The Elder Scrolls Wiki:Consensus

This page is considered an official policy on TESWiki. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that everyone should follow. Except for minor edits, please make use of the discussion page to propose changes to this policy.

In many cases, changes to wiki-wide policy and/or changes to individual articles are determined by consensus. In the absence of consensus, these issues may be settled by a majority or supermajority of TESWikians polled (as mediated by one or more administrators).

When an issue is settled by either of these methods, attempts by any individual to counteract or violate these decisions without community support (as determined by a renewed discussion of the issue with participation equal to or greater than the original discussion) will be considered vandalism/disruptive editing under the blocking policy.

For community-wide consensus discussions, please visit Forum:Consensus track.

Articles for deletion

Articles for deletion is a decision-making process that is utilized by the TESWiki community to determine the fate of articles nominated for deletion. Similar to the consensus track, Articles for deletion threads are governed by the following guidelines:

• Articles for deletion discussions should, in general, last two weeks.
• An admin may close an AFD discussion earlier, after one week from the start of voting on an issue, if the votes overwhelmingly support one option: keeping the article in question, deleting the article, merging two or more articles, or any other proposal advanced in the discussion.
• If consensus is unclear, admins should wait at least two weeks before closing the discussion with a result of "no consensus." A "no consensus" result will default to keeping the article.
• Admins may also close a discussion with a result of "no consensus" after less than two weeks, providing that the admin closing the discussion quickly starts a new AFD discussion with a different or more clearly defined set of options which, based on the first discussion, are more likely to lead to a consensus.

Consensus track

With regards to the process of Consensus track forums which are discussed and debated among the entire community, it is the responsibility of administrators both to provide input on consensus track threads, as well as closing the threads when they are finished.

Two weeks is provided as a minimum time frame for thread length, though a thread should only be closed if it is clear that a consensus has been reached, or if no consensus has been reached and the thread has not been edited by a vote-eligible TESWikian in five days after at least two weeks of being active. After one week from the start of voting on an issue, if the votes overwhelmingly support one option, the thread may be closed early. Also, for threads closed by section (some of the MOS ones, for example), each section would have to be dormant for five days after a minimum of two weeks in order to be closed, not necessarily the entire forum; after one week from the start of voting on an issue, if the votes overwhelmingly support one option, the section may be closed early. If that makes sense. These length guidelines do not apply to CSD threads. This lack of activity and consensus is an indication that a community agreement is not forthcoming. Should a thread be closed, it is the responsibility of the administration to properly address the result of the thread and apply it to the site and its policies as need be.

For consensus to be achieved, a minimum of ten TESWikians must contribute a vote or statement. Consensus track threads with 10-16 voters will need a 3 to 1 ratio of votes for passage; consensus track threads with 17 to 24 voters will need a 5 to 2 ratio of votes for passage; consensus track threads with more than 25 votes can be passed by a 2:1 ratio of votes/opinions posted on the thread.

Additionally, it is regarded as bad form and against proper practice to close a consensus track thread in which an individual administrator has been heavily involved, though all consensus track closings fall under administrative discretion.