From 75e9d95fd6527b058711ffb1acdfdfef51add5ac Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gareth Coles Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2021 11:30:14 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 01/10] Create the new RFC file --- .gitignore | 1 + community/0000-governance-amendment-1.md | 7 +++++++ 2 files changed, 8 insertions(+) create mode 100644 .gitignore create mode 100644 community/0000-governance-amendment-1.md diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 00000000..9f11b755 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +.idea/ diff --git a/community/0000-governance-amendment-1.md b/community/0000-governance-amendment-1.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..3b9b910c --- /dev/null +++ b/community/0000-governance-amendment-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +# Summary + + +# Motivation + + +# Explanation From cfed218750a3ebfed762983961a815a841072551 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gareth Coles Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2021 11:34:08 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 02/10] Update RFC number to match PR --- ...0-governance-amendment-1.md => 0029-governance-amendment-1.md} | 0 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-) rename community/{0000-governance-amendment-1.md => 0029-governance-amendment-1.md} (100%) diff --git a/community/0000-governance-amendment-1.md b/community/0029-governance-amendment-1.md similarity index 100% rename from community/0000-governance-amendment-1.md rename to community/0029-governance-amendment-1.md From a1e0d5744fa714e2d59183fc5270c6f9e504539e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gareth Coles Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2021 11:35:57 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 03/10] Move file to `rfc/` --- .../0029-community-amendment-1.md | 0 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-) rename community/0029-governance-amendment-1.md => rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md (100%) diff --git a/community/0029-governance-amendment-1.md b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md similarity index 100% rename from community/0029-governance-amendment-1.md rename to rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md From 43b548bb78ab0df6febcb6f8090a3a0de2d0adb7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gareth Coles Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2021 13:33:59 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 04/10] Initial draft, plus links and a typo in the original --- rfc/0007-community-team.md | 15 +- rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md | 299 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 2 files changed, 309 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-) diff --git a/rfc/0007-community-team.md b/rfc/0007-community-team.md index e83fa507..94d4478e 100644 --- a/rfc/0007-community-team.md +++ b/rfc/0007-community-team.md @@ -1,3 +1,12 @@ +# Amendments + +The following documents are amendments of this one. Please note that any information provided in amendments overrides +anything you may find in amendments, with later amendments overriding earlier ones. + +To aid readability, amendment documents will include the entire modified block, rather than just a changeset. + +* [RFC 29: Community Team (Amendment 1)](/rfc/0007-community-team.md) + # Summary This document exists to describe the formation of a team that handles Quilt's community management tasks. It makes @@ -233,7 +242,7 @@ The election has **failed** when one of the following is true: * A week has passed and less than 75% of the community team and administrative board has voted * A week has passed, at least 75% of the community team and administrative board has voted, and those that have voted have reached a consensus in opposition of the candidate - or a consensus cannot be reached -* The candidate recieves more negative votes than the total amount of positive votes and votes not yet submitted +* The candidate receives more negative votes than the total amount of positive votes and votes not yet submitted If a situation occurs that this section is unable to cover, it will be amended. In those situations, the election will fail and need to be restarted after the relevant changes have been made to address the issue. @@ -260,10 +269,8 @@ that concerns them about an applicant, and criticisms are not limited to the abo ## Process: Removing Team Members - - Removal of members from the community team follows the process outlined in -[RFC 6: Governmental Structure](https://github.com/QuiltMC/rfcs/blob/0006-governance/community/0006-governance.md#removal-of-staff). +[RFC 6: Governmental Structure](/community/0006-governance.md#removal-of-staff). --- diff --git a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md index 3b9b910c..4895ee53 100644 --- a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md +++ b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md @@ -1,7 +1,304 @@ # Summary +This document exists to amend and update the definitions and processes defined in +[RFC 7: Community Team](/rfc/0007-community-team.md). It addresses some shortcomings in the Community Team's governance +and structure that have become apparent over the first few months since the community Discord server became open to the +public. -# Motivation +## Changes +A summary of the changes made within this amendment follows: + +* Keyholders are explicitly no longer members of the Community Team, but they're still welcome to oversee the community + team's decisions and processes and provide feedback and insight if they wish. This also means they're no longer + considered to be voting members. +* It's no longer required that all Community Team members are moderators. While the majority of the Community Team + should be moderation and management staff, there's also room for event managers, organisational supports, and so on. +* Trainee Community Moderators have been defined, and new Community Moderators must go through a training period before + they can graduate and become Community Moderators. Trainee Community Moderators do not vote on internal polls, and + are not expected to handle difficult situations. +* The process for handling internal votes has been separated out from the rest of the processes, and standardized. This + allows for a consistent voting process regardless of what's being voted on, while still allowing for extra closing, + failing and passing conditions as required. Failing conditions also override passing conditions, instead of the other + way around. +* The voting process now takes abstentions into account, both explicitly (where the voting member states they're + abstaining) and implicitly (where the voting member simply doesn't vote). +* Admins are no longer considered to be voting members unless they're part of the Community Team, or consensus for a + vote cannot be reached. +* For Community Team elections, the interview now comes before the vote, rather than the other way around. # Explanation + +The Community Team will be in charge of maintaining the Quilt community spaces, as detailed in the summary. It will +be responsible for drafting up, accepting comments on and implementing community policies, interacting with and +protecting the community and its members, and resolving conflicts and enforcing the community policies. Community Team +members also play a large role when it comes to community engagement, and team members should be prepared to plan +events and generally engage with the community when possible. + +## Keyholders + +While Quilt is a community project with concerns split across different teams, Discord (and some other platforms) is +designed with the core idea of a single community leader or owner in mind. For that reason, platforms that cannot be +run explicitly under team leadership alone must be "owned" by a keyholder. + +A keyholder is a democratically elected member of the community that otherwise has no direct involvement or stake +in the management of the community. By electing an otherwise unrelated party to be a keyholder, it's hoped that the +Quilt community spaces can avoid the issue of a community leader gone rogue - it should prevent an abuse of power from +giving someone total control over any community space, at least as far as is possible. + +After they've been elected, a keyholder does not need to be otherwise active in the community. All that's required of +them is that they're easily contactable (within reason), and that they're prepared to act in the event that something +happens that they will need to take care of. + +Keyholder candidates should: + +* Be able to show that they have no conflicting interests or personal wish to be in power +* Be known to a majority of the Community Team +* Have a clean, positive reputation in the Quilt community and wider modding community +* Have some accreditation or other guarantee of reputation in the wider modding community +* Regarding Discord specifically, they should be prepared to act as a liaison with the Discord team and to represent + the Quilt community officially when interacting with them, including in the event of a partnership or working + relationship with Discord +* Understand what's involved with keyholding, and be ready to step in when needed + +Keyholders are not members of the Community Team, and they are not required to be obvious in the communities they +keyhold for - but they are free to make themselves known if they wish. They're also welcome to oversee the community +team in their actions and processes, and provide opinions and feedback if they wish. + +## Basic Responsibilities + +All members of the Community Team have the following responsibilities: + +* To represent the Quilt project in an honest and respectful manner, and serve as an example of good behaviour in + community spaces +* To participate in the processes that shape the Community Team, including voting on new team members and structural + changes to community spaces (unless they're a Trainee Community Moderator - see below) +* To engage with the community authentically, being present and visible in the community when able and appropriate +* To be supportive of other Community Team members, providing insight, advice and support when able and appropriate +* To help with the planning and running of community events and projects, when able and appropriate + +All team roles are additive - they add additional responsibilities on top of this basic set. + +## Team Roles + +Community Team members may have specific roles, which define additional responsibilities (and additional tools to meet +those responsibilities) on top of their basic responsibilities, as defined above. While the roles are intended to be +fairly balanced regarding their responsibilities, there is still likely to be some overlap - for example, Community +Managers also have the *ability* to moderate, if they're required to. + +The role structure is intended to be flat, rather than an explicit hierarchy. Roles represent tasks and +responsibilities, rather than seniority. Roles may be assigned based on a number of criteria, including: + +* Previous experience +* Staffing shortfalls or situational needs +* Suitability for the role +* Types of work the team member is offering to handle + +### Community Managers + +Community managers are responsible for day-to-day administrative tasks in Quilt community spaces, and take an active +role in the Community Team candidacy process. They're in charge of mobilizing and supporting the rest of the community +team, maintaining community spaces, and keeping everything running smoothly. Responsibilities include: + +* Actioning changes to the structure of community spaces, or to community policies +* Aiding in conflict resolution and decision-making, especially when it comes to difficult moderation decisions +* Engaging with the community when they have questions, reports or issues, and working with them to address their + concerns +* Facilitating the Community Team candidacy process by helping other team members to set up polls, and conducting + interviews +* Maintaining informational channels, and writing and posting community-oriented announcements +* Managing any bots or other community-relevant automation tools +* Organising, training and supporting the moderation team, and acting as supplemental moderators as required +* Supporting the rest of the Community Team in their work, providing them with the tools and changes to community + spaces that they need + +Community managers must be appointed democratically, following the process outlined later in this document. If +required, the keyholders will handle handing out the permissions required for community managers to work in Quilt +community spaces. + +### Community Moderators + +Community Moderators are responsible for maintaining the safety and welfare of the members of the Quilt community by +enforcing the community policies, aiding in conflict resolution and dealing with problematic users and behaviours. +Responsibilities include: + +* Aiding in conflict resolution between community members, and de-escalating heated situations +* Applying infractions for problematic behaviour or removing problematic users - in accordance with the community + policies +* Collaborating with other Community Team members to ensure the smooth running of the community, and to ensure that due + process is followed - in accordance with the community policies +* Engaging in active, honest participation in the Quilt community +* Engaging in the Community Team's democratic processes +* Helping members to find the correct community space for their query, and ensuring that other members don't prevent + them from getting the support they need +* Keeping up to date on social issues (especially those that affect minority groups), and applying that knowledge to + keep community members safe + +Community Moderators must be appointed after a training period of no less than one week, graduating from their position +of Trainee Community Moderator after a review of their performance by the rest of the Community Team. + +### Trainee Community Moderators + +Trainee Community Moderators are new moderators that have been appointed as part of the process for electing team +members. They have a similar set of responsibilities to Community Moderators, and are "in training" - with oversight +and support provided by the rest of the Community Team. + +The intention of this position is to provide new moderators with a buffer period, where they can feel more comfortable +seeking help and support from the rest of the Community Team. They're also publicly differentiated from the rest of +the moderation team, to ensure that community members understand that they're in-training and may make mistakes. +Trainee Community Moderators are expected to lean on the rest of the team, and to incorporate feedback given to them. +There is no requirement that they handle situations they're unsure about, or to make difficult decisions - these are +responsibilities assigned to Community Moderators and Community Managers. + +Trainee Community Moderators should be excluded from the voting process until they graduate. + +Trainee Community Moderators must spend at least one week in this position before they can be promoted to Community +Moderator, pending a review of their performance and discussion by the rest of the Community Team. Trainee Community +Moderators must be appointed democratically, following the process outlined later on in this document. + +## Process: Voting on Changes + +As Quilt is a community-run project and seeks to avoid the problems that come with single or small groups of people with +the very last, final say on everything, the Community Team implements a democratic approach for much of its processes. +This is detailed in this section - all other processes that involve votes should follow this process, unless otherwise +specified. + +### Admin Board Members + +Unless they're also a voting member of the Community Team, members of the Quilt Admin Board do note vote on internal +polls by default. Instead, they should only vote in order to break ties or contribute to inconclusive polls - votes +provided by members of the admin board are tripled, meaning that **one vote becomes three** - this is detailed in +[RFC 6: Governmental Structure](/community/0006-governance.md), as the admin board is the only parent of the community +team. + +### Trainee Community Moderators + +Trainee Community Moderators are not voting members of the Community Team, and should not be considered for internal +votes. This is to ensure that all voters have had some time to get familiar with the community and how it's run - but +non-voting members of the Community Team are always welcome to express their opinions and provide insight if they wish +to. + +### Voting Process + +1. The Community Team needs to discuss the subject matter of the vote beforehand, and discern whether a vote should + take place to begin with - if it's decided that a vote will surely fail, then no vote is required and the motion + can be dismissed immediately. +1. A poll is created in an internal channel that's designated for that purpose, either by posting a simple message or + via a bot designed to facilitate polling. This poll should provide as much detail as possible, either directly in + the poll message or by providing links and references - but it must be clear and not misleading, and the core idea + must be present in the message instead of in the references. + + Polls must also include a closing date of no less than one day and longer than one week, regardless of the proposal + put forward. +1. Members of the Community Team may vote on the poll using the provided reactions. All polls should include a positive + and negative option, as well as the option to abstain. Voting members that abstain are excluded from percentages and + tallies. +1. Voting members are not required to explicitly explain their votes - major problems with the proposal should be + worked out before the vote even begins, to avoid putting particular community members on the spot. + +### Closing Votes + +Voting ends when any of the following conditions have been reached: + +* The poll's closing date has been reached +* The poll has failed or passed early due to at least 75% of the voting members of the Community Team voting in that + direction, excluding abstaining members from that count +* The special closing conditions specified as part of the specific process that this vote is part of have been met, if + any + +### Interpreting the Vote + +When a poll has closed, the votes should be inspected. If the final vote has a margin of three votes or fewer, +non-voting members of the administrative board must be invited to vote on the poll, with their votes counting for +three. They are not required to vote if they don't feel they need to, however. + +If any voting members of the Community Team don't vote on the poll (unintentionally or otherwise), their vote **must be +counted as an abstention.** + +THe Community Team should then tally the final vote counts, and interpret them as follows. + +#### Failing conditions + +The vote has failed when one of the following is true: + +* The total number of _abstentions_ **is greater than or equal to** 25% of the count of voting members of the community + team, rounding up to the nearest whole number +* The total number of _negative_ votes **is greater than or equal to** the number of _positive_ votes +* The special failing conditions specified as part of the specific process that this vote is part of have been met, if + any + +#### Passing conditions + +The vote has passed when one of the following is true, but only if no failing condition has been met: + +* The total number of _positive_ votes **is greater than** the number of _negative_ votes +* The special passing conditions specified as part of the specific process that this vote is part of have been met, if + any + +#### Other situations + +As detailed above, there should be no situations where a vote ends in a tie. If a situation arises that the voting +process is unable to cover, the vote will fail and will need to be re-tried when the process has been amended. + +## Process: Electing Team Members + +As our primary communication space is the official Discord server, Community Team member appointments should be +processed on Discord. Quilt's Community Team members are elected using a democratic internal process: + +1. Members of Quilt community spaces may apply to join the community by contacting the Community Team directly. The + preferred contact method for this is by making use of the ModMail system on Discord. + + * Alternatively, candidates may be put forward by other members of the Community Team, after some internal + discussion. This may be a result of observations made by the Community Team, suggestions from community members, + or otherwise - but the Community Team should always discuss before putting forward a candidate, and they should + ensure that the candidate is actually interested in the position they're being put forward for. +1. Candidates must be interviewed by a Community Manager before the election process can continue. All voting members + of the Community Team should be given access to the interview space, and other voting members of the Community Team + are welcome to give their opinions on the content of the interview, or present their own questions after the + Community Manager giving the interview opens the floor to them. +1. After an interview has taken place, a vote should be proposed, following the voting process outlined earlier in this + document. This poll should last for exactly one week, with the following special conditions: + + * The vote has **failed** when: + * The margin between positive and negative votes is less than or equal to 20% of the number of voting community + members, excluding abstentions and rounding up to the nearest whole number. + + The poll should include the user's history in the community and their reputation in the wider modding community, if + known. It should also include the specific position they're applying for. +1. Once the vote has closed, the candidate should be contacted by a community manager and given the result, which will + decide whether their application was successful. + + * If the vote (and thus application) has failed, the candidate should be given feedback on their interview and + any actionable concerns should be provided. Candidates with failed applications should not be excluded from + applying again, but their next application should be at least a month after their previous one. + + * If the vote (and thus application) has passed, the Community Manager overseeing the application must provide the + applicant with any documentation they need, ensure they're ready to join the Community Team now, and provide them + with any roles and access that their new position requires. The Community Manager should also help the new + community manager to settle into their position, support and train them as necessary, introduce them to the + development teams, announce their appointment to the community, and provide information on the structure of the + internal communications channels. + +**Remember:** If the candidate is applying for a moderation-related role, they must always go through a training +period as a Trainee Community Moderator. This is required for all Community Moderator and Community Manager positions, +but is not required for positions without enforcement duties, such as event organisers. + +### Points to Consider + +Voters (and those that are considering putting forward a candidate) should consider the following points when forming +their opinion: + +* Does the candidate actually want to join the Community Team? +* Does the candidate have a good understanding of the Quilt community policies? +* Does the candidate have any known problematic behaviour outside the Quilt community? +* How active is the candidate in the Quilt community? +* How does the candidate choose to interact with other community members? How do they interact with the Community Team + in comparison? +* How does the community perceive the candidate? Do they mesh well with the rest of the community? +* How has the candidate contributed to the Quilt community and project so far? +* How well does the candidate fit into the Quilt community's culture? +* What is the candidate's infraction history? Have they been infracted for anything serious? +* Would any community members be uncomfortable if the candidate were to be elected? If so, why? + +Of course, there are likely to be additional considerations to keep in mind - voters should always bring up anything +that concerns them about an applicant, and criticisms are not limited to the above list. From bd291d952c59477750fe9c43008279ac9f27262b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gareth Coles Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2021 12:14:31 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 05/10] Add a process for adding/changing roles --- rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md | 23 ++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 22 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md index 4895ee53..a837fe83 100644 --- a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md +++ b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md @@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ A summary of the changes made within this amendment follows: * Trainee Community Moderators have been defined, and new Community Moderators must go through a training period before they can graduate and become Community Moderators. Trainee Community Moderators do not vote on internal polls, and are not expected to handle difficult situations. -* The process for handling internal votes has been separated out from the rest of the processes, and standardized. This +* The process for handling internal votes has been separated out from the rest of the processes and standardized. This allows for a consistent voting process regardless of what's being voted on, while still allowing for extra closing, failing and passing conditions as required. Failing conditions also override passing conditions, instead of the other way around. @@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ A summary of the changes made within this amendment follows: * Admins are no longer considered to be voting members unless they're part of the Community Team, or consensus for a vote cannot be reached. * For Community Team elections, the interview now comes before the vote, rather than the other way around. +* A new process to be followed when existing Community Team members wish to switch their role or take on new roles has + been written. # Explanation @@ -283,6 +285,25 @@ processed on Discord. Quilt's Community Team members are elected using a democra period as a Trainee Community Moderator. This is required for all Community Moderator and Community Manager positions, but is not required for positions without enforcement duties, such as event organisers. +## Process: Changing/Adding Roles + +Each Community Team member has a specific set of responsibilities and tasks to keep in mind. These are assigned based +on the role they currently occupy, but there's no reason for any Community Team member to be unable to move between +roles later on if they wish, or take on additional responsibility if they're able. + +Any Community Team member wishing to change their role or take on another role must go through the election process +for that role again. A special ModMail thread must be created - which they must not be able to access from the internal +interface - and the interview process should continue as normal from there. + +Voting should be handled as detailed in the election process above, but the Community Team member in question should not +be counted in the voting tallies or percentage of voters. If the Community Team is applying for a moderation-related +role - and they haven't gone through the Trainee Community Moderator process - they must always go through a training +period as a Trainee Community Moderator. + +Community Team members switching roles or taking on additional roles must not be treated preferentially to any other +types of candidates. It's important, therefore, that the rest of the community team holds its members accountable +during this process. + ### Points to Consider Voters (and those that are considering putting forward a candidate) should consider the following points when forming From d154971c592d7dca411beb7ae6527ee429a99606 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gareth Coles Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2021 11:06:01 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 06/10] Update rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md Co-authored-by: MrMangoHands --- rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md index a837fe83..82babe5a 100644 --- a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md +++ b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md @@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ three. They are not required to vote if they don't feel they need to, however. If any voting members of the Community Team don't vote on the poll (unintentionally or otherwise), their vote **must be counted as an abstention.** -THe Community Team should then tally the final vote counts, and interpret them as follows. +The Community Team should then tally the final vote counts, and interpret them as follows. #### Failing conditions From 32cb6d8317bb064e5b0e7fd852e472e8d0bb7737 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gareth Coles Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2021 11:06:15 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 07/10] Update rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md Co-authored-by: MrMangoHands --- rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md index 82babe5a..cc8d88f6 100644 --- a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md +++ b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md @@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ A summary of the changes made within this amendment follows: failing and passing conditions as required. Failing conditions also override passing conditions, instead of the other way around. * The voting process now takes abstentions into account, both explicitly (where the voting member states they're - abstaining) and implicitly (where the voting member simply doesn't vote). + abstaining) and implicitly (where the voting member simply doesn't vote by the end of the period). * Admins are no longer considered to be voting members unless they're part of the Community Team, or consensus for a vote cannot be reached. * For Community Team elections, the interview now comes before the vote, rather than the other way around. From 2cfa1f89803d81b994d46e02f15f281039bf5d94 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gareth Coles Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2021 11:12:54 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 08/10] Update "Interpreting the vote" to include admin board members that already voted --- rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md | 5 +++-- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md index cc8d88f6..dbd67a4b 100644 --- a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md +++ b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md @@ -211,8 +211,9 @@ Voting ends when any of the following conditions have been reached: ### Interpreting the Vote When a poll has closed, the votes should be inspected. If the final vote has a margin of three votes or fewer, -non-voting members of the administrative board must be invited to vote on the poll, with their votes counting for -three. They are not required to vote if they don't feel they need to, however. +the administrative board must be invited to vote on the poll, with their votes counting for three. If they've already +voted, they may change their vote or retract it, and their final vote will also count for three. The members of the +administrative board are not required to vote if they don't feel that it's necessary. If any voting members of the Community Team don't vote on the poll (unintentionally or otherwise), their vote **must be counted as an abstention.** From b3680fd295363eed846e94a1f6f2af69e8677292 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gareth Coles Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2021 12:29:08 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 09/10] In line with reviews, combine into one document --- rfc/0007-community-team.md | 324 ++++++++++++++++++++--------- rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md | 326 ------------------------------ 2 files changed, 232 insertions(+), 418 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md diff --git a/rfc/0007-community-team.md b/rfc/0007-community-team.md index 94d4478e..435db571 100644 --- a/rfc/0007-community-team.md +++ b/rfc/0007-community-team.md @@ -49,20 +49,67 @@ fairly observable from an active, healthy community: * More opportunities to improve the modding ecosystem as a whole * More opportunities to support the members of our community in ways that are meaningful to them + # Explanation -The community team will be in charge of maintaining the Quilt community spaces, as detailed in the summary. It will +The Community Team will be in charge of maintaining the Quilt community spaces, as detailed in the summary. It will be responsible for drafting up, accepting comments on and implementing community policies, interacting with and -protecting the community and its members, and resolving conflicts and enforcing the community policies. +protecting the community and its members, and resolving conflicts and enforcing the community policies. Community Team +members also play a large role when it comes to community engagement, and team members should be prepared to plan +events and generally engage with the community when possible. + +## Keyholders + +While Quilt is a community project with concerns split across different teams, Discord (and some other platforms) is +designed with the core idea of a single community leader or owner in mind. For that reason, platforms that cannot be +run explicitly under team leadership alone must be "owned" by a keyholder. + +A keyholder is a democratically elected member of the community that otherwise has no direct involvement or stake +in the management of the community. By electing an otherwise unrelated party to be a keyholder, it's hoped that the +Quilt community spaces can avoid the issue of a community leader gone rogue - it should prevent an abuse of power from +giving someone total control over any community space, at least as far as is possible. + +After they've been elected, a keyholder does not need to be otherwise active in the community. All that's required of +them is that they're easily contactable (within reason), and that they're prepared to act in the event that something +happens that they will need to take care of. + +Keyholder candidates should: + +* Be able to show that they have no conflicting interests or personal wish to be in power +* Be known to a majority of the Community Team +* Have a clean, positive reputation in the Quilt community and wider modding community +* Have some accreditation or other guarantee of reputation in the wider modding community +* Regarding Discord specifically, they should be prepared to act as a liaison with the Discord team and to represent + the Quilt community officially when interacting with them, including in the event of a partnership or working + relationship with Discord +* Understand what's involved with keyholding, and be ready to step in when needed + +Keyholders are not members of the Community Team, and they are not required to be obvious in the communities they +keyhold for - but they are free to make themselves known if they wish. They're also welcome to oversee the community +team in their actions and processes, and provide opinions and feedback if they wish. + +## Basic Responsibilities + +All members of the Community Team have the following responsibilities: + +* To represent the Quilt project in an honest and respectful manner, and serve as an example of good behaviour in + community spaces +* To participate in the processes that shape the Community Team, including voting on new team members and structural + changes to community spaces (unless they're a Trainee Community Moderator - see below) +* To engage with the community authentically, being present and visible in the community when able and appropriate +* To be supportive of other Community Team members, providing insight, advice and support when able and appropriate +* To help with the planning and running of community events and projects, when able and appropriate + +All team roles are additive - they add additional responsibilities on top of this basic set. ## Team Roles -Community team members have specific roles, which define what each member is responsible for and what level of access -they need to the community spaces they watch over. While the roles are intended to be fairly balanced regarding their -responsibilities, there is still likely to be some overlap - all community team members have the *ability* to moderate, -if they're required to. +Community Team members may have specific roles, which define additional responsibilities (and additional tools to meet +those responsibilities) on top of their basic responsibilities, as defined above. While the roles are intended to be +fairly balanced regarding their responsibilities, there is still likely to be some overlap - for example, Community +Managers also have the *ability* to moderate, if they're required to. -The role structure is intended to be flat, rather than an explicit hierarchy. Roles represent tasks and +The role structure is intended to be flat, rather than an explicit hierarchy. Roles represent tasks and responsibilities, rather than seniority. Roles may be assigned based on a number of criteria, including: * Previous experience @@ -73,71 +120,149 @@ responsibilities, rather than seniority. Roles may be assigned based on a number ### Community Managers Community managers are responsible for day-to-day administrative tasks in Quilt community spaces, and take an active -role in the community team candidacy process. They're in charge of mobilizing and supporting the rest of the community +role in the Community Team candidacy process. They're in charge of mobilizing and supporting the rest of the community team, maintaining community spaces, and keeping everything running smoothly. Responsibilities include: * Actioning changes to the structure of community spaces, or to community policies * Aiding in conflict resolution and decision-making, especially when it comes to difficult moderation decisions -* Engaging with the community when they have questions, reports or issues, and working with them to address their +* Engaging with the community when they have questions, reports or issues, and working with them to address their concerns -* Facilitating the community team candidacy process by helping other team members to set up polls, and conducting +* Facilitating the Community Team candidacy process by helping other team members to set up polls, and conducting interviews * Maintaining informational channels, and writing and posting community-oriented announcements * Managing any bots or other community-relevant automation tools * Organising, training and supporting the moderation team, and acting as supplemental moderators as required +* Supporting the rest of the Community Team in their work, providing them with the tools and changes to community + spaces that they need -Community managers must be appointed democratically, following the process outlined later in this document. If +Community managers must be appointed democratically, following the process outlined later in this document. If required, the keyholders will handle handing out the permissions required for community managers to work in Quilt community spaces. ### Community Moderators -Community moderators are responsible for maintaining the safety and welfare of the members of the Quilt community by +Community Moderators are responsible for maintaining the safety and welfare of the members of the Quilt community by enforcing the community policies, aiding in conflict resolution and dealing with problematic users and behaviours. Responsibilities include: * Aiding in conflict resolution between community members, and de-escalating heated situations -* Applying infractions for problematic behaviour or removing problematic users - in accordance with the community - policies -* Collaborating with other community team members to ensure the smooth running of the community, and to ensure that due +* Applying infractions for problematic behaviour or removing problematic users - in accordance with the community + policies +* Collaborating with other Community Team members to ensure the smooth running of the community, and to ensure that due process is followed - in accordance with the community policies * Engaging in active, honest participation in the Quilt community -* Engaging in the community team's democratic processes -* Helping members to find the correct community space for their query, and ensuring that other members don't prevent +* Engaging in the Community Team's democratic processes +* Helping members to find the correct community space for their query, and ensuring that other members don't prevent them from getting the support they need -* Keeping up to date on social issues (especially those that affect minority groups), and applying that knowledge to +* Keeping up to date on social issues (especially those that affect minority groups), and applying that knowledge to keep community members safe - -Community moderators must be appointed democratically, following the process outlined later on in this document. - -### Keyholders -While Quilt is a community project with concerns split across different teams, Discord (and some other platforms) is -designed with the core idea of a single community leader or owner in mind. For that reason, platforms that cannot be -run explicitly under team leadership alone must be "owned" by a keyholder. +Community Moderators must be appointed after a training period of no less than one week, graduating from their position +of Trainee Community Moderator after a review of their performance by the rest of the Community Team. -A keyholder is a democratically elected member of the community team that otherwise has no direct involvement or stake -in the management of the community. By electing an otherwise unrelated party to be a keyholder, it's hoped that the -Quilt community spaces can avoid the issue of a community leader gone rogue - it should prevent an abuse of power from -giving someone total control over any community space, at least as far as is possible. +### Trainee Community Moderators -After they've been elected, a keyholder does not need to be otherwise active in the community. All that's required of -them is that they're easily contactable (within reason), and that they're prepared to act in the event that something -happens that they will need to take care of. +Trainee Community Moderators are new moderators that have been appointed as part of the process for electing team +members. They have a similar set of responsibilities to Community Moderators, and are "in training" - with oversight +and support provided by the rest of the Community Team. -Keyholder candidates should: +The intention of this position is to provide new moderators with a buffer period, where they can feel more comfortable +seeking help and support from the rest of the Community Team. They're also publicly differentiated from the rest of +the moderation team, to ensure that community members understand that they're in-training and may make mistakes. +Trainee Community Moderators are expected to lean on the rest of the team, and to incorporate feedback given to them. +There is no requirement that they handle situations they're unsure about, or to make difficult decisions - these are +responsibilities assigned to Community Moderators and Community Managers. -* Be able to show that they have no conflicting interests or personal wish to be in power -* Be known to a majority of the community team -* Have a clean, positive reputation in the Quilt community and wider modding community -* Have some accreditation or other guarantee of reputation in the wider modding community -* Regarding Discord specifically, they should be prepared to act as a liaison with the Discord team and to represent - the Quilt community officially when interacting with them, including in the event of a partnership or working - relationship with Discord -* Understand what's involved with keyholding, and be ready to step in when needed +Trainee Community Moderators should be excluded from the voting process until they graduate. -Keyholders are not moderators or community managers, and they are not required to be obvious in the communities they -keyhold for - but they are free to make themselves known if they wish. +Trainee Community Moderators must spend at least one week in this position before they can be promoted to Community +Moderator, pending a review of their performance and discussion by the rest of the Community Team. Trainee Community +Moderators must be appointed democratically, following the process outlined later on in this document. + +## Process: Voting on Changes + +As Quilt is a community-run project and seeks to avoid the problems that come with single or small groups of people with +the very last, final say on everything, the Community Team implements a democratic approach for much of its processes. +This is detailed in this section - all other processes that involve votes should follow this process, unless otherwise +specified. + +### Admin Board Members + +Unless they're also a voting member of the Community Team, members of the Quilt Admin Board do note vote on internal +polls by default. Instead, they should only vote in order to break ties or contribute to inconclusive polls - votes +provided by members of the admin board are tripled, meaning that **one vote becomes three** - this is detailed in +[RFC 6: Governmental Structure](/community/0006-governance.md), as the admin board is the only parent of the community +team. + +### Trainee Community Moderators + +Trainee Community Moderators are not voting members of the Community Team, and should not be considered for internal +votes. This is to ensure that all voters have had some time to get familiar with the community and how it's run - but +non-voting members of the Community Team are always welcome to express their opinions and provide insight if they wish +to. + +### Voting Process + +1. The Community Team needs to discuss the subject matter of the vote beforehand, and discern whether a vote should + take place to begin with - if it's decided that a vote will surely fail, then no vote is required and the motion + can be dismissed immediately. +1. A poll is created in an internal channel that's designated for that purpose, either by posting a simple message or + via a bot designed to facilitate polling. This poll should provide as much detail as possible, either directly in + the poll message or by providing links and references - but it must be clear and not misleading, and the core idea + must be present in the message instead of in the references. + + Polls must also include a closing date of no less than one day and longer than one week, regardless of the proposal + put forward. +1. Members of the Community Team may vote on the poll using the provided reactions. All polls should include a positive + and negative option, as well as the option to abstain. Voting members that abstain are excluded from percentages and + tallies. +1. Voting members are not required to explicitly explain their votes - major problems with the proposal should be + worked out before the vote even begins, to avoid putting particular community members on the spot. + +### Closing Votes + +Voting ends when any of the following conditions have been reached: + +* The poll's closing date has been reached +* The poll has failed or passed early due to at least 75% of the voting members of the Community Team voting in that + direction, excluding abstaining members from that count +* The special closing conditions specified as part of the specific process that this vote is part of have been met, if + any + +### Interpreting the Vote + +When a poll has closed, the votes should be inspected. If the final vote has a margin of three votes or fewer, +the administrative board must be invited to vote on the poll, with their votes counting for three. If they've already +voted, they may change their vote or retract it, and their final vote will also count for three. The members of the +administrative board are not required to vote if they don't feel that it's necessary. + +If any voting members of the Community Team don't vote on the poll (unintentionally or otherwise), their vote **must be +counted as an abstention.** + +The Community Team should then tally the final vote counts, and interpret them as follows. + +#### Failing conditions + +The vote has failed when one of the following is true: + +* The total number of _abstentions_ **is greater than or equal to** 25% of the count of voting members of the community + team, rounding up to the nearest whole number +* The total number of _negative_ votes **is greater than or equal to** the number of _positive_ votes +* The special failing conditions specified as part of the specific process that this vote is part of have been met, if + any + +#### Passing conditions + +The vote has passed when one of the following is true, but only if no failing condition has been met: + +* The total number of _positive_ votes **is greater than** the number of _negative_ votes +* The special passing conditions specified as part of the specific process that this vote is part of have been met, if + any + +#### Other situations + +As detailed above, there should be no situations where a vote ends in a tie. If a situation arises that the voting +process is unable to cover, the vote will fail and will need to be re-tried when the process has been amended. ## Process: Changing Community Policies @@ -199,74 +324,89 @@ the process: possible to move ahead 1. Once the team has finished discussing, implement the change and, if multiple approaches were suggested by the community members, inform the community on why this approach was ultimately decided upon - -## Process: Electing Team Members - -As our primary communication space is the official Discord server, community team member appointments should be -processed on Discord. Quilt's community team members are elected using a democratic internal process: - -1. Candidates may be put forward by members of the community team, after some internal discussion - this may be a - result of the candidate asking to join the community team, observations made by the community team's members, - suggestions from other community members, or otherwise -1. A simple poll is posted in an internal channel designated for that purpose - it should detail the user's history in - the community, their reputation in the wider modding community (if known) and why they're being considered as an - addition to the community team -1. Members of the community team (and the administrative board) may vote on the poll using "yes" or "no" reactions and - discuss the advantages and disadvantages that appointing the candidate to the team may bring - see the - "Interpreting the Vote" section for information on how to treat the results -1. If someone submits a "no" vote, they must explain why they're doing so - this will help to inform the rest of the - voters and aid in the decision-making process -1. Once an election has passed, the candidate is contacted directly by a community manager, and may be invited to - attend an interview with the rest of the community team. Interviews should only be conducted in order to assess - whether the candidate should ultimately be appointed as a member of the community team -1. After a successful interview, the candidate is not actually appointed until they have been informed on the workings - of the community team and the policies and processes that need to be followed, and they've confirmed that they - understand the information they've been presented, what they'll be responsible for, and that they're ready to join - the team -1. Once the candidate has been appointed to the community team, their roles, permissions or access should be modified - in the Quilt community spaces to ensure that they're able to act properly as part of the community team - -### Interpreting the Vote - -During an election, voting continues until either the election has passed or failed, based on specific criteria. - -The election has **passed** when one of the following is true: -* The entire community team and administrative board have voted in favour of the candidate -* A week has passed, at least 75% of the community team and administrative board has voted, and those that have - voted have reached a consensus in favour of the candidate - -The election has **failed** when one of the following is true: - -* The entire community team and administrative board have voted, but consensus cannot be reached -* A week has passed and less than 75% of the community team and administrative board has voted -* A week has passed, at least 75% of the community team and administrative board has voted, and those that have - voted have reached a consensus in opposition of the candidate - or a consensus cannot be reached -* The candidate receives more negative votes than the total amount of positive votes and votes not yet submitted +## Process: Electing Team Members -If a situation occurs that this section is unable to cover, it will be amended. In those situations, the election will -fail and need to be restarted after the relevant changes have been made to address the issue. +As our primary communication space is the official Discord server, Community Team member appointments should be +processed on Discord. Quilt's Community Team members are elected using a democratic internal process: + +1. Members of Quilt community spaces may apply to join the community by contacting the Community Team directly. The + preferred contact method for this is by making use of the ModMail system on Discord. + + * Alternatively, candidates may be put forward by other members of the Community Team, after some internal + discussion. This may be a result of observations made by the Community Team, suggestions from community members, + or otherwise - but the Community Team should always discuss before putting forward a candidate, and they should + ensure that the candidate is actually interested in the position they're being put forward for. +1. Candidates must be interviewed by a Community Manager before the election process can continue. All voting members + of the Community Team should be given access to the interview space, and other voting members of the Community Team + are welcome to give their opinions on the content of the interview, or present their own questions after the + Community Manager giving the interview opens the floor to them. +1. After an interview has taken place, a vote should be proposed, following the voting process outlined earlier in this + document. This poll should last for exactly one week, with the following special conditions: + + * The vote has **failed** when: + * The margin between positive and negative votes is less than or equal to 20% of the number of voting community + members, excluding abstentions and rounding up to the nearest whole number. + + The poll should include the user's history in the community and their reputation in the wider modding community, if + known. It should also include the specific position they're applying for. +1. Once the vote has closed, the candidate should be contacted by a community manager and given the result, which will + decide whether their application was successful. + + * If the vote (and thus application) has failed, the candidate should be given feedback on their interview and + any actionable concerns should be provided. Candidates with failed applications should not be excluded from + applying again, but their next application should be at least a month after their previous one. + + * If the vote (and thus application) has passed, the Community Manager overseeing the application must provide the + applicant with any documentation they need, ensure they're ready to join the Community Team now, and provide them + with any roles and access that their new position requires. The Community Manager should also help the new + community manager to settle into their position, support and train them as necessary, introduce them to the + development teams, announce their appointment to the community, and provide information on the structure of the + internal communications channels. + +**Remember:** If the candidate is applying for a moderation-related role, they must always go through a training +period as a Trainee Community Moderator. This is required for all Community Moderator and Community Manager positions, +but is not required for positions without enforcement duties, such as event organisers. ### Points to Consider Voters (and those that are considering putting forward a candidate) should consider the following points when forming their opinion: -* Does the candidate actually want to join the community team? +* Does the candidate actually want to join the Community Team? * Does the candidate have a good understanding of the Quilt community policies? * Does the candidate have any known problematic behaviour outside the Quilt community? * How active is the candidate in the Quilt community? -* How does the candidate choose to interact with other community members? How do they interact with the community team +* How does the candidate choose to interact with other community members? How do they interact with the Community Team in comparison? -* How does the community perceive the candidate? Do they mesh well with the rest of the community? +* How does the community perceive the candidate? Do they mesh well with the rest of the community? * How has the candidate contributed to the Quilt community and project so far? * How well does the candidate fit into the Quilt community's culture? * What is the candidate's infraction history? Have they been infracted for anything serious? * Would any community members be uncomfortable if the candidate were to be elected? If so, why? - + Of course, there are likely to be additional considerations to keep in mind - voters should always bring up anything that concerns them about an applicant, and criticisms are not limited to the above list. +## Process: Changing/Adding Roles + +Each Community Team member has a specific set of responsibilities and tasks to keep in mind. These are assigned based +on the role they currently occupy, but there's no reason for any Community Team member to be unable to move between +roles later on if they wish, or take on additional responsibility if they're able. + +Any Community Team member wishing to change their role or take on another role must go through the election process +for that role again. A special ModMail thread must be created - which they must not be able to access from the internal +interface - and the interview process should continue as normal from there. + +Voting should be handled as detailed in the election process above, but the Community Team member in question should not +be counted in the voting tallies or percentage of voters. If the Community Team is applying for a moderation-related +role - and they haven't gone through the Trainee Community Moderator process - they must always go through a training +period as a Trainee Community Moderator. + +Community Team members switching roles or taking on additional roles must not be treated preferentially to any other +types of candidates. It's important, therefore, that the rest of the community team holds its members accountable +during this process. + ## Process: Removing Team Members Removal of members from the community team follows the process outlined in diff --git a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md b/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md deleted file mode 100644 index dbd67a4b..00000000 --- a/rfc/0029-community-amendment-1.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,326 +0,0 @@ -# Summary - -This document exists to amend and update the definitions and processes defined in -[RFC 7: Community Team](/rfc/0007-community-team.md). It addresses some shortcomings in the Community Team's governance -and structure that have become apparent over the first few months since the community Discord server became open to the -public. - -## Changes - -A summary of the changes made within this amendment follows: - -* Keyholders are explicitly no longer members of the Community Team, but they're still welcome to oversee the community - team's decisions and processes and provide feedback and insight if they wish. This also means they're no longer - considered to be voting members. -* It's no longer required that all Community Team members are moderators. While the majority of the Community Team - should be moderation and management staff, there's also room for event managers, organisational supports, and so on. -* Trainee Community Moderators have been defined, and new Community Moderators must go through a training period before - they can graduate and become Community Moderators. Trainee Community Moderators do not vote on internal polls, and - are not expected to handle difficult situations. -* The process for handling internal votes has been separated out from the rest of the processes and standardized. This - allows for a consistent voting process regardless of what's being voted on, while still allowing for extra closing, - failing and passing conditions as required. Failing conditions also override passing conditions, instead of the other - way around. -* The voting process now takes abstentions into account, both explicitly (where the voting member states they're - abstaining) and implicitly (where the voting member simply doesn't vote by the end of the period). -* Admins are no longer considered to be voting members unless they're part of the Community Team, or consensus for a - vote cannot be reached. -* For Community Team elections, the interview now comes before the vote, rather than the other way around. -* A new process to be followed when existing Community Team members wish to switch their role or take on new roles has - been written. - -# Explanation - -The Community Team will be in charge of maintaining the Quilt community spaces, as detailed in the summary. It will -be responsible for drafting up, accepting comments on and implementing community policies, interacting with and -protecting the community and its members, and resolving conflicts and enforcing the community policies. Community Team -members also play a large role when it comes to community engagement, and team members should be prepared to plan -events and generally engage with the community when possible. - -## Keyholders - -While Quilt is a community project with concerns split across different teams, Discord (and some other platforms) is -designed with the core idea of a single community leader or owner in mind. For that reason, platforms that cannot be -run explicitly under team leadership alone must be "owned" by a keyholder. - -A keyholder is a democratically elected member of the community that otherwise has no direct involvement or stake -in the management of the community. By electing an otherwise unrelated party to be a keyholder, it's hoped that the -Quilt community spaces can avoid the issue of a community leader gone rogue - it should prevent an abuse of power from -giving someone total control over any community space, at least as far as is possible. - -After they've been elected, a keyholder does not need to be otherwise active in the community. All that's required of -them is that they're easily contactable (within reason), and that they're prepared to act in the event that something -happens that they will need to take care of. - -Keyholder candidates should: - -* Be able to show that they have no conflicting interests or personal wish to be in power -* Be known to a majority of the Community Team -* Have a clean, positive reputation in the Quilt community and wider modding community -* Have some accreditation or other guarantee of reputation in the wider modding community -* Regarding Discord specifically, they should be prepared to act as a liaison with the Discord team and to represent - the Quilt community officially when interacting with them, including in the event of a partnership or working - relationship with Discord -* Understand what's involved with keyholding, and be ready to step in when needed - -Keyholders are not members of the Community Team, and they are not required to be obvious in the communities they -keyhold for - but they are free to make themselves known if they wish. They're also welcome to oversee the community -team in their actions and processes, and provide opinions and feedback if they wish. - -## Basic Responsibilities - -All members of the Community Team have the following responsibilities: - -* To represent the Quilt project in an honest and respectful manner, and serve as an example of good behaviour in - community spaces -* To participate in the processes that shape the Community Team, including voting on new team members and structural - changes to community spaces (unless they're a Trainee Community Moderator - see below) -* To engage with the community authentically, being present and visible in the community when able and appropriate -* To be supportive of other Community Team members, providing insight, advice and support when able and appropriate -* To help with the planning and running of community events and projects, when able and appropriate - -All team roles are additive - they add additional responsibilities on top of this basic set. - -## Team Roles - -Community Team members may have specific roles, which define additional responsibilities (and additional tools to meet -those responsibilities) on top of their basic responsibilities, as defined above. While the roles are intended to be -fairly balanced regarding their responsibilities, there is still likely to be some overlap - for example, Community -Managers also have the *ability* to moderate, if they're required to. - -The role structure is intended to be flat, rather than an explicit hierarchy. Roles represent tasks and -responsibilities, rather than seniority. Roles may be assigned based on a number of criteria, including: - -* Previous experience -* Staffing shortfalls or situational needs -* Suitability for the role -* Types of work the team member is offering to handle - -### Community Managers - -Community managers are responsible for day-to-day administrative tasks in Quilt community spaces, and take an active -role in the Community Team candidacy process. They're in charge of mobilizing and supporting the rest of the community -team, maintaining community spaces, and keeping everything running smoothly. Responsibilities include: - -* Actioning changes to the structure of community spaces, or to community policies -* Aiding in conflict resolution and decision-making, especially when it comes to difficult moderation decisions -* Engaging with the community when they have questions, reports or issues, and working with them to address their - concerns -* Facilitating the Community Team candidacy process by helping other team members to set up polls, and conducting - interviews -* Maintaining informational channels, and writing and posting community-oriented announcements -* Managing any bots or other community-relevant automation tools -* Organising, training and supporting the moderation team, and acting as supplemental moderators as required -* Supporting the rest of the Community Team in their work, providing them with the tools and changes to community - spaces that they need - -Community managers must be appointed democratically, following the process outlined later in this document. If -required, the keyholders will handle handing out the permissions required for community managers to work in Quilt -community spaces. - -### Community Moderators - -Community Moderators are responsible for maintaining the safety and welfare of the members of the Quilt community by -enforcing the community policies, aiding in conflict resolution and dealing with problematic users and behaviours. -Responsibilities include: - -* Aiding in conflict resolution between community members, and de-escalating heated situations -* Applying infractions for problematic behaviour or removing problematic users - in accordance with the community - policies -* Collaborating with other Community Team members to ensure the smooth running of the community, and to ensure that due - process is followed - in accordance with the community policies -* Engaging in active, honest participation in the Quilt community -* Engaging in the Community Team's democratic processes -* Helping members to find the correct community space for their query, and ensuring that other members don't prevent - them from getting the support they need -* Keeping up to date on social issues (especially those that affect minority groups), and applying that knowledge to - keep community members safe - -Community Moderators must be appointed after a training period of no less than one week, graduating from their position -of Trainee Community Moderator after a review of their performance by the rest of the Community Team. - -### Trainee Community Moderators - -Trainee Community Moderators are new moderators that have been appointed as part of the process for electing team -members. They have a similar set of responsibilities to Community Moderators, and are "in training" - with oversight -and support provided by the rest of the Community Team. - -The intention of this position is to provide new moderators with a buffer period, where they can feel more comfortable -seeking help and support from the rest of the Community Team. They're also publicly differentiated from the rest of -the moderation team, to ensure that community members understand that they're in-training and may make mistakes. -Trainee Community Moderators are expected to lean on the rest of the team, and to incorporate feedback given to them. -There is no requirement that they handle situations they're unsure about, or to make difficult decisions - these are -responsibilities assigned to Community Moderators and Community Managers. - -Trainee Community Moderators should be excluded from the voting process until they graduate. - -Trainee Community Moderators must spend at least one week in this position before they can be promoted to Community -Moderator, pending a review of their performance and discussion by the rest of the Community Team. Trainee Community -Moderators must be appointed democratically, following the process outlined later on in this document. - -## Process: Voting on Changes - -As Quilt is a community-run project and seeks to avoid the problems that come with single or small groups of people with -the very last, final say on everything, the Community Team implements a democratic approach for much of its processes. -This is detailed in this section - all other processes that involve votes should follow this process, unless otherwise -specified. - -### Admin Board Members - -Unless they're also a voting member of the Community Team, members of the Quilt Admin Board do note vote on internal -polls by default. Instead, they should only vote in order to break ties or contribute to inconclusive polls - votes -provided by members of the admin board are tripled, meaning that **one vote becomes three** - this is detailed in -[RFC 6: Governmental Structure](/community/0006-governance.md), as the admin board is the only parent of the community -team. - -### Trainee Community Moderators - -Trainee Community Moderators are not voting members of the Community Team, and should not be considered for internal -votes. This is to ensure that all voters have had some time to get familiar with the community and how it's run - but -non-voting members of the Community Team are always welcome to express their opinions and provide insight if they wish -to. - -### Voting Process - -1. The Community Team needs to discuss the subject matter of the vote beforehand, and discern whether a vote should - take place to begin with - if it's decided that a vote will surely fail, then no vote is required and the motion - can be dismissed immediately. -1. A poll is created in an internal channel that's designated for that purpose, either by posting a simple message or - via a bot designed to facilitate polling. This poll should provide as much detail as possible, either directly in - the poll message or by providing links and references - but it must be clear and not misleading, and the core idea - must be present in the message instead of in the references. - - Polls must also include a closing date of no less than one day and longer than one week, regardless of the proposal - put forward. -1. Members of the Community Team may vote on the poll using the provided reactions. All polls should include a positive - and negative option, as well as the option to abstain. Voting members that abstain are excluded from percentages and - tallies. -1. Voting members are not required to explicitly explain their votes - major problems with the proposal should be - worked out before the vote even begins, to avoid putting particular community members on the spot. - -### Closing Votes - -Voting ends when any of the following conditions have been reached: - -* The poll's closing date has been reached -* The poll has failed or passed early due to at least 75% of the voting members of the Community Team voting in that - direction, excluding abstaining members from that count -* The special closing conditions specified as part of the specific process that this vote is part of have been met, if - any - -### Interpreting the Vote - -When a poll has closed, the votes should be inspected. If the final vote has a margin of three votes or fewer, -the administrative board must be invited to vote on the poll, with their votes counting for three. If they've already -voted, they may change their vote or retract it, and their final vote will also count for three. The members of the -administrative board are not required to vote if they don't feel that it's necessary. - -If any voting members of the Community Team don't vote on the poll (unintentionally or otherwise), their vote **must be -counted as an abstention.** - -The Community Team should then tally the final vote counts, and interpret them as follows. - -#### Failing conditions - -The vote has failed when one of the following is true: - -* The total number of _abstentions_ **is greater than or equal to** 25% of the count of voting members of the community - team, rounding up to the nearest whole number -* The total number of _negative_ votes **is greater than or equal to** the number of _positive_ votes -* The special failing conditions specified as part of the specific process that this vote is part of have been met, if - any - -#### Passing conditions - -The vote has passed when one of the following is true, but only if no failing condition has been met: - -* The total number of _positive_ votes **is greater than** the number of _negative_ votes -* The special passing conditions specified as part of the specific process that this vote is part of have been met, if - any - -#### Other situations - -As detailed above, there should be no situations where a vote ends in a tie. If a situation arises that the voting -process is unable to cover, the vote will fail and will need to be re-tried when the process has been amended. - -## Process: Electing Team Members - -As our primary communication space is the official Discord server, Community Team member appointments should be -processed on Discord. Quilt's Community Team members are elected using a democratic internal process: - -1. Members of Quilt community spaces may apply to join the community by contacting the Community Team directly. The - preferred contact method for this is by making use of the ModMail system on Discord. - - * Alternatively, candidates may be put forward by other members of the Community Team, after some internal - discussion. This may be a result of observations made by the Community Team, suggestions from community members, - or otherwise - but the Community Team should always discuss before putting forward a candidate, and they should - ensure that the candidate is actually interested in the position they're being put forward for. -1. Candidates must be interviewed by a Community Manager before the election process can continue. All voting members - of the Community Team should be given access to the interview space, and other voting members of the Community Team - are welcome to give their opinions on the content of the interview, or present their own questions after the - Community Manager giving the interview opens the floor to them. -1. After an interview has taken place, a vote should be proposed, following the voting process outlined earlier in this - document. This poll should last for exactly one week, with the following special conditions: - - * The vote has **failed** when: - * The margin between positive and negative votes is less than or equal to 20% of the number of voting community - members, excluding abstentions and rounding up to the nearest whole number. - - The poll should include the user's history in the community and their reputation in the wider modding community, if - known. It should also include the specific position they're applying for. -1. Once the vote has closed, the candidate should be contacted by a community manager and given the result, which will - decide whether their application was successful. - - * If the vote (and thus application) has failed, the candidate should be given feedback on their interview and - any actionable concerns should be provided. Candidates with failed applications should not be excluded from - applying again, but their next application should be at least a month after their previous one. - - * If the vote (and thus application) has passed, the Community Manager overseeing the application must provide the - applicant with any documentation they need, ensure they're ready to join the Community Team now, and provide them - with any roles and access that their new position requires. The Community Manager should also help the new - community manager to settle into their position, support and train them as necessary, introduce them to the - development teams, announce their appointment to the community, and provide information on the structure of the - internal communications channels. - -**Remember:** If the candidate is applying for a moderation-related role, they must always go through a training -period as a Trainee Community Moderator. This is required for all Community Moderator and Community Manager positions, -but is not required for positions without enforcement duties, such as event organisers. - -## Process: Changing/Adding Roles - -Each Community Team member has a specific set of responsibilities and tasks to keep in mind. These are assigned based -on the role they currently occupy, but there's no reason for any Community Team member to be unable to move between -roles later on if they wish, or take on additional responsibility if they're able. - -Any Community Team member wishing to change their role or take on another role must go through the election process -for that role again. A special ModMail thread must be created - which they must not be able to access from the internal -interface - and the interview process should continue as normal from there. - -Voting should be handled as detailed in the election process above, but the Community Team member in question should not -be counted in the voting tallies or percentage of voters. If the Community Team is applying for a moderation-related -role - and they haven't gone through the Trainee Community Moderator process - they must always go through a training -period as a Trainee Community Moderator. - -Community Team members switching roles or taking on additional roles must not be treated preferentially to any other -types of candidates. It's important, therefore, that the rest of the community team holds its members accountable -during this process. - -### Points to Consider - -Voters (and those that are considering putting forward a candidate) should consider the following points when forming -their opinion: - -* Does the candidate actually want to join the Community Team? -* Does the candidate have a good understanding of the Quilt community policies? -* Does the candidate have any known problematic behaviour outside the Quilt community? -* How active is the candidate in the Quilt community? -* How does the candidate choose to interact with other community members? How do they interact with the Community Team - in comparison? -* How does the community perceive the candidate? Do they mesh well with the rest of the community? -* How has the candidate contributed to the Quilt community and project so far? -* How well does the candidate fit into the Quilt community's culture? -* What is the candidate's infraction history? Have they been infracted for anything serious? -* Would any community members be uncomfortable if the candidate were to be elected? If so, why? - -Of course, there are likely to be additional considerations to keep in mind - voters should always bring up anything -that concerns them about an applicant, and criticisms are not limited to the above list. From 99eaa0b64b4871b08d9e5e3eaf1e7272a8dbd22e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gareth Coles Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2021 12:42:31 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 10/10] Remove obsolete Amendments block --- rfc/0007-community-team.md | 9 --------- 1 file changed, 9 deletions(-) diff --git a/rfc/0007-community-team.md b/rfc/0007-community-team.md index 435db571..df2108c1 100644 --- a/rfc/0007-community-team.md +++ b/rfc/0007-community-team.md @@ -1,12 +1,3 @@ -# Amendments - -The following documents are amendments of this one. Please note that any information provided in amendments overrides -anything you may find in amendments, with later amendments overriding earlier ones. - -To aid readability, amendment documents will include the entire modified block, rather than just a changeset. - -* [RFC 29: Community Team (Amendment 1)](/rfc/0007-community-team.md) - # Summary This document exists to describe the formation of a team that handles Quilt's community management tasks. It makes