Knowledge (XXG)

:Voting is not evil - Knowledge (XXG)

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emoticon (github, facebook, etc.) vote could be used. Ideally, no decision on *how* the information is used should be made until *after* a data collection period. Potential uses could include: auto-flagging articles as contentious/popular/funny, auto-flagging edits as needing moderation. Crowd-sourcing is Knowledge (XXG)'s stock-in-trade, and votes are just another piece of information to collect.
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good. Neither is it evil, however, as the above evidence will hopefully convince you. Voting is a tool, and like any tool there are some places where it's perfect and some places where it's useless... or disempowering. You, as a user, must decide for yourself when voting is the right thing to do. VIE
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A community board discussion shifts with the community members. When a community view changes, its approach will merge seamlessly into the new line of thinking. This is because a community view is intangible. Votes, on the other hand, are nailed to the wall – and, worse still, the best way to really
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deals with all articles of all types, but there exists a whole host of other specialized projects. For these projects, the system of choice is the vote. The winner is the article with the most cumulative votes becomes the new project of the week/fortnight/month, and will be groomed by loving editors
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Users with opinions, but no ability or motivation to edit, may prefer to vote for or against a whole article, or for/against a particular edit of that article. Allowing user engagement at both of these levels can be fun, and the information collected can be useful. Even a social-network styled
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is an epic example of two groups of people – those who favor the American spelling (without the second "i") and those who don't – locked in an entrenched series of flareup fights over who is right. It's entirely possible that they may never decide, and in this case actually bringing up the subject
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is that the thing about having winners is that everyone else automatically becomes losers. This will damage, rather than unify, the community spirit that's holding the dear old WP together. If you're staging a vote just to beat the other side into submission, then you're doing the wrong thing. Try
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it has already been decided that a certain layout should be standardized, a vote can be taken to see which color the standard should be. Such polls generally have more than two options; as such, it is not reasonable to expect any one option to get more than 50% support. Instead, one should look at
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vote, and when the voting closes (a predetermined time limit is strongly advised, one week is reasonable) the side with majority votes is the "winner". The terms having now been defined, the rest of this article will be dedicated to helping you choose the right times and places to stage or
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The beauty of that system is that the losers don't actually lose. If a runner-up article has enough support to remain on the roster for another week (see each project for the nuances of its voting system) then it may yet be pulled from the bin and made perfect.
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Votes are especially unfair to those who come after. Someone walking in on a situation in which the dice have already been cast doesn't even get the chance to vote. Understand, when you vote, that what you are doing is, for all effects and purposes, permanent.
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consensus board, which will materialize around the catalyst issue, debate it, and, hopefully, bring it to a resolution. This is the "community" approach, and in most cases it is the best option for a mutually amicable solution.
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Voting on a yes/no option generally doesn't work; it is more useful to find a compromise between the extremes. However, an issue that can be resolved by voting quite well is picking a standard. For instance,
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Voting is not a good substitute for discussion; ill-advised votes have a tendency of attracting comments that they are inappropriate, and are frequently closed altogether.
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Each article has a built-in talk page. In the event of a dispute over how something should be done, it may be brought up, in one of two forms, on the talk page.
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Voting has (at least) one inherent flaw in use at the Knowledge (XXG), and that is that votes are semi-permanent, and community board discussions are not.
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Voting is a vaguely more formalized process. It should be advertised, and a vote should not be sprung on a topic at any time. Each user gets
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It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Knowledge (XXG) contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of
40: 371: 210:) that "Knowledge (XXG) is not a democracy", and you can't actually vote down the system as it stands. Knowledge (XXG) rules (those on 321:(small-medium scale), or occasional opinion polls (medium-large scale) to keep an eye on the direction consensus is moving in. 194:
Rule of thumb: if you have more detractors than supporters, you're going to lose no matter what system you're using. See also
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and VINE are here to help, but actually finding the fairest way to do something is a decision you'll have to make yourself.
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which option has the most support (with, if necessary, a runoff between the top three). The easiest system for this is
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Just to note that the world is not a Happily Ever After kind of place, even this doesn't always work. The fight at
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The reason this article is not titled Voting is Good (other than the fact that VINE makes a pretty nice
330: 54: 288:, because there is a large group of people in favor of X. At the same time, if 40% are opposed to 32: 195: 273: 223: 91: 318: 266: 207: 174: 356: 158: 300:
too! By starting a vote, it is possible to drive your adoption-process into an impasse.
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right times to stage a vote. The trick is knowing which ones and why...
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Sit down with those groups, and hammer out an actual consensus.
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No process on Knowledge (XXG) may be considered binding:
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be rid of a vote is to have another vote against it.
94:, a page written from scratch but loosely based upon 218:A Fistful of edits: When voting becomes a shootout 90:"Polling is not a substitute for discussion", or 272:In practice, there is some nuance to this: see 145:"Several roads diverged in a wood...:" Pick one 307:(retroactively) call your vote an opinion poll 8: 310:Identify the key parties in the opinion poll 102:be a useful tool toward harmonious editing. 165:Massing the forces: Concentrating an effort 274:Knowledge (XXG):POLL#Straw_poll_guidelines 41:Knowledge (XXG)'s policies or guidelines 190:Voting as an obstacle: The wrong times 175:Article Creation and Improvement Drive 372:Knowledge (XXG):Of course it's voting 7: 133:Voting as an asset: The right times 171:quite a few collaborative projects 45:thoroughly vetted by the community 14: 206:It should go without saying (see 247:Note: An inherent flaw of voting 202:House rules: Fighting the system 22: 16:Essay on editing Knowledge (XXG) 173:. The umbrella project – the 1: 282:, it is inadvisable to do 113:The most common form is an 403: 303:The solution for this is: 106:Voting vs. consensus board 52: 276:. If 60% are in favor of 126:participate in a vote. 86:to the Knowledge (XXG) 387:Knowledge (XXG) essays 362:MeatBall:VotingIsGood 43:, as it has not been 267:Consensus Can Change 227:holding a community 169:Knowledge (XXG) has 317:You can either use 178:into (hopefully) a 357:m:Voting is a tool 196:vexatious litigant 76:Voting Is Not Evil 342:Voting can be fun 333:) is that voting 73: 72: 394: 325:Voting is a tool 180:featured article 96:m:voting is evil 65: 26: 25: 19: 402: 401: 397: 396: 395: 393: 392: 391: 377: 376: 353: 344: 327: 249: 220: 204: 192: 167: 159:approval voting 147: 135: 108: 69: 68: 61: 57: 49: 48: 23: 17: 12: 11: 5: 400: 398: 390: 389: 379: 378: 375: 374: 369: 367:WP:Let's Vote! 364: 359: 352: 349: 343: 340: 326: 323: 315: 314: 311: 308: 248: 245: 219: 216: 203: 200: 191: 188: 166: 163: 146: 143: 134: 131: 107: 104: 71: 70: 67: 66: 58: 53: 50: 38: 37: 29: 27: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 399: 388: 385: 384: 382: 373: 370: 368: 365: 363: 360: 358: 355: 354: 350: 348: 341: 339: 336: 332: 324: 322: 320: 312: 309: 306: 305: 304: 301: 299: 298: 293: 292: 287: 286: 281: 280: 275: 270: 268: 264: 260: 256: 252: 246: 244: 242: 237: 232: 230: 225: 222:A point from 217: 215: 213: 209: 201: 199: 197: 189: 187: 183: 181: 176: 172: 164: 162: 160: 155: 154: 144: 142: 140: 132: 130: 127: 124: 119: 116: 111: 105: 103: 101: 97: 93: 89: 85: 81: 77: 64: 60: 59: 56: 51: 46: 42: 36: 34: 28: 21: 20: 345: 334: 328: 316: 302: 296: 295: 290: 289: 284: 283: 278: 277: 271: 263:Counternote: 262: 261: 257: 253: 250: 240: 233: 228: 221: 205: 193: 184: 168: 151: 148: 138: 136: 128: 122: 120: 114: 112: 109: 99: 84:counterpoint 79: 75: 74: 30: 31:This is an 229:discussion 236:aluminium 231:instead. 212:copyright 381:Category 351:See also 55:Shortcut 331:acronym 224:WP:PNSD 92:WP:PNSD 82:) is a 63:WP:VINE 319:WP:BRD 241:at all 208:WP:NOT 137:There 115:ad hoc 335:isn't 285:not-X 88:essay 33:essay 80:VINE 153:iff 139:are 123:one 100:can 383:: 198:. 182:. 161:. 297:X 291:X 279:X 78:( 35:.

Index

essay
Knowledge (XXG)'s policies or guidelines
thoroughly vetted by the community
Shortcut
WP:VINE
counterpoint
essay
WP:PNSD
m:voting is evil
iff
approval voting
quite a few collaborative projects
Article Creation and Improvement Drive
featured article
vexatious litigant
WP:NOT
copyright
WP:PNSD
aluminium
Consensus Can Change
Knowledge (XXG):POLL#Straw_poll_guidelines
WP:BRD
acronym
m:Voting is a tool
MeatBall:VotingIsGood
WP:Let's Vote!
Knowledge (XXG):Of course it's voting
Category
Knowledge (XXG) essays

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