Implemented Easy Mode for Wiki

[Wes]

This proposal is for an "easy mode" to submit wiki content.

Whereas:

• There is currently a significant buildup of 1,065 WIP articles
• Many of these articles are abandoned by their creators
• Star Army possesses a license to use the content of the WIP articles as established through the site's Terms of Use
• Some of these articles are useful, maybe even critical to some of SARP's factions/RPs
• It is Star Army's policy to remove articles which meet the Criteria for Deletion (read the linked page for details)
• Andrew has saved WIPs from deletion by moving them into the WIP section instead of deleting them (did you read the above linked page?)
• There is concern from Charmaylarg and others that these WIPs will be pruned if not touched in a year.

Proposal:

• Allow for a period of "easy mode" for submission of WIP content
• During this time period, wiki standards for templates are relaxed:
  
  Easy Mode Review Checklist:
  
  [ ] Page has a green smile face as rated by the Quality plugin
  [ ] The topic of the article is based on posted RP and links to the forum thread where it appears
  [ ] There are at least 3 sentences worth of solid content
  
  Easy mode submissions are not required to contain damage ratings, speeds, or other stats.
  
  
• During the Easy Mode period staff, FMs, and volunteers will attempt to clear the backlog of WIPs.
• The Easy Mode will last for the rest of the year, ending January 1st, 2024, and submissions standards will return to normal.

 

[iaincarter]

Hmm, could easily give a couple of hours a week towards working on fixing up WIP pages on the wiki!

 

[Andrew]

I think this should apply only to the older WIPs, maybe we can narrow this down somehow?

 

[Arbitrated]

I think in general this will help the wiki grow, as it's been mentioned that working on the wiki can feel like a chore of paperwork for some people rather than putting down history and information on "cool idea I'd love to write stories about".

I think the three-sentence requirement may be a little bit too light, personally. Maybe up it to five sentences? I see "solid content" written in which implies the sentences have to actually "mean something" but I feel that pushing for 5 (or perhaps more) will help reduce the amount of stub articles that will form from this process (saving us quite a bit of long-term work).

 

[Yuuki]

@Arbitrated did you just say something is too short?

 

[raz]

Honestly feels to me like submissions don't get scrutinized as much as they once did (and still should), so see this more as a kind of way to lighten the mental load that seems to loom over the process for some people. If having "easy mode" helps people get past a psychological block and contribute then that's great.

[ ] The topic of the article is based on posted RP and links to the forum thread where it appears

Since this "easy mode" is ostensibly intended to help with old articles then this checkbox might prove problematic. Just did a quick forum search for that Neshaten thing I spoke to Andrew and you about, and it has no RP and likely never will. So stuff like that will actually be held back even more explicitly than it is under non-easymoodo submission standards. Just something to consider.

Also, I believe this should still be part of an "easy mode" submission checklist, simply because it means nothing but is always a good reminder:

[ ] The article fits into the Star Army universe's space opera theme and technology levels.

 

[Wes]

I was inspired by this:

3 Sentence Rule

forgottenrealms.fandom.com

I think the RP requirement is key. Basically if it never got used in many years, is it ever? On the other hand, there's a lot of stuff that SHOULD be on the wiki but isn't because people didn't have time to sit and write a high quality article for it, but it's better to get this stuff recorded than have it forgotten to time. With the power of AI we can actually take short articles and expand them pretty handily at some later time.

Raz: For articles that people think are worth saving, I hope this gives people motivation to finally shine some RP sunlight on them and write a post in which they appear.

 

[demibear]

Is there anyways to use struct to sort wip articles by age? Would make it easier to find the oldest that need touching up.

 

[Wes]

Not that I know of.

 

[Primitive Polygon]

I support this suggestion. Active player faction bias and general interest should make the interesting and useful articles float to the top.

As for Raz's point, maybe being mentioned in another canonical and approved article can be occasionally applicable, instead of just forum posts?

 

[Yuuki]

being mentioned in another canonical and approved article can be occasionally applicable, instead of just forum posts?

That makes it just a case of a related unapproved that slipped through the cracks, so yeah.

As far as the freespacer glossary article, I feel like that kinda falls under FM and GM prerogative more than the canon approval process? Like all the internal Yugumo fluff pages about what they call their security guards on the ground vs on a ship type stuff. It's just whatever the people running RP with it want it to be, and using the wiki as a tool to keep it all straight and organized.

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Totally agree, it just gets extra messy when you are three or four FMs deep and the original attributions get lost.

Honestly, I think I am just going to remove the "Tech Scum" reliance on things I personally did not create, moving forwards. Maybe redefine some articles as 'Voidfolk' and burry that baggage once and for all.

It's been a literal decade. But that's getting off topic for this thread. Developments can be detailed elsewhere.

 

[Wes]

Due to the popularity of this suggestion, we're immediately implementing it.

To use easy mode, simply ask for it at submission if it's not already offered by the review staff.