Stewards

Information on Website League Stewardship.

Note: The Accepted Proposals book include various approved details with respect to stewardship procedures, such as adding new stewards and voting on procedures. If it's not here, you may find what you're looking for there: Accepted Proposals

Quick reference links

Tools

Other references

this one's a placeholder

go check out Consensus, it's where we're running things

Hierarchy and Stewardship Information

Generally, the League operates as close to a flat structure as it can be. While it's unlikely that every individual who uses a League node will vote or even want to vote, if they choose to participate in the decision-making process, we encourage them to do so and are happy to have them on board.

Stewards

Our decision-making body is made up of stewards, who vote on proposals, maintain our central infrastructure, contribute to our information pages, and work on projects that the league undertakes.

The role of steward is open to every user in the league. Node staff (moderators and operators) are encouraged, but not required, to take on the role, and other individuals are welcome to sign on as stewards, as long as existing stewards can determine that the individual is acting in good faith and no further objections are raised to their stewardship. If an objection is raised, it will be done so transparently if possible, and privately if not, but any objection will be investigated before a decision is made.

The expectation is that if you say you are going to take on a task, that you follow through with it, or ask for assistance if you are unable to do so.

Regardless of whether they choose to be a steward or not, node staff are still required to abide by the Website League's code of conduct, and address issues within their own node, or respond to reports made by other node staff and/or stewards as needed. If they are unable to do so, it may jeopardize their standing in the League, but again, a decision will be made before any such response occurs, based on the severity of the issue at hand.

Stewardship is also not a strict requirement for involvement in ongoing Website League projects, though it may be helpful to request the role if you plan to contribute significantly. As mentioned, the role indicates not just a willingness to vote, but a desire to help, and makes it easier for everyone to keep track of who is actually working on projects for the League. Similarly, if you feel at any time that you would no longer be a steward for whatever reason, simply let your other stewards know. So long as you still feel like participating in the League, you are welcome to do so, steward or not.

The governance process

Decision-making within the League is done by majority vote; a quorum based on the current number of active stewards is required for a decision to pass. All votes will be recorded on https://consensus.websiteleague.org, and anyone, steward or not, should be able to view them.

When a vote is concluded, it is expected that the Website League and its members will make whatever changes necessary to implement the result. If unable to do so, another vote may be called later on; it is entirely possible that a decision may be reversed if it turns out to be completly infeasible or prevailing opinion changes at some point. It's also possible that the voting process may become more strict if we see evidence of abuse, so please make sure you are being responsible with both your requests for votes, and your comments on votes, which are more or less a matter of public record once submitted. Harassment of League members or stewards through the Loomio system or in an attempt to influence a voting decision(or, anywhere else, for any reason) will not be tolerated.

The infrastructure group

A central group of stewards familiar with the central infrastructure of the League has also been established for the purposes of maintaining and administering the platforms that are hosted on websiteleague.org; this is again a mostly voluntary role but it is not recommended that users or stewards request to be in the infrastructure group unless they are well familiar with the maintenance or administration of one or more of the platforms in use. Currently, membership in this group is fairly restricted as these individuals are essentially "key holders" for our central infra; if you wish to volunteer for this task, it may not be granted unless you have demonstrated your ability to be responsible with that authority.

Vote categories

Note: these categories are currently provisional.

source: Website League notes

  1. Endorse: Unreserved support

  2. No objection: “I’ll go along with it.”

  3. Minor objection: “I have some reservations but am willing to let the proposal pass.”

  4. Stand aside: “I personally can’t do this, but I won’t stop others from doing it.” The person standing aside is not responsible for the consequences - this should be recorded in the minutes.

  5. Major objection: “I have serious issues with this proposal that must be addressed to receive my support.” A single major objection acts as a veto, and blocks the proposal from passing

  6. Abstain: None of the above/the recusal option

How to set up votes on Loomio

  1. Go to Loomio.
  2. Click 'Decisions'

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  3. Click 'New Decision'

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  4. Choose from the available templates depending on the situation.
    Each of them have more details about when to use them inside of the template itself.

     

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The template descriptions as of 2024/11/09 are captured below. Loomio is the definitive source for them and this page may be out of date.

Consensus Vote

Build consensus for a decision we need to make, and reach an agreement that satisfies the needs and concerns of all League members.

  • Discuss and develop a proposal together

  • Include and respect everyone involved

  • Seek a consensus on the subject

Additional reading:

Consensus Test

This is a way to test for quick consensus on something. In short, if you feel that something falls along these lines, this template is a good way to check it in a way everyone can see:

If a decision is minor enough that the length of discussion will probably not take longer than going through a vote, than just consense informally by making a suggestion, looking for approval, asking if there are any objections, and moving along. If an issue is complex or controversial enough that the discussion will definitely take longer than the process of making a proposal and voting on it, it makes sense to use a formal, explicit consensus process.

By default, these are set to be open for one day; please do not take that as a hard and fast rule, though. Please do not treat these as formal, binding votes either. If someone makes a proposal that conflicts with a consensus vote, take the proposal over the quick consensus vote.

Question round

A question round is an opportunity for people to ask clarifying questions about an idea or proposal; this way, potential issues can be resolved in advance and people can better understand the proposal and what it is intended to solve.

Question rounds have no voting options. By default, these are set to last one week.

Simple Vote

This is a simple yes/no vote proposal template—it's pretty self explanatory. If for some reason you need a proposal template like this, please use this and not the emergency/non-consensus proposal template.

Emergency/non-consensus vote

Because we operate on a consensus system, as of right now this is a template that should only be used in one of two cases, which are:

  1. A situation in which consensus has completely broken down but a decision must be made for one reason or another. In this case a two-thirds majority is required;

  2. An emergency addition to the decision making group. In this case, a two-thirds majority is required and any person(s) added by vote must also eventually go through the usual consensus process to remain in the group.

In short, this template should not appear in usual circumstances. If you need a simple-vote template for some reason, please do not use this. There should be another one labeled "simple vote" for those purposes.

Default duration for a poll of this variety is one day. Please adjust this if that is needed.