My proposal is currently a draft, but I have no related external discussions I can find. It clearly states in the proposal process article:
“Research whether tagging for this feature (or similar) has been discussed before, by searching the mailing lists or other forums. Consider what objections or concerns were raised in those discussions, and adjust your proposal if necessary to satisfy the concerns. It may not be possible to please everyone, but you will have the best chance of success if you make the effort to address as many concerns as possible. Provide links to these discussions in the “External Discussions” section; it shows that you have done your homework and are aware of past discussions that may have occurred.”
I don’t know what to do. Push on or cancel my proposal?
Have you started discussing it anywhere, either just by throwing the idea out there, or via a full RFC, here & on the Tagging mailing list, or by a talk page?
To begin with, you for sure don’t have to drop your proposal. I’m no expert on the proposal process (haven’t even gone through it once yet), but that paragraph doesn’t actually require any external discussion, it just says that if there was any external discussion you should link to it.
However, what it also says (between the lines) is that a proposal those topic was previously discussed has a higher chance of being accepted. If there hasn’t been any existing discussion yet it would make sense to start a discussion (here on the forum is a good place to start). Can be as simple as you posting a link to your current draft of the proposal and asking “hey everyone what do you think of this?” (though I would at least summarize the proposal into the post as well).
Just remember to keep an open mind if this is the first time you’re “opening up” your proposal idea to the community. It might very well be that you’ll realize (if you have an open mind) based on the discussion that there’s a much better solution to the underlying problem so that your current proposal has to be rewritten entirely from scratch! Listen to what everyone says, but also be ready to defend your proposal from the naysayers (whether to defend or accept is of course a difficult balancing act, but as long as you keep an open mind and try to understand all arguments you should be fine).
Also, as @Fizzie41 said, also look at talk pages on the wiki, there are very often existing discussions going on there that are easy to miss.
Research whether tagging for this feature (or similar) has been discussed before, by searching the mailing lists or other forums
is fulfilled and you can you fill that section with “searched for, nothing was found, please add any if missed” and use request for comment (RFC) to gather feedback
