Even if you split the graduation process it would seem that Writing.SE stats favor a full graduation. They need migration paths and have large user base to support elections. More importantly this site needs to increase its reputation thresholds which according to your post qualifies as full graduation. Not to mention that this change is graduation process is going on since 2017. Disclosure: I am not a user of Writing.SE.

@KolappanNathan I understand. I am not denying the eligibility (or need) for any site to graduate (or to receive all the features that entails). I'm just moving forward with a better system because obviously this one is broken — make it transparent, triggered automatically by objective milestones, and as fully automatic/automated as I can possibly make it.

I definitely agree that the system you're suggesting is a great improvement over the current one. But it is been in discussion more than a year. Graduation of Writing.SE or any other site should not be affected or delayed for it. It is really great if that is not the case.

@KolappanNathan Agreed. I'm not holding anything up.

@KolappanNathan Also worth noting that most beta sites are now having elections if the moderation team on the site needs another set of hands.

@Catija Good point; add that to the post.

It's not that this is a bad idea. It's that it feels like another way to put us off. Yet another "something will happen for you soon I promise" that never pans out. No matter what idea is thrown at us, my response is going to be: squeak squeak squeak.

@Cyn I can't help that. The alternative is to ignore the question and not talk about the features and solutions I'm working at all; too toxic. Glad you like it, though.

I don't know how the management of SE works, who makes these decisions, or where you are in the hierarchy. It's just that these alternatives to full graduation as a way of speeding things up have been posted in earnest for at least a year, yet nothing has changed.

Robert, I think what Cyn is getting at is: how can we help you help us? How do we escalate? What are the barriers? ("Other people", yes, but which ones and how can we help?)

"Stay tuned" I liked that optimistic and positive nature :)

"The alternative is to ignore the question". Talking about the graduation of the site in question rather than a plan for the future is a good alternative and I think that is what @Cyn is pointing out.

@KolappanNathan I don't have that ability or insight, so we're back to "either you tell us what we want to hear, or you don't say anything at all."

@RobertCartaino: I hardly think that's fair. The question as asked is about Writers, which has been repeatedly told to wait. What they want to know is, when can they stop waiting? Your answer does not address that part of the question. "Never" or "I don't know" would be valid (if unpopular) answers, but talking about some future plans that may or may not ever make it into production (and have obviously been floating around for years) is unhelpful.

@RobertCartaino "I don't have that ability or insight" who does then? Can you send this along or tag someone that does?

@RobertCartaino "either you tell us what we want to hear, or you don't say anything at all." That is not what I implied. This question is about the graduation of a particular site and the only answer here is not related to that site. It was great to hear improvements to the process. But no one else has answered to this question. Is Writing.SE eligible for graduation? If not, why? This main question remains unanswered till now.

I've got to agree with @KolappanNathan here. While I appreciate that you're giving us the best answer you have, our main question remains unanswered and unaddressed. In fact, I am beginning to find this troubling: we are not denied, but simply ignored.

@KolappanNathan: "This question is about the graduation of a particular site and the only answer here is not related to that site." The very first sentence of his post addresses this: "I agree with you on just about all of this." It seems abundantly clear from the answer that "eligibility" is not really an issue here.

@NicolBolas How does the first in the line answer whether the site will be graduating or not? "It seems abundantly clear from the answer that "eligibility" is not really an issue here." In that case, why is the site not graduating?

@KolappanNathan: But that's a different question. You wanted to know if SE thinks Writers is "eligible for graduation". From this answer, it's clear that the eligibility thing is not an issue.

@NicolBolas Saying eligibility is not an issue and and agreeing that the site is eligible are two different things. The author says he is not denying the eligibility of any site. From what, I understood he is not talking about the need / eligibility of any site but simple states that he is working on a better system where eligibility dos not matter. If it is as you say and I am the one who misinterpreted it, I kindly request the author to kindly state it outright. It is best if we let the author to settle what he meant.

@NicolBolas: "But that's a different question." -- What? How could you possibly say that with a straight face? The question reads, in short, "Writing.SE wants to graduate, so please graduate us." An answer of "Eligibility is not the problem" doesn't answer the question.

@Kevin: "How could you possibly say that with a straight face?" Because I was talking specifically to Kolappan who said, "But no one else has answered to this question. Is Writing.SE eligible for graduation? If not, why?" I don't know how to interpret "I agree with you on just about all of this." as anything other than "yes".