User:Theleekycauldron/Projects/Did you know/RfC on prep building
Phase I[edit]
What are the issues that need to be addressed with Did you know's preparation area process?
Executive summary[edit]
Wikipedia:Did you know consists of a four-part process, designed to allow as many nominators as possible to place their hooks on the Main Page. After a nomination is made, it is reviewed by an independent reviewer, closed and promoted to the preparation areas (called "preps") by a prep builder, and then moved to the Queue by an admin, where DYKUpdateBot will place the hook on the Main Page. This RfC is intended to address inadequacies in the third part of this process – closing and promotion, known as "prep set building".
Phase I will outline the issues and weaknesses in the prep-promotion process that can be addressed; these will be broad, general principles. In a short Phase II, the community will workshop ideas meant to address the problems raised in Phase I – this is not a strawpoll, and no idea will be summarily advanced or disqualified from Phase II. It is simply meant to hammer out the finer details of proposals before they are formally discussed and voted on, strengthening already-good ideas by allowing minor adjustments to be incorporated. Phase III will then formally discuss proposals meant to address the issues identified in Phase I. These can be proposals workshopped in Phase II, or they can be completely new ideas.
Lastly, this RfC represents the best efforts of the prep-set promotion team to involve the community in addressing the stoppages and delays we have been experiencing in the past months. We will do our utmost to work with the community in passing common-sense solutions that represent the best outcome for all the parts of the process; but we also feel that the current system is untenable long-term. Should the community not find consensus in recognizing the issues of the prep set process, or ratifying policies that ease that burden, the current prep promotion team will have to reassess its level of activity in that area. We want what is best for DYK, but we feel that it must also change to accommodate the needs of those who put their time and energy into making it work as well as it does, and will not continue to work in a system we feel ignores that effort.
For the prep promotion team,