Forum:Episode Page Editing Poll

Right, as some of you may have seen me and top admin Tangerineduel have been having a ongoing argument about the full protection that has recently been applied to the Death of the Doctor page. I thought that instead of the admins making a full on decision the whole wiki should have a part in it so (probably) the only way to do that is to do a poll. As you may have guessed Tangerineduel dissaproved of the idea and said that he had already done one on this fourum although barley any people knew that it was happening. I then asked The Thirteenth Doctor who is a extremely good editor. He told me that if we did do a poll people would then begin thinking that a poll could be used for anything: he used the example that a poll concerning blocking users might not go very well and the wiki could not block people. He then said that I should bring the problem onto this very page and that if I have a stong idea Tangerineduel might change the protection. Please give me your ideas/opinion. do not worry about what you say, the admins can not block you on what you have said on a fourum page. Be open. Thanks. Ghastly9090 14:20, October 21, 2010 (UTC)

'''Sorry I did not make myself clear. I am talking about Death of the Doctor editing. Ghastly9090 16:06, October 22, 2010 (UTC)'''


 * I would just like to defend myself and the other admins on this wiki.
 * We'd never block people for having a discussion, which is, I thought what Ghastly9090 and I were having.
 * Everyone can read more on our Discussion policy, Blocking policy and Vandalism policy which all relate to blocking of users and what would lead to blocking (certainly not discussion concerning the wiki's activities!).
 * Also for the polices and guides relevant to this discussion is the Protection policy, Spoiler policy and the Format for Television Story Entries.
 * And here is the original discussion; Forum:Premature page policies - again that Ghastly9090 mentions in the above post. --Tangerineduel 14:40, October 21, 2010 (UTC)
 * What exactly are you arguing for? Polls or removing the Death of the Doctor protection? -  I. Am. Excalibur-117 -(talk • contribs) 14:49, October 21, 2010 (UTC)
 * I think its about Polls, but according to Wikipedia Polling is not a substitute for discussion. And I am sure Tangerinedual has already told you this. You will have to be prepared to accepted that discussion also has to happen, and it will be the strength of the discussion over the polls. User:Mini-mitch 15:07, October 21, 2010 (UTC)
 * I see. While a poll is theoretically more efficent, a discussion is simply better overal for deciding things. The best ideas get implemented, not the most popular. -  I. Am. Excalibur-117 -(talk • contribs) 15:15, October 21, 2010 (UTC)


 * I think Ghastly is talking about the locking of pages. I'm simply going to restate what I said on the original page, as it basically covers it all.
 * "We are not a news organization. We are an encyclopaedia which documents that which has happened, not that which will." As far as I can tell, there's no benefits to the page being created early, but there are benefits if we wait.
 * 1. Titles of episodes and character names are subject to change until the moment the episode airs. This removes that possibility.
 * Note: The change from The Pandorica Opens to The Pandorica Opens (TV story) took about 24 hours using a bot, and even then it didn't get everything. 
 * 2. The rumours and such don't get out of hand.
 * 3. The page will not be deleted countless times until "enough information" is gathered.
 * 4. Time can be spent doing other things to improve the wiki, not necessary things because someone can't wait a few weeks. --The Thirteenth Doctor 16:14, October 21, 2010 (UTC)


 * Personally I think the admin only protection has worked well. It prevents new and unregistered users inserting rumours and unsourced information.--Skittles the hog 17:51, October 21, 2010 (UTC)
 * Then perhaps there could be a special protection? Ghastly9090 16:06, October 22, 2010 (UTC)
 * Then perhaps there could be a special protection? Ghastly9090 16:06, October 22, 2010 (UTC)

Now the "still cooking" lock has been used successfully on Death of the Doctor until broadcast according to plan, I think we have a good routine in place to stop the rumours and speculation getting out of hand while quickly getting the article up to standard when it's time. I concur with The Thirteenth Doctor and Skittles the hog above. Rob T Firefly 09:18, October 28, 2010 (UTC)

Archivist's notes
Confusing thread. Difficult to see what it was about, really. It does confirm the basic idea that polls alone aren't to be used as the basis for deciding things on a wiki. But that's sorta basic to the running of any wiki — hardly policy for just this one. I don't really think that was what the thread-starter was on about, though. Seems to have been arguing for some different level of protection on the page Death of the Doctor. But he didn't get it, so I guess this is best viewed as a "failed proposal". 00:27:44 Tue 31 May 2011