MarioWiki:Proposals

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.

This page observes the No-Signature Policy.

How To
 * 1) Actions that users feel are appropriate to have community approval first can be added by anyone, but they must have a strong argument.
 * 2) Users then start to discuss on the issue. 24 hours after posting the proposal (rounding up or down to the next or previous full hour, respectively, is allowed), the voting period begins. (The proposer is allowed to support their proposal right after posting.) Each proposal ends at the end of the day one week after voting start. (All times GMT).
 * 3) Every vote should have a reason accompanying it. Agreeing or seconding a previously mentioned reason given by another user is accepted.
 * 4) 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. The voter can remove or rewrite his/her own vote at any time, but the final decision to remove another User's vote lies solely with the Administrators.
 * 5) All proposals that end up in a tie will be extended for another week.
 * 6) If a proposal has more than ten votes, it can only pass or fail by a margin of three votes. If a proposal reaches the deadline and the total number of votes for each option differ by two or less votes, the deadline will be extended for another week.
 * 7) Any proposal that has three votes or less at deadline will automatically be listed as "NO QUORUM." The original proposer then has the option to relist said proposal to generate more discussion.
 * 8) No proposal can overturn the decision of a previous proposal that is less than 4 weeks (28 days) old.
 * 9) Proposals can only be rewritten or deleted by their proposer within the first three days of their creation. However, the proposer can request that their proposal be deleted by a Sysop at any time, provided they have a valid reason for it.
 * 10) 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 a Sysop, the proposer can ask for that help.
 * 11) There shouldn't be proposals about creating articles on a underrepresented or completely absent subject, unless there is major disagreement about whether the content should be included. To organize efforts about completing articles on missing subjects, try creating a PipeProject.
 * 12) Proposals cannot be made about System Operator promotions and demotions. Sysops can only be promoted and demoted by the will of Bureaucrats.
 * 13) If the Sysops 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.
 * 14) No joke proposals. Proposals are serious wiki matters, and should be handled professionally. Joke proposals will be deleted on sight.

The times are in GMT, and are set so that the user is more likely to be online at those times (after work/school, weekend nights). If a proposal is added on Monday night at 23:59 GMT, the deadline is the night of the Tuesday of the next week at 23:59 PM. If it is posted a minute later, the deadline is 23:59 PM of the Wednesday of the next week, since midnight is considered to be part of the next day, as 00:00 AM.

Basic Proposal and Support/Oppose Format
This is an example how your proposal should 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]". - ===[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: Voting start: [insert a voting start time here, f.e. "2 January, 2010, 14:00". Voting start times are 24 hours after the time at which the proposal was posted, as described in Rule 2 above.] Deadline: [insert a deadline here, 7 days after the voting start, at 23:59 GMT.]

====Support====
 * 1) [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 " # 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".

Talk Page Proposals
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.

How To

 * 1) All active talk page proposals must be listed below in chronological order (new proposals go at the bottom). All pages effected must be mentioned in the brief description, with the talk page housing the discussion linked to directly via "". If the proposal involved a page that is not yet made, use to communicate its title. The Deadline must also be included in the entry. Linking to pages not directly involved in the talk page proposal is not recommended, as it clutters the list with unnecessary links. Place  under the heading.
 * 2) 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:
 * 3) Voting in talk page proposals will be open for two weeks, not one. There is no 24 hour delay between the posting of a talk page proposal and the commencement of voting.
 * 4) Talk page proposals may be closed by the proposer if both the support and the oppose sides each have fewer than five votes.
 * 5) The talk page proposal must pertain to the article it is posted on.

List of Talk Page Proposals

 * Decide if the Toad Brigade were the Toads appearing in Super Mario Sunshine (Discuss) Deadline: 17 January, 2011 23:59 GMT
 * Merge Super Mario All-Stars with Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World and possibly Super Mario All-Stars - 25th Anniversary Edition (Discuss) Deadline: 20 January, 2011 23:59 GMT
 * Split Reptiles and Amphibians to and  (Discuss) Deadline: 20, January 2011 23:59 GMT
 * Merge Bozzo to Watchitt (Discuss) Deadline: 22 January, 2011 23:59 GMT.
 * Merge Heart Panel (Super Princess Peach) with Vibe (Discuss) Deadline: 23 January 2011 23:59 GMT
 * Merge Casanova Koopa with Luigi (Discuss) Deadline: 2 February 2011 23:59 GMT

Make MarioWiki:Featured User
I once made a bad proposal, so sorry if this proposal is once again, bad. I'm thinking that we should make Featured Users because it would help new users know who to look up to when they need help. It would be set up like this:

At first I was going to make it right away, then I knew it would get deleted. I will note again that my first proposal was bad, so sorry if this proposal is bad.

Proposer: Voting start: January 16, 2010 12:39 GMT Deadline: January 23, 2010 23:59 GMT

Support

 * 1) Per my Proposal.

Oppose

 * 1) I don't think Mario Wiki needs such features. We had Featured Images, but it was closed. Userpedia has Featured Users because it points on articles about users, but MarioWiki on Mario related stuff.
 * 2) The best people to ask for help are Sysops, Patrollers, and maybe even users with Autopatrol, so a featured user wouldn't be useful at all. A Featured User system would be very difficult to set up too.
 * 3) Per Fawfulfury and the comments below.
 * 4) Per Fawfulfury65.
 * 5) Per all.
 * 6) - Per all. As Tucayo mentioned in the comments, these sorts of things can cause lots of animosity between users: people could resent not being nominated or get angry when someone says something negative about them. It could also turn into a popularity contest and the people with the most friends may simply win, which isn't the sort of thing we want new users looking up to. If someone does need help, they can easily post on the QnA page or talk directly to an Admin, as Fawfulfury65 said.
 * 7) - Per all (and specially Tucayo according how this proposal was made), featuring users is useless and pointless here. take this to Userpedia.
 * 8) There's a 'sop for that. (Bad iphone commercial knockoff...) You can just ask a sysop. I opposed the FI deletion because they were about the Mario series, but this is too Userpedia-y.
 * 9) - Per all. This would lower the morale of many users.
 * 10) I am Zero! Per all. Zero signing out.
 * 11) Per all.
 * 12) Don't need it.

Comments
We had an User of the Month in The 'Shroom but it was removed because it may cause conflicts. So, if you want to implement this, you need to come up with a very good system, not just 2 lines.
 * I just added the setup.

Featured users? Sound like Userpedia. We had Featured Images, but it was closed for no reason (at least I didn't find a proposal that closed it). I don't think it will stay for long, but I don't know.

I know a better way to handle this.

I am Zero! It got to be a little more complex then that because I don't think it will grab users attention and also I don't think the reason should be mandatory. Zero signing out.

Bring Back Featured Images
I know this might get shot down faster than you can say "MOOMOO MEADOWS," but I just want to give it a shot:

Myself and many other users preferred the Featured Images to the Polls. I joined in the era of FI's, never seeing a MarioWiki poll until the aforementioned killing of the FI's, and personally prefer them to the polls. Although the polls voice everyone's opinions, the FI's have a certain joy to it, and is a nice aspect for users where we can take a break from editing and check out the Featured Images nominees. You vote on a poll once a week or so, and then the results are posted and nothing really comes of it. With FI's, you vote as well, but whichever image wins has the glory of sitting on the Main Page (not a subpage that nobody ever goes to like the polls) for a week and whoever nominated it is happy. The FI's are an aspect of fun and user satisfaction to the wiki that we should bring back. This concludes my extra-long proposal. :)

Proposer: Voting start: 18 January 2011, 19:28 GMT Deadline: 25 January 2011, 23:59 GMT

Support

 * 1) Per me up there.

Comments
I think the FIs were more interesting than the polls, but the FI system was terrible and there weren't any good images to use because everyone was being too picky when they voted.
 * Mmmm. The system was bad, people were way too fussy and there aren't any good images left.
 * I think that it started getting too opininated and not what it should have been with all the users. I really don't think it would be better now that we have some cool images from DKCR or MSM. Polls are doing excellent right now, with many votes, and FI's....well, I know I loved it so...but....this seems like a bad idea.
 * I just don't get any satisfaction out of the polls. I click a button, wait like a week, and then find out if I voted in the majority or not. Whoopee. Maybe it's just me, but FI's were more fun.
 * I am Zero! The FI's were very opinionated and disorganized. I think it will be better to start the Poll selection page again, this time with new rules and delete all the previous ones. Zero signing out.

I do agree on how the FI sytem was funner than clicking on a button for the polls (one of the main reason I joined this wiki :P). However, the reason it got removed was the faulty system it had. I think if we have FIs again, we can make rules saying that votes MUST have substantial content (like WiKirby's system, there's lot of rules that we can inspire from).
 * If I recall correctly, something else that factored into the cancellation of the FIs was that it didn't actually reflect on the quality of the wiki - just on the quality of the pictures we had, whereas the FAs at least promote good writing and motivate people to actually edit, and not just sit around and vote on things they like. First and foremost, the wiki is a database and everything else is just extra, so when the Polls or the FIs started taking over a lot of the traffic, that was not a good thing. Of course, I kept both things at arm's length (except when their issues were taken to the proposals page) so my knowledge is limited. -
 * It has become clear to me that the old FI system was bad, but that doesn't mean we should have gotten rid of them. I know that if this passes that we can all decide on some new system that strictens (what? is that a word?) the rules for the FI's so it isn't too messy.

That's actually wrong. You need to propose a system before this passes/fails, otherwise we'll get nowhere in the event that it does pass.-- 17:39, 18 January 2011 (EST)

Removals
None at the moment

Tougher Rules on Unneccesary Redirects
Recently, I have noticed that some users (not saying any names) have been creating redirects that are unneccesary and do not follow the rules stated in Redirect. Then, a sysop comes along and has to delete it, usually, so really that only adds up to extra, unneeded work for the sysops and achieves nothing.

So, I propose that we enforce the following rules:


 * If a user makes at least 3 unneccesary redirects around the same time, they will get a reminder. Hopefully, this can help them get the message.
 * If said user makes at least 6 unneccesary redirects (doesn't need to be at the same time now) and already has a reminder, they will get a warning.
 * If this user makes an extra 4, they get another.
 * About 20 constitutes to a Last Warning.

If a user already has a warning for something else, then the reminder should still be issued.

They may seem a little tough, but really it's the only way to stop this.

, who apparently has made some of these redirects, has said that, a recently retired sysop, gave him permission to make some of these redirects, which clearly do not follow MarioWiki:Redirect. I also propose that all sysops know the rules stated in MarioWiki:Redirect, and follow and enforce them. Maybe we could mention MarioWiki:Redirect somewhere on the rules page too.

I hope this will encourage users to think before they redirect, yet I hope they aren't disheartened. Any redirect is fine, as long as it follows this policy.

Sorry if you think this is a bad idea, but we need to stop all of this redirect madness.

Proposer: Voting start: January 19, 2011 17:06 GMT Deadline: January 26, 2011 23:59 GMT

Support

 * 1) - There's way too many unneccesary redirects being made. Brittanic124, for example, continues to do so even though many sysops disapprove, so I say, why not do something about it.

Comments
- I'm just want to say I'm fine with getting rid of the unnecessary redirects I've made. We can also make a button, like the one that says "Make this page": one that says "Make this redirect", and has guidelines specifically for that.
 * You mean the box at the top that appears when you edit a new page? Yes, having something about following MarioWiki:Redirect or stuff like that would be a good idea.

This is a good idea. Walkazo has worked his butt off to make the new redirect policy, and I was here yesterday as he deleted dozens and dozens of useless redirects. I'm also just gonna put out there that I made a few useless redirects a few months back and they were deleted promply by Phoenix, who is enforcing the policy already it seems.
 * Her. Also, Phoenix isn't a sysop, so he can't delete stuff.

@MrConcreteDonkey: Actually, MarioWiki: Redirect wasn't even created before Tucayo told Britannic124 he/she could make those kind of redirects. It's a new policy.
 * Really? I just thought I hadn't seen it. >_>

Still, I didn't see it, and the less-active sysops wouldn't know it's there either.


 * Any Sysop who visited the admin board over the past week would have known about the new policy: I drafted it last weekend on a user sub-page and had them look it over before I actually made MarioWiki:Redirect yesterday morning (Monday, right before all the deletions). Before that, there was only Help:Redirect, which listed more basic rules, and more importantly, explicitly states that breaking those rules and making bad redirects will get someone in trouble (the last line on the page is actually "Failure to adhere to the rules listed here or on the MarioWiki:Redirect page can also result in a warning or block."). Therefore, while well-intentioned, this proposal is unnecessary: we already have the authority to warn or punish people for making bad redirects. Also, I think having specific numbers of how many unnecessary redirects a person can make before getting a certain specific reminder/warning is the wrong way of going about it: it's better to just let us use our judgement in these matters, on a case-by-case basis. Redirects are a very subjective matter and there are quite a few grey areas when it comes to redirects: it is quite easy for anyone to make mistakes, especially over a long period of time (an abbreviation here, a nickname there, etc.). As for the "Make this page" box that appears when you create new articles, we can't have one specifically for redirects (the wiki doesn't know what you're making when you click on a red link), but adding a line about redirects and linking to MarioWiki:Redirect on top of the eight Manual of Style rules sounds like a good idea. -

Miscellaneous
None at the moment