Uncyclopedia:Consensus

From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia.

This page is considered an ignorable policy on Uncyclopedia.
It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that everyone should follow, unless they don't want to, in which case they are free to ignore it. Please make use of the standing on one knee position to propose to this policy.

Consensus is an important part of maintaining quality and open-editing (an inherent part of the wiki process) on Uncyclopedia. Consensus is achieved by determining what a majority of the users want. In the simplest terms, when an edit to a page is made, there is either a consensus to leave it or change it. However, establishing a consensus can be very difficult, and in some situations a flamewar or edit war may erupt. In even simpler terms than the simplest terms: all we need to do is convince a majority of people that something is funny...What we're doing is bringing democracy to humor.

[edit] Developing a consensus

There are a few ways to develop a consensus on Uncyclopedia. The first and most basic is that silence equates to consent. In other words, if an edit is made and not reverted, it is generally accepted by the community (or at least those we assume read the material) that the content is approved.

In the event that material is removed or reverted, the editor who added the material, if he/she wishes to do so, may discuss the content with the reverter on the talk page of that article or the user's talk page before reverting their revert (this can turn into revert war).^[1] To develop a consensus in which a disagreement has arose, one may submit the article to the Pee Review or gain the opinions of other users. The end result however, should be a compromise rather than a flamewar in which one user "wins". The users should express their opinions and be open to others'.

Featured articles have a strongly-established consensus. That is, because they were on the front page, they have been voted "best of the best" by a majority of the community. Users should refrain from editing these articles, or at least think very carefully before doing so.

Many protected or semi-protected pages have editing disabled in order to preserve consensus on contentious topics. As a result, many featured articles are either protected or semi-protected. Pages that are protected to prevent vandalism or undesired edits preserve community consensus as well.

Administrators have the final say in consensus to resolve disputes on consensus. However, administrators are urged to promote civility and compromises rather than making decisions for obstinate users. Administrative intervention should be the last resort when all other attempts to resolve the issue have failed.