Commons:Centralized discussion
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This page in a nutshell: The {{Cent}} template is a list of ongoing discussions on policies, guidelines or other matters that have a wide impact and on which a broad consensus is needed. It may be placed for reference on user pages or anywhere where appropriate debate takes place and editors may wish to be informed of active discussions. Editors maintain this list by adding ongoing discussions and polls, archiving inactive issues, and removing inappropriate listings. Announcements and local or topic specific discussions are usually not appropriate for this template. |
Background
[edit]Village pump and Village pump (proposals) provide central areas both for giving notice of discussions elsewhere and for debate itself. Despite regular archiving, these pages tend to grow rather lengthy. It's not always easy to know what issues are active.
Guidance
[edit]Cent is generally used to draw attention to discussions regarding policies, guidelines or other matters that have a wide impact and on which a broad consensus is needed. Announcements are generally done via the Watchlist notice or the Sitenotice. Discussions related to content, including use of infoboxes and templates within a specific topic area, are usually best advertised within the appropriate WikiProjects.
Listing examples
[edit]Discussions listed on Cent are about matters that are significant enough to require a broad consensus. See en:Wikipedia:Canvassing for guidance on the appropriate way to gain attention.
- Appropriate
- Discussions on existing policies, guidelines and procedures
- Discussions on proposed policies, guidelines and procedures
- Discussions on matters that have a wide impact
- Inappropriate
- Announcements – see Commons:Community portal, MediaWiki:Watchlist-details, or MediaWiki:Sitenotice
- Content disputes – see Commons:Disputes noticeboard
- Topic specific discussions – see Commons:WikiProject
- Minor matters, housekeeping, article content discussions, or maintenance – see en:Wikipedia:Bold or Commons:Talk page guidelines.
- General ideas or proposals, reviving dead Projects, technical issues, or any other matters that would be better suited to Commons:Village pump
How to list
[edit]- To add a new item, edit Template:Cent, and place the item at the top of the list.
- Link directly to the discussion. Single, unambiguous and concise links are preferred.
- Describe the matter or proposal in neutral terms.
- Add date of listing.
When to archive
[edit]- Inactive discussions, closed or not, should be archived. Please don't forget to close stale RFCs.
Cautions
[edit]Like any tool, this may be misused. Kindly exercise restraint, assume good faith, and allow process to take its course. Please don't add new policy ideas indiscriminately; trial balloons are better floated at Village pump/Proposals. This template should be reserved for ongoing discussions. Remember, its usefulness is in inverse proportion to its size.
Before joining a debate, it might be wise to gather some background, especially on complex or long-standing issues. Please be courteous to your fellow editors and read existing discussion before adding your own comment. It's hoped that {{Cent}} will contribute to the opening of policy debate and the broadening of consensus; but of course no good purpose is served by uninformed comment. Stay cool.
Documentation
[edit]- This page is for explanation of the way in which we use {{Cent}}.
- Commons talk:Centralized discussion is for any discussion about this process.
- Template:Centralized discussion contains the actual box content of ongoing policy issues. It should be edited to stay current at all times.
- Template:Centralized discussion/doc contains technical documentation of the template.
- Template talk:Centralized discussion redirects to Commons talk:Centralized discussion.
- Links are stored at Commons:Centralized discussion/Archive.