UPDATE: This will take effect immediately as community agreed to it.
There will be a new system under consideration for featured content on the homepage. Instead replacing the slider altogether we'll feature new content [leftmost] (usually what's voted by the community, currently trending, or a "spotlight" to something underrated/overlooked) while replacing the oldest featured content [rightmost]. The reason for this is the need to minimize larger edits. This makes it easier for me and other admins to quickly feature something. (Such as when we're at school and want to make a quick change instead of spending a while looking for images and research.) It's also not as intimidating so we wound start and then leave it unpublished/unfinished later.
Also, I'm lazy and I haven't published an article in quite some time. Now, let me know what you think about this system. Again, this isn't taking place right now. It's going under review by other administrators as of this writing.