User blog:Nichdel/PROPOSAL: Implicit Numbering

Amend Rule 25 to read:
The 'ruleset' is an ordered list of all current rules. The Speaker must keep the ruleset up to date.

Rules shall be listed with a) a unique title, b) the text of the rule, and c) a list of links to the proposals that have changed the rule. Nothing else shall be listed with a rule.

When refering to a rule, its title or its location within the ruleset (as an integer, with the first rule being 1) shall be sufficient to unambiguously identify it.

At the time of passage of this rule change, the ruleset shall be ordered by rule numbers, which shall then be no longer part of a rule.

Amend Rule 7:
Replace "The lower a rule's number, the higher its precedence (101 > 102)." with "The earlier in the ruleset a rule is, the higher its precedence."

Amend Rule 4:
Add the following after "Reverting a rule. The current version of a rule shall be replaced with the archived version of the rule":
 * Reordering a rule. Moving a rule to be at the specified spot within the ruleset.

This makes the rules implicitly numbered, and makes this implicit numbering control precedence. If I have implemented this correctly, this means that the rules are always numbered 1 to n, n being the total number of rules. It also means that precedence is still tied to this numbering, and that we can move a rule within the ruleset to change both its precedence and numbering. Finally, because of how wikia works, the Table of Contents on the rules page will always have the rules properly numbered. This makes rule numbers mechanical entities rather than a bureaucratic ones.

If this passes I will remove the transitional clause in rule 25 and define 'its location within the ruleset' as the rule's number in a later proposal.