i apparently have mail client issues so i can't reply properly ...
S Page, yes I agree that protect should be more user friendly -- i think it should also not let anyone edit at all -- page is /protected/ . but what should be the process for debating a past consensus ? anyone can do this, right now? maybe we actually should DO lock ...
i mentally come back to the 'message types' concept where a folk can say 'this message formally declares a reached consencus' which puts warnings as appropriate - with (reasonably subtle) means to challenge it... similarly to 'this message solves the problem'... show it in topic subtitle: '5 comments, 1 solution', '5 comments and consencus' ... i think people should be able to define such message types on-wiki (and what they do) in a flexible way without locking down a topic completely but with possibly changing its appearance
'i locked your topic' sounds like a much much more horrid thing than 'i think your topic has a new msg about reached consencus' or 'i think your topic has an msg that solves the problem'... because 'locked' is too generic and puts the whoever-locked-the-topic into a non-collaborative position, but a position of power, which is imo against wiki philosophy...
svetlana