[WikiEN-l] Compromise proposal: an interim {{spoiler}} solution.

[Anthony]

Hi all,

I think I've come up with an interim solution to the whole mess regarding
[[template:spoiler]].  My theory is that discussion of the tag is never
going to reach a consensus as long as the uses of the tag are as diverse as
they are.  So here's my proposal:

We create new template, say [[template:plotsection]] and
[[template:plotend]], and set the text of that template exactly equal to the
text of [[template:spoiler]].  We strongly discourage any editing of this
template for the next few weeks or so.  We then engage in a massive but
thoughtful process of moving {{spoiler}} and {{spoiler}} end tags which are
used solely to bracket plot sections to use these new templates.  Then, only
after we have done this, we discuss what to do with the template - delete
it, change it, blank it, or leave it exactly as it is.  Leaving it would
make the exercise pointless, but I doubt it would be chosen.  Deleting it
would add work compared to deleting it directly, but not a whole lot because
this could be done by a bot since the thinking part is already done.
Changing it would allow us to have different tags for different situations.
And blanking it would be my personal preference, this at least leaves the
tag in place for future use (an opt-in message for logged-in users, opt-out
for non-logged-in users, or something).

If there are any objections, please let me know here.  Barring any strong
objections I'm probably just going to start implementing this unilaterally,
since I can't think of any reason anyone would object to at least the first
step of the plan.

Anthony