Nitrome Wiki:Discussions

This is a policy page for Nitrome Wiki related discussions where a proposal has been made and requires a decision to be reached that will affect the wiki in some way. The guidelines outlined on this page should not be used for conventional, Nitrome related discussion or a simple wiki related question with a straightforward answer.

Making a proposal
This is the main topic of the discussion, usually in the form of a statement or raising a question of concern. Here, the topic is presented to all users as an exposition to the point trying to be conveyed. Providing more detail can make your points clearer, but it is also good to be concise and keep to your point as much as possible.

Discussions that raise points made in an archived discussion can be made, and doing so tends to be better than trying to bump the closed topic. Before starting such discussions, however, it is good to review the previous discussion to see what points have been made and how the community responded to it.

Participation
Once posted, all registered users can view the topic and choose to make a reply. A vote template is available for users to clearly show their agreement or disagreement with the statement (if one is made). The template automatically adds a hyphen, allowing users to follow up on why they support or oppose the original post.

Consensus
Ideally, a discussion should last anywhere from one week to two weeks after the topic was initially posted. During this period, an admin should look over the topic and try to determine its current outcome. Admins should not only investigate the Support/Oppose points, but also the reasons behind those points. An admin who is neutral on the topic, if possible, should try to determine the overall consensus and make a post in the topic, warning of its closure.

If no consensus has been made after a week, a neutral admin can post a reminder that the topic is still open and can be participated by any user who wishes to do so. After another week has passed, forum topics should be archived and the original poster may interpret it as the community's agreement.

Sites of discussion
Discussions can occur anywhere within Nitrome Wiki, but they are best placed in areas of the site where most appropriate pertaining to the issue. In many cases, discussions will take place on article talk pages or the Wiki Discussions forum.

When starting or participating in a discussion, the same rules for a regular discussion on Nitrome Wiki apply. Users should start a new section on a talk page or new thread on the forums, then sign with four tildes at the end of their message.

Talk pages
Article talk pages should be used to propose changes that concern the article itself only. These changes often include: moving the page to a new title, separating large sections into their own articles, merging the article with another page or raising an issue that has caused an edit war with the page itself.

Forums
The Wiki Discussion forum is best suited to large scale proposals that deal with multiple pages or proposing a change to the wiki's style or policy. Unlike talk pages, starting a new forum thread does not require a section to be made, since the forum thread should only be about the topic you propose.

Adminship requests
Adminship requests are considered a part of wiki discussion and occur on subpages within the Requests for adminship page. Note that this discussion is about the user requesting adminship and their contributions to the wiki.

Other areas
Discussions can originate in other areas of the wiki, such as blog posts, user talk pages and chat. They may also occur off Nitrome Wiki, either on Wikia or off. To make a discussion "official", however, the decision must be made on either the appropriate talk page, and it is best to provide a link or record of the discussion that previously started in the other area.

General guidelines

 * As this is an English wiki, all discussions should occur in the English language. The type of spelling and vocabulary (eg. American, British) does not matter, but it should generally be understandable by most users who speak English.
 * All messages should be signed with four tildes by the user who posted the message.
 * Do not edit or remove other users' messages except to fix page breaking code.
 * If a discussion starts to go off topic, try to get it back on topic or suggest moving the newly arising topic to a new page.
 * Keep disagreements to the original post only. Attacking other users because they disagree with you is not allowed and may be removed at the poster's discretion.

Discussions are not a voting process
Although Nitrome Wiki utilises the vote template for users to agree or disagree with a statement, a discussion's consensus should never be based solely on the number of Support/Oppose points given to the topic. If the process were to be treated as voting, users would be allowed to "rally" other users, which often introduces a severe bias by users who may not have even read the topic to begin with.

Similarly, users should not post messages on other users' talk pages, asking them to "vote" and support their point. Rather, users may point active users to their discussion and encourage their participation in it, but should not include anything about supporting their own point.

Discussions are not exclusive to active members only
Any registered user is allowed to participate in a Nitrome Wiki discussion, regardless of their activity on the wiki. Users are advised to read through the discussion first before participating, however.

Discussions are not useless
It has been a past misconception on Nitrome Wiki that users who contributed to discussions more than the mainspace were not "good" members, but that is not true. Contributing to discussions helps the wiki work towards a decision, sometimes in a friendlier and cleaner manner. They can keep content pages free from multiple reverts due to a disagreement or ensure that the community is all right with a proposed change. A user focused on discussing improvements to the wiki is just as helpful as a user contributing to the mainspace.