Template:Wikia.com / Fandom.com: Difference between revisions
Rock-O-Jello (talk | contribs) (→Problems between Wikia and its users: Updates.) Tags: mobile edit mobile web edit |
(Updated with the new rebranding -- 'Wikia' becomes 'Fandom powered by Wikia') |
||
| Line 20: | Line 20: | ||
==Description== | ==Description== | ||
'''Wikia''', formerly '''Wikicities''', is now a [[wiki farm|collection]] of over 200,000<sup>[http://www.wikia.com/About]</sup> [[wiki]]s — aka a '{{tag|WikiFarm|Wiki Farm}}' — run by '''[[WikiaSite:community:Community Central:Wikia, Inc.|Wikia, Inc.]]''', and founded by [[Jimmy Wales]] – one of the founders of [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]], along with [[Angela Beesley Starling|Angela Beesley]] in October {{tag|FoundedIn2004|2004}}. Its' tagline is ''"Create. Collaborate. Be Original."'' In 2006, [[WikiaSite:community:User:Gil|Gil Penchina]] became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and hopes to take Wikia to a new level as he did with [[:Category:eBay|eBay]]. As of late 2011, the current CEO is [[WikiaSite:community:Forum:Craig Palmer, new CEO of Wikia|Craig Palmer]]. | '''Fandom powered by Wikia''', formerly '''Wikicities''', is now a [[wiki farm|collection]] of over 200,000<sup>[http://www.wikia.com/About]</sup> [[wiki]]s — aka a '{{tag|WikiFarm|Wiki Farm}}' — run by '''[[WikiaSite:community:Community Central:Wikia, Inc.|Wikia, Inc.]]''', and founded by [[Jimmy Wales]] – one of the founders of [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]], along with [[Angela Beesley Starling|Angela Beesley]] in October {{tag|FoundedIn2004|2004}}. Its' tagline is ''"Create. Collaborate. Be Original."'' In 2006, [[WikiaSite:community:User:Gil|Gil Penchina]] became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and hopes to take Wikia to a new level as he did with [[:Category:eBay|eBay]]. As of late 2011, the current CEO is [[WikiaSite:community:Forum:Craig Palmer, new CEO of Wikia|Craig Palmer]]. | ||
Fandom uses a unique and heavily modified creation of the {{tag|MediaWiki}} {{tag|Wiki Engine|wiki engine}}; and is visually different from regular MediaWiki sites in that it has its own {{tag|custom skin}}, and most notably, complete with a range and variety of embeded {{tag|Advertising|advertisements}}. Wikia offers {{tag|Free MediaWiki wiki farms|free}} hosting for an individual or community to build a free content [[WhatIsWiki|wiki]]-based website. New wikis can be created instantly at http://create.wikia.com. Hosting and 24 hour customer support is free, in return for advertising placed on the pages; but users have little say over the advertisements their website displays. Support, on both the technical and community aspects of running a wiki community, is provided at [[Wikia Community Central]] (or one of the [[Template:WikiaCommunityCentral|other]] [[:Category:Wiki Language|language]] Community wikis). | |||
Fandom staff and helpers have [[sysop]] powers throughout <u>all</u> Fandom wikis, as well as several types of automated detection and blocking tools to help deal with vandals and [[spam]] on individual wikis. This can be helpful for [[:Category:Wikis with a strong viewpoint|controversial]] wikis like [[Liberapedia]] that attract vandals. | |||
Users with new 'talk' messages on ''any'' | Users with new 'talk' messages on ''any'' Famdom wiki will get a note about the message on ''any other'' Famdom wiki where they have a tab or window open. If a user has different usernames for different Famom wikis, then logging into a different account for one can change the account for all. | ||
===Licensing=== | ===Licensing=== | ||
The vast majority of | The vast majority of Fandom wikis are currently released under one primary [[:Category:Wiki License|wiki license]] – the [[:Category:Wiki Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike|Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license]] (CC-BY-SA 3.0), as explained [[WikiaSite:community:Community Central:Licensing|here]]. However, other licenses are available on Wikia; these include the [[:Category:Wiki Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial|Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial]] (CC-BY-NC), as used by [[Memory Alpha]], and the [[:Category:Wiki Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works|Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works]] (CC-BY-NC-ND) licenses. | ||
Historically, when | Historically, when Fandom was founded, it used the {{tag|Wiki GNU Free Documentation License|GNU Free Documentation License}}, just like [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]] did. | ||
=== | ===Fandom portals=== | ||
Fandom wikis are grouped under differing portals, or 'hubs', as shown in the bottom left corner of their page. These include: | |||
*[http:// | *[http://fandom.wikia.com/movies Fandom Movies] | ||
*[http:// | *[http://fandom.wikia.com/games Fandom Games] | ||
*[http:// | *[http://fandom.wikia.com/tv Fandom TV] | ||
===[[:Category:Facebook|Facebook]]=== | ===[[:Category:Facebook|Facebook]]=== | ||
:''This section requires expansion with info on the {{tag|Facebook Connect}} plugin which | :''This section requires expansion with info on the {{tag|Facebook Connect}} plugin which Fandom is now using. | ||
=== | ===Fandom backup=== | ||
The entire | The entire project is available as a backup file [http://wikistats.wikia.com/w/wi/wikiaglobal/pages_full.xml.gz here]. Individual Fandom wikis may also backed up, and their backup files are available near the bottom of their relevant <tt>Statistics</tt> page, as explained [[WikiaSite:community:Help:Database download|here]]. However, whilst all Wikia wikis have a Statistics page, complete with the 'Database dumps' section containing their backup file links, those Wikia wikis which show 'unknown' for the URLs definately have <u>not</u> been backed up! | ||
===Stats=== | ===Stats=== | ||
| Line 60: | Line 60: | ||
*[[LyricWiki]] — music lyrics | *[[LyricWiki]] — music lyrics | ||
*[[Wikianswers]] — general questions and answers | *[[Wikianswers]] — general questions and answers | ||
*[[Wookieepedia]] — Star Wars | *[[Wookieepedia]] — Star Wars | ||
*[[Genealogy (Wikia)|Familypedia]] — genealogy | *[[Genealogy (Wikia)|Familypedia]] — genealogy | ||
| Line 70: | Line 69: | ||
*[[RuneScape Wiki]] | *[[RuneScape Wiki]] | ||
===Closure of | ===Closure of Fandom wikis=== | ||
Unlike other {{tag|WikiFarm|wiki farms}} or website hosts, | Unlike other {{tag|WikiFarm|wiki farms}} or website hosts, Fandom will generally <u>not</u> close a wiki if requested by the wikis' creator and/or community of editors. Fandom prefer to maintain [[:Category:Inactive|inactive]] wikis in a [[:Category:Dormant|dormant]] state, and actively seek others to 'adopt' said wikis. This will happen even when former wiki owners copy their entire wiki project and [[:Category:Ex-Wikia|re-host]] it on another provider or [[wiki farm]]. Fandom wikis are only usually [[:Category:Dead|closed]] in exceptional circumstances, typically if the content or intent of the wiki breaches Wikias' [[WikiaSite:community:Community Central:Closed Wikia|terms of service]]. | ||
==Problems between | ==Problems between Fandom and its users== | ||
For those registered users having problems logging into | For those registered users having problems logging into Fandom, a solution is to disable scripts from Fandom, then clicking on the 'Log in' link which will send you to [[wikia:Special:UserLogin|Log in webpage]]. | ||
===Advertising=== | ===Advertising=== | ||
Fandom offers {{tag|Free MediaWiki wiki farms|free}} hosting for a community to build a wiki-based website based on a unique and heavily modified version of {{tag|MediaWiki}}, in return for the display of {{tag|Advertising|advertisements}}. Some registered users complain that they have little say over the placement or content of advertisements their wikisite displays. | |||
Logged-in users don't have to see the advertisements unless they choose to. Users may set their preferences to see advertisements on Wikia in order to see how a page looks to logged-out and/or non-registered Wikia users. A prominent advertisement is placed at the top right hand side of most pages, but when there is also a picture on the top right hand side of a page, the layout for users who see the advertisement can be poor especially on short pages. Logged-in users may not realize this when they add pictures. | Logged-in users don't have to see the advertisements unless they choose to. Users may set their preferences to see advertisements on Wikia in order to see how a page looks to logged-out and/or non-registered Wikia users. A prominent advertisement is placed at the top right hand side of most pages, but when there is also a picture on the top right hand side of a page, the layout for users who see the advertisement can be poor especially on short pages. Logged-in users may not realize this when they add pictures. | ||
Fandom ''currently'' uses the following types of ads on pages: | |||
*A banner at at the top of the page; | *A banner at at the top of the page; | ||
*A large square ad in the sidebar which may often be a video advertisement; | *A large square ad in the sidebar which may often be a video advertisement; | ||
| Line 87: | Line 86: | ||
*On large pages, two large (or three slightly smaller) square ads at the end of the page before the footer; | *On large pages, two large (or three slightly smaller) square ads at the end of the page before the footer; | ||
*On various content pages, Wikia also sells "Sponsored links", which are a section of links that look like an "External links" page content section, but are placed below the category bar; | *On various content pages, Wikia also sells "Sponsored links", which are a section of links that look like an "External links" page content section, but are placed below the category bar; | ||
* | *Fandom places a floating social bar at the bottom of the screen for anon users – a square ad may pop out of the left of this bar; | ||
*''Occasionally | *''Occasionally Fandom may make use of take-over ads which replace the background image''; | ||
*''They rarely show up, but have been more common recently – | *''They rarely show up, but have been more common recently – Fandom has tried placing [[wp:In-text advertising|in-text advertising]] in page content occasionally''. | ||
As of September 2012, | As of September 2012, Fandom is worth an estimated $13.93 Million USD to the advertisers, with a daily page view of more than 6,358,000; since all three links have nearly the same figures, it must be for the whole of Wikia. | ||
<sup>[http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.liberapedia.wikia.com][http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.fiction.wikia.com][http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.atheism.wikia.com]</sup> | <sup>[http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.liberapedia.wikia.com][http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.fiction.wikia.com][http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.atheism.wikia.com]</sup> | ||
| Line 98: | Line 97: | ||
===={{tag|Monaco}}==== | ===={{tag|Monaco}}==== | ||
The default skin for | The default skin for Fandom wikis used to be called 'Monaco', more colorful and customizable than the default {{tag|MediaWiki}} '{{tag|Monobook}}' skin that [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]] uses. While registered users could view Wikia sites using the Monobook skin (by choosing it in their preferences), Wikia did not allow it to be chosen as a default skin for all wiki visitors, which was frustrating for some communities. Wikia says statistics show that Monaco encourages new registered users by making editing easier, but many Wikia left nonetheless. | ||
===={{tag|Oasis}}==== | ===={{tag|Oasis}}==== | ||
Fandom has introduced a new 'Oasis' skin, which is widely unpopular with registered users, see [[WikiaSite:community:User blog:MarioGalaxy2433g5/To the people complaining about the new look|To the people complaining about the new look]]. The new skin is now compulsory for all users. Because of this change, many Wikia users have now [[:Category:Inactive|left]], often [[:Category:Ex-Wikia|taking their wiki]] with them. | |||
====Mobile skin==== | ====Mobile skin==== | ||
Fandom also supports a {{tag|Wikis with a mobile-view site|mobile-view}} specific skin, designed to be used on [[:Category:Smart phones|smartphones]] and tablet computers. This version is automatically displayed when any Wikia wiki is opened on such devices, although there is the option to also view the conventional desktop version using the [[#Oasis|Oasis]] skin via a link at the bottom of the page. | |||
===={{tag|Venus}}==== | ===={{tag|Venus}}==== | ||
In December 2014, | In December 2014, Fandom introduced yet another skin, causing even more controversy among users.<ref>http://community.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Rupert_Giles/Prototype_for_a_new_article_layout</ref> | ||
===Criticism=== | ===Criticism=== | ||
[[ComplaintWiki]] has been set up expressly to look at problems that | [[ComplaintWiki]] has been set up expressly to look at problems that Fandom registered users have, and includes comments from communities that have [[:Category:Ex-Wikia|left Fandom hosting]]; as well as other critics of Fandom and [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]. | ||
The [[Anti-Wikia Alliance]] wiki was set up to provide ongoing support and advice for a number of former | The [[Anti-Wikia Alliance]] wiki was set up to provide ongoing support and advice for a number of former Fandom wikis who are now hosted either independently or on another wiki farm. | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 12:01, 28 September 2016
- For the Wikia wikis which deal with the administration and management of the whole Wikia project, see: Wikia, Wikia-De, Wikia-Es, Wikia-Fr,.
- For the Wikia community portal wikis in various languages, see: Wikia Community Central.
- For those Wikia wikis who left Wikia to re-establish as an independent wiki or on another wiki farm, see: category:Ex-Wikia.
- For sub-categories of Wikia wikis by official language portals, see: category:De.Wikia, category:Es.Wikia, category:Fr.Wikia,.
See also the {{wikia boilerplate}} template.
Template:WikiEngineFeatures
Template:TOCright
Description
Fandom powered by Wikia, formerly Wikicities, is now a collection of over 200,000[1] wikis — aka a 'Wiki Farm' — run by Wikia, Inc., and founded by Jimmy Wales – one of the founders of Wikipedia, along with Angela Beesley in October 2004. Its' tagline is "Create. Collaborate. Be Original." In 2006, Gil Penchina became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and hopes to take Wikia to a new level as he did with eBay. As of late 2011, the current CEO is Craig Palmer.
Fandom uses a unique and heavily modified creation of the MediaWiki wiki engine; and is visually different from regular MediaWiki sites in that it has its own custom skin, and most notably, complete with a range and variety of embeded advertisements. Wikia offers free hosting for an individual or community to build a free content wiki-based website. New wikis can be created instantly at http://create.wikia.com. Hosting and 24 hour customer support is free, in return for advertising placed on the pages; but users have little say over the advertisements their website displays. Support, on both the technical and community aspects of running a wiki community, is provided at Wikia Community Central (or one of the other language Community wikis).
Fandom staff and helpers have sysop powers throughout all Fandom wikis, as well as several types of automated detection and blocking tools to help deal with vandals and spam on individual wikis. This can be helpful for controversial wikis like Liberapedia that attract vandals.
Users with new 'talk' messages on any Famdom wiki will get a note about the message on any other Famdom wiki where they have a tab or window open. If a user has different usernames for different Famom wikis, then logging into a different account for one can change the account for all.
Licensing
The vast majority of Fandom wikis are currently released under one primary wiki license – the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license (CC-BY-SA 3.0), as explained here. However, other licenses are available on Wikia; these include the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC-BY-NC), as used by Memory Alpha, and the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works (CC-BY-NC-ND) licenses.
Historically, when Fandom was founded, it used the GNU Free Documentation License, just like Wikipedia did.
Fandom portals
Fandom wikis are grouped under differing portals, or 'hubs', as shown in the bottom left corner of their page. These include:
- This section requires expansion with info on the Facebook Connect plugin which Fandom is now using.
Fandom backup
The entire project is available as a backup file here. Individual Fandom wikis may also backed up, and their backup files are available near the bottom of their relevant Statistics page, as explained here. However, whilst all Wikia wikis have a Statistics page, complete with the 'Database dumps' section containing their backup file links, those Wikia wikis which show 'unknown' for the URLs definately have not been backed up!
Stats
- GreenReaper produces some very interesting and geeky Wikia IRC stats
- Wikistatistics.net produces graphical Wikia Interactive Statistics
- WikiStats by s23.org has a tabular list of top 250 Wikias
Wiki age
The exact date of founding of individual Wikia wikis will be at /Special:WikiStats.
List of wikis
Here is their list [dead link], for the fan of WikiIndex to add from!
Ten largest wikis
- This section needs updating
- LyricWiki — music lyrics
- Wikianswers — general questions and answers
- Wookieepedia — Star Wars
- Familypedia — genealogy
- Marvel Database Project — Marvel comics
- EQ2i — Everquest
- The Third Turn — NASCAR
- Recipes Wiki — recipes
- DC Database
- RuneScape Wiki
Closure of Fandom wikis
Unlike other wiki farms or website hosts, Fandom will generally not close a wiki if requested by the wikis' creator and/or community of editors. Fandom prefer to maintain inactive wikis in a dormant state, and actively seek others to 'adopt' said wikis. This will happen even when former wiki owners copy their entire wiki project and re-host it on another provider or wiki farm. Fandom wikis are only usually closed in exceptional circumstances, typically if the content or intent of the wiki breaches Wikias' terms of service.
Problems between Fandom and its users
For those registered users having problems logging into Fandom, a solution is to disable scripts from Fandom, then clicking on the 'Log in' link which will send you to Log in webpage.
Advertising
Fandom offers free hosting for a community to build a wiki-based website based on a unique and heavily modified version of MediaWiki, in return for the display of advertisements. Some registered users complain that they have little say over the placement or content of advertisements their wikisite displays.
Logged-in users don't have to see the advertisements unless they choose to. Users may set their preferences to see advertisements on Wikia in order to see how a page looks to logged-out and/or non-registered Wikia users. A prominent advertisement is placed at the top right hand side of most pages, but when there is also a picture on the top right hand side of a page, the layout for users who see the advertisement can be poor especially on short pages. Logged-in users may not realize this when they add pictures.
Fandom currently uses the following types of ads on pages:
- A banner at at the top of the page;
- A large square ad in the sidebar which may often be a video advertisement;
- On large pages, a tall skyscraper ad is placed inside the end of the sidebar;
- On large pages, two large (or three slightly smaller) square ads at the end of the page before the footer;
- On various content pages, Wikia also sells "Sponsored links", which are a section of links that look like an "External links" page content section, but are placed below the category bar;
- Fandom places a floating social bar at the bottom of the screen for anon users – a square ad may pop out of the left of this bar;
- Occasionally Fandom may make use of take-over ads which replace the background image;
- They rarely show up, but have been more common recently – Fandom has tried placing in-text advertising in page content occasionally.
As of September 2012, Fandom is worth an estimated $13.93 Million USD to the advertisers, with a daily page view of more than 6,358,000; since all three links have nearly the same figures, it must be for the whole of Wikia. [2][3][4]
Skins
Until recently,[when?] registered users who understood how to use preferences could choose which skin they used, but even this choice will now stop.
Monaco
The default skin for Fandom wikis used to be called 'Monaco', more colorful and customizable than the default MediaWiki 'Monobook' skin that Wikipedia uses. While registered users could view Wikia sites using the Monobook skin (by choosing it in their preferences), Wikia did not allow it to be chosen as a default skin for all wiki visitors, which was frustrating for some communities. Wikia says statistics show that Monaco encourages new registered users by making editing easier, but many Wikia left nonetheless.
Oasis
Fandom has introduced a new 'Oasis' skin, which is widely unpopular with registered users, see To the people complaining about the new look. The new skin is now compulsory for all users. Because of this change, many Wikia users have now left, often taking their wiki with them.
Mobile skin
Fandom also supports a mobile-view specific skin, designed to be used on smartphones and tablet computers. This version is automatically displayed when any Wikia wiki is opened on such devices, although there is the option to also view the conventional desktop version using the Oasis skin via a link at the bottom of the page.
Venus
In December 2014, Fandom introduced yet another skin, causing even more controversy among users.[1]
Criticism
ComplaintWiki has been set up expressly to look at problems that Fandom registered users have, and includes comments from communities that have left Fandom hosting; as well as other critics of Fandom and Wikipedia.
The Anti-Wikia Alliance wiki was set up to provide ongoing support and advice for a number of former Fandom wikis who are now hosted either independently or on another wiki farm.
External links
- Wikia at English Wikipedia
- Potential Wikia mass exodus at English Wikinews, Friday August 1, 2008
| table of contents: | Top – 0–9 • A • B • C • D • E • F • G • H • I • J • K • L • M • N • O • P • Q • R • S • T • U • V • W • X • Y • Z |
|---|