Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2012-06-18/Discussion report

The following is a brief overview of the current discussions taking place on the English Wikipedia.

Proposals

 * Proposal to ban instant blocking for established editors unless a warning has been validated issued first
 * The current way that administrators block established users that edit war is being discussed. This proposal has been criticized with the argument that established users should already know the rules and shouldn't need a reminder. An alternate proposal has been made to advise administrators to give a warning first if they feel the editor (experienced or not) is acting in good faith.


 * '''Touchscreen Reference Tooltip
 * See related Signpost coverage
 * A proposal for enabling the Reference Tooltips gadget by default is still under discussion. Recently a version that allowed touchscreen users to use the tooltips was released to be tested.

Requests for comment

 * Categorization of images
 * The way images are being categorized with articles is coming under fire in an attempt to find a better way to organize the images hosted on the English Wikipedia. The rationale behind this proposal is to improve usability by reducing clutter to allow users to focus on what they are actually looking for.


 * Expansion of Ban Appeals Subcommittee
 * The Arbitration Committee is considering a potential change to the structure of its Ban Appeals Subcommittee to include non-arbitrator seats. This subcommittee hears appeals from restricted users.


 * '''Years by country categories
 * The way Category:Years by country will continue to work is being questioned as a result of the lack of consistency due to gaps and empty categories. Fram has laid out a starting proposal regarding the different aspects of the categorization.