee (tentative) will update the template every week, adding interesting facts.
Of course, there is the dreaded drawback.
Not everyone will be able to edit it anymore; only members of the DYK Committee will.
And this was brought up by Lord Bowser on the boards; we could also turn the Poll Committee into a Main Page Committee and let them do all the Main Page updating.
Drawbacks:
More workload for the PC.
Possible stagnance.
Proposer:TheDarkStar (talk) Deadline: September 28, 2019, 23:59 GMT
7feetunder (talk) I completely fail to see the point of this. All I see is you complaining about bad edits, which are easily reverted and not a cause for alarm. DYK is a simple list of random trivia facts; there is no reason it needs to be entrusted to some elite group of editors. Anyone interested in regularly updating DYK can just do so of their own free will without being part of a committee. Furthermore, only allowing a few people to edit a fact list for such a large franchise means there will be fewer ideas of what to put on the template, as well as fewer people who are tasked with updating the thing every week. I've updated DYK a few times myself, and if I ever feel like doing it again, I should not have to be part of a committee to do so. Nor should I have to contact a committee member if a catch a mistake, as opposed to just correcting it myself like I would any other page. If you notice some bad edits being made to a featured article, what are you going to do? Propose that we only allow committee members to edit featured articles? Just revert the bad edits and move on.
Lord Grammaticus (talk) I admittedly like the idea and sympathize with the desire for quality presentation and quality control thereof. We should ideally strive to a decently high standard of presentation - and that's exactly why there shouldn't be a committee. As this is a wiki that can be freely edited, mistakes on the DYK template can thus be corrected by anyone - as they should be - and with that in mind, the cons weigh a bit more heavily in this scenario. I also have to admit that this proposal does seem rather reactive in its nature. In any case it'd just lead to more potential obstructions - in addition to 7feet's cited lack of parity in presentation, it speaks to this apparent need to bureaucratize every single wiki process when said need... doesn't really exist. Even ignoring my personal opinion that most wikis are ideally best left open to edit, with standards being established through example rather than committee or administrative fiat, it's just not on and isn't in the spirit of what MarioWiki seeks to accomplish. Gonna be a no from me.
Comments
On the talk page for the template, I suggested that the Did You Know committee could also be in charge of the Featured Article and News sections on the Main Page as well. What are your thoughts on this? --DeepFriedCabbage 12:04, September 21, 2019 (EDT)
FA may need a committee, because we don't want bad grammar on the featured section. News doesn't, because it's just that: news about the Mario series. Anything there doesn't reflect poorly on the wiki. TheDarkStar 12:51, September 21, 2019 (EDT)
I suggest reading this thread. Some ideas were thrown around. LudwigVon is open to expanding thee pc to include DYK too. Doomhiker (talk) 12:56, September 21, 2019 (EDT)
You mean Lord Bowser (talk). I personally don't see the reason in giving the Poll Committee more of a workload, but I'll add it as an option. TheDarkStar 12:59, September 21, 2019 (EDT)
I did mean LudwigVon, on the polls section of the Discord server (Only the Poll Committee can access it, though). Doomhiker (talk) 13:01, September 21, 2019 (EDT)
Just for clarification, I did say that I was open to expanding the Poll Committee's tasks, but if the proposal passed with giving the workload to the Poll Committee, the final decision will be made by all the members of the current Poll Committee. This means that I am not sure we will really go ahead with that (this will also need some planning to implement that). My vice-chairperson is actually opposing to the idea by giving valid reasons. So, just to make everyone know that this isn't something concrete right now. (TALK)
@7feetunder: There is a point to this. If bad edits are consistently being made to the template, along with its bursts of inactivity, why would a few users in a committee working on it be a problem? You can't just block one or two users from editing for something as small as that. DYK, as minor as it is, is on the Main Page. If something is consistently being badly written, you find a solution. These edits weren't vandalism or something, they were adding facts to the DYK template... that happened to be non-notable, but facts nonetheless. Anyone can add facts to it, yes, but this includes everyone who considers stuff like lit bombs exploding or save data descriptions notable. I'm rather skeptical about people having "less ideas" for DYK, when we literally work on a massive Mario database filled with interesting facts. If they're really idea-starved, they can just hit "Random page" until they find something interesting. Besides, three or four people would be an upgrade, compared to the two who regularly update it. Either way, it is perfectly fine to contact a committee member that something isn't alright; heck, you could just contact an admin, since the template would likely be admin-protected. If I noticed bad edits being made to a featured article, I would revert them, since they, unlike DYK, are not meant to be updated every week with interesting info. TheDarkStar 10:48, September 22, 2019 (EDT)
Consistent bad edits? The bad edits you're complaining about came from a single user. A lone editor's poor contributions do not justify everyone else paying the cost. I am fully aware that DYK suffers from occasional inactivity, and an increase in people monitoring it would be a plus. But again, what's preventing anyone interested in being a part of this committee from doing that now? Why do they need exclusive access to it? They don't. This is just an overreaction to a single editor's mistakes. Not needed. 15:06, September 22, 2019 (EDT)
12:51, September 21, 2019 (EDT)
12:56, September 21, 2019 (EDT)
13:01, September 21, 2019 (EDT)
(TALK)
10:48, September 22, 2019 (EDT)
15:06, September 22, 2019 (EDT)
