Style Council: Difference between revisions

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Until 2014, the '''style council''' was the institution in [[MusicBrainz]] that created and edited the [[Style|official style guideline]]s, by following the [[Proposals|proposal system]]. The style council has been reformed many times, as it did not work well initially. See the [[History:Style Council/History|history of the council]] for details. In October, 2014 it was replaced with a Style Benevolent Dictator<sup>1</sup>.
=The MusicBrainz Style Council=


==Membership==
The '''Style Council''' is the institution in [[MusicBrainz]] that creates and edits the [[Official Style Guideline|OfficialStyleGuideline]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s. The Style Council is currently being restructured, since it did not work very well.


There was no formal membership to the style council. If you were an interested contributor to [[MusicBrainz]] and reasonably well informed about existing [[Style|style guidelines]], [[MusicBrainz Development|MusicBrainz development]] and the general culture of the project, you were welcome to subscribe to the [[Mailing Lists|style mailing list]] and join the discussions.
==How the Style Council Works==


===Members===
==References==
1. http://blog.musicbrainz.org/2014/10/17/changes-to-our-style-process/


[[Category:Style]]
There is no formal membership to the Style Council. If you are an interested contributor to [[MusicBrainz]] and reasonably well informed about existing [[Style Guidelines|StyleGuidelines]], [[MusicBrainz Development|MusicBrainzDevelopment]], and the general culture of the project, you are welcome to subscribe to the [[Style Mailing List|StyleMailingList]] and join the discussions.

The Style Council has two formal members: <dl><dt>An Elder
<dd>

[[User:RobertKaye|RobertKaye]] is the Elder and benevolent dictator of [[MusicBrainz]] [[Style Issue|StyleIssue]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s. If the council cannot reach consensus he will make a decision.
<dt>A Secretary
<dd>

The Secretry is the Elder's right hand. He does the non-controversial daily work, but cannot make actual rulings. This is a rotating position currenly filled by [[User:DonRedman|DonRedman]] until April 2006
</dl>

===Current Practice===

# Decisions about style issues are made by the community on mb-style. That community has no formal organization. We can still call it the Style Council, though.
# If you do not want a [[Style Issue|StyleIssue]] to be forgotten, enter it as a "Style Issue" ticket in [http://test.musicbrainz.org/trac/report/8 trac].
# If you want a [[Style Issue|StyleIssue]] to be fixed, do the work yourself.
# You need an OK from the secretary before you change anything official.
# If you are unhappy with a decision of the Secretary, publicly call upon the Elder. Similarily, if no consensus can be reached, the Secretary calls upon the Elder

----

= Old Stuff =
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">[[Image:Attention.png]] '''Status:''' ''The style council is currently under development. Follow discussions on the [[Style Mailing List|StyleMailingList]] to check whether the information here is still correct.''
</ul>

==How the New Style Council Will Work==

This has not been fixed yet, but there seems to be general consensus about more or less these points:
# The Style Council will have a '''leader'''. This leader will act as a benevolent dictator and ''make decisions'', but should not do any of the actual work involved with the issues discussed.
# The Council will consist of members, who agree to become '''delegates''' for a specific [[Style Issue|StyleIssue]]. Once a person has become a delegate, she/he is responsible for the progress of this issue according to the process described in [[How To Solve A Style Issue|HowToSolveAStyleIssue]]. That means that a delegate is responsible to ''do the actual work'', if nobody else does it. Delegates should be assigned to [[Style Issue|StyleIssue]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s in a rotating fashion to avoid burnout.
# All subscribers to the [[Style Mailing List|StyleMailingList]] form an '''interested public''' and take part in discussions about [[Style Guideline|StyleGuideline]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s.
# Each [[Style Issue|StyleIssue]] has a person who raised it. This '''proposer''' also has some responsibilities; see below.

The roles of these three people are distributed like this:

====The Proposer's Job is to====

* Open the issue in the [[Issue Tracker|IssueTracker]] and start a thread about it on the [[Style Mailing List|StyleMailingList]].
* If the proposal is a complex one, [[Create A Wiki Page|CreateAWikiPage]] describing the initial issue.
* Collaborate with the delegate on summaries etc.
* In some tough cases it might be necessary or at least helpful to summarize the finally proposed change and make sure it addresses all objections raised on the [[Style Mailing List|StyleMailingList]].

====The Leader's Job is to====

* Make sure that an issue is assigned to a delegate who then has the resposibility to do the ''work'' involved with it. The leader her/himself should never do the actual work, to prevent burnout as we experienced it with the [[Style Dude|StyleDude]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s.
* Check that all important aspects of the issue have been touched
** impact on existing data, including edge cases and Various Artists albums (an often forgotten problem area).
** conflicts with other style rules.
** editor time required to implement the change.
** developer time required to implement the change (if any), keeping in mind that developer time is limited and we wish to avoid wasting their time if at all possible.
** impact on paying clients.
** can the change be automated?

* Make a decision. This can be just a statement, that apperently concensus has been reached or that the outcome of a vote is positive/negtive. It can be a final and dicatorial decision.

====The Delegate's Job is to====

* Acompany any documentation in the wiki in a way that makes sure that a neutral description of the issue is available during discussion. This means that they must be prepared to write such a summary, should no one else do that.
* Write up a final version of the proposed change on the wiki.
* When a decision has been reached, blog about the proposed change (ot should this be done by the leader?)
* Finally, make sure the change is implemented. Agian this means to be prepared to edit the wiki or the AR definition or to collaborate with developers.

----

=Old Style Council=

<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">''The following section describes the members and their roles in the old Style Council. This is going to be superceded by the reform described above.''
</ul>

==Members of the Style Council==

(a.k.a. [[Style Moderator|StyleModerator]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s)

===Secretaries (''Ministers of Style'')===

* [[User:JohnCarter|JohnCarter]]
* [[User:RjMunro|RjMunro]]
* [[User:Dupuy|Dupuy]]

===Editors===

* [[User:ClutchEr2|ClutchEr2]]
* [[User:DJKC|DJKC]]
* [[User:Gecks|Gecks]]
* [[G0llum]]
* [[Mcymd]]
* [[User:MichelleW|MichelleW]]
* [[User:Nikki|Nikki]]
* [[User:Steinbdj|Steinbdj]]
* [[User:WolfSong|WolfSong]]

''editor-without-portfolio'' (ombudsman)
* [[User:DonRedman|DonRedman]]

===Emeriti===

* [[User:TarragonAllen|TarragonAllen]]
* [[User:NeilCafferkey|NeilCafferkey]]

==Areas of specialization==

# [[Metadata|MetaData]] -- [[User:Dupuy|Dupuy]]
## [[Advanced Relationship Type|AdvancedRelationshipType]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s (basic advanced relationships) -- [[User:WolfSong|WolfSong]] / [[User:Gecks|Gecks]]
## [[Advanced Relationship Attribute|AdvancedRelationshipAttribute]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s (instruments, etc.) -- [[Mcymd]]
## [[Advanced Relationship Usage|AdvancedRelationshipUsage]] (what to represent with advanced relationships, what to omit) -- [[User:JohnCarter|JohnCarter]]
## [[Other Meta Data|OtherMetaData]] ([[Extra Title Information|ExtraTitleInformation]], artist comments, annotations) -- [[User:RjMunro|RjMunro]]

# [[Data Presentation|DataPresentation]] -- [[User:RjMunro|RjMunro]]
## [[Formatting Style|FormattingStyle]] ([[Capitalization Standard|CapitalizationStandard]], punctuation, etc.) -- [[G0llum]]
## [[Internationalization|InterNationalization]] (language stuff) -- [[User:Nikki|Nikki]] / [[User:Dupuy|Dupuy]]
## [[Non Musical Style|NonMusicalStyle]] (data cds tracks, silence, etc.)
## [[Special Case Style|SpecialCaseStyle]] ([[Various Artist|VariousArtist]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s albums, [[Special Purpose Artist|SpecialPurposeArtist]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s) -- MichelleW

# [[Genre Style|GenreStyle]] -- [[User:JohnCarter|JohnCarter]]
## [[Classical Style|ClassicalStyle]] (orchestral & classical music) -- [[User:ClutchEr2|ClutchEr2]] / [[User:WolfSong|WolfSong]]
## [[Soundtrack Style|SoundtrackStyle]] (musicals, anime, & movie soundtracks) -- [[User:Steinbdj|Steinbdj]]
## [[Electronic Style|ElectronicStyle]] (electronica, DJ & fan remixes, mash-ups, etc.) -- [[User:Gecks|Gecks]]
## [[Asian Style|AsianStyle]] (J-pop, K-pop, C-pop, etc.) -- [[User:DJKC|DJKC]]

[[Category:To Be Reviewed]]

Latest revision as of 20:17, 30 April 2015

Until 2014, the style council was the institution in MusicBrainz that created and edited the official style guidelines, by following the proposal system. The style council has been reformed many times, as it did not work well initially. See the history of the council for details. In October, 2014 it was replaced with a Style Benevolent Dictator1.

Membership

There was no formal membership to the style council. If you were an interested contributor to MusicBrainz and reasonably well informed about existing style guidelines, MusicBrainz development and the general culture of the project, you were welcome to subscribe to the style mailing list and join the discussions.

References

1. http://blog.musicbrainz.org/2014/10/17/changes-to-our-style-process/