Wikipedia:Publicising discussions: Difference between revisions
Carcharoth (talk | contribs) change "advertise" to "publicise" throughout |
Carcharoth (talk | contribs) small expansion to cover handling of noticeboards that archive on a timescale more rapid than the discussion being publicised |
||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
Some [[Wikipedia:Discussion|discussions]], and [[Wikipedia:Polling is not a substitute for discussion|straw polls and votes]] on Wikipedia need to be publicised widely in order to gain [[Wikipedia:Consensus|consensus]] for wide-ranging or fundamental changes. This page is a list of suggestions for places where such publicising should take place. It generally only applies to the largest and most structured discussions. Normal discussions do not always need large amounts of input, and a balance needs to be struck between gaining sufficient input for consensus, and overwhelming a discussion with too much input. |
Some [[Wikipedia:Discussion|discussions]], and [[Wikipedia:Polling is not a substitute for discussion|straw polls and votes]] on Wikipedia need to be publicised widely in order to gain [[Wikipedia:Consensus|consensus]] for wide-ranging or fundamental changes. This page is a list of suggestions for places where such publicising should take place. It generally only applies to the largest and most structured discussions. Normal discussions do not always need large amounts of input, and a balance needs to be struck between gaining sufficient input for consensus, and overwhelming a discussion with too much input. |
||
The notices used should always be phrased neutrally, not be excessively posted in the same venue (though some regular updates may be appropriate), and should make clear when the discussion or poll will end (if it is not open-ended). Not all discussions need publicising widely, and most discussions will only use a few of the publicity methods shown. |
The notices used should always be phrased neutrally, not be excessively posted in the same venue (though some regular updates may be appropriate), and should make clear when the discussion or poll will end (if it is not open-ended). Not all discussions need publicising widely, and most discussions will only use a few of the publicity methods shown. When posting to a noticeboard about a discussion, consider whether the notices will be archived before the discussion has ended, and whether a follow-up notice is needed at that point, or whether the original notice should remain visible until the discussion has ended. Different noticeboards may have different standards on such matters. |
||
When setting up the main discussion, a brief preliminary discussion can help decide in which places to publicise the main discussion. However, if the main discussion has started with no preliminary discussion, and you consider that wider input is needed, consider being [[WP:BOLD|bold]] and leaving notices in the appropriate places and making a note at the discussion that such notices have been left. |
|||
Best practice includes making a note of where the discussion has been publicised, to use [[Wikipedia:What links here|what links here]] to check where particular discussions have been publicised, to set a time for the discussion to end, and to ensure that someone uninvolved closes the discussion, or an appeal is made for someone uninvolved to close the discussion (especially if the result is close). For more advice and common mistakes to avoid (such as inappropriate posting to individual user talk pages), please see [[Wikipedia:Canvassing]]. |
Best practice includes making a note of where the discussion has been publicised, to use [[Wikipedia:What links here|what links here]] to check where particular discussions have been publicised, to set a time for the discussion to end, and to ensure that someone uninvolved closes the discussion, or an appeal is made for someone uninvolved to close the discussion (especially if the result is close). For more advice and common mistakes to avoid (such as inappropriate posting to individual user talk pages), please see [[Wikipedia:Canvassing]]. |
||
Revision as of 09:21, 28 June 2009
 | This article contains instructions, advice, or how-to content. |
Some discussions, and straw polls and votes on Wikipedia need to be publicised widely in order to gain consensus for wide-ranging or fundamental changes. This page is a list of suggestions for places where such publicising should take place. It generally only applies to the largest and most structured discussions. Normal discussions do not always need large amounts of input, and a balance needs to be struck between gaining sufficient input for consensus, and overwhelming a discussion with too much input.
The notices used should always be phrased neutrally, not be excessively posted in the same venue (though some regular updates may be appropriate), and should make clear when the discussion or poll will end (if it is not open-ended). Not all discussions need publicising widely, and most discussions will only use a few of the publicity methods shown. When posting to a noticeboard about a discussion, consider whether the notices will be archived before the discussion has ended, and whether a follow-up notice is needed at that point, or whether the original notice should remain visible until the discussion has ended. Different noticeboards may have different standards on such matters.
When setting up the main discussion, a brief preliminary discussion can help decide in which places to publicise the main discussion. However, if the main discussion has started with no preliminary discussion, and you consider that wider input is needed, consider being bold and leaving notices in the appropriate places and making a note at the discussion that such notices have been left.
Best practice includes making a note of where the discussion has been publicised, to use what links here to check where particular discussions have been publicised, to set a time for the discussion to end, and to ensure that someone uninvolved closes the discussion, or an appeal is made for someone uninvolved to close the discussion (especially if the result is close). For more advice and common mistakes to avoid (such as inappropriate posting to individual user talk pages), please see Wikipedia:Canvassing.
Places to publicise
- General
- Village pumps (including proposals and policy village pumps)
- The Community portal and the Community bulletin board
- Wikipedia:Requests for comment (including Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Policies)
- Mailing lists specific to Wikipedia, such as Wiki-en-l
- Topical
- Various noticeboards; for example
- The talk page of the relevant policies and guidelines
- The talk pages of relevant WikiProjects
- Talk pages of affected processes, e.g. WT:AFD or WT:RFAR
- Mailing lists specific to a particular process on Wikipedia, such as unblock-en-l, accounts-enwiki-l, and oversight-l
- Technical issues
While many technical issues will require a bug report, that is generally not the place to publicise discussion.
- Discussions affecting the whole community
- Wikipedia:Centralized discussion for centralized discussion of policy, guideline, and infrastructure changes
- Watchlist notice (propose additions at MediaWiki talk:Watchlist-details - this is only for the biggest discussions - see also Template:MW notices)
- Other
- Community news media (such as Wikipedia:Signpost, Wikipedia:Wikivoices, Wikipedia:WikipediaWeekly, Wikipedia:Wikizine)
- to suggest a story for the signpost, post here. Both current and completed discussion notices are welcome.