Make it so that all RECs can gain new features & simplify terminology accordingly - #1168
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Remove the opt-in distinction between Recommendations that "allow new features" and those that don't, so that we may have a single type of Recommendations. The distinction and the related procedural steps were a frequent source of confusion. Part of addressing w3c/AB-memberonly#244
This these are now proceduraly interchangeable and valid in the same situations, formal distinction is no longer necessary. Informal descriptions of the nature of the changes remain possible, but are no longer mandated by the Process. Part of addressing w3c/AB-memberonly#244
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Jun 11, 2026
Co-authored-by: Ted Thibodeau Jr <tthibodeau@openlinksw.com>
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This pull request implements the AB resolution documented in https://github.com/w3c/AB-memberonly/issues/244#issuecomment-4303099327, doing away with the distinction between Recommendations that allow new features and those that do not. This enables a simplification of Process rules and terminology.
This is notable in that it breaks a long standing guarantee previously offered by the Process. Until now, unless they contained an explicit statement to the contrary (know as "allowing new features"), documents could not gain new features after their initial publication as Recommendations, even as editorial improvements or bug fixes were being added through updates. References could be made to them using their undated URL while being confident that the scope/featureset would not change.
However, it was found that the terminology and process mechanics needed to maintain this distinction was the source of much confusion, while there is scant evidence that anybody actually depended on this guarantee. (People who want to depend on a Recommendation not changing at all after publication can continue to do so, as they always have, but using the dated URL for that publication).
This PR is organized in 3 commits, applying progressively stronger simplifications in terminology.
Together (and not counting the 31 lines added the "Retired terminology" appendix), they results in a net reduction of 43 lines (+33 -76), and retirement of 8
dfned terms.Preview | Diff