Brainstorming way to tweak TLP draft ownership

Per an idea from ~badtothebaritone regarding disabling launching of TLP drafts for anyone except their owner, I wanted to throw out some ideas for how to implement this:

• When a draft is created, along with the "Proposed by:" and "Last Edited By:" info, there's an entry for "Owner" with a text field and a button saying "Up For Grabs".
  • The text field is autofilled with the draft's creator.
  • The "Up For Grabs" and "Launch" buttons can only be clicked by the owner and moderators.
• If the owner decides to set the draft to U4G, they can click that button. This will change the Owner field to say "Up For Grabs" and completely disable the Launch button. Alternately, if the draft sits idle for the requisite amount of time, then the U4G state will automatically engage.
• Once the draft is in U4G state, another button appears stating "Take Ownership". This will either automatically set whoever clicks the button to become the draft's owner, or send a PM to the creator asking "Do you want this person to become the owner?" with Yes or No options. If they click Yes, then the transfer happens; if No, then they become the owner again.

This is just off the top of my head, but it seems like at least a plausible starting point. Thoughts?

Edited by Willbyr on Apr 14th 2023 at 9:53:39 AM

Okay, pretty good.

A few things need to be adjusted though. Have the owner choose whether someone automatically gets the TLP draft or has to have PM sent to them to accept it before they can own the draft. Just in case a former owner of a TLP draft who put the PM option isn't active anymore, to prevent the draft just sitting in a void of no updates, have it automatically give the adopter the draft after a certain amount of time.

Edited by CardboardBot on Apr 14th 2023 at 12:29:38 PM

Wouldn't work if the draft creator became inactive, unless mods can assign a draft owner.

Yeah I had the same concern, if a TLP sponsor was now inactive, then the draft could never get grabbed. Maybe make it so if the two month mark hits, the TLP is auto UFG and can be claimed without the original sponsor's permission? If the original sponsor marks it UFG, then they get the PM request.

Didn't I already point out a way that could be used to fix that issue?

Yeah, exactly. Most drafts that go UFG aren't designated as such, but have been abandoned for years. I don't want a system that forces it to be put UFG by the sponsor only.

Maybe a system that automatically makes it UFG if the sponsor hasn't touched it in two months, along with the ability to set it as such freely?

Pretty sure 2 months is an auto-forfeit. Asking first is a good courtesy, but not required. If you want to maintain that, maybe allow the request to automatically become a yes if not answered long enough.

Edited by ANonagon9 on Apr 14th 2023 at 5:59:29 AM

That is literally what I posted but in different wording.

Sorry, must've misinterpreted you

Already covered in the OP, check the second bullet.

Edited by Willbyr on Apr 14th 2023 at 5:58:26 AM

Ah, missed it, my bad.

Would it also help to, rather than having the sponsor/adopter edit the title or laconic to announce a launch date, implement an official countdown feature so the draft can show that it's being launched at a given date? (It doesn't have to be a real-time countdown, just some sort of sticker or label that indicates the chosen time and date). Obviously, the minimum period would have to be 24 hours, and would eliminate the risk of the person accidentally launching the draft with the date still in the name.

Sounds good.

"Owner" or "Sponsor"?

I prefer to use "sponsor" to refer to the one curating the drafts to promote the explained trope, due to the not-very-good connotations of the word "ownership" nowadays. But if "owner" is the agreed term to use in this thread, then I won't oppose.

I'm gonna second "sponsor" as the better word. Spearheading a page doesn't mean you own it.

Agreed, “Sponsor” would be better.

I’ll be on mobile this weekend but I’ll keep up with this as I can.

So, taking the input into account:

• When a draft is created, along with the "Proposed by:" and "Last Edited By:" info, there's an entry for "Sponsor" and a button saying "Up For Grabs".
  • The draft's creator is also the sponsor unless/until it becomes U4G.
  • The U4G and "Launch" buttons can only be clicked by the sponsor and moderators.
• The draft is set to U4G:
  • If the sponsor clicks the U4G button (a confirmation is probably a good idea). This will change the Sponsor to say "Up For Grabs" and completely disable the Launch button.
  • Automatically if no edits are made in two months.
• Once the draft is in U4G state, another button appears stating "Become Sponsor". (Alternately, this could always be visible but not be clickable until U4G is active.)
  • If the U4G status came due to inactivity, then the person who clicks the button automatically becomes the sponsor.
  • If the creator/previous sponsor set the draft to U4G, they will receive a PM asking "Do you want this person to become the sponsor?" with Yes or No options.
    • If Yes, then the transfer happens.
    • If No, then they become the sponsor again.
    • Failure to respond within 3 days is an automatic transfer.
• If the mod hold is engaged on a draft, then it will be frozen in whatever state it's in until the hold is lifted. Lifting a hold will reset the 2-month timer if the draft is not in U4G.

Did I get everything?

Also, I'm not worried about the title issue right now, I'm specifically concentrating on this process for the time being.

Edited by Willbyr on Apr 25th 2023 at 2:43:37 PM

The proposed additions sound good to me.

One tweak — if the current sponsor has made no edits within a specified period of time, rather than it being placed up for grabs automatically, the sponsor should instead receive a PM asking "Do you want this draft to be placed U4G?", with yes or no options. Three days without a response to that would automatically place it up for grabs.

I say this partially because I've made two TLP drafts of my own that have gone for lengthy times without updates (because nobody's offered further examples in that time and they don't have enough examples to be properly launched yet), but I'm still active on the site and monitoring these drafts, and don't want them automatically going to the first person who asks without any input from me. And I'm sure I'm not the only one like this.

Until next time...

Anon e Mouse Jr.

I mean, you're allowed to bump your TLP drafts if you want them to get feedback. It's pretty easy to assume a sponsor has completely lost interest if they don't do that from time to time, because at a certain point you can't expect others to seek it out if it's not in the first few pages.

"Automatically if no edits are made in [period of time - two months?]"

Unsure what's the hesitation, Up for Grabs says 2 months. Though to be future-proof it's best if mods have the settings to that.

Fair, but a sponsor should still get notified if someone else thinks it's up for grabs and wants to claim it, just in case said sponsor has been preoccupied with other stuff and forgotten to bump it from time to time, rather than just automatically have it taken from them.

Until next time...

Anon e Mouse Jr.

That's what I was thinking, but I hadn't read that page in a good long while so I wasn't 100% sure. Edited that part, thanks

To that point, maybe at the point of 3 days before the 2-month window expires, the system could send the creator/sponsor a PM stating "Your draft will automatically be set to Up for Grabs if you do not make any edits by [date]".

Edited by Willbyr on Apr 16th 2023 at 10:54:22 AM

Works for me.

Until next time...

Anon e Mouse Jr.

Yes, I'd rather that. It's not common, but I know some sponsors who've essentially held their drafts hostage by refusing to let someone else take it even if they haven't touched it in literal years, and I don't want a situation where a sponsor can keep rejecting the community's attempt to adopt it even if that sponsor is barely working on it.