This thread is a metathread for Trope Repair Shop discussion. Things like TRS policy, what is needed in a TRS opening post, questions about whether a certain topic is TRS-worthy and questions about why a thread wasn't opened go here.
Some guidelines for when/whether to use TRS:
- If the trope is fine, but has some bad examples, feel free to clean them up or to start a cleanup project at Projects: Short-Term. Trope Repair Shop is for when cleaning isn't sufficient.
- If you think there's something wrong with the trope that systematically attracts improper examples, start a discussion at Trope Talk. Use a Wick Check to see whether there's an issue present (and if there is, what the issue is), and post the results on TRS Queue and wait your turn if a problem is present. The following methods are two possible ways to do a wick check (though not necessarily the only ways):
- You can go ahead with the Wick Check without a discussion if you know what you're looking for. While it's not mandatory, feel free to ask someone for help confirming that you got the issue and the numbers correct.
- Consult the Wick Check Project thread to collect evidence if you need help.
- If a wick check is too much for you, you can leave the issue at Tropes Needing TRS citing the discussion.
- Depending on a trope (or non-trope) in question, a wick check may be determined to not be required, such as for tropes that are not thriving (per the standards for trope health listed on the Wick page). However, there is no problem if you want to do one anyway.
For a more detailed introduction to this forum, click here.
For related projects, see Wick Cleaning Projects and the Wick Check Project.
See Tropes Needing TRS for a list of trope candidates for TRS.
A (not mandatory, informal) queue for prospective TRS participants can be found at the TRS Queue.
For a list of wiki pages related to thread outcomes, see the following:
Edited by GastonRabbit on Apr 24th 2024 at 1:49:19 PM
I agree. Like, significantly lower. Ten? I don't know, but maybe part of the problem is that there are over 100 threads, and a very low number of people that even visit this formu and vote, much less have the power to do things like rename a trope.
I'd love to see a lower thread cap in both TRS and IP, or maybe (if possible) a setup where there can be any number of threads but only a certain few can be open at any given time, with the rest in a queue that updates as threads are concluded and locked.
No, not exactly. Some of the oldest threads in Trope Repair Shop have been unopened for eleven months now. Despite not being open, they still leave a banner across the top of the trope page, making it look like there's a problem with the page that needs to be addressed (and can't), when it may have been just in the mind of an OP who may well have forgotten about the whole matter.
I think I ought to just lock down all these month old issues. The forum is in lockdown anyway and needs work on existing topics before the new ones.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanI would just like to reiterate my statement that Chirping Crickets already hold the veto power here unofficially. All that is needed is to make it official with a Sword of Damocles: Once a thread is abandoned or closed for more than a few weeks, autodelete it. Either it gets fixed before then, or it doesn't.
I'll also repeat that having a moderator approve each ticket individually is the worst possible option. At best it's a pain for the mods and reduces a little spam. At worst, it slows the TRS process to a crawl, filters everything though the opinions of a handful of people, and is ultimately a waste of everyone's time that actually creates more derelict tickets.
Same thing for limiting the number of active tickets- then we'll just end up with long-running debates clogging up the list while issues in need of second opinions and quick fixes sit in limbo waiting while the OP forgets about them, starting the problem all over again.
The same personalities that gravitate toward the hands-on work of major overhauls (Hedge Trimmers, Rewriters, and similar fauna) do not generally deal well with things like "spending a lot of time talking about fixing things without actually fixing them". A little push and pull of this sort is inevitable, but if you make it overly tedious to get a second opinion, it's just going to cause problems with people going vigilante for the sake of actually getting something fixed now and then.
Case in point, shutting down the repair shop while endlessly discussing what should be done to reduce endless discussion and ignored repair shop threads has caused many people to begin ignoring the repair shop completely, and move to places like the Trope Description Improvement Drive. (Which would make an excellent model to study here. That, but with tickets, is what the repair shop should look like.)
edited 3rd Dec '15 8:18:06 AM by Scorpion451
In the meantime, what do we do with tropes that we think have problems? Just because I notice something today (and I did, which is why I cane to this forum) doesn't mean I'll remember it six months down the line or whenever this backlog finally clears.
Add it to your To Do List.
Link to TRS threads in project mode here.We are holding a New Year's Purge in the TRS. At the end of December, ALL threads that have not made progress in the past month in the TRS will be locked and closed.
The TRS shall then be opened for new threads.
If there are any older threads you want to remain, make progress on them before the month is over.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickCool!
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. — H.L. MenckenWait, what counts as "making progress"? Do just having new ideas or having a crowner count, does the thread have to have made a decision, or does action have to have been actually taken?
Edit: Also, ~Shimaspawn, will the New Year's Purge be on December 31 or January 1? Either way, what time of day?
edited 31st Dec '15 7:18:10 PM by Lymantria
Join the Five-Man Band cleanup project!Well, it's almost 11 o'clock on January 1 and the New Year's Purge doesn't seem to have been made. Wonder when it'll happen...
Join the Five-Man Band cleanup project!So when will the purge happen?
Nowish. Sorry. Woke up with a migraine this morning.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickI still think lowering the max limit of open threads is a good idea so we don't get a huge backlog again. We don't need another massive 4 month stall because they're so much to do and so little people working.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?Actually, looking at the TRS morgue, a lot of threads that made no progress in December did get locked. So the purge did happen.
Join the Five-Man Band cleanup project!Yes, the Purge did indeed happen.
There was also a suggestion in moderator discussions to make this a yearly event. Opinions?
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanRegarding having yearly purges,
Also, now that the purge is over, can we start starting new threads?
Join the Five-Man Band cleanup project!Yes, we already have approved new threads. Just remember to give them solid O Ps or they won't be opened.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickI believe my submission for Run for the Border was put on hold because while the OP did state the problem, it was too brief. I've since expanded on it to outline in more detail what I think the specific problem is for that trope and what the best solution would be.
You've got roaming bands of armed, aggressive, tyrannical plumbers coming to your door, saying "Use our service, or else!"If it was locked, rejected, and is in the archives, you need to start a new thread.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickNo, it's still in the main list. Maybe it was just overlooked?
You've got roaming bands of armed, aggressive, tyrannical plumbers coming to your door, saying "Use our service, or else!"The problem thread is this one.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanSo is TRS now open for new requests?
Since Jan 1
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
Going to clarify something because I think I didn't make it clear.
We should limit the number of threads down to a low number after the backlog is cleared up.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?