The modmail has been copied below. The announcement is linked in the first comment, and people are justifiably annoyed.
Hi Mods,
We are in the process of rolling out a big overhaul to Subreddit Wikis, including a new layout, tools, discoverability, and more.
TL;DR - We’ve given wikis a makeover. The improved wiki (launching next week) includes: new tools and layout, additional safety features, more edit access options, and improved discoverability. For those with wikis built on old.reddit, we’ll move your existing content over, so that everything is preserved. Edits made via old.reddit after the migration won’t sync to the new system and vice versa.
Keeping a wiki fresh and up to date can be time-consuming, and mods shouldn’t have to do it all alone. As part of this update, “successful contributor access” will be enabled by default for your community wiki the week of July 14.
- Successful contributors are based on their past posts/comments within your community and high contributor quality score
The entire wiki or individual pages can be restricted to “mod-only” editing at any time (after the above changes are made) within “Wiki settings” found in Mod Tools on desktop.
This setting manages for quality and safety while enabling more Wiki maintenance support and relevant content creation. In early testing, subreddits with this setting enabled did not require mod revisions.
To opt out of this setting being turned on in your community before July 14, please let us know via this form.
Wikis built on old.reddit will be automatically migrated over? They’re destroying old reddit piece by piece
Honestly this doesn’t seem like a bad idea? Subreddits/communities as mod fiefdoms has almost never worked well imo.
TIL Reddit even had a Wiki. I knew about the sidebar but that was about it.
Giving edit access to top tier shitposters
Supposedly the outcry caused them to “put a pause on this launch for the time being”, as of a few hours ago
Hey Mods, first thanks to all of you for all the feedback on this launch today - we really appreciate it. We’re taking it all in and will be putting a pause on this launch for the time being.
For now, I suggest filling out the form if you don’t want to be opted in. We’ll keep all of you posted on our next steps, including the revised launch date.