Erik Moeller wrote:
As such, I propose two simple rules for next year:
- There will be one well-coordinated joke for the *outside* world,
Whether it's a featured article, a press release, or anything else can be decided by the cabal on the to-be-created fools-l@wikimedia.org mailing list ;-).
With the understanding that one joke may well consist of putting multiple joke pieces together, just as the Main Page is put together out of several different pieces. I don't think the one-joke rule should be used to limit the creativity of those who want to have fun, just channel it. In this year's scenario, we could have said that all contributions to the joke effort have to relate to toilet paper; the Monty Python stuff is off-topic and not allowed.
- Jokes *within* the community are limited to the Wikipedia:, User:
and *Talk: namespaces. MediaWiki:, Template:, Image: and articles are off limits. Jokes should not be overly disruptive.
I think these are reasonable guidelines. However, it should be clarified that *Talk: only refers to Wikipedia talk: and User talk: areas, and not the *Talk: namespaces for those that are otherwise off-limits. If article editing is to be open for business with no silliness, the attendant discussion must be the same.
--Michael Snow