Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 10:37, 16 May 2008

This page documents an English Misplaced Pages policy.It describes a widely accepted standard that editors should normally follow, though exceptions may apply. Changes made to it should reflect consensus.

Shortcuts WP:CON WP:CONS

This page in a nutshell: Consensus is Misplaced Pages's fundamental model for editorial decision-making. Policies and guidelines document communal consensus rather than creating it.

Consensus is an inherent part of the wiki process. Consensus is typically reached as a natural product of the editing process; generally someone makes a change or addition to a page, and then everyone who reads the page has an opportunity to either leave the page as it is or change it. In essence, silence implies consent, if there is adequate exposure to the community. In the case of policy pages a higher standard of participation and consensus is expected.

Use the talk page to discuss improvements to the article, and to form consensus concerning the editing of the page. In cases where consensus is particularly hard to find, the involvment of independent editors or more experienced help in the discussion may be necessary. If discussion on the talk page is disrupted, or consensus cannot be found there through ordinary discussion, there are more formal dispute resolution processes.

When consensus is referred to in Misplaced Pages discussion, it always means 'consensus within the framework of established policy and practice'. Consensus among a limited group of editors can not over-ride community consensus on a wider scale.

Convincing arguments are needed in order to successfully implement changes to currently established project wide practice or to document changes to established project wide practice. Convincing arguments are those that can be expected to sway the larger community.

Reasonable consensus-building

Consensus develops from agreement of the parties involved. This can be reached through discussion, action, or more often, a combination of the two. Consensus can only work among reasonable editors who make a good faith effort to work together in a civil manner. Developing consensus requires special attention to neutrality - remaining neutral in our actions in an effort to reach a compromise that everyone can agree on.

How consensus emerges during the editing process

See also: Misplaced Pages:Editing policy

Generally someone edits a page, and then subsequent viewers of the page have three options: accept the edit, change the edit, or revert the edit. Included in each of the courses is the option to discuss the action before or after the action. Typically, each article goes through many iterations of the consensus process to achieve a neutral and readable product. If your ideas are not immediately accepted, think of a reasonable change that might integrate your ideas with others and make an edit, or discuss those ideas. This can be done at the talk page, as an edit summary, or as a note to others at a user talk page or other widely read page such as the Village pump. Edit wars can lead to page protection rather than improvements to the article.

Using the discussion page

See also: Misplaced Pages:Talk page guidelines

Using the discussion page is not always required by the consensus process; however using the discussion page is often useful and you are encouraged to use it whenever practical. It is also a good idea to check the discussion page before making an edit, because someone may have thought this idea before, or discussed something that sheds more light on the subject.

Sometimes misunderstandings occur because people see the edit before any rationale is posted on the talk page. If you post a comment immediately before editing, there's no gap, which can be handy. Other people might not have picked up on this practice though, so you may wish to wait a little while to see if they might still have been typing something at the talk page.

Edit summaries are short and can be misinterpreted. The discussion page is a lot more spacious than the edit-summary field and if used correctly that space can go a long way towards attracting consensus for your edit.

Consensus in practice

• WP:PRACTICAL

Community discussion takes place on various pages such as noticeboards, Requests for comment, Requests for Adminship and the Village pump. These processes require collaborative effort and considered input from the community in order to form a consensus and act appropriately upon the consensus that can be discerned.

In determining consensus carefully consider the strength and quality of the arguments themselves, including the evolution of the final positions, the objection of those who disagree, and in complex situations, existing documentation in the project namespace. Minority opinions typically reflect genuine concerns, and the logic may outweigh the logic of the majority. New users who are not yet familiar with consensus should realize that a poll (if one is even held) is often more likely to be the start of a discussion than it is to be the end of one. The outcome may be decided during discussion. This is a good reason for providing a rationale during a poll, not just a simple vote.

Consensus can change

• WP:CCC

Consensus is not immutable. It is reasonable, and sometimes necessary, for the community to change its mind. Past decisions are open to challenge and are not binding.

Misplaced Pages's processes remain flexible for several reasons including:

• new people bring fresh ideas,
• as we grow we evolve new needs, and
• sometimes we find a better way to do things.

Sometimes a representative group makes a decision on behalf of the community as a whole, at a point in time. More often, people document changes to existing procedures at some arbitrary point in time after the fact.

As more people join in the conversation over time (perhaps months or years) consensus may sometimes shift.

"Asking the other parent"

• WP:PARENT

See also: Forum shopping

It is very easy to create the appearance of a changing consensus simply by asking again and hoping that a different and more sympathetic group of people will discuss the issue. This, however, is a poor example of changing consensus, and is antithetical to the way that Misplaced Pages works. Misplaced Pages's decisions are not based on the number of people who showed up and voted a particular way on a particular day; they are based on a system of good reasons. Attempts to change consensus must be based on a clear engagement with the reasons behind the current consensus — so in the new discussion section, provide a summary and links to any previous discussions about the issue on the articles talk page, or talk page archives, to help editors new to the issue read the reasons behind the consensus so that they can make an informed decision about changing the consensus.

A good sign that you have not demonstrated a change in consensus, so much as a change in the people showing up, is if few or none of the people involved in the previous discussion show up for the new one. In this situation you may find that any changes you make to the article are quickly reverted by people outside the new talk page discussion. Do not be tempted to edit war but instead post comments on the talk page encouraging others to participate in the new discussion.

Exceptions

• WP:CONEXCEPT

There are a few exceptions that supersede consensus decisions on a page.

• Declarations from Jimmy Wales, the Board, or the Developers, particularly for server load or legal issues (copyright, privacy rights, and libel) have policy status (see Misplaced Pages:Policies and guidelines#Sources of Misplaced Pages policy).
• Office Actions on a specific article (such as stubbing or protecting it) are outside the policies of the English Misplaced Pages.
• Consensus decisions in specific cases are not expected to override consensus on a wider scale very quickly - for instance, a local debate on a WikiProject does not override the larger consensus behind a policy or guideline. The WikiProject cannot decide that for the articles within its scope, some policy does not apply, unless they can convince the broader community that doing so is the right course of action.
• Foundation Issues lay out the basic principles for all Wikimedia projects. These represent the largest consensus decisions achievable among all Wikimedia projects. These consensuses are fundamental and affect all other Wikimedia and Misplaced Pages agreements. This means they evolve very slowly.

See also

• Misplaced Pages:BOLD, revert, discuss cycle
• Misplaced Pages:Staying cool when the editing gets hot
• WikiEN-l mailing list Jul 2005

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• Misplaced Pages policies
• Misplaced Pages conduct policy