Archive:Proposals (old)

This is a proposed page.

How the proposals system works

You, if you're a Citizen, can participate in our governance. We Citizens often offer ideas for improvements (proposals) as well as raise questions that call for a decision (issues). The proposals system is a single place where Citizens may make proposals and raise issues. If you submit a proposal here, and it gains a champion (a "driver"), you can be sure that the community will respond; your ideas or your question will not simply fall through the cracks.

It is simple to start a proposal or raise an issue. Just supply some basic information, which goes in the list of initial proposals. If your initial proposal/issue is in order, the Proposals Manager will move it to a "subpage" of this page, depending on what body makes the decision about it. For example, proposals for the Editorial Council will go on the CZ:Proposals/Editorial Council page.

Your proposal or issue will get nowhere, however, if no one agrees to make it happen, that is, to drive the process of debating, adopting, and implementing it. We call this champion of your proposal its "driver." If your proposal does not gain a driver within a week, it will be moved from the initial proposals page to driverless proposals page. You can become a proposal driver, but if you do, you have more work to do, and you need to get acquainted with the full proposal system instructions. In any event, the driver develops your proposal on a separate proposal page, where details about the proposal are given: explanation, reasoning, implementation. There is also public discussion about the proposal on that page.

Whenever the driver feels the proposal or issue is ready, it can be submitted to the assigned decisionmaker(s), who should respond before too long.

A proposal is "finished" when it's accepted and put into use. Then it should be deposited in [[CZ:Proposals/GROUP/Finished]], where the GROUP is the decisionmaking body. If rejected, the proposal should be deposited in [[CZ:Proposals/GROUP/Declined]]. (Links to these pages can be found below.)

You do not have to use the proposals system to develop a proposal! Much work can be done without any special permission. You can also approach decisionmakers directly, bypassing the proposal system apparatus. (They might ask you to use it, though.) This system is just meant to make project policymaking easier.

For more on how to the proposal system works, see these instructions.

How to start a proposal

Step 1. Create a title for your proposal. Go to this page and follow the instructions on the top of that page.

Step 2. Go to the initial proposals page and follow the instructions on the top of that page.

Step 3 (optional). Again, on the the initial proposals page, follow the "complete proposal" link you'll find at the bottom of your new proposal box. On that page, you can elaborate the proposal or issue, link to pre-existing discussions, and generally say whatever you think needs to be said in order to get the proposal adopted, or the issue decided, and implemented. (Guidelines are available.)

Please note, as proposer, you do not have to fill out the just-described "complete proposal" page. The proposal's driver should do so; but that assumes that the proposal actually attracts a driver (a "champion"). If you do not volunteer to drive your proposal, there is no guarantee anyone else will. Note also that if you become the proposal's driver, it will be very useful (perhaps essential) for you to read the full instructions.

You're done starting the proposal!

Help

While the system is as simple as possible, the fully detailed rules that govern the system, from original proposal to implementation, are somewhat involved. You can see CZ:Proposals/Policy if you're interested, but you shouldn't have to know those rules in order simply to start a proposal. If you have a question, then please contact _________________, the Proposals Manager. You can also post a question on the talk page, which the Proposals Manager and others will monitor.

Proposals System Navigation (advanced users only)

Help/policy New proposals List of all proposals Driverless proposals: proposals that lack a champion Discarded proposals: poorly formed proposals Templates: {{Proposal}} | {{Proposal assignment}} | {{Proposals navigation}}

Proposal lists (some planned pages are still blank): Editorial Council: Active | Finished | Declined Approval and Feedback: Active | Finished | Declined Eduzendium: Active | Finished | Declined Recruitment: Active | Finished | Declined Constabulary: Active | Finished | Declined Executive: Active | Finished | Declined Technical: Active | Finished | Declined PR: Active | Finished | Declined Ad hoc management: Active | Finished | Declined