Tilcayo Cats:Consensus
| This page in a nutshell: Decisions are made by discussion, weighed by the strength of policy-based arguments, not by counting heads. If you are reverted, stop and discuss. Consensus cannot override policy. |
How it works
- Be bold, once. Make the edit you think is right. If nobody objects, that is consensus.
- If you are reverted, discuss. Don't restore your edit. Start a thread on the talk page, explain your reasons with sources and policies, and wait for replies.
- Arguments, not votes. Whoever closes a discussion weighs the arguments against policy. Comments that ignore policy, repeat others or come from connected or paid editors without disclosure carry little or no weight.
- Consensus cannot override policy. No local agreement can keep a non-notable topic, allow an unsourced claim or relax the rules for living people or paid work.
- It can change. A past decision can be revisited when there are new sources or arguments, but not by repeating the same request until people give up.
Edit warring
Undoing another editor's change more than once on the same page in 24 hours, without discussion, is edit warring (Wikipedia allows three reverts; we allow one). It may lead to protection of the page or a block. Exceptions: reverting obvious vandalism, removing BLP violations and copyright infringement, and reverting banned or blocked users. Report edit warring at the edit warring noticeboard.
Getting more views
If a talk page discussion is stuck, ask for a third opinion, raise it at the relevant noticeboard, or at the village pump for wider questions. Ask once, in one place, in neutral words. Discussions that need a formal close can be listed at Closure requests. There is no arbitration committee and no formal mediation: if discussion fails, an administrator decides on policy grounds.
Page moves
Uncontroversial moves can be made by anyone. If a move is likely to be disputed, discuss it on the article's talk page first, and leave it open for seven days.