Hi guys! I know it's sad news that there is no new chapter this week, but I think it would be great if we could use this time to draw attention to our many, many, unresolved forums that we have right now. So many people devote a lot of time to editing when the chapters come out, and it would be great if in the absence of all that work, people could devote some time to the maintenance of the site.
One of the best things you can do with very little effort is to just read one of these forums and just say "I agree with ____." Stating that you agree with someone is actually very helpful, as it gives a much better idea of how people on the wiki actually feel. If you think that because you agree with something someone's already said you shouldn't have to say anything, you're sorely mistaken. Many of these forums are "dead" because of a lack of communication on them, and a perceived lack of interest from the wiki. Taking a stance on any of the issues is very important, even if you only say so in 3 words, as it helps the conversations stay alive, and allows decisions and changes to be made. On the other side of things, only talking in forums because you disagree with someone can also have negative side-effects, especially if you're very stubborn about it. It can lead people to think that you are just a negative person, and cause people to not like you much at all. It can lead the whole population of the wiki to dislike forums, because they can become a place where only the most bitter and awful arguments occur in the form of constant bickering. And the constant bickering that ensues does not lead to any changes being made. Regardless, input of any form, both positive and negative, is input nonetheless and is helpful towards at least keeping the discussions alive.
The bottom line is that it is VERY EASY to respond to a forum. An essay of a response is not necessary or required in forums. Users shouldn't just wait until there a poll to respond to an issue. Any dialogue is helpful, and frankly, right now this wiki needs help with these forums. Why can't you help?
To make it easy for everyone, I will list all the current forums and add a short description of the topic, state, and background of each:
Most notably, there is Forum:Blog Rules which has had one poll where it was decided rules shall be made, and it has moved on to discussion of the various proposed rules. Some rules being discussed are things like allowing blogs unrelated to One Piece and this wikia, and enforcing a minimum content restriction on blogs.
There is also the long-ignored forum I created Forum:Forum and Poll Rules Updates that deals with terribly out of date and inadequate forum rules. It also proposes several brand new changes to how voting works in polls, and could potentially change the way every forum is carried out. AND it helps AWCs and other new users learn how to make forums correctly. (With a strong emphasis on signing their posts) Only Uknownada has responded in detail, despite the importance of the forum... It's a very lonely forum. Please talk to it...
Forum:Manual of Style is the proposal of adding a Manual of Style (or a defined set of rules/guidelines that are how we edit across the wiki). There is currently an active discussion on the newest section Forum:Manual of Style#American English or British English, but the original section containing drafts of the actual MoS has been long-ignored as well.
Forum:Redirects and Other Link Issues is an offshoot of the Manual of Style forum. It deals with various ways that links can be written on the wiki. Two polls have closed, but difficulties have arisen that are described in this section
Forum:History Page Consistency deals with how sections are titled in History sections. The main discussion is whether arc names should be used for each section, or more interesting names should be made up. Currently, this is inconsistent.
Forum:Renders as Infobox Pictures The discussion and voting of this forum is closed, and it has decided that renders (Cutout images of characters on white backgrounds) are no longer allowed as pictures in the infoboxes of characters. However; many renders still remain and have not been changed yet. At the bottom of the forum is a list of all the characters that still have renders.
Forum:Wikia's Mainpage Images deals with images that wikia uses to advertise our wiki. Staff (via a bot) uploaded 3 images without consulting us, and one of them was fanart. Replacements are being discussed.
Forum:Videos on this wiki was created by a staff member in order to discuss how Wikia may be able to get videos legally from official sources (ie Funimation) and how we can possibly change our policy to allow some videos on the wiki.
Forum:Double Portraits deals with how some characters have two portrait pictures (the pictures used in crew tables, etc) uploaded. Even I am guilty of ignoring this forum...
Forum:Pre/Post timeskip switch is a forum that is about who should get a switched tab for their infobox picture depicting them in their Post-Timeskip and Pre-Timeskip appearances. It was decided through a poll that only characters who physically changed should get the change. Recently this issue has returned, and the forum has been re-opened for additional discussion.
While not a forum, there is also rich discussion taking place in Talk:Fansub about whether or not the page Fansub should exist.
As you can see, there are a lot of unresolved discussions here (and more than I expected) and it would be fantastic if some people who read this could post on at least one of them. Anything to get these conversations moving towards resolution is worth it. (Please note that the comments of this blog is not an appropriate place to discuss the content of these forums.)
If I have missed any forums that need further discussion, please feel free to say so in the comments, and I might add them to the blog. Also, people may know of some archived forums that still need discussion, and I am not opposed to adding archived things to this list. And also, if in the future after this forum is done, we find ourselves with more unresolved forums, let me know (via my talk page) and I may make a new blog or update this one.