Wowpedia:Policy status phases

These are the statuses and phases that policies at Wowpedia will go through before being adopted (implemented and followed by Wowpedia users) or otherwise.

Policy status and phases
Policy pages should have a status at the top that indicates whether the policy is still a proposal, ratified, or adopted. A policy can also be recalled by users or vetoed by the Admins.
 * Policy proposal – The policy proposal is open for voting.
 * Ratified – The policy is in effect, but there are changes that need to be carried out or implementation details to solve before it can be fully adopted.
 * Adopted – This policy is officially accepted by the Wowpedia community insofar as those who voted represent the community. It has been fully implemented.
 * Recalled – A policy may be recalled with the same requirements for passage as a normal policy vote. Once recalled, the policy no longer has effect. However, the recalled policy should be kept for further discussion and not deleted.
 * Vetoed – The admins can always veto a policy outright. Their rule is law, but the users can of course comment on vetoed policies to try to persuade the admins.

Vote ratios and time

 * Ratification minimum – the winning side must have a minimum of 5 votes.
 * Ratification ratio – if the ratification minimum has been met and the yes votes exceed the no votes by 3 to 1, then the policy is has met the ratification ratio. Examples: 5:1, 6:2, 9:3, etc..
 * Ratification time – the winning side must remain winner for 1 week (7 days). However, if the ratification ratio is high (4 to 1 in favor) and the number of yes votes is high (15), 3 days is enough.

Decreed policies
Some policies will be established by admin via decree without voting, unlike normal policies.

Community input is still valued in cases where an admin doesn't seem to have good reasons, so maybe another admin will revert it. Like with any other policy, you can start a vote to recall it. Or a new policy proposal to change it. But be aware that if you're e.g. proposing that Wowpedia should contain exploit information, any administrator is likely to Veto it outright.

Grandfathered policies
A grandfathered policy is a something that had been in effect and actively enforced by admins as well as the vast majority of the contributors for a long time without it having been a documented policy. This kind of de-facto standard can be documented after the fact as a grandfathered policy; usually by administrators.

Like with any other policy, you can start a vote to recall it. Or a new policy proposal to change it.

Proposing a policy
To start your proposal, either create a new article, or add to an existing policy or proposal's talk page:

Introduction text, if you want to write one === The Policy === Do this, or don't do that... === Reasoning === I feel that this is needed because ....

Policy proposal automatically places the page in Category:Policy proposals.

Setting up the voting booth
In the page of the proposal (after your proposal if you wrote it in a talk page rather than standalone), add the following and save the page:

Policy talk

This will pull in Policy vote and create an editable voting booth. Policy vote automatically places the talk page in Category:Votes in progress.

Since you are the one proposing the policy, you will likely want to follow the instructions that appear to vote in favor of your own proposal.

Starting a policy recall vote
If you disagree with an adopted Wowpedia policy, you can start a vote to recall it.

In the page of the proposal, add the following:

== Vote to Recall == Your reason for wanting to recall this policy Policy/Recalltalk

This will pull in Policy recall and create an editable voting booth. Policy recall automatically places the talk page in Category:Votes in progress.

Since you are the one proposing the recall, you will likely want to follow the instructions that appear to vote in favor of recalling the proposal.

Banners
The following banners will appear on policy pages (proposal or otherwise) to indicate their status (and phase):
 * Policy proposal – places the page in Category:Policy proposals
 * Ratified – places the page in Category:Policies ratified but not implemented
 * Adopted
 * Decreed
 * Rejected
 * Recalled
 * Vetoed
 * Grandfathered

Templates
The following templates can be used for setting up votes in discussion area of policy article:
 * – this pulls in Policy vote and adds an editable voting booth
 * – this pulls in Policy recall and adds an editable voting booth

These templates will appear, but don't need to be added manually:
 * Policy vote
 * Policy recall

Categories

 * Category:Policy proposals – The actual policy proposals will be listed here
 * Category:Votes in progress – The voting booths for proposed policies are listed here
 * Category:Policies ratified but not implemented – Established as policy but implementation work remains
 * Category:Policies – All policies are listed here.