Wikipedia:Publicising discussions#Best pracitces
{{Wikipedia how to|WP:PUBLICIZE}}
Some discussions, and most straw polls and votes on Wikipedia, need to be publicised widely in order to gain consensus for wide-ranging or fundamental changes. This page is a list of suggestions for places where such publicising should take place. It generally only applies to the largest and most structured discussions.
Most discussions will only use a few of the publicity methods shown. Normal discussions do not always need large amounts of input. A balance needs to be struck between gaining sufficient input for consensus, and overwhelming a discussion with too much input. Similarly, publicising minor discussions makes it more difficult for editors to identify the major discussions where their comments are more important. If discussion at a quiet talk page has just attracted no or very little input, then leaving a neutral note on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject or inviting users who commented in previous discussions on the page (but see WP:CANVASS) is normally the best first step.
Places to publicise
; General places
- Village pumps (including proposals and policy village pumps)
- The Community portal and the Community bulletin board
- Wikipedia:Requests for comment (including Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Policies)
- Mailing lists specific to Wikipedia, such as [https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l Wiki-en-l]
- Wikipedia:Third opinion, where two editors alone are in disagreement and a third opinion may help.
; Places for topical issues
- Various noticeboards; for example
- WP:AN for discussions that may affect or require administrator action
- WP:RSN for discussion related to reliable sources
- WP:BON for discussion related to bots
- The talk page of the relevant policies and guidelines
- The talk pages of relevant WikiProjects
- Talk pages of affected processes, e.g. WT:AFD or WT:RFAR
- Mailing lists specific to a particular process on Wikipedia, such as [https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/unblock-en-l unblock-en-l], [https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/accounts-enwiki-l accounts-enwiki-l], and [https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/oversight-l oversight-l]
; Places for technical issues
- Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)
- Mailing lists such as [https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l wikitech-l]
While many technical issues will require a bug report, that is generally not the place to publicise discussion.
; Discussions affecting the whole community
- Wikipedia:Centralized discussion for centralized discussion of policy, guideline, and infrastructure changes (not for content disputes in articles)
- Watchlist notice (propose additions at MediaWiki talk:Watchlist-messages – this is only for the biggest discussions – see also Template:MW notices)
; Other places
- Community news media, such as the Signpost, Wikipedia:Wikivoices, Wikipedia:WikipediaWeekly, and Wikipedia:Wikizine
:* Note: To suggest a story for the Signpost, post on the suggestions page. Posting about both ongoing and completed discussion are welcome.