[META] Seeking input on subreddit rule (and style) changes

As we have mentioned previously, the primary purpose of having a Data Science subreddit is to provide a place for DS professionals to discuss and debate topics relating to the field/industry.

Unfortunately, due to the high interest in data science from those currently outside the field, the subreddit is frequently inundated with submissions that do not fit the above purpose and are generally very repetitive.

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Previous actions have been considered and taken by the mod team to rectify this issue. Almost a year ago, we proposed a rule requiring submissions to either be made by a user with flair or be approved by a moderator. Due to objections and suggestions from the community, we instead introduced a weekly sticky thread to capture these kinds of posts rather than have them appear in the subreddit.

However, this has not been as successful as hoped. Thus, the mod team has discussed additional changes that we would like to implement. Our new plan is twofold:

1. Make significant changes to the submissions page, sidebar, and automoderator of the subreddit to help instruct new/unfamiliar users about the weekly sticky thread and rules in general.
2. Enforce the policy by enacting a short-term “submission ban” on users who make improper submissions. Bans would not prevent users from posting in an existing submission (like the weekly sticky).

We would like community input on these two ideas before we implement them. Both in terms of whether to implelement them, and how to implement them.

In particular, if anyone has good CSS, subreddit style, and/or automoderator experience, we would be very interested in your input for the first part.

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Edit: If you think we are gatekeeping, you are probably approximately correct.