[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #38064: Surveying system to gather user voices

[WordPress Trac]

#38064: Surveying system to gather user voices
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 Reporter:  schlessera       |      Owner:
     Type:  feature request  |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal           |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  General          |    Version:
 Severity:  normal           |   Keywords:
  Focuses:                   |
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 I'm still not sure whether the "democratize publishing" is part of the
 .org mission (the wordpressfoundation.org site and several dev posts
 around here seem to indicate it is), but we also have similar goals like
 "Design for the Majority" and the 80% rule that are relevant here as well.

 Whenever you want to take an informed decision on behalf of someone else,
 that someone needs to be able to make his/her voice heard.

 I think we're just taking the easy way out by saying that WordPress is
 open source and that everyone can contribute. That has nothing to do with
 a "democracy", but is a "meritocracy" inherited from the general open
 source world.

 To have any real democratic merits or to be able to truthfully reference
 the "majority" in arguments, the WordPress project needs to have means to
 "query" the interested parties so that they can make their voice count.

 This is why I would like to propose adding a voting/surveying system to
 the WordPress project.

 I imagine something like a '''surveying system run on
 make.wordpress.org''' that could be tied into the WordPress backend as an
 '''opt-in system for end-users''' who want to participate as well. It
 should be able to distinguish between the different areas of contribution,
 so that people can choose one or more areas in which they would like to
 participate.

 Right now, the end-users are disempowered and a select few speak on their
 behalf. I do not know whether these select few have gotten it right or
 not, and I am glad I don't have to take such decisions. But I do know that
 such arguments cannot easily be countered, as there are no facts to check
 or reasonings to dismantle.

 I have not thought about any specific implementation yet, I just want to
 launch the idea of introducing a system of surveying contributors and end-
 users.

 NOTE: I do not intend to introduce any kind of real political system here.
 Voting/surveys should not be binding in any way, it should just provide a
 means to collect data about "what the majority wants" in a targeted and
 meaningful way. As of now, such data is missing (and I don't consider the
 server stats to be any meaningful representation), and more elaborate
 discussions end up being "vetoed" by the "majority" argument without any
 means to back up or refute such claims.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/38064>
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