Procedures

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Membership Application is performed at the IWF’s Discord server.

  1. A representative from the prospective wiki will need to file an application into the organization-application channel.
    • IWF Staff will mark these as “pending”, this means waiting on Advisory Council review.
    • IWF Staff handles Partnership considerations.
  2. The Advisory Council will review General Wiki, Wiki-farm, Wiki-family, Memorial Wiki, and Affiliate membership applications for suitability in regards to IWF’s guidelines.
  3. The Advisory Council Lead will inform IWF Staff to update the application status from “pending” to “voting” or “declined”.
    • The IWF Coordinator will inform the applicant of the next step.
      • If the Advisory Council approves of the application, IWF members will begin discussion and voting.
      • If the Advisory Council declines, the IWF Coordinator will inform the applicant that the application process has unfortunately ended.
  4. During discussion and voting, IWF organization members may ask clarifying questions or probe in regards to membership criteria.
  5. After the voting period is concluded, IWF staff will tally the votes and announce the result.

WIKI VERIFIED EDITOR PROCEDURE

To ensure the integrity of our community, we have implemented a wiki verification procedure that requires collaboration between our organization and our member’s communities. We recognize that the process of joining a new community can be intimidating and strive to create a psychologically safe environment for all members.

To become a verified member of our community, a prospective member of our organization’s member needs to join our Discord server and file a verification request in the verification channel under the Landing category. This application will be reviewed by the relevant wiki representative who will determine whether the applicant is a member of their wiki community. Each wiki of a Wiki-Farm/Wiki-Family will have a representative to verify their editors. Wiki representatives should not verify inactive members.

Upon approval of the wiki community member by the wiki representative, the community member will be granted the “Wiki Verified” role by our staff. This role will signify to other members of our community that the individual is a verified member of the particular wiki community.

AFFILIATE VOTER PROCEDURE

Affiliates of IWF are granted voting rights to participate for affiliate applications and issues that pertain to IWF. The Affiliate Voter role will be granted upon a successful affiliate application.

VOTING

All voters are expected to independently research the situation. IWF policies and guidelines must be considered in decision-making of all votes. Formal voting will be performed in the following manner:

  • All voting is conducted in the appropriate channel of the IWF Discord server and all votes are cast using the voting bot [pending]. Discussion threads will be provided to discuss applications or proposals.
  • Votes will be held for a period of two (2) weeks or a different, appropriate and fixed time frame. This is intended to allow for thorough consideration and decision-making and to give every member the opportunity to participate in the vote. The beginning and end of the voting period will be announced.
  • Votes are cast in the following format:
  • Identify Wiki: […]
  • Decision: [Yes/Abstain/No]
  • Rationale: […]
  • All “Wiki Verified” members are eligible to vote.
    • Wiki owners and founders are eligible to vote
    • Wiki-Farm/Wiki-Family platform owners are eligible to vote
    • Wiki-Farm/Wiki-Family platform staff whom do not regularly edit are ineligible to vote
  • Eligible voters are defined as any user from an organization member that has been verified and granted the “Wiki Verified” role.
  • Eligible voters must have been verified at least 24 hours prior to any submitted application for membership, submitted application for affiliation, organization proposals, or organization policy changes.
  • Eligible voters are allowed to be verified across multiple organization members. This means the eligible voter may cast a ballot for each wiki they are verified for.
    • Verified Wiki-Farm/Wiki-Family editors are limited to voters only from their active wiki(s)
    • Wiki-Farm/Wiki-Family platform staff may cast a vote for their home wiki(s) only if they are actively editing.
    • Wiki-Farm/Wiki-Family wikis meant for official purposes (central hub, staff usage, official functions) are ineligible for wiki verification.
  • All ballots may be edited freely during the voting period.
  • Only the first ballot per user and identify wiki is valid. Additional ballots are ignored.
  • All votes will be weighted using the Penrose method on a per organization member personnel count.
    • If you are verified with multiple organization members, your vote will count for each verified wiki you vote for.
    • The proportional weight is subject to the mathematical floor function. Lowest weight will be 1.
  • Tiebreaker votes will be cast by IWF staff member Evalprime or Honorary Staff members Rabite, Vipzer.

ACQUISITION OR MERGE PROCEDURE

If an organization member gets acquired or merges into a parent wiki, the following applies:

  • If the organization member is shut down or ceases to exist, membership is automatically terminated.
  • If the organization member undergoes a rename or rebranding but nothing else changes, membership is retained.
  • If the organization member merges or is acquired by a third party entity, we will re-evaluate its membership. Membership is retained should a formal review successfully meet all membership criteria.

In the event of a merger or acquisition, we will work closely with the organization member to ensure a smooth transition and to address any concerns or questions that may arise. Our ultimate goal is to support our organization members and to maintain a thriving community that benefits everyone involved.

ROUND TABLE

The Round Table is meant for a private discussion among wiki representatives to discuss how we can further strengthen relations, improve the alliance, et cetera.

ADVISORY COUNCIL

The Advisory Council acts as an unbounded advisory board for IWF staff and IWF coordinator. The council is responsible for advice on decisions that may impact the alliance’s future and handles review of membership or affiliate applications.

ADVISORY COUNCIL ELIGIBILITY

The purpose of this criteria is to avoid any single organization member gaining unfair influence in regards to recommendations to staff, performing oversight duties of IWF teams or reviewing applying wikis and fan websites. Staff will handle review of all partnerships. Wikis with very few members are exempt from restrictions.

  • This will be “First come, First Serve”.
    • Any verified person from our organization members may request to join.
    • To avoid unfair influence, we do not allow verified people to join on behalf of multiple organization members. Subject to staff waivers.
  • We have a hard upper limit of three (3) people from each organization member.
    • This requires approval by the relevant Wiki Representative to avoid disputes.
    • Wiki Representatives have a seat at the Round Table and are not eligible in order to avoid undue influence, bias, or otherwise unwanted pressure. Subject to staff waivers.
  • Outsiders that are proven Advisors or trusted consultants can join upon consensus of the Advisory Council.

EXPULSION PROCESS

In using the term “personnel”, we refer to community members from an organization member.

  • Expulsion votes will be by secret ballot without personnel from the nominated to be expelled organization member present.
  • It is preferred that a unanimous majority of founding member personnel vote in favor of the expulsion in order to expel another founding member. This is intended to demonstrate holding founding members to the higher standard expected of a role model hence special discretion.
    • If any founding member’s personnel opposes the expulsion of a founding member, the process shall pause for further discussions in order to reach a majority decision among founding and regular members. Votes can always change depending on further discussion, circumstances, and whether new information arises.
    • We expect all voters to independently research the situation.