Translations:Proposal process/14/en

Due Diligence

Your proposal is more likely to be accepted by the community if you take steps to research and vet your proposal before presenting it in front of a global audience. Some tips for success include:

• Research whether tagging for this feature (or similar) has been discussed before, by searching the mailing lists or other forums. Consider what objections or concerns were raised in those discussions, and adjust your proposal if necessary to satisfy the concerns. It may not be possible to please everyone, but you will have the best chance of success if you make the effort to address as many concerns as possible. Provide links to these discussions in the "External Discussions" section; it shows that you have done your homework and are aware of past discussions that may have occurred.
• Consider asking a trusted colleague or two in the community to review your proposal. Private dialogue before the Request For Comments (RFC) is extremely helpful in identifying and fixing problems. If the tagging for this feature was discussed on the mailing list in the past, consider a sending private email asking for feedback from one or more of the participants in that discussion. They may have expertise in that area, and the private dialogue will not only make your proposal stronger, but will help you build rapport with the active members of the tagging community.
• If you are not a native speaker of British English, be sure to research what the thing you are describing is called in the British vernacular. It can be helpful to find UK-based web sites that discuss the topic in order to understand how it is phrased and used.
• Research similar tagging schemes in order to ensure that your proposed tagging is consistent with other similar features and usages, and include those comparisons in the "rationale" section of the proposal.
• Assume that the reader is not an expert in the topic or in the associated tagging. Give a brief introduction suitable for non-experts that allows them to understand the feature being described, the state of existing (inadequate) tagging, and how your proposal fills that gap. Do not assume prior knowledge, especially when proposing additions or changes to complex tagging schemes.