Procedures

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION PROCEDURE

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

  1. we require the following criteria to be met prior to filing a formal application to join IWF:
    • the applicant be a member of wiki leadership
    • applying wiki has community approval and provide a link to on-wiki discussion.
    • At minimum the expectation is community consent prior to applying or that the community trusts the judgement of wiki leadership in applying.
  2. A representative from the prospective wiki or wiki-farm will need to file an application into the organization-application channel.
    • IWF Staff will mark these as “pending”, this means waiting on Staff or Advisory Council review.
    • IWF Staff handles Partnership considerations.
    • If an invite has been offered and acceptance mentioned in the application, the Staff or Advisory Council review can be skipped.
  3. The Staff or Advisory Council will review General Wiki, Wiki-farm, Wiki-family, Memorial Wiki, and Affiliate membership applications for suitability in regards to IWF’s guidelines.
  4. Either Staff or 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.
  5. During discussion and voting, IWF organization members may ask clarifying questions or probe in regards to membership criteria.
  6. After the voting period is concluded, IWF staff will tally the votes and announce the result.

APPLICATION HANDLING

  • The application process consists of sequential workflow stages: Application Review, Organization Discussion, and Voting.
  • Applications shall proceed to the next stage upon satisfying the requirements of the preceding stage.
  • Progression through the workflow is subject to staff availability.
  • Only one active application per independent wiki may be under consideration at any given time. Any subsequent application submitted while another remains active may be administratively closed or merged into the existing application.
  • Invitations are issued by staff to independent wikis that appear to satisfy the organization’s membership criteria after preliminary review and are intended to facilitate outreach or to verified members of organization member wikis who serve in a leadership role for an independent wiki intending to apply as an organizational benefit for expedited workflow processing.
  • Where circumstances have materially changed before or after an applicant’s acceptance of a staff-issued invitation, staff may require the application to proceed through the standard Application Review stage.
  • Staff-issued invitations already satisfy the Application Review stage.
  • Applications submitted in acceptance of a staff-issued invitation shall be deemed to have completed the Application Review stage following verification of the staff issued invitation and shall proceed to the Organization Discussion stage.
  • Verified members of organization member wikis, as verified by their respective wiki’s designated point of contact, who serve in a leadership role for an independent wiki intending to apply may request that staff issue an invitation.
  • Unsolicited applications shall be processed in the order received and shall proceed through the standard workflow process.
  • Where an application remains materially incomplete after the applicant has been afforded a reasonable opportunity to provide the required information, staff may administratively close the application.
  • Applications may be amended at any time prior to the conclusion of voting to correct errors, clarify information, or provide additional information requested during the review or discussion stages.
  • Applicants may request that voting be paused at any time. Upon resumption, the voting period shall be adjusted accordingly.
  • An applicant may withdraw their application at any time. A withdrawn application is deemed closed without prejudice to a future application.
  • As a measure of last resort, staff may administratively pause, adjust the timing of, or temporarily suspend the acceptance of new applications where reasonably necessary to preserve a fair opportunity for community discussion and participation
  • This includes low participation, concurrent or subsequent applications, or other procedural circumstances may materially interfere with the fair consideration of applications already in progress.
  • Applications shall not be subject to repeated administrative pauses without good cause. Repeated administrative pauses without good cause may result in staff administratively closing the application.
  • Where reasonable efforts to facilitate fair community discussion and participation have been exhausted, staff may close the application, and any application that fails to receive sufficient participation or support following such efforts shall be deemed unsuccessful.

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 by their member wiki’s designated point of contact and granted the “Wiki Verified” role.
  • Point of contacts are typically assumed to be the applicant and are automatically granted the relevant voter role. If a change in an Org Member’s Point of Contact is necessary during any organizational vote, this will be processed immediately by staff per availability.
  • An eligible voter must remain verified at the time the ballot is cast.
  • Eligible voters must have been verified at least 24 hours prior to any voting period of a 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.

  • Eligible voters of partners may only cast ballots for partner applications.

  • 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.

  • Where an application is successful while one or more organizational votes are already in progress, voting rights shall not be issued until all such votes have concluded. Voting rights shall be granted immediately upon the conclusion of the final overlapping vote.

  • Ballots submitted while verification is valid shall remain valid unless the verification was improperly issued, revoked due to misconduct, revoked by the member wiki’s designated point of contact, or otherwise determined to have been invalidly issued.

  • Staff may determine whether affected ballots remain valid based on the circumstances and timing of the revocation.

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.