Policy Adjustments and Discussion

Forum Discussion Thread

Adjustments to site rules and policies can be made by site staff according to the following procedures.

A. Policy Discussion

The Discussion Threads section of the Policy & Voting subforum is the place for discussion about possible policy changes. This is also the appropriate place for discussion of proposed changes to the SCP Wiki that are outside of the purview of a specific team, or require broader input from staff and users.

If a thread is posted within that subforum, an identical thread must be posted to the Staff Policy Discussions subforum on the SCP Wiki as a space where users are encouraged to leave any thoughts. The two must be linked to one another.

1. Staff are responsible for maintaining an awareness of and remaining up-to-date on discussions about changes to site policy.
2. Staff are responsible for contributing to discussions about site policy as they see fit.
3. Simultaneously, staff are required to maintain a degree of professionalism and emotional control during policy discussions, which can become heated at times. If necessary, staff may recuse themselves from conversations in order to regain composure.
4. A policy proposal must include information on exact amendments to be made, which guides are to be edited, and a list of people responsible for its implementation.

B. Voting

1. Voting is optional, to be used when consensus cannot be reached on a given topic. If objections to a proposal cannot be addressed through a Discussion Thread, any Active or Reserve member of Staff may call for a vote on the proposal to determine whether it should be implemented.
2. Voting threads should be created in the Voting Threads section of the Policy & Voting subforum.
3. Replies in voting threads are to consist entirely of yes, no or abstain votes, accompanied by limited explanation, unless the vote requires the selection of one or more options from a list. Abstentions count as participation in the vote without supporting any option. To ensure votes can be easily tallied, elaboration of one's position is to remain in the accompanying Discussion thread, not the Voting thread.
4. Only votes by active and reserve Staff will be counted.

C. Voting Periods

1. Votes will remain open for 1 week or until a majority of all current Active Staff members has voted for one option, whichever comes first.
2. Issues that have received less than the required amount of Staff participation may be extended by up to one week by an Administrator, or longer with the agreement of at least three Administrators.
3. Issues which do not receive the minimum required level of Staff participation will fail by default.

D. Voting Requirements

1. Implementing changes to the Site Charter require a supermajority (60%) of votes to be in favor, and the participation of at least 50% of active Staff.
2. All other votes require a majority (>50%) of votes to be in favor, and the participation of at least 30% of active Staff.
3. Decisions between more than two options on a vote require a plurality of those who vote to be in favor in order to pass.
4. Reserve Staff may vote, but do not count towards the required level of active staff participation.

E. Ties and Failure

1. Yes/no votes or votes between two options that result in a tie will be sent back to the discussion stage, unless the vote is extended by an Administrator.
2. Votes between three or more options that result in a tie require a new vote to be created to choose between those two options.
3. Votes that fail may not be raised for vote again without significant changes to the proposal and additional discussion.

F. Execution & Enforcement

1. Upon successful voting, all parties responsible for the policy are also responsible for its implementation.
2. Policy changes altering on-site guides (e.g. Site Rules, Guide to Newcomers, etc) require a brief summary of the change (Motivation, Solution) to be posted onto that guide's discussion page.