So you have been participating in a thread in Trope Repair Shop or Image Pickin'
, there has been some discussion about what to do to fix a page, and you want to move on to the next step and that much closer to actually fixing the page. In most cases, this means making a crowner.
What are crowners anyway?
Crowners are a tool for measuring consensus for a decision on the wiki. The name is an Artifact Title from when they were used to determine![](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/external_link.gif)
When should a crowner be made?
Generally, it is a good idea to wait until there has been a decent amount of discussion (and a Wick Check if appropriate) about the issue with the trope(s) before making a crowner. If you aren't sure whether it is time for a crowner, posting in the thread to ask is normally a good idea.How crowners are made
After an update, regular tropers are no longer able to create crowners; only mods and engineers have access to the crowner creation tool. It is unknown when or if tropers other than the staff will be able to make crowners again. For now, if a thread needs voting, list out the options in a post (by clicking on the little ellipsis icon all the way to the right) and send a holler for that post to ask a mod to make the crowner for you.What do I do after a crowner is made?
Building a consensus
The crowner should run until it stabilizes and there is a consensus. There is no strict set maximum or minimum number of days that a crowner has to stay open, but as a general rule of thumb, they should normally stay open for at least three days and should not be closed until there is a clear consensus. If the change is a major one (like the renaming of a whole namespace), you need at least one week. Crowners have timestamps in their headers, so check them if you aren't sure whether enough time has passed.The important thing for consensus is the proportion of votes rather than the number of votes. For example, an option with 20 ups and 10 downs (a 2:1 ratio) beats out one with 98 ups and 75 downs (a 1.31:1 ratio).
Consensus requires at least a 2:1 ratio of up vs. down votes. In the event that multiple options have at least 2:1 support on a crowner regarding changes to a page, all of the ones that are compatible with the option with the most support may also be done after the crowner is called.
Calling crowners and getting to work
If you think that a crowner has reached a consensus or if you are unsure, feel free to holler and ask the staff if it is time for the crowner to be closed. If a moderator or engineer agrees they will call the crowner and suggest that people start getting to work.You need to wait until the crowner is called before taking action or requesting another crowner. Also, in the rare event that no crowner options have consensus, it may be possible to use a new crowner with new options, or alternatively, the thread may be closed with no action being taken.
Due to the high throughput of Image Pickin', crowners generally only run for 5 days unless it's necessary for them to run longer. Additionally, the forum has guidelines for allowing a crowner to be called early:
- At any point, if the leading option has a vote balance of at least 10 and no other options have consensus. This is considered "super-consensus".
- After 3 days, if the leading option has a vote balance of at least 8 and no other options have consensus.
- After 4 days, if the leading option is the only one that has consensus.
Usage outside of TRS and IP
Moderators can hook crowners on any thread, including those outside of IP or TRS. Sometimes crowners are used in other subforums, normally so that votes don't have to be counted manually.Depending upon the purpose of these crowners, they may have different requirements to the generic Workshop crowners. Crowners in other subforums are typically accompanied by an Ask The Tropers post to draw attention to the vote.
However, there are also some scenarios where we actively avoid crowners. These are often cases where we prefer to avoid anonymous voting. Crowners are not normally used for:
- Proposed examples for the Magnificent Bastard and Complete Monster tropes. These tropes use a forum thread approval process, with manual voting to minimise misuse. Votes are not anonymous.
- Trope Launch Pad (TLP), which has its own system of hats and bombs. Hats and bombs, which aren't anonymous, are used to determine whether or not a new trope is ready to launch. TLP may still use crowners for other decisions, such as trope name choices.
- The Content Violation Discussions
(CVD) sub-forum. CVD does not use crowners or anonymous voting. These decisions need to be based on The Content Policy, not popularity.