This page is currently inactive and is retained for historical reference. Either the page is no longer relevant or consensus on its purpose has become unclear. To revive discussion, seek broader input via a forum such as the village pump.
This page in a nutshell: For 5 days, Wikipedians are asked to voluntarily refrain from editing all non-article areas of Wikipedia, and instead dedicate themselves to creating, cleaning up, and building articles.
In the Great Wikipedia Dramaout, similar to the Great American Smokeout, editors are asked to engage in a five-day period of abstinence from drama at Wikipedia; the most addictive and yet cancerous aspect of our community. During this five-day drama blackout, it is requested that regular contributors to the non-article-space areas of Wikipedia, including but not limited to, the various administrator noticeboards, the reference desks, the village pumps, or any other non-essential areas of Wikipedia cease working at those areas for the length of the Dramaout and instead work on article content. With the exception of areas deemed essential to improving articles directly, all participating editors are asked to voluntarily abstain from non-article edits.
The purpose of this campaign is to improve article quality in Wikipedia.
Aren't the areas you are avoiding really important to Wikipedia?
Yes, they clearly are. However, this campaign is not a condemnation of the non-article space of Wikipedia. It is merely a recognition that some editors feel addicted to these sorts of discussions, and that their own article writing has suffered. This is giving people the opportunity to voluntarily refrain from the addiction for a few days and return to the reason we all came here for in the first place. Editing articles!
Isn't <name of page or process> going to suffer if no one handles it?
It isn't expected that no one will handle it. There are plenty of Wikipedians who will not participate in this campaign, and for those that do there are plenty of others who will do that work while they are gone. This is not a campaign for all Wikipedians, it is for those who have recognized a lack of article editing by themselves, and to give them an opportunity to return to article editing for a few days. If the sort of "addiction" described in Q1 does not ring true to you, then maybe this campaign is not for you.
Isn't this really more about improving articles than avoiding drama? Wouldn't some other name be more accurate?
Yes, it is. The name is something of a catchy title merely to get people involved. However, it is not entirely inaccurate. Many people who are addicted to the non-article spaces of Wikipedia are addicted to the drama contained there. Just like an alcoholic cannot "just have one drink", some people find themselves unable to avoid being dragged into the "drama" in the non-article areas of Wikipedia. Abstaining from all non-article-related editing is mainly about not putting yourself into a place where you can be dragged into drama; which of course then detracts from your article editing. Again, if this sort of addiction metaphor does not ring true for you, then you may not be understanding the purpose and focus of this campaign, and it may not be for you.
I spend some time at non-article spaces, but I edit lots of articles too. I don't really think I get involved in much drama myself, and my article editing is at a level where I like it. Should I sign up?
No, probably not. You sound like someone who has a well-balanced Wikilife, and this campaign really isn't for you. Of course, everyone is invited, and if you really want to take the pledge to edit ONLY articles for 5 days seriously, you are free to sign up. But if you don't think that you are interested, or that you will benefit from it, don't feel you have to sign up. No one will think less of you for doing so.
Why are there a list of exemptions here? What is the purpose of exempting areas if we are ONLY to edit articles?
The exemptions are to give editors the opportunity to improve their work in ways outside of direct article editing. For example, nominating an article you work on during the 5-day campaign for FA is exempt from the normal restriction against non-article editing. However, spending the five days hanging out at FAC and discussing dozens of articles you didn't work on, merely to discuss them, kinda misses the point of the campaign. Likewise, if an article you are working on is repeatedly vandalized, then by all means, please use RFPP and AIV to deal with the issue. However, patrolling these pages looking for people to block or pages to protect also kinda violates the spirit of the Dramaout. Please use your discretion, and if working outside of the article space is directly related to improving a specific article you have dedicated yourself to working on, then please go ahead and do so. But always remember the focus is on specific article improvement, not merely blocking vandals or commenting on discussions unrelated to your work.
Who came up with this idea?
User F203 raised the idea at Wikipedia talk:Administrators' noticeboard with the thread titled "Shut down ANI for 5 days? Would this help WP article writing?" Based on some positive response there, Jayron32 created the Great Wikipedia Dramaout campaign page using F203's basic ideas.
