- Edward IV (talk|edit|history|logs|links|archive|watch) (RM)
- Edward V (talk|edit|history|logs|links|archive|watch) (RM) (Discussion with closer)
Discussion was closed by a non-admin in favour of the move, even though consensus was clearly not in favour. The closure appeared to have little reasoning or valuation of the arguments behind it. Non-admins are advised against closing discussions where the outcome is likely to be controversial, which this one clearly was. The response to my approach was that "The role of a closer is primarily to apply policies and guidelines and only secondarily to count votes. In this case, the guideline's prescription is clear". If the latter were truly the case, there would not have been such a long dispute over its application. Deb (talk) 13:01, 23 April 2024 (UTC)
- Closer's comment: I'll just repeat what I said on my talk page. The guideline is clear: article names of Medieval European monarchs should not include territorial designations unless disambiguation is required, which everyone agrees is not the case here. Consensus is based on the strength of arguments rooted in policies and guidelines, and the arguments of one side were clearly better rooted. It is obvious that some people do not like WP:SOVEREIGN's prescription, but they should be seeking a consensus to change that guideline, not waging dozens of battles across individual RMs. Until they do, it is the closer's job to apply policy as it is, rather than as some editors wish it were. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 14:05, 23 April 2024 (UTC); edited 14:41, 23 April 2024 (UTC)
- What about the guideline on consistency? Deb (talk) 15:23, 23 April 2024 (UTC)
- Topic-specific naming guidelines provide a stable framework by which to balance all five criteria (recognizability, naturalness, precision, concision and consistency). Their consistent application provides for what editors have determined to be the best balance of all five. If editors believe that the guideline improperly balances these things, they should seek to amend the guideline. Retaining a handful of titles that contradict a guideline because editors feel they are more appropriate, without defining and codifying why they are more appropriate in said guideline, ultimately decreases rather than increases the consistency of our titles. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 16:15, 23 April 2024 (UTC)
- Correction: successful topic-specific naming guidelines provide a stable framework — but the recent contentious change to NCROY is neither successful nor stable, as mounting evidence affirms. The results of RMs prompted by the change have been all over the board, and a number of them have entirely failed to reach consensus: Holy Roman Emperors, Prussian kings, Swedish kings, etc. Continuing to try to apply a guideline that lacks consensus support in practice is what's making our titles about sovereigns inconsistent... and until we take the lessons of these contentious RMs to heart and revisit NCROY, it's unlikely to improve. ╠╣uw [talk] 00:34, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
- WP:CONSISTENT says that we don't disambiguate just because other similar articles need disambiguation and I'd note that NCROY was one of the exceptions to the rule of not being more precise than needed and this exception was changed though WP:PRECISE still appears to suggest it is. In any case this makes NCROY consistent with most other topics that aren't disambiguated unless needed. So the guideline was brought in line with most other topics so its not like its a bad close to ignore it when it was made consistent with others. Crouch, Swale (talk) 16:34, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- The new name is consistent with Edward VI, Edward VII, and Edward VIII. But more to the point, consistency does not apply to disambiguation. HouseBlaster (talk · he/him) 18:12, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
- Overturn (involved), both procedurally and on its merits. First, per WP:BADNAC, a non-admin closure is not appropriate for moves in which the outcome either is close or is likely to be controversial — and the lengthy, highly divided, and at times even contentious nature of the recent spate of SOVEREIGN-related discussions such as this one unquestionably meets that threshold. Despite this, the closer refused to consider reverting even when asked by two editors (myself one of them).
In the RM itself the closer chose to provide no rationale beyond simply linking to the guideline, which ignores the substantial amount of debate (and lack of consensus) on the very question of whether applying the guideline in this case would yield the best title. The closer also seemed not to recognize or acknowledge that policy was invoked on both sides of this debate. Instead, to judge from their three-word closure at the RM, they considered the guideline to be literally the only relevant factor, which again is very much at odds with the outcome of the discussion. In the post-RM follow-up on their talk page, and in comments they've made here in this MR, the closer seems to support quite firmly the position advocated by those supporting the move despite the discussion having failed to reach such a conclusion. It'd be best to vacate this closure and allow the request to be closed instead by an administrator. ╠╣uw [talk] 17:38, 23 April 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse (involved) while there was a bit more opposition (14 v 10) and the close looks a bit of a supervote it was closed in accordance with the guideline which yes is controversial but that's what the guideline is and I don't see a reason to ignore the guideline when the !vote tally isn't so lopsided to ignore the guideline. Ferdinand VI was endorsed at MR despite the !vote tally being 8 v 4. Crouch, Swale (talk) 18:01, 23 April 2024 (UTC)
- Another example of a bad closure. Deb (talk) 07:22, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
- Actually, several of those who commented at that MR called it an excellent close, correctly applying WP:NOTAVOTE – which is why it was endorsed. The same applies in this instance. Rosbif73 (talk) 08:34, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse. < uninvolved > We see several RMs, some still ongoing, where this issue, which has been discussed endlessly, is either being handled or mishandled. In this case the guideline along with its community consensus is crystal clear. And local consensus, no matter how strong numercally, should not overthrow the community consensus of the guideline without very compelling reasons. This closer did not see reasons that were compelling enough to ignore the guideline. I think that's reasonable and in accord with the RM closing instructions. P.I. Ellsworth , ed. put'er there 19:38, 23 April 2024 (UTC)
- There was more participation and a greater margin of opposition in this RM than there was in the November RfC that changed the wording in an obscure guideline. Who is the "local community" and who is the "community consensus"? Can I make up my own guideline and force the change across pages regardless of widespread opposition? Walrasiad (talk) 23:26, 27 April 2024 (UTC)
- Venue is everything. If you want to change the guideline, open an RfC at WT:NCROY (which can then be advertised at other venues, including WikiProjects, WP:VPOL, and WP:VPROP). HouseBlaster (talk · he/him) 18:12, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
- Or simply observe RM results. After all, one way we determine whether a guideline merits the kind of attention you describe is through RMs just like the one we're considering here. When an RM seeks to apply the provisions of a guideline (or in this case a questionable change to a guideline) but fails to achieve consensus, that's a legitimate and useful result that can then prompt a reappraisal of the guideline, including discussions in other venues about how to improve it. That's less likely to happen if we simply rubber-stamp-approve even contentious or problematic requests simply on the grounds that "the guideline exists". ╠╣uw [talk] 00:21, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
- If we are just going to ignore the guidelines willy-nilly, why would we bother having them in the first place? HouseBlaster (talk · he/him) 13:12, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- If guidelines must always be applied despite any objection, why bother having RMs?
The answer of course is that guidelines are just that: guidelines, not policy. It’s right to apply them wherever it makes sense to do so, but not where it doesn’t, and discussion is how we find the line. The idea that a guideline automatically trumps all objections short-circuits that process and is not how we operate. ╠╣uw [talk] 18:47, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- The answer to your questions is found at WP:IAR, a policy. MRV is not a place to rehash the RM nor is it a place to rehash the RfC that changed the guideline. Here at MRV only the closure of the move request that has been nominated above is the focus of attention. Said closure was reasonable and should be endorsed. P.I. Ellsworth , ed. put'er there 10:10, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
- My query was not about rehashing, but asking about the weights you're assigning in your argument about assessing local vs. community consensus. Who do you think is the community? Who is local? A distant guideline recently changed by a narrow group of people should be given 100% weight, but RMs by a wider group (and 20+ years stability) are to be given 0% weight? Is there any point to RMs then? Or is this just kabuki theater? Why even have any human editors do closures? We could just program a machine program to do it. Blind machine reasoning would be no less enlightened than the closer's reasoning here. Walrasiad (talk) 18:57, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
- The difference seems clear enough to most editors: a community consensus is represented by a policy or guideline, a strong consensus that has been garnered over time as the result of long-standing edits, RfCs or other discussions. A local consensus is the result of a local discussion on a specific article's talk page, a consensus that must be strong indeed to overcome a community consensus. The "distant" guideline, which happens to be part of a very extended series of naming conventions, and which appears to apply directly to this naming issue (rather than being "distant"), represents just such a community consensus. And the participation in the RfC in question appears to have been a bit more than you have depicted with your "narrow group of people" observation. The outcome is unlikely to have changed even if you had found it and had entered your opinion before it ended. The rest of your questions, with a healthy amount of respect and esteem, are frankly beneath you and represent heartfelt frustration that is understandable, even if not agreed with by many editors. This issue is apparently still up for grabs, because we still see RMs going both ways. Don't know if that helps your stomach rumblings, but it appears that not all of the cards are as yet "in", so to speak. Your opinion, if a minority one, is not alone. P.I. Ellsworth , ed. put'er there 09:34, 6 May 2024 (UTC)
- A narrow RfC on a narrow guidelines page that very few people watch but ends up significantly affecting thousand of pages outside of it, which a lot of people watch. Who is the wider community exactly? Most of the opponents of this move did not participate in that RfC, and were not even aware it was happening. Yes it is distant. The proponents of that RfC were a small group of royalist afficionados, obsessed with kings, queens & princesses. They watch such guidelines. Most of us don't. This is not a "kings, queens & princesses" article, it's a "history" article, used by a much wider range of writers of history articles, who don't have any particular interest in kings, queens & princesses, and merely refer to them out of necessity. We trusted the norm that exists in historical writing, and the norm which has prevailed on Wikipedia for the past twenty years. This change came as a complete surprise, damaging history articles across the board, and had been duly resisted everywhere it has been tried to apply. Yet the peculiar opinion of a narrow obsessive clique of how to refer to their favorite crowned idiot overrules the much larger and much longer opinion of the wider community on significant articles of historical interest? That one obscure guideline instantly trumps all other concerns and overwhelming objections, including all other policy concerns? That's a rather poor weighting system. Walrasiad (talk) 00:43, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
- Specific guideline aside, all you have to show is including “of location” is most commonly used in RS when referring to the person. Nobody did that in the RM. —В²C ☎ 01:24, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
- I agree. Nobody has said that WP is perfect. Perhaps another RfC should be opened to revert the guideline change? In any case, as things stand right here in the present moment, this RM closure should be endorsed in accord with the guideline in its present state. Changing the guideline is not our focus here; endorsing a reasonable closure is. P.I. Ellsworth , ed. put'er there 17:09, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse. (involved) There was an RFC in the autumn which clarified this exact point, as to whether of England and similar constructs could be dropped for primary topics, in line with WP:COMMONNAME and WP:CONCISE, and the guideline was then updated accordingly. The oppose votes did not give any specific reason why that guideline should not apply in this individual case, but simply tried to refute the whole premise of the updated guideline. But an individual RM isn't the forum for that, a fresh RFC would be required to update the guideline. As such, the closer was entirely right to ignore those !votes per the Wikipedia version of WP:CONSENSUS which requires closers to view discussions through the lens of policy. — Amakuru (talk) 19:51, 23 April 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse (uninvolved) this is one of the instances where the guideline is crystal clear, and those opposing didn't really rebut it apart from an IAR argument. I agree an RfC would be necessary in order to overturn this. SportingFlyer T·C 22:23, 23 April 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse (involved): the closer correctly applied WP:NOTAVOTE. Yes, an admin closure would arguably have been preferable, but that is not a sufficient reason to overturn the move. Rosbif73 (talk) 08:41, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse (uninvolved) per my comments at WP:DfD. Mach61 03:17, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
- Overturn for an admin or better experienced closer to close, due to the closing statement being inadequate, and moreso because of the closer’s statement in response on their talk page:
The role of a closer is primarily to apply policies and guidelines and only secondarily to count votes . This statement reveals misunderstanding of the role of the closer and mustn’t be allow to stand. It is not the role of the close to apply policies and guidelines, but to summarise the participants’ discussed application of policies and guidelines. It is not acceptable to say there is a role, secondary or otherwise, to count votes. SmokeyJoe (talk) 13:40, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
- Wikipedia:Of course it's voting. HouseBlaster (talk · he/him) 18:12, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
- Nuance can be important. A clumsy close of a contested discussion looks like a WP:Supervote and is a WP:BADNAC. SmokeyJoe (talk) 22:37, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
- Of course. I am just responding to your claim that
It is not acceptable to say there is a role, secondary or otherwise, to count votes. There is clearly a role for counting votes, as the essay demonstrates. Why else would we care about VOTESTACKing? HouseBlaster (talk · he/him) 13:12, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- The essay is fairly emphatic about “weighted” counting, and the complexity is in the weighting. The phase “to count votes” implies a lack of appreciation of the importance of weighting, and even if they know this, it’s important to call out the bad phrase for the benefit of less experienced others. SmokeyJoe (talk) 03:16, 2 May 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse uninvolved. Any arguments at MR about an admin specifically being preferred because of more experience are hypocritical. Directly from WP:RMCI,
the mere fact that the closer was not an admin is never sufficient reason to reverse a closure . The buttons one has doesn't make a good closer. The close is policy-aligned with current NCROY, and the closer correctly applied close procedures. Directly from WP:DISCARD, The closer is there to judge the consensus of the community, after discarding irrelevant arguments: those that flatly contradict established policy, those based on personal opinion only, those that are logically fallacious, and those that show no understanding of the matter of issue. , which was done. I do think that an elaborated rationale would have been beneficial, especially for utter shitfests like the NCROY RMs, which I saw from other closes by Compassionate made after this one. Sennecaster (Chat) 01:19, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- Do you know the meanings of the words “specifically” and “mere” that you have quoted. It seems not. Part of the close is the closing statement, and the closer did not do a good enough job. No respected admin would close with that one-sided terse statement that reads like a Supervote and conveys no reflection of the other side of the discussion. There is more to closing a contested discussion that getting the result right. SmokeyJoe (talk) 05:19, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- Insinuating I don't know what words mean is rude and I ask that you not do that again. RM isn't like a VPP close; controversial RMs have been closed without a policy link even and upheld at MR. Sennecaster (Chat) 14:04, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- Happy to talk about what you wrote, if you want to claim your meaning is different. No one is claiming it should be overturned merely because it’s an NAC.
- Admins being more experiences is definitely a correlation, but admins being vetted for wisdom in difficult closes is the point. This closer does not appear to be good enough to be trusted with contentious closes, like a typical NAC-er, and the terse closing statement is an example of a bad close, being a closing statement that does not reflected the discussion. SmokeyJoe (talk) 03:12, 2 May 2024 (UTC)
- We're not going to agree or change each other's mind, so I acknowledge your view but politely and firmly disagree and will leave that as that on this discussion specifically. I'm happy to continue elsewhere, though. I would like to keep this MR solely about the specific close, since we seem to be disagreeing fundamentally about what makes a proper close. Sennecaster (Chat) 01:31, 3 May 2024 (UTC)
- The majority of !votes did not mention “WP:SOVEREIGN”. One that did was in opposition. Many of the oppose !votes cited shortcuts to policy section, which nominally outrank WP:SOVEREIGN as a mere guideline. That makes the discussion contested and complicated, and the closers closing rationale that was only “per WP:SOVEREIGN” is patently inadequate as a summary. That makes it a BAD close (even if the result happens to be right), and them being a non admin makes it a BADNAC and means they really should read WP:NAC and be more conservative in choosing to try to help by closing discussions. SmokeyJoe (talk) 08:52, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
- Overturn: (uninvolved here, but involved in another with closer). per WP:BADNAC, a non-admin closure is not appropriate for moves in which the outcome either is close or is likely to be controversial. This is clearly a disputed move, without consensus. Huwmanbeing's comments above summarize my thoughts. // Timothy :: talk 04:36, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse (involved; started RM): the guideline is clear, and per WP:LOCALCONSENSUS we can't just ignore the guideline because of who happens to turn up at a discussion. If you dislike the guideline, you can open an RfC to get it changed. IAR is for exceptions, not rewriting rules. There is no indication about how Edward IV and Edward V are different so as to require an exception. HouseBlaster (talk · he/him) 13:12, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- The guideline wasn’t ignored: its application was raised and thoroughly discussed. However, a consensus did not emerge that applying the guideline in this case would actually improve the titles, with policy-based rationales raised on both sides. As such, the concern here at MR is that the closure — specifically a three-word, non-admin closure in direct violation of WP:BADNAC — did not consider or fairly represent the outcome of the discussion, and seems like a supervote. Without a proper closure by an administrator I don’t see having any confidence in the result. ╠╣uw [talk] 15:44, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- You say
a consensus did not emerge that applying the guideline in this case would actually improve the titles . Do you have any potential moves in which you think applying the guideline would actually improve the title? IAR is for exceptions, not rewriting guidelines established by broader community consensus. As for the closure, I agree it should have been done by an admin (and I hope this MR is closed by an admin). However, solely being a BADNAC is not a reason to overturn a close. There wasn't a lot to analyze: one side had the support of the guideline, the other argued that we should LOCALCONSENSUS that guideline out of existence. You don't need to write a dissertation to analyze the outcome of that discussion. HouseBlaster (talk · he/him) 17:03, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- MR isn’t the place to discuss other moves or our opinions of SOVEREIGN, only the appropriateness of the closure.
Regarding guidelines, we seek to apply them wherever it makes sense to do so, but the idea that the existence of a guideline overrules all other titling considerations or objections, and is the only relevant consideration in RMs, is simply wrong. If it were so then RMs would become unnecessary and we could just mass-apply the guideline to every possible case via undiscussed moves and technical requests — but we don’t. RMs explicitly exist to solicit feedback on the appropriateness of requested moves, when viewed not just through the lens of a single guideline but in the wider context of all our policy obligations under WP:AT. This was not reflected in the closure. As for BADNAC, an almost entirely unexplained closure by a non-admin of a divided discussion on a controversial request which doesn’t even acknowledge many of the points that were raised or discussed strikes me as sufficient grounds to seek a closure by an admin. The NAC guidance exists for a reason, and as it stands I simply don’t see that we can have confidence in the appropriateness of the closure that was made. ╠╣uw [talk] 18:29, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
the idea that the existence of a guideline overrules all other titling considerations or objections, and is the only relevant consideration in RMs, is simply wrong.
- One can easily agree with that as you wrote it, but that's not what happened. It was the idea that the existence of the community consensus behind a guideline overrules all other titling considerations or objections that are considered by the closer to be too weak to warrant WP:IAR, is simply not wrong. And coming from a place of closing many RMs that were contentious, some of which were reviewed here and most of which were endorsed, I have to applaud the closer for diving into this issue. He has gotten caught up in a very compelling and controversial debate that apparently started long before the RfC that gave the guideline a new direction. This particular eruption of Mt. Concise Titles has spewn gas and dust that often blocks the Sunlight of rational rebuttal. It's lava boldly covers up civility and sears and burns unsuspecting inexperienced editors. Just as this review might go either way, the issue itself has yet to be fully flushed out, and anything may as yet happen. On the level of local RMs, the issue has been going both ways, for example, see Talk:Charles XI of Sweden#Requested move 13 January 2024, a similar RM closed recently by editor Thryduulf as "no consensus" (therefore "not moved"). And of course there are others that resulted in page moves, such as this one and another one this month (May) did. Life is forever fascinating and anything...but...dull on this encyclopedia project, isn't it? P.I. Ellsworth , ed. put'er there 12:37, 6 May 2024 (UTC)
- I think that one is a candidate for MR as well. At first glance it looks like a good close namely by taking into account the opinions of people in the discussion it doesn't take into account community consensus. I was going to wait and see what the consensus of these other MRs are before considering MR and if anyone else also has the same opinion. Crouch, Swale (talk) 17:59, 6 May 2024 (UTC)
- Perhaps a good call, I don't know. First glance yields a seasoned admin closer who apparently detected a really good IAR arg to ignore the guideline. If that RM is reviewed, I'd have to look at it more closely before rendering an opinion. P.I. Ellsworth , ed. put'er there 18:26, 6 May 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse (uninvolved). After weeks of languishing in the backlog without being addressed by any admins we should be thanking the NAC rather than admonishing them for closing this discussion. As to the closing statement, it’s concise. It’s obvious that they mean Support was based on SOVEREIGN and opposers were not policy-based (that wasn’t refuted); an accurate assessment. Anyway, they've clarified here as well as on their talk page, and brevity in the closing statement is no reason to reopen, much less overturn, and they’ve already explained their closing more in at least one subsequent close. —В²C ☎ 19:54, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- Overturn (involved). Opposition was actually policy-based, overwhelming and entirely ignored. It is poorly-conceived guideline change that is contradictory of policy. Cavalierly moved without careful nor balanced consideration of the policy at stake. There was no consensus for this move, nor did the mover claim to find any, nor addressed why policy should be ignored in this case. Walrasiad (talk) 18:47, 3 May 2024 (UTC)
- Merely claiming COMMONNAME or RECOGNIZABILITY does not establish basis in policy. Not to re-argue here, but did you look at relevant ngrams? The notion that “Edward V” is not the COMMONNAME or does not meet the RECOGNIZABILITY threshold is baseless; it’s not a policy-based position. —В²C ☎ 20:17, 3 May 2024 (UTC)
- WP:COMMONAME and WP:RECOGNIZABILITY are policy. And it is not baseless. As someone who claims to be "uninvolved", it turns out you have opinions on the matter. The RM should be reopened to allow you to make your case there, and not here. Walrasiad (talk) 00:05, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
- My opinion is we should title our articles based on policy. Of course COMMONNAME and RECOGNIZABILITY are policy. But arguing, say, San Francisco should be moved to Frisco “because COMMONNAME and RECOGNIZABILITY”, is not a policy-based argument. To be policy-based on those policies, one has to show their preferred answer is more commonly used in RS, like with ngrams (which show the opposite in this case, by a huge margin), and why their name meets the RECOGNIZABILITY threshold, but the other doesn’t. Opposition did none of that; it was not policy-based. — В²C ☎ 11:26, 6 May 2024 (UTC)
- Recognizability? Do a search for "Edward V" without "England", and see what comes up. It's not this guy. Anyway, that's not what is being discussed here. The closure is the topic, not your opinions on the proposed move. Walrasiad (talk)
- What? Do a search for “London” without England. By your ”logic” London is not recognizable and needs disambiguation. Please. This is why opposition arguments were discounted. They were based in nonsense, not policy. —-В²C ☎ 01:36, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
- Oh, plenty. At any rate, this is not the place to have this discussion. When the RM reopens, you can go argue it there. Walrasiad (talk) 03:44, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
- The RM is for presenting arguments supporting or opposing the move. This MR is about evaluating closer’s finding that support arguments were better based in policy. This MR, not a reopened RM, is therefore the appropriate forum for showing how policy cited by opposers didn’t actually support their position. Continuing to misinterpret RECOGNIZABILITY here in the MR is not helpful, except to reinforce closer’s point about their job: “to apply policy as it is, rather than as some editors wish it were”. — В²C ☎ 14:22, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
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