CSM Candidates should have “CSM XX Candidate” tags to increase their visibility and basically encourage forum users to give their posts more scrutiny, check out their forum activity page, etc. The tags would appear identically to how existing tags are displayed. Example:
If an existing CSM member is running for re-election, it would display both tags: CSM and CSM XX Candidate.
The tags would appear whenever a candidate announces their candidacy for the upcoming or following CSM, and would be removed when candidates end their campaign, are disqualified for the upcoming CSM, or are not elected. Notice I indicated “XX” as part of the name: that’s because some candidates may be running for the following CSM rather than the upcoming CSM. So there would be, for example, a “CSM 15 Candidate” and a “CSM 16 Candidate” tag. This is particularly important because some players may be running for the following CSM VERY early on, so by indicating the CSM number it is clear that they are in fact campaigning early. Right now it is too late to announce candidacy for CSM 15, but not for CSM 16 - these candidates should have increased visibility going forward.
In order to be assigned these tags, campaigners should indicate which CSM they are running for (if ambiguous or if someone announces their candidacy after the cutoff, forum mods should inquire in their campaign threads). This shouldn’t be too much work for forum mods to check when new candidate threads appear or when campaigns discontinue, and the little added effort has a huge impact on increasing visibility, especially for “the little guys” who aren’t part of major alliances or aren’t streamers, etc.