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As I am writing this, votes are being collected to synonym and to , in response to this meta discussion: Should we have an [ancestry] tag?

In my two years or so active here, this is the first time I have seen this:

enter image description here

I found this by navigating to the synonyms page for the [races] tag. If I had not been already aware of the discussion about these synonyms, I never would have known this vote was happening.

How are you supposed to know about new tag synonym proposals without stumbling across them by chance (or already being aware that they might happen because of a meta discussion)?

To highlight further the problem here, Laurel pointed me to another page I had never seen before: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/tags/synonyms?tab=Newest&filter=Suggested

enter image description here

All these synonym suggestions have been sitting in limbo since they were proposed, including one that is over two years old. So I guess I am sort of answering the question in the question here - "look at this page for synonym proposals", but if that were a viable solution we wouldn't have synonym proposals from 2019 sitting in there. I think this is only showing the proposals I am eligible to vote for, so there may be more that I cannot see.

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    \$\begingroup\$ They're supposed to be listed under pending approval, but I only see [ptu] there, and I have to wonder if that will ever get approved. Tag synonym approval is a near-useless system that only works if moderators are the ones using it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Laurel
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 16:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Laurel A few days ago, we had five or six suggestions in there, but then events occurred, and people voted — e. g. items is now a synonym of objects. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 21:26
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Akixkisu Try a few hours ago - my queue had 11 items in it when I wrote this question, now it has 7. The events that occurred were this post drawing attention to the page. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 21:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ThomasMarkov yup, you made a call to action and now five or six suggestions resolved. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 21:30

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This was proposed some time ago on main meta: Some kind of notification system for when tag synonyms are suggested

If we wanted to get it reviewed, I suggest we should get evidence together that it's needed network wide (i.e. not just here), post evidence as an answer on that post, and the flag it for review.

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What is the rush?

Intricate tag navigation, remapping and synonyms is something that a tiny group of users does — suggestions end up there where the ten people who care about the feature eventually learn about it when there is some action that requires attention. When no action requires attention, then that is great - if a synonym sits there for four years, then there are good odds that it never required immediate action.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I hypothesize that these are sitting there not because a sufficient number of users have reviewed them and weren't sure how to vote, rather, an insufficient number of reviewers are even aware this page exists. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 19:44
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ThomasMarkov I agree, but most of the time there is no need for reviewers to know that the page exists — until an action occurs that requires that attention - and then it happens organically. Such as me posting this comment rpg.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/11878/… \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 19:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ I'm doubtful this is an accurate description of events " it happens organically". Do you mean the people who are aware of it jump into action? \$\endgroup\$
    – AncientSwordRage
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 21:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AncientSwordRage Users who have an interest in a specific subject seek out information, and when we have an event, that event organically facilitates transmission of information — such as Laurel talking to Thomas Markov or me talking to Trish. Outside of these happening, a call to attention or something similar - synonyms are a low-priority, and when events occur, we transmit that information. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 21:23
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    \$\begingroup\$ Ok, but it sounds more organic to me if the system tells you hot new synonyms are in your tag specialism or something similar. \$\endgroup\$
    – AncientSwordRage
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 21:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AncientSwordRage That sounds like guided discovery to me, but oh well — I don't think that how I perceive that term matters much to the argument of whether something requires immediate action or not. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 21:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Akixkisu Maybe this is a hot take, but I would argue that prioritizing curation tasks only makes sense when you actually have to choose between one or the other; if the volume of posts requiring review is great relative to the number of reviewers, then yes, suggested synonyms is a low-priority task compared to curating the front page of the site. But that isn't really something we have here. The day-to-day of our site is a low enough volume that there are no low priority tasks. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 21:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ Akixkisu I think the system automating the process sounds better not matter how we decide to describe it \$\endgroup\$
    – AncientSwordRage
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 21:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/11/conversation/… extended discussion interspersed with a few other things. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    Commented Dec 31, 2021 at 0:00

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