Template:Wikia.com / Fandom.com: Difference between revisions

'''<big>Wikia</big>''', currently branded as '''<big>Fandom</big>''', and originally known as '''<big>Wikicities</big>''' (until 27 March 2006), is a [[:Category:Wiki farm|collection]] of over 250,000<ref name=About>[https://about.fandom.com/about Fandom – About Us]; ''About.Fandom.com''; [[Fandom, Inc.]]; accessed 19 December 2022.</ref> [[wiki]] sites.  Known as a '[[wiki farm]]', it is owned by its parent company '''[[WikiaSite:Wikia, Inc.|Wikia, Inc.]]'''<ref name=Terms>[https://www.fandom.com/terms-of-use Fandom – Terms of Use]; ''Community.Fandom.com'' (originally: ''Community.Wikia.com''); [[Fandom, Inc.]] (originally: Wikia, {{Cambridge-Dictionary|incorporated|Inc.}}); dated 24 May 2022; accessed 19 December 2022.</ref>  [[:Category:Wikicities|Wikicities]] was founded 18 October [[:Category:Founded in 2004|2004]] by [[:Category:American|American]] internet entrepreneur [[Jimmy Wales|Jimmy 'Jimbo' Wales]] (who had previously founded [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]), and his then [[:Category:British|British]] business partner [[Angela Beesley Starling|Angela Beesley]] (now known as Angela Starling).<ref name=About/>  Its original tagline was ''"Create. Collaborate. Be Original."''  In 2006, [[WikiaSite:User:Gil|Gil Penchina]] became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and hoped to take Wikia to a new level as he did with [[:Category:eBay|eBay]].  In late 2011, [[Craig L. Palmer]] was appointed as new Wikia CEO.<ref>[[WikiaSite:Forum:Craig Palmer, new CEO of Wikia|Craig Palmer, new CEO of Wikia]]; ''Community.Fandom.com'' (originally: ''Community.Wikia.com''); [[Fandom, Inc.]] (originally: Wikia, {{Cambridge-Dictionary|incorporated|Inc.}}); date 20 October 2011; accessed 19 December 2022.</ref>  In late [[:Category:Founded in 2016|2016]], the entire Wikia wiki farm was rebranded from 'Wikia' to 'Fandom',<ref>[[WikiaSite:User_blog:Craiglpalmer/Wikia_is_now_Fandom_powered_by_Wikia|User blog:Craiglpalmer / Wikia is now Fandom powered by Wikia]]; ''Community.Fandom.com'' (originally: ''Community.Wikia.com''); [[Fandom, Inc.]] (originally: Wikia, {{Cambridge-Dictionary|incorporated|Inc.}}); dated 26 September 2016; accessed 19 December 2022.</ref> and also launched the non-profit sister site [https://wikia.org Wikia.org].  As of October [[:Category:Founded in 2021|2021]], the current Fandom CEO is [[Perkins Miller]].<ref name=About/>

==Wikia.com / Fandom.com==

[[Wikia|Wikia.com]] (and now Fandom.com) uses a heavily modified and customised creation of the MediaWiki [[:Category:Wiki engine|wiki engine]] software, to the point of making it unique.  It is visually different from conventional [[:Category:MediaWiki|MediaWiki]] sites (such as [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]), in that it has its own exclusive [[:Category:Custom skin|custom skin]], and most notably, is embedded with a range and variety of graphic and dynamically animated [[:Category:Advertising|advertisements]].  The fundamental {{Cambridge-Dictionary|business model}} of Wikia / Fandom is the offering of [[:Category:Free MediaWiki wiki farm|free hosting]] for an individual or [[wiki community]] to build a free content [[WhatIsWiki|wiki]]-based website, on virtually any [[:Category:Wiki Topic|subject]].  New wiki sites can be created instantly at <nowiki>https://www.Wikia.com/Special:CreateNewWiki</nowiki>.  Hosting of wiki sites, and 24&nbsp;hour customer support is free – in return for advertising placed on the pages; but [[editor]]s and [[user]]s have little say over the advertisements (both content and placement) their wiki site displays.  Support, on both the technical and community aspects of running a wiki community, is provided at [[Wikia Community Central]], now known as Fandom Community Central (or one of its related [[Template:Wikia Community Central|other]] [[:Category:Wiki language|language]] Community wikis).

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