WikiIndex:Frequently asked questions

WikiIndex: frequently asked questions — this meta article contains some 'frequently asked questions' (FAQ) about this WikiIndex wiki site.

First things first

• What if I discover a duplicate? see WikiIndex: Duplicates
• How do I add pictures? see WikiIndex: Adding Pictures
• Where is the RSS feed? see WikiIndex: RSS feed
• How do I pick a name for the page when entering a wiki? see WikiIndex: Naming conventions
• WikiIndex: How do you categorize a wiki that is no longer?
• How do you reuse the content? see WikiIndex: Copyrights
• How do tags work? see WikiIndex: How do categories work and template: Tag
• Do you have an idea about the transclude in MediaWiki? OlivierAuber 13:37, 22 Jan 2006 (EST)
• Could you tell me more about wiki-driven project maangement? Chinarut 07:10, 23 June 2006 (EDT)
• How do I do redirects, so people who search for my wiki using one popular misspelling will be redirected to the (hopefully properly-speelllled this time) WikiIndex article on my wiki? see WikiIndex: Redirect.

Why was 'education' not listed on the Category:Wiki Topic page?

We have several thousand categories at WikiIndex. Someone decided that was too many to list on one page. So that person decided to organize all categories as a hierarchy, and list only the "root categories" at Category:Wiki Topic. Category:Education is a sub-category of Category:Learning, which is a sub-category of Category:Knowledge, which is one of the root categories listed at Category:Wiki Topic. Is there a better way to handle our thousands of categories? If you want a list of *all* categories, click on the word "Categories" at the bottom of the page and then click "next" a few dozen times. --DavidCary 15:43, 4 August 2009 (EDT)

I'm looking for a simple way to get some statistics on which are the more popular pages

at http://journalism.wikia.com. -- Maurreen 4.152.51.240 20:37, 30 September 2006 (EDT)

This is a question for Angela or Gil. :-) Best, Mark 69.241.226.9

Special:PopularPages was disabled since it's not accurate if a wiki uses caching, so there's no reliable way to get a list of the most popular pages. Google Analytics does provide some info, but it's not all that accurate. You can ask Michael Davis (mdavis at wikia dot com) for data from there. Angela

Special:Mostvisitedpages was re-instated by Wikia sometime mid-2012. Hoof Hearted • talk2HH 06:37, 9 September 2012 (PDT)

Feedback on the UI/software etc

so I guess I'll do it here... It is a UI glitch to put the five-line copyright blurb right beneath the edit box, above the Summary/Save area. If the copyright blurb were moved down, wholly or partly, so that the Summary/Save could be right below the edit area, then everthing I need (from the edit toolbar down to the Save buttons) would fit on one screen; as it is, it doesn't all quite fit, forcing me to scroll up and down instead of being able to set-and-forget. --69.87.200.20 05:19, 30 January 2007 (PST)

When I came here today, it seemed like the whole wiki was down!

If you Google WikiIndex and try the top links, nothing works. It turns out that "https://WikiIndex.org/Special:RecentChanges" is not working, but "https://WikiIndex.org/index.php?title=Special:Recentchanges" is working. Has someone been fiddling with the wiki software? I think this is a MediaWiki configuration option. Please fix it!--69.87.203.22 06:18, 12 February 2007 (PST)

See user talk:John Stanton#Long, annoying URL – Smiddle/TC 09:13, 12 February 2007 (PST)

Workaround implemented 15feb07. --69.87.202.225 11:00, 17 February 2007 (PST)

Languages

What's with the various languages here? An "international" feel is entirely appropriate. And the articles about non-English wikis would ideally be in both English and the native language. But why are some misc articles also in French? No harm done, but if every article were in a dozen different languages things would get rather confusing... I've seen no discussion here about the theory or ideal goals. At the moment, we are mainly protected by the level of contribution being so low that we are struggling to function in one language -- no need to worry about multi-lingual chaos. --69.87.202.225 11:00, 17 February 2007 (PST)

I agree that articles about non-English wikis should ideally be in both the native language, and also in English (to pander to those who can't be bothered to learn a dozen languages). I don't mind misc articles in 2 different languages. Misc articles in a dozen different languages would be confusing. I suppose we could (a) turn on the MediaWiki multi-language stuff, giving us the "English-language section of the wikiindex", the "French-language section of the WikiIndex", etc.; or (b) fork the wiki. No need to decide until it actually starts to get confusing, though. --DavidCary 01:24, 24 February 2007 (PST)

I see that (a) has already occurred for Deutsch -- the German-language section of WikiIndex is at http://de.wikiindex.org/ . --DavidCary 11:16, 3 February 2009 (EST)

How many wiki are listed here?

As of 2007-02-24

There are:

• 3,655 wiki listed in category:All
• 44 languages listed in category:Wiki language
• 2,682 wiki listed in category:English
• 346 wiki listed in category:German
• 132 wiki listed in category:French
• 62 wiki listed in category:Spanish
• 29 wiki listed in category:Russian
• ...

As of 2007-07-02

There are:

• 3,796 wiki listed in category:All
• ...

As of 2010-03-08

There are:

• 5,324 wiki listed in category:All
• 236 languages listed in category:Wiki language
• 3,529 wiki listed in category:English and category:Wiki English
• 528 wiki listed in category:German and category:Wiki German
• 218 wiki listed in category:French and category:Wiki French
• 106 wiki listed in category:Spanish and category:Wiki Spanish
• 56 wiki listed in category:Dutch and category:Wiki Dutch
• 43 wiki listed in category:Russian and category:Wiki Russian
• ...

As of 2012-01-12

There are:

• 6,239 wiki listed in category:All
• 265 languages listed in category:Wiki language
• 3,935 wiki listed in category:English and category:Wiki English
• 569 wiki listed in category:German and category:Wiki German
• 208 wiki listed in category:French and category:Wiki French
• 122 wiki listed in category:Spanish and category:Wiki Spanish
• 65 wiki listed in category:Dutch and category:Wiki Dutch
• 56 wiki listed in category:Russian and category:Wiki Russian
• ...

As of 2013-08-21

There are:

• 20,453 wiki listed in category:All
• 265 languages listed in category:Wiki language
• 13,443 wiki listed in category:English and category:Wiki English
• 2,539 wiki listed in category:Spanish and category:Wiki Spanish
• 2,332 wiki listed in category:German and category:Wiki German
• 310 wiki listed in category:French and category:Wiki French
• 90 wiki listed in category:Dutch and category:Wiki Dutch
• 83 wiki listed in category:Russian and category:Wiki Russian
• ...

As of 2015-04-19

There are:

• 21,007 wiki listed in category:All
• 269 languages listed in category:Wiki language
• 13,702 wiki listed in category:English and category:Wiki English
• 2,549 wiki listed in category:Spanish and category:Wiki Spanish
• 2,382 wiki listed in category:German and category:Wiki German
• 322 wiki listed in category:French and category:Wiki French
• 290 wiki listed in category:Dutch and category:Wiki Dutch
• 93 wiki listed in category:Russian and category:Wiki Russian
• ...

As of 2018-06-05

There are:

• 21,469 wiki listed in category:All
• 271 languages listed in category:Wiki language
• 107 wiki farms listed in Category:Wiki farm
• 13,974 wiki listed in category:English and category:Wiki English
• 2,585 wiki listed in category:Spanish and category:Wiki Spanish
• 2,441 wiki listed in category:German and category:Wiki German
• 349 wiki listed in category:French and category:Wiki French
• 301 wiki listed in category:Dutch and category:Wiki Dutch
• 132 wiki listed in category:Italian and category:Wiki Italian
• 107 wiki listed in category:Russian and category:Wiki Russian
• 96 wiki listed in category:Japanese and category:Wiki Japanese
• 90 wiki listed in category:Chinese and category:Wiki Chinese
• 49 wiki listed in category:Korean and category:Wiki Korean
• ...

As of today, 2024-12-18

There are:

• 22,638 wiki listed in category:All
• 277 languages listed in category:Wiki language
• 15 wiki farms listed in Category:Wiki farm
• 207 wiki engines listed in category:Wiki engine
• 14,520 wiki listed in category:English and category:Wiki English
• 2,632 wiki listed in category:Spanish and category:Wiki Spanish
• 2,536 wiki listed in category:German and category:Wiki German
• 410 wiki listed in category:French and category:Wiki French
• 325 wiki listed in category:Dutch and category:Wiki Dutch
• 161 wiki listed in category:Italian and category:Wiki Italian
• 140 wiki listed in category:Russian and category:Wiki Russian
• 126 wiki listed in category:Japanese and category:Wiki Japanese
• 110 wiki listed in category:Chinese and category:Wiki Chinese
• 61 wiki listed in category:Korean and category:Wiki Korean
• ...

Where are your administrative abuse/administrator guidelines pages?

• WikiIndex: Blocking and banning policy
• WikiIndex: Editing etiquette
• Category: Proposals
• Category talk: Active administrators of this wiki.

I asked this, unsigned, 2-3 days ago. It seems like a pretty important question a noob (or anyone) should be able to find easily. No answers yet? Huw Powell 02:01, 3 July 2009 (EDT)

I'm a bit embarrassed to say that we don't have much of a written policy or written guidelines. We're pretty much playing it by ear at the moment. If you think an administrator should do something, please say something at the Category talk:Active administrators of this wiki. --DavidCary 21:10, 6 July 2009 (EDT)

Thank you for your response. Hey, no wiki is "perfect". Huw Powell 01:58, 9 July 2009 (EDT)

Late-breaking news: Category: Guidelines is now our (hopefully complete) list of policies and guidelines. --DavidCary 07:52, 25 September 2011 (PDT)

How much original research can I use?

I've been on several wikis and had various experiences, as well as hearing good and bad things from fellow users. how much of my own opinion/experience can I put into an article? Totnesmartin 11:06, 16 May 2010 (EDT)

WikiIndex is not the same as Wikipedia. Original research is allowed. Having a point of view is allowed. Although in practice most of the articles do not provide reviews or personal experience of the indexed site, there is no rule saying that you can't do so. I think it safe to say that not every editor here particularly likes this, but it generally only causes conflicts for wikis with a strong point of view. So feel free to express your opinion and tell of your experience. Just be aware that someone else may come along and change it, erase it, or contradict it. --MarvelZuvembie 13:26, 17 May 2010 (EDT)

How long can articles be?

Generally no longer than 12,000 characters seems to be the norm. Most of the pages with several thousand characters of content have a special reason for being that long, such as consisting of multiple translations of the same content. Even if you get away with having a somewhat lengthy page for awhile, there is always a possibility that eventually someone will ask that it be pared down. Your best bet is to keep pages to short blurbs (a few paragraphs at most) and have external links going to either an about page (in the case of a wiki) or a user page (in the case of a wiki person). Leucosticte (talk) 08:50, 8 March 2014 (UTC)

Template: Category discussions

Note: in order to assist readability of included talk pages, please ensure the template rendering this table is kept at the BOTTOM of the displayed page (manually move to bottom if required).

This is the text of the Template: Category discussions. It is intended to connect the various discussions about categories here on WikiIndex that are taking place (or have previously taken place) on various pages. Please also see WikiIndex: How do categories work, and how to use our {{Tag}} template. If you find a discussion on categories which does not display this message box, please add this template by copying the following {{Category discussions}}, and pasting at the bottom of the edit box on the required talk page, and then go edit this template to include it, and summarise the discussion you found. The following discussions have taken, or are taking place: WikiIndex: How do categories work — tries to explain to new editors how our category system works. (Or at least, how we hope it will someday work, once we finish the tasks in the below WikiProjects). WikiIndex:Wiki project - Categories and tags — lists some category-related projects we have been working on, and how we use our {{Tag}} template (which 'wikilinks', and auto-includes into its linked category); please feel free to help. Category talk: Browse — the talk page of the de facto 'root' (or top tier, or parent) category; a logical place for general category discussions to occur. Mentions language stuff; also questions whether 'category: Browse' should even be a category. language issues: Discussion of language categories at Community talk — de facto policy?: A suggestion that the English name for a wiki language should have the language's own name for itself as a sub-category. Proposal:Authentic language categories — how to deal with non-English languages' own names for themselves. WikiIndex: Frequently asked questions — a question asked and discussed regarding the appropriateness of having several translations of a wiki's description – the ubiquitous 'FAQ'. Category: Wiki language and its talk page — alternate proposals have been suggested and implemented here. general structure debates: WikiIndex talk:Community talk — one of the earliest discussion spaces, which included some general categorisation issues. Proposal:Category tree — offers a picture showing how categories should maybe work in general; also summarises how various categories are actually being used currently. Category talk: Wiki Topic — what should the 'root' or 'parent' of the topics or subject matter of all wikis indexed here on WikiIndex. WikiIndex: WikiProject - By Size and its talk page — original discussions for methodology on creating categorisation of wikis by size, and the templates used to generate the required output. Category talk: Wiki Size — brief comment on how to determine page count of wikis, especially from the various wiki engines; more detail can be found at template: Size. dealing with geography: Category talk: Places — the former fundamental 'location cat'; previously suggested for depreciation, and proposed as being edited out of existence; now used for non-geographical locations. Category talk: wiki location — the new location root category; discussion general geography schemes here. Category talk: City — one scheme: a category just for 'city wikis'. . . see also: Regiowikis. Category talk: Earth — how to structure a 'tree of locations'; discussion at the root of the tree. specific categories: User talk: TedErnst — discussion about the resolution to use for 'category: Wiki Size' sub-categories. Category talk: Wikia — discussion about the commercial behemoth that is category: Wikia, now also known as 'Fandom'. Category talk: Wiki engine — discussion about category: Wiki engine structure. Category talk: Wiki status — inconsistency, some editors consider it overlapping with category: Wiki Edit Mode. You can also check all pages that link to this template (using the backlink function).