User blog:Oscuritaforze/Important new template

Hello all!

Depending on whether or not you are watching Special:RecentChanges, you may or may not have noticed that I created a new template called "Proposed Policy" two days ago. This template will probably be very important to the wiki in the foreseeable future, so I thought I'd make a blog post to outline its intent and usage.

Intent
This template and the process described therein is intended to be the first official, regulated way for policies to be proposed on this wiki.

Before, the only system we had for changing policy was for people to create a thread on the forums and hope for the best, which had problems with visibility, engagement, and implementation: people might not find out about the proposed changes unless the thread was highlighted by an admin, and it was a bit of a tossup whether it would be discussed/put into effect even if it was highlighted.

This template is intended to change this by making it so that a user can write up an initial version of a policy, then discussion can be formally started at Terraria Wiki talk:Policy. This system has the advantage of having something concrete (ie. a full page) for people to discuss, and it also has the advantage of a centralized discussion space to be publicized rather than a scattered selection of forum threads. Also, considering how little work will need to be done to make a discussed policy official since it will essentially already be written, I feel like this will be far more effective at its purpose than the old system.

Usage
In order to use this template, simply create a page in the project namespace (ie. create a page with with the prefix "Terraria Wiki:"), add  to the top, then write up a "rough draft" of the policy you want to propose.

After this is done, anyone can start a discussion regarding the proposal at Terraria Wiki talk:Policy. Discussion regarding any given proposal will remain open for a reasonable (but variable) amount of time, after which the page is dealt with depending on what the consensus was. In the case of a successful proposal, the page is turned into an official policy and given a shortcut link and summary. Failed proposals have the  parameter added to the Proposed Policy template and are shelved (though not necessarily permanently).

Test Run
In order to test how well this format works, I've already created the first policy proposal. It is a proposal of several changes to the Image Policy which can be read here. Whether you agree or disagree with the proposed changes (or even if you tl;dr'ed this blog post...) , please have your say!