## Problem to solve WIP limits are being added to issue boards https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/11403 which creates a naming collision with [WIP (Work In Progress) merge requests](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/merge_requests/work_in_progress_merge_requests.html). Furthermore, WIP merge requests are frequently used to mean "this MR is a draft, please don't merge" even though they are complete and ready for review. ## Further details The acronym "WIP" is not commonplace in software community worldwide and even less so for non-english speakers. "Draft" is a more inclusive and self-explanatory term. ## Proposal 1. Rename the feature **Draft** 1. Reword title subtext in MR edit mode from: “Start the title with WIP: to prevent a Work In Progress merge request from being merged before it's ready.” to “Start the title with `Draft:` or `WIP:` to prevent a merge request that is a work in progress from being merged before it's ready.” “Remove the [`Draft`|`WIP`] prefix from the title to allow this merge request to be merged when it's ready.” 1. Add support for `Draft:`, `[Draft]`, `(Draft)`, or `Draft - ` **case insensitive** prefixes in: 1. The merge request title. 1. Commit messages targeting the merge request’s source branch. 1. Reword the MR widget when in draft state:  While `WIP` deprecation is active, we should support both `WIP` and `Draft` prefixes for MRs and commit messages ## Future work 1. Rename the `WIP` filter in the merge request list. We would need to change it in a way that doesn't break old URLs that still use it: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/227414 1. Rename or add a new `/draft` alias to the `/wip` quick action: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/227415 ## Links / references