Proposals can be new features (such as an extension), the removal of previously-added features that have tired out, or new policies that must be approved via consensus before any action is taken.
"Vote" periods last for one week.
Any user can support or oppose, but must have a strong reason for doing so (not, e.g., "I like this idea!").
All proposals must be approved by a majority of voters, including proposals with more than two options.
A proposal section works like a discussion page: comments are brought up and replied to using indents (colons, such as : or ::::) and all edits are signed using the code {{User|User name}}.
How to
Rules
If users have 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 the other users, who will then vote about whether or not they think the idea should be used. 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}}.
Only registered, autoconfirmed users can create, comment in, or vote on proposals and talk page proposals. Users may vote for more than one option, but they may not vote for every option available.
Proposals end at the end of the day (23:59) one week after voting starts, except for writing guidelines and talk page proposals, which run for two weeks (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 one week later on Monday, August 8, at 23:59 GMT.
Every vote should have a strong, sensible reason accompanying it. Agreeing with a previously mentioned reason given by another user is accepted (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 at any time, but the final decision to remove another user's vote lies solely with the administrators.
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 "(banned)" 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.
No proposal can overturn the decision of a previous proposal that is less than 4 weeks (28 days) old.
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.
All proposals that end up in a tie will be extended for another week. Proposals with more than two options must also be extended another week if any single option does not have a majority support: i.e. more than half of the total number of voters must appear in a single voting option, rather than one option simply having more votes than the other options.
If a proposal with only two voting options has more than ten votes, it can only pass or fail with a margin of at least three votes, otherwise the deadline will be extended for another week as if no majority was reached at all.
Proposals can only be extended up to three times. If a consensus has not been reached by the fourth deadline, the proposal fails and can only be re-proposed after four weeks, at the earliest.
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.
If the administrators deem a proposal unnecessary or potentially detrimental to the upkeep of the Super Mario Wiki, they have the right to remove it at any time.
Proposals can only be rewritten or deleted by their proposer within the first three days of their creation (six days for talk page proposals). However, proposers can request that their proposal be deleted by an administrator 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. Users can only be promoted and demoted by the will of the administration.
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 and support/oppose format
This is an example of what your proposal must look like, if you want it to be acknowledged. If you are inexperienced or unsure how to set up this format, simply copy the following and paste it into the fitting section. Then replace the [subject] - variables with information to customize your proposal, so it says what you wish. If you insert the information, be sure to replace the whole variable including the squared brackets, so "[insert info here]" becomes "This is the inserted information", not "[This is the inserted information]". Proposals presenting multiple alternative courses of action can have more than two voting options, but what each voting section is supporting 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|[enter your username here]}}<br>
'''Deadline''': [insert a deadline here, 7 days after the proposal was created (14 for writing guidelines and talk page proposals), at 23:59 GMT, in the format: "May 26, 2024, 23:59 GMT"]
====Support====
#{{User|[enter your username here]}} [make a statement indicating that you support your proposal]
====Oppose====
====Comments====
Users will now be able to vote on your proposal, until the set deadline is reached. Remember, you are a user as well, so you can vote on your own proposal just like the others.
To support, or oppose, just insert "#{{User|[add 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 just say "Per my proposal".
All proposals dealing with a single article or a specific group of articles are held on the talk page of one of the articles in question. Proposals dealing with massive amounts 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 {{TPPDiscuss}}. 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. Place {{TPP}} under the section's header, and once the proposal is over, replace the template with {{SettledTPP}}.
All rules for talk page proposals are the same as mainspace proposals (see the "How to" section above), with the exceptions made by Rules 3 and 4 as follows:
Voting in talk page proposals will be open for two weeks, not one (all times GMT).
For example, if a proposal is added at any time on Monday, August 1, 2011, it ends two weeks later on Monday, August 15, 2011, at 23:59 GMT.
The talk page proposal must pertain to the article it is posted on.
When a talk page proposal passes, it should be removed from this list and included in the list under the "Unimplemented proposals" section until the proposed changes have been enacted.
In Template:Species infobox, expand "Relatives" guidelines to include variant-type relationships with significant differences between species (discuss) Deadline:May 12, 2024, 23:59 GMT Extended to May 19, 2024, 23:59 GMT Extended to May 26, 2024, 23:59 GMT
Add a Composers Subsection to Template:Themes (discuss) Deadline: May 28, 2024, 23:59 GMT
Merge Black Shy Guy and White Shy Guy with Shy Guy, make articles for different Shy Guy colors, or delete the aforementioned pages (discuss) Deadline: November 20, 2017, 11:59:59 PM GMT
Fix the Trivia section of the Mario + Rabbids weapon list (discuss) Deadline: November 22, 2017, 23:59 GMT
Writing guidelines
None at the moment.
New features
Create a template for proposer and deadline parameters
Yet another measure intended to improve how proposals are added to pages. You can find the details here. Basically, my proposal is that we change the parameters for the "Proposer:" and "Deadline:" parameters from hardcoding into a template. This will also (quite obviously) mean that previous archives must be temporarily unprotected to enforce these changes. Proposals like these have received near-unanimous support in the past; we have allofthese, to name a few, so how does this fare?
Wildgoosespeeder (talk) Templates are for reducing redundant and common markup into an easy-to-use code. We went through it once before.
Oppose
Time Turner (talk) Why? This just seems like it unnecessarily complicates the whole process. It's perfectly readable as-is and doesn't take up a notable amount of space.
MrConcreteDonkey (talk) - Per Time Turner. This seems to be trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) Templates are annoying to use as-is, and what I saw when I viewed the source of that example didn't make me particularly welcoming of this idea. It's just easier to do it the way we've been doing it.
Ultimate Mr. L (talk) Per all. I don't see how this makes things any easier.
@MrConcreteDonkey: The problem is that I have seen countless poorly formatted proposer/deadline parameters. (T|C) 17:30, 7 November 2017 (EST)
I haven't noticed anything like that, and even still it's much less hassle to just fix them separately, rather than editing every proposal in every archive.
MrConcreteDonkey 17:39, 7 November 2017 (EST)
Your argument is still flawed; allofthese, to name a few. (T|C) 17:52, 7 November 2017 (EST)
But this doesn't make things any more convenient, and it doesn't provide any added insight for future readers. How is this better than manually inputting it? Hello, I'm Time Turner. 18:24, 7 November 2017 (EST)
It's been fixed. (T|C) 18:44, 7 November 2017 (EST)
You've only added the list from your most recent comment to the proposal, and haven't addressed our concerns. How is introducing more complicated formatting going to combat poor formatting?
MrConcreteDonkey 19:46, 7 November 2017 (EST)
Somewhat related, but I have had a way to streamline calculating proposal deadlines 1 or 2 weeks in advance, but no one responded: MarioWiki talk:Proposals/Header#Improvements It won't go into the template, but it will replace [insert a deadline here, 7 days after the proposal was created (14 for writing guidelines and talk page proposals), at 23:59 GMT, in the format: "August 8, 2011, 23:59 GMT"], found in MarioWiki:Proposals (MarioWiki:Proposals/Header). --Wildgoosespeeder (talk) (Stats - Contribs)
@Wildgoosespeeder: Is our current system not easy-to-use? Hello, I'm Time Turner. 09:43, 8 November 2017 (EST)
Replacing text is kind of a hassle because trying to preserve formatting. That's why I proposed the {{TPPDiscuss}} template a while ago. Also don't forget {{ProposalOutcome}}. --Wildgoosespeeder (talk) (Stats - Contribs) 00:32, 9 November 2017 (EST)
'''Proposer''': {{User|[enter your username here]}}<br>
'''Deadline''': [insert a deadline here, 7 days after the proposal was created (14 for writing guidelines and talk page proposals), at 23:59 GMT, in the format: "August 8, 2011, 23:59 GMT"]
But is too complicated for the purpose it's trying to fill. The current formula can at least be realistically remembered without copypasting from a different tab. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 00:21, 10 November 2017 (EST)
But the parameters still need to be explained. Nothing is actually being replaced here. Hello, I'm Time Turner. 00:21, 10 November 2017 (EST)
Too complicated? Does that mean that {{TPPDiscuss}} and {{ProposalOutcome}} are too complicated as well Doc von Schmeltwick (talk)? It's not hard. The sandbox template has documentation how to use Time Turner (talk). If you want the code to be {{User:Toadette the Achiever/PParameter|Wildgoosespeeder|some date}} instead of {{User:Toadette the Achiever/PParameter|proposer=Wildgoosespeeder|deadline=some date}}, just let Toadette the Achiever (talk) know. Also the name of the template can change later. --Wildgoosespeeder (talk) (Stats - Contribs) 00:27, 10 November 2017 (EST)
It's complicated because there's like 3-4 separate blanks on there, which in my opinion is too many. And again, there is no point to it.Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 00:34, 10 November 2017 (EST)
Template coding is possible to make two of the four parameters optional to specify (proposer and deadline mandatory, start and withdrawn optional). I think that the template is like that already. Only thing left to do is to simplify the code by using {{{1}}}, {{{2}}}, etc.. See {{TPPDiscuss}} or {{ProposalOutcome}} for exact code how things are achieved. --Wildgoosespeeder (talk) (Stats - Contribs) 00:56, 10 November 2017 (EST)
It doesn't matter what's possible for the system what matters is human limitation for a thing that gets used like 3 times per week. And again, it is completely unnecessary. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 01:11, 10 November 2017 (EST)
I think you are making it more complicated than it actually is. What you will be typing is {{PParameter|Doc von Schmeltwick|August 8, 2011}} (if the template is coded to use {{{1}}}, {{{2}}}, etc. instead). The proposed template page doesn't make it clear what the effects are compared to what I did when {{TPPDiscuss}} was first proposed. Maybe that is what you are concerned about? --Wildgoosespeeder (talk) (Stats - Contribs) 01:24, 10 November 2017 (EST)
And this is simpler than what we have in place currently how? And why on earth would it be "PParameter?" Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 01:25, 10 November 2017 (EST)
Replacing text of the hard-coded copypasta version is a hassle. That's why templates are a thing. Also templates formalize and standardize things. For the name, I said that it can be changed later. Nothing is absolute. That's what a proposal is for. What would you call this template? --Wildgoosespeeder (talk) (Stats - Contribs) 01:34, 10 November 2017 (EST)
Removals
Delete the categories for the levels that an Animal Friend appears in
The title's a bit unwieldy, but it's a good way of describing the categories I'm talking about, like Category:Levels with Parry and Category:Levels with Winky. Why do we have these categories? It's not like we have categories for every level featuring Orange Yoshi or Goombas or 1-Up Mushrooms or anything else apart from Animal Friends. It's not even all of them: the animals from Donkey Kong Jungle Beat are completely absent from the category deal. If you want to know every level that a certain Animal Friend appears in, their pages already list them. Although the lists are a bit unwieldy, especially when multiple of them are on the same page, the solution is not to make categories. Who would actually benefit from these categories in the first place? Who requires a compact list of every level that an Animal Friend appears in, especially when some of them have less than five entries? As I said with the proposal to delete Category:New Levels, we shouldn't need to cater to every single remote possibility.
Proposer: Time Turner (talk) Deadline: November 17, 2017, 23:59 GMT
Sure, we have a namespace for galleries, but I don't see why we can't do the same for bestiaries. It's the same kind of "special" article that I would define galleries as as well. Therefore, I propose that we rename every instance of [XX] bestiary to Bestiary:[XX].
Proposer:Toadette the Achiever (talk) Deadline:October 26, 2017, 23:59 GMT Extended to November 2, 2017, 23:59 GMT Extended to November 9, 2017, 23:59 GMT Extended to November 16, 2017, 23:59 GMT
Camwood777 (talk) - Just because we've got fewer bestiaries than galleries doesn't really give much an excuse. This helps keep the wiki more organized than it would be, and that's more than a good enough reason IMO.
Oppose
Tucayo (talk) - For galleries it made sense because most major articles had one (there are currently 319); for bestiaries, I don't see the point at all. There are 12 proper bestiaries, I don't think this warrants a namespace by any means.
Time Turner (talk) Per Tucayo. I also don't see the benefit of this; it seems like more hassle then it's worth for little payoff when considering the few bestiaries on the page.
Ghost Jam (talk) Per all. I see what's trying to be done here, but it seems overly fiddly considering what is being effected, making this extra work for little reward.
I might just be a bit dumb, but I don't fully understand what this means or what the difference is. Could you give an example?-- 12:15, 20 October 2017 (EDT)
I can only see one problem with this. On every enemy page where the enemy template is placed, transcluding its info from the bestiary page, they look like this:
The bolded part is where we're going to get into some issues. It'll be a simple fix, but we'd have to change the link for EVERY page with an enemy template.-- 12:54, 20 October 2017 (EDT)
Sounds like bot work. 12:56, 20 October 2017 (EDT)
Could we keep the current names as redirects until all of the transclusions are fixed?
@Ultimate Mr. L: Isn't that a standard measure? @Alex95: That was my exact plan for fixing those pages. (T|C) 17:37, 20 October 2017 (EDT)
@Tucayo: "There's too little" is not an argument in and of itself. It's so that normal readers don't get confused into thinking it's an actual article.(T|C) 18:00, 23 October 2017 (EDT)
They are articles, though?? What makes them any different from quote pages, lists of badges, recipes, assist trophies, etc.? Bold + italics doesn't make it true. --™The 'Shroom 22:01, 23 October 2017 (EDT)
Those are actual list articles. Bestiaries are not technically list articles; they are rather pages that are there to have individual sections be transcluded onto actual articles. (T|C) 22:07, 23 October 2017 (EDT)
But they are still articles by themselves. I truly fail to see the point here. --™The 'Shroom 22:09, 23 October 2017 (EDT)
Again, why do you think that they're actual articles? They are not meant to be. (T|C) 08:25, 24 October 2017 (EDT)
If we gonna have them as separate namespaces I honestly think the category should expand to all list articles since they are the very similar to bestiaries. I honestly think having a separate namespace for just 12 pages for something very specific is inconsistent and unprofessional. NSY (talk)
@NSY: Again, bestiaries ARE NOT technically list articles; they are relevant sections of a page transcluded onto other articles, and having too few does not make too much of a difference. Also, could you please elaborate on the "inconsistency" argument? I understand it less so than Tucayo's arguments. (T|C) 15:10, 24 October 2017 (EDT)
Well according to dictionary.com a list is defined as "a series of names or other items written or printed together in a meaningful grouping or sequence so as to constitute a record". Pretty certain an article that has a record of every enemy and their stats falls under that. It's inconsistent because these would the only list articles that got their own namespace, what about the articles listing all the mini games in a Mario Party game, would they also get their own namespace. NSY (talk)
No, because that's an actual list:
Balloon Burst
Bombs Away
Crazy Cutter
Where as the bestiaries are tables:
Name
Location
HP
Items
Bowser
Castle
100
Key
Goomba
Plains
3
Mushroom
Koopa Troopa
Mountains
12
N/A
We don't list out the enemies on a bestiary like we do for every single list on this site. The lists are spilt up into categories, like the Species list, and they only have a name that links to it's main article, ONLY. Nothing else about that link exists on the page.-- 17:32, 26 October 2017 (EDT)
However, there are some "list" articles such as List of enemy formations in Paper Mario that are tables, so the lists are not always simply just a name that links to its main article. I agree that bestiaries are like list articles. --TheFlameChomp (talk) 17:36, 26 October 2017 (EDT)
Didn't know that existed. Is that article necessary? If so, seems like that should be integrated into the Paper Mario bestiary.-- 17:40, 26 October 2017 (EDT)
I feel that there is enough information for it to remain separate (a proposal to merge it could be created though). Even if that and the Thousand-Year Door version were merged with their bestiaries, there are still other list articles that are more than just simply names (see Category:Lists for more examples). --TheFlameChomp (talk) 17:55, 26 October 2017 (EDT)
There is also List of Sammer Guys. The only reason why it is kept separate from Super Paper Mario bestiary is that it is a list of Sammer Guys fought in an optional thing (though the first 20 are required) and they are too similar to each other. As for another this bestiaries are, they are compendiums which is "a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, especially in a book or other publication(not really relevant to these bestiaries, but I am quoting this word for word)" -- definition found by searching compendiums on Bing. The list of enemy formations and others listed here may be the only exceptions, though.
Okay, this just doesn't make any sense at all. How and why in the world would we make this thing its own namespace if there are only twelve of it on the market right now? I don't get it. Lcrossmk8 (talk) 17:49, 27 October 2017 (EDT)
Because it's not really an article. Its main purpose is infoboxes to transclude onto articles. Because it is more than just an article, I feel it warrants its own namespace. It doesn't matter how few of them there are.
Make indenting comments during discussions an official rule
You know, when I was just discussing with my good friend Black Lightning when he reminded me to indent my comments, he told me that indenting comments during discussions was an unwritten rule that the wiki abided by. I started to think, why not make this an official rule? So that's the point of this proposal, why not make indenting comments during talk page discussions an official rule? The rule will state that all participants in a talk-page discussion must indent their comments, but after around five to seven colons have been used to indent comments, the bar will reset to zero, and the cycle goes on and on until the discussion ends. This would be a great rule to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of all talk-page discussions. However, unlike most rules, there will be no punishment for violating this rule, as it's more of an official guideline than an official rule, although very occasional reminders will be given. The official rule part is to make it so that all autoconfirmed users do it regularly and get in the habit of indenting their comments early on in their work on the wiki. Proposer: Lcrossmk8 (talk) Deadline: November 11, 2017, 23:59 GMT
Ultimate Mr. L (talk) 1) I strongly disagree with the cycle resetting to zero. It would be better if it just stopped and stayed at seven. 2) It wouldn't really increase the efficiency of talk pages since pretty much everybody follows it anyway. You can't solve a problem that isn't there. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 3) "Good friend" is really stretching it. "Acquaintance" maybe. Nothing personal, but, as my page says, I don't do internet friends.
Baby Luigi (talk) No. This type of rule works best as a guideline rather than something users can get reminders and warnings for, and I think this veers almost on common sense at this point. To be frank, this isn't something major enough to be addressed, and as Ultimate Mr. L said, most people already abide by it anyway, so there's no point in making this a rule.
MrConcreteDonkey (talk) - Per all. In most instances it's just common sense, and making not following it punishable with a reminder/warning does not sound like a good idea.
THANK YOU! It FINALLY did what I wanted it to do, which is show up as a black header and not a bunch of code. Anyway, you don't need to apologize, Black Lightning. We've all got our opinions, and no one can take them away from us, even if their life depended on it. In the end, that's all that matters. And by the way, I meant "good friend" as in quite literally, "good friend". I didn't mean to use the specific Internet term. Lcrossmk8 (talk) 22:56, 4 November 2017 (EDT)
Not sure what's with that glitch, it seems to happen every other time a new proposal is made. Encountered it at my first proposal and its shown up form time to time ever since. It fixes itself as long as there some code under the section. As for the friend thing, I mean I haven't met you face-to-face and therefore do not consider you a friend. But this really isn't the place for this conversation.
Help:List#Indentation <- Closest thing to a written "rule" I can find. 22:04, 5 November 2017 (EST)
By the way, I should point out that while not indenting comments is not currently a warnable offense, it is equally minor as forgetting italics, which is as it is detailed on this user's talk page. Drawing from that user's example, if not indenting comments were to become a warnable offense at all, it should only get serious after the user in question is reminded about it more than ten or so times. (T|C) 16:28, 7 November 2017 (EST)
The difference is, I think user space dealing with formatting are lot more lenient on formatting than writing formatting stuff on actual articles. For example, we encourage people to not copy paste raw signature coding all over the people's talk pages whenever they sign, but that rule is not enforced all that often...indenting is even more minor than that, I say. Ray Trace(T|C) 21:26, 7 November 2017 (EST)
@Toadette the Achiever Non-italicizing is something that shows up on articles random people read, while indenting is a talk page thing. I'm not sure how I can explain it any better.
Oh, come on, can I ever get any proposal I make to get off the ground and start running? I always seem to epically fail with every proposal I make. Anyway, don't mind me here, I'm just being good old me. Lcrossmk8 (talk) 21:45, 7 November 2017 (EST)
Complaining isn't going to help you, if anything it will make you look bad. Sometimes proposals just don't go in your favor. One of the points of a proposal is to see what others think, and this is what they think. 21:47, 7 November 2017 (EST)
Proposals pass if they are well-thought out and have a decent point to make. Most of the ones you proposed are usually neither. Ray Trace(T|C) 22:42, 7 November 2017 (EST)
I admit that it's difficult to come up with good proposals every now and then, and let's be honest, it's ESPECIALLY difficult to come up with flaws and counterarguments that could be presented to the proposer when they already made their proposal. Just take the commentary as advice, and it'll flow smoothly. (T|C) 23:25, 7 November 2017 (EST)
Well, that's why I usually discuss things in forums or in Discord chat before I enact anything major. Ray Trace(T|C) 23:28, 7 November 2017 (EST)
Super Hornio Bros Page
This is a bit of a controversial one, but here it goes. I think we should incorporate a full page on both Super Hornio films for preservation purposes instead of a mere description. I would like to do this, as the film is owned by Nintendo themselves, and the history behind them are extremely interesting. I've written a draft here: User:Howzit/Sandbox. We have so many other Mario knockoffs properly documented, why not this one?
Proposer: Howzit (talk) Deadline: November 19, 2017, 23:59 GMT