Hi guys,

Many thanks for your feedback a fortnight ago. Instead of today's episode discussion, here's an update to give to you guys as to what feedback we received (the bullet points are exactly taken from our list!) and what actions we have taken and set to take, as well as another opportunity to give your opinion.

Firstly, our main port of call was to update the policies page, wiping out a lot of our to-do list:

• Clarify and shorten the policies page (such as Wheaton's Law)

Well, it's about a third shorter than what it was, so hopefully there's a great improvement. In fact, we've cut it down from 13598 characters (2161 words) to 8573 characters (1249 words). We've gone for a more blunt approach. No one likes reading rules and we want you to have time to actually take part in the community so shortening them was something on the agenda for a while now. We're also hoping to improve enforcement of these overall, such as comments adding to discussion since there's an increasing number of comments (mainly done by a few users) that add little to the discussion.

• Prevent users from using [SPOILER] for non-spoiler content

This is done because, while it's nice to give a heads up, it gets very confusing as people may mix up threads with spoilers for years old episodes with threads that are for spoilers for future airings and can put people off. This solves that. Basically, "[SPOILERS] The Bastard that killed Amy and Rory" is not cool while "Writer is bad (Contains Spoilers for The Angels Take Manhattan)" is nice and clear. The exact wording would be down to moderator discretion and we'll help you out :)

• Add rule: "Don't sour the discussion for others just because you think you've heard it all before."

Self-explanatory really and actually something that was already there, but now it is far more blunt. There are always people who have seen the topic before, just like there are always people who have not. If you have, it should be pretty easy to come up with a comment, or you can easily just ignore it and move on. If you feel a topic has come up a lot in the past few weeks, contact us!

• Clarify Spoiler Policy by adding appropriate exceptions to it, such as writers/directors

We've added more exceptions to the spoiler policy in the hopes of it feeling less restrictive but without losing integrity. These exceptions presently are Pure Speculation, episode titles, air date, episode format, writers, directors, and other non-actor roles.

• Add Elitism (w/ complaining about /r/DoctorWho) section to rules

One of the main issues with being a dedicated discussion board is battling the image of elitism. This doesn't happen much but it's not nice when it does so adding it is mainly a reminder to be welcoming to all.

As a sub-category of this, we are also formalising (again) the rule against complaining about other subreddits, namely /r/DoctorWho. Older subscribers may remember that this used to be emphasised on the sidebar for a long time and something we've always been enforcing, but this is just re-formalisation. Yes, the discussion on /r/DoctorWho isn't as good as here. Why do you think the rest of us are here? Complaining about it doesn't add good discussion, which is the very reason you come here, no?

Please can everyone, old and new, read the revised rules. If it's still not clear, we need you to tell us!

/r/Gallifrey/wiki/policies

Aside from this, we've also done a couple of other things:

• Add more link flair tags, including OPINION, REVIEW, THEORY,

Added a few for posts not really covered properly. Editorial for opinionated articles, review and theory. We'll be seeing a lot of the last two while the show is on the air.

• Tournament posts to have own flair (but not removed due to popularity)

It may seem like spam to a few people, but these had a lot of positive feedback so it's clear that removing them would be a bad move. We did want to separate them though so they now have their own tag.

• Add list of all Doctor Who stories with links to discussions if available to wiki

So it's been suggested a few times, albeit not in the thread, that we should have a list of discussions we have had. We do now! Check them out at /r/Gallifrey/wiki/stories. I'm not sure how often it'll be updated (if you want to help with the wiki, please let us know!) so it may get a little outdated every now and then.

(Sidenote: There's an awful lot of Classics that haven't been discussed. Perhaps a new weekly/fortnightly thread dedicated to these?)

Of course, that wasn't everything. There's still things on the list that need to be done:

• Create a flowchart/interactive page for spoilers

Actually, there is one that exists here, but we haven't really put it up, probably because it feels too basic to need it.

• Add user flair (Looms?)

OK, so we’ve kinda not really discussed this one in-depth yet (sorry!). Currently, we’re considering simply going for “Loomies”, “Anti-Looms” and “WTF are Looms?”, but it’s all yet to be decided.

• Add list of series 9 episodes to sidebar with links and spoiler/post times

This has been suggested a few times in the past (mostly when the show is on-air)We have a proof of concept ready, but there's still one or two kinks (namely, sidebar character limit). This will be done far closer to the time, perhaps a week or so before the première.

And then of course, there's things that can never really be finished.

• Clarify Spoiler Policy by enforcing it evenly more

This is something we aim to do anyway and normally I wouldn't include something obvious in this but given how we missed a big thread earlier, which was a pretty big fuck-up, I'm just adding it to remind ourselves.

• Add more approved submitters

It's nice getting that notification, isn't it? Well, we're adding approved submitters on request for those who wish to have the ability to easily tag your own posts so you don't have to be waiting for us. If interested, please send me a PM.

• Keep going. Don't fuck it up.

What? It was a very positive survey response and this was the main comment. Stop looking at us like that and allow us this moment.

Note for some users: The most popular reddit apps (i.e. RedditIsFun for Android, Alien Blue for iOS) support the standard spoiler tag, that we use. At the present time, there isn't enough reason to change the policy for the sake of the very small minority who choose to use apps that don't support it. If users insist on using apps they think are better, we insist on requesting the developers of the apps to better support the site they're created for.

Thanks for reading. As usual, any questions and/or comments are welcome!