Wikisource:Language domain requests/Rules for voting

Important project pages: • What is Wikisource? • Wikisource and Wikibooks • Votes • Copyright policy • Possible copyright violations • Proposed deletions • Cataloging • Wikisource and Project Gutenberg • Language policy • Language domain requests • Language domain requests/Rules for voting • Active tests • List of Wikisource Languages

Note: This page is about the rules for voting. To place an actual vote requesting a language domain, go to the Language domain requests page.

Introduction

Wikisource has adopted language subdomains as an official policy. There are three basic possibilities in setting the criterion for each language domain request: a liberal policy, a conservative policy, or a moderate policy.

These various possibilities are discussed on the talk page. Feel free to discuss them there, to make alternative suggestions, and to modify the policy suggested here based upon the results of that discussion.

The text below is is an initial suggestion for voting policy on language domain requests.

Suggested policy

Votes

• In order to start a new language edition, requests for that language must meet one of the following three criteria:

1. At least one experienced contributor at wikisource.org. An experienced contributor is someone who has been a logged-in user at wikisource.org for at least two months, with at least 250 Wikisource edits.
2. At least two experienced contributors at other Wikimedia projects in the specified language. In other words, two different users, each of whom has been logged-in for at least two months at a Wikimedia project (other than Wikisource) in the language that they have requested and made at least 250 edits in that project.
3. If there are insufficient experienced contributors, then a language request will be honored if it has at least three votes from active contributors in that language. An active contributor will be defined as someone who has been a logged-in user for one month at a Wikimedia project in the specified language, with at least 100 edits .

• Any user requesting a language domain must create a user page at Wikisource, and provide within it a link to the Wikimedia project(s) in which s/he is active (otherwise the vote is invalid).

Bureaucrat

• There must be a candidate for bureaucrat in each new language, so that sysops can be appointed when needed via local community decision. The candidate should be known as a responsible contributor to a Wikimedia project (preferably to wikisource.org when possible).

Other criteria

• A viable, well-crafted "Main Page" must already exist at wikisource.org, ready to be copied to a language domain, before that domain is set up.
  • Exceptions: Languages that are technically difficult to edit at wikisource.org (such as right-to-left languages). For such languages, the sample "Main Page" may be linked to, while temporarily hosted at the Wikipedia of that language.
• Links to the new language edition of Wikisource must all be made immediately prior to the launching of that language:

1. Links from all of the sister-projects in that language
2. Links from the Wikisource Portal (Main Page)
3. A link from that language's local wikisource.org "Main Page" (a redirect?)

Opposition

General Wikisource policy for all recognized Wikimedia languages (in which other projects already exist) will be that language requests are honored when there is sufficient interest. There is normally no "oppose" vote (except in unusual circumstances such as the examples below, and other exceptional cases). This general policy is in accordance with the outstanding goal of Wikimedia to make its content readily available to people in the languages that they speak, read, and write.

Still, there are certain borderline cases where opposition to creation of a language domain may exist, such as extinct ancient languages, artificial languages (Klingon), etc. There are also closely related languages where it is not always clear when a separate wiki is needed. In all such borderline examples, a case-by-case decision should be made based on the circumstances, in consultation with the community, and in accordance with Wikimedia policy. Local "Main Pages" at wikisource.org may always be set up in any case, for any language.

There may, however, be opposition to specific votes for a language domain, or for bureaucrat status. The clearest example of this is in a case where the vote in favor of a language domain is by a user known as a troll, vandal, or a someone who violates Wikimedia policy in other projects.