Although not needed, I think we need to get a Consensus policy up. It isn't a democracy. Note: This information is partly done by Wikia.
Consensus is part of a range of policies on how editors work with others. Consensus is not what everyone agrees to, nor is it the preference of the majority. Consensus results in the best solution that the group can achieve at the time. Remember, the root of "consensus" is "consent". This means that even if parties disagree, there is still overall consent to move forward in order to settle the issue. This requires co-operation among editors with different interests and opinions.
As a decision-making process, consensus decision-making aims to be:
* Inclusive and participatory: As many editors as possible should be involved in the consensus decision-making process.
* Cooperative: Editors in an effective consensus process should strive to reach the best possible decision for the wiki and all of wikians, rather than opt to pursue a majority opinion, potentially to the detriment of a minority.
* Egalitarian: All editors in the consensus decision-making process should be afforded equal input into the process. All users are equals, and have the opportunity to present and amend proposals.
* Solution-oriented: An effective consensus decision-making process strives to emphasise common agreement over differences and reach effective decisions using compromise and other techniques to avoid or resolve mutually-exclusive positions within the group.
* Most logical: This happens when a solution appears to be impossible to execute because of the lack of support and co-operation.
Consensus discussions should always be attempts to convince others, using reasons. When a discussion breaks down to a mere polarised shouting match, there is no possibility of consensus, and the wiki will suffer. That said, consensus is not simple agreement; a handful of editors agreeing on something does not constitute a consensus, except in the thinnest sense. Consensus is a broader process where specific points are considered in terms of the wiki as a whole, in the hope that editors will negotiate a reasonable balance between competing views.
In general, the steps involved in the process of decision-making are as follows:
* Discussion: The issue is discussed with the goal of identifying opinions and information on the topic at hand. The general direction and potential proposals for action are often identified during the discussion.
* Formation of a proposal: Based on the discussion a formal decision proposal on the issue is presented.
* Call for consensus: The original proposer calls for consensus. Each editor must actively state their agreement/disagreement with the proposal, to avoid the group interpreting silence or inaction as agreement.
* Identification and addressing of concerns: If consensus is not achieved, the dissenters present their concerns on the proposal, potentially starting another round of discussion to address or clarify the concern.
* Modification of the proposal: The proposal is amended, re-phrased or ridered in an attempt to address the concerns. The process then returns to the call for consensus and the cycle is repeated until a satisfactory decision is made.
Although the consensus decision-making process should ideally identify and address concerns and reservations early, proposals do not always garner full consensus from the wiki.
When a call for consensus on a motion is made, a dissenting editor these options:
* Neutral or Support/Comment: Editors who are willing to let a motion pass but desire to register their concerns with the group may choose to "comment". If there are significant reservations about a motion, the original proposer may choose to modify or re-word the proposal.
* Oppose: Editors who are unwilling to let a motion pass without modifications to proposal may choose to "oppose". The proposal will have to be modified or re-worded, or editors may choose to submit an alternative proposal, or a compromise (a middle way between two extremes).
A healthy consensus decision-making process encourages editors with differing opinions to post their concerns as early as possible, maximising the chance of accommodating the views of all minorities. Since unanimity may be difficult to achieve, especially in large communities, or unanimity may be the result of coercion, fear, undue persuasive power or eloquence, inability to comprehend alternatives, or plain impatience with the process of debate, an alternative benchmark of consensus is used: rough consensus.
Note: While there are no magic numbers for "how much is enough", it is generally accepted that rough consensus has been achieved if about 70% agree on the issue.
Canvassing is sending messages to multiple wikians with the intent to inform them about a community discussion. Under certain conditions, it is acceptable to notify other editors of on-going discussions, but messages that are written to influence the outcome rather than to improve the quality of a discussion compromise the consensus building process and may be considered disruptive.
Campaigning
Campaigning is an attempt to sway the person reading the message, through the use of non-neutral tone, wording, or intent. While this may be appropriate as part of an individual discussion, it is inappropriate to canvass with such messages.
Votestacking
Votestacking is an attempt to sway consensus by selectively notifying editors who have or are thought to have a pre-determined point of view or opinion (which may be determined, among other ways, from a userpage notice, such as a userbox, or from user categorisation), and thus encouraging them to participate in the discussion.
In the case of a re-consideration of a previous debate (such as a "no consensus" result), it is similarly frowned-upon by many editors to send mass talk messages to those who expressed only a particular viewpoint on the previous debate.
Posting a friendly notice on users' talk pages in order to inform editors on all "sides" of a debate (e.g. everyone who participated in a previous debate on a given subject) may be appropriate under certain circumstances on a case-by-case basis.
Stealth canvassing
Because it is less transparent than on-wiki notifications, the use of email or other off-wiki communication (in-game messages) to notify editors is discouraged unless there is a significant reason for not using talk page notifications. Depending on the specific circumstances, sending a notification to a group of editors by email may be looked at more negatively than sending the same message to the same group of people on their talk pages.
Forum shopping
The term "forum shopping", or "asking the other parent", refers to repeatedly asking for additional outside opinions until a desirable opinion is obtained. For instance, if the user is blocked, they can ask for an outside review of said block; if this review concludes that the block was proper, it is generally inappropriate to repeatedly continue to ask for yet another outside review.
This also includes bringing up the same issue at the same forum multiple times, or asking multiple administrators to perform an administrative action after an administrator already decided against it.
