[pmwiki-users] PmWiki Magazine proposed Submission/Approval Process

Ben Wilson dausha at gmail.com
Thu Sep 28 12:10:40 CDT 2006


On 9/28/06, Sandy <sandy at onebit.ca> wrote:
> As is, the author pretty much takes the article through the entire
> process. Do we need an editor / mentor / co-ordinator to reassure the
> author that "Yes, the time has passed with no objections, consider it
> accepted"? We're in a lovely grey area between a free-for-all and formal
> print.

On "editor/mentor/co-ordinator.":

(Henrick thought I'd be a good fit so) If nominated, I will run, if
elected, I will serve. ;-)

For the sake of labeling, the proposal I submitted is a "Mentor-based"
process. The onus is on the Author to ensure he respects the process,
and Mentors help with proofing, etc. The Community polices itself
unless there is sufficent abuse to warrant more control. I advocate
this approach. However, for those interested in more control, I submit
an amendment for a "Moderator-based" process.

Mentor-Based Process. My proposed process does put a fair amount of
work on the author. Take the "Proposal/Acceptance" phase. The author
publishes his proposal with the date of proposal.[1] Assuming a 2-week
notice period, then fourteen days later he moves the proposal to
upcoming. The period should be reasonable (i.e. what the Community
thinks is sufficient).

The "abuse" clause serves as a warning to an author who decides to
shorten or forego the notice period, or otherwise side-step the
process. The hope is that Community respect and rapport will police
this process. If this phase becomes a problem, then we can tighten
control. We have page histories to verify that the author does not
back-date his submission.

Mediator-Based Process. A way of tightening control (in the event of
abuse) is password protecting all pages in Magazine but the proposed
article page. Then, the author could propose and after the notice
period one of several moderators (perhaps four or five with the
password) moves the page over. If a moderator is also an author, we
would hope that he abides by the rules lest we question his role as
moderator. The additional effect of this tightened control is the
article publication also must pass through a moderator. Perhaps
another way is to have a primary moderator and a few others who step
in when the moderator is swamped.[2] Throughout, Pm would be the
Administrator, Lord of All He Surveys.[3] Let's call this approach a
"Moderator-based" process.

In the spirit of PmWiki, I advocate the Mentor-based process absent a
showing of abuse warranting tighter control. I think "Mentor" would be
a good title for those who volunteer to proofread articles before
publication. Not quite an Editor, but more than a Peer.

Ben Wilson
[1]: See http://pmwiki.org/wiki/Magazine/ProposedArticles for an
example proposal.
[2]: We all have busy lives.
[3]: Would we have it any other way? This way, we can always just blame him! :-)




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