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

{{Wiki Farm <!--see 'Template:Wiki Farm' for full detail and hidden help advice-->

|logo = https://web.Archive.org/web/20190325051711/https://vignette.Wikia.NoCookie.net/wikiaglobal/images/b/bc/Wiki.png

|wide logo        = y<!--insert 'y' when the logo is too wide AND / OR the title is too long-->

|maintopic        = WikiFarm<!--leave this as is, it can not be over-ridden-->

}}{{PopulateCategory}}<!--over 250,000 wiki sites hosted by Wikia, we don't have even 10% of that value-->

'''Wikia''', currently branded as '''Fandom''', and originally known as '''Wikicities''', is a {{tag|WikiFarm|collection}} of over 250,000<ref name=About>[https://about.Fandom.com/about Fandom {{!}} About Us]; ''about.Fandom.com''; Wikia, Inc.; {{tag|San Francisco}}, [[:Category:California|CA]] 94107, [[:Category:United States|U.S.A.]]; accessed 25 October 2021.</ref> [[wiki]] sites.  Known as a '[[wiki farm]]', it is owned by its parent company '''[[WikiaSite:community:Community Central:Wikia, Inc.|Wikia, Inc.]]'''<ref name=Terms>[http://www.Wikia.com/Terms_of_Use Terms of Use | Fandom powered by Wikia]; ''www.Wikia.com''; Wikia, Inc.; dated 22 May 2018; accessed 25 September 2018.</ref>  [[Wikicities]] was founded in October {{tag|FoundedIn2004|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]] (now known as Angela Starling).<ref name=About/>  Its original tagline was ''"Create. Collaborate. Be Original."''  In 2006, [[WikiaSite:community: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:community:Forum:Craig Palmer, new CEO of Wikia|Craig Palmer, new CEO of Wikia]]; ''community.Wikia.com''; Wikia, Inc.; accessed DD Mmmm YYYY.</ref>  In late 2016, the entire Wikia site was rebranded from 'Wikia' to 'Fandom',<ref>[http://community.Wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Craiglpalmer/Wikia_is_now_Fandom_powered_by_Wikia User blog:Craiglpalmer / Wikia is now Fandom powered by Wikia]; ''community.Wikia.com''; Wikia, Inc.; accessed 26 May 2018.</ref> and also launched the non-profit sister site [https://Wikia.org Wikia.org].  As of October 2021, the current Fandom CEO is [[Perkins Miller]].<ref name=About/>

'''Wikia, Inc.''' is a {{tag|Wiki company|company}} registered in the {{tag|Delaware|State of Delaware}}, [[:Category:United States|United States of America]] (corporate number C2935209).  Its registered office is at 360 3rd Street, Suite 750, {{tag|San Francisco|San Francisco County}}, [[:Category:California|State of California]] 94107, United States of America.<ref name=Terms/>

[[Wikia|Wikia.com]] uses a unique and heavily modified customized creation of the {{tag|MediaWiki}} {{tag|Wiki Engine|wiki engine}} software.  It is visually different from conventional MediaWiki sites (such as [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]), in that it has its own exclusive {{tag|custom skin}}, and most notably, is embedded with a range and variety of graphic and dynamic {{tag|Advertising|advertisements}}.  The fundamental business model of Wikia / Fandom is the offering of {{tag|Free MediaWiki wiki farm|free hosting}} for an individual or community to build a free content [[WhatIsWiki|wiki]]-based website, on virtually any [[:Category:Wiki Topic|subject]].  New wikis can be created instantly at https://www.Wikia.com/Special:CreateNewWiki.  Hosting of wiki, 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).

[[:Category:Wikia Staff|Wikia staff]] and helpers have global [[sysop]] powers throughout <u>all</u> Wikia wiki sites, as well as several types of automated detection and [[block]]ing tools to help deal with [[vandal]]s and [[spam]] on individual wikis.  This can be helpful for [[:Category:Wikis with a strong viewpoint|controversial]] wikis like [[Liberapedia]] which tends to attract vandals.

From its creation in {{tag|FoundedIn2004|2004}}, all wiki sites hosted on Wikia had unrestricted editing privileges for all [[editor]]s, known as '[[:Category:OpenEdit|open edit]]'.  This meant, that whilst Wikia welcomed [[user]]s to register for an account and create their own [[username]], anonymous folks were equally welcome and able to [[edit]] without the need to create an account and / or log-in.  As was the norm throughout the developing [[wikisphere]], individuals from this latter group became known as an [[IP editor]], due to them being identified by their [[IP address]] from the [[edit history]] of any wiki page they had edited.  This 'open edit' ethos continued as a fundamental basis until July 2013; when it was deemed that 'open edit' was not compliant with the 'Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998', commonly known as [http://COPPA.org COPPA], which became effective 21 April 2000, and is overseen by the [https://www.FTC.gov Federal Trade Commission] (FTC).  As a result, in order to comply with COPPA, all new Wikia wikis were required to implement all users to register for an account before being able to edit, known as '[[:Category:LoginToEdit|log-in to edit]]'.  Those existing Wikia sites created before July 2013 are also required to convert to 'log-in to edit', thus effectively ending one of the founding wiki fundamentals of being 'open to all'.

The overwhelming vast majority of Wikia wiki sites are currently released under one primary [[:Category:Wiki License|wiki license]]: the {{tag|Wiki Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike|Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 unported 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 Non-Commercial]] (CC-BY-NC), as used by [[Memory Alpha]], and the [[:Category:Wiki Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works|Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivative Works 3.0 unported]] (CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0) licenses.<ref name=Licensing>[http://www.Wikia.com/Licensing Licensing {{!}} Fandom powered by Wikia]; ''Wikia.com''; Wikia, Inc.; accessed 25 September 2018.</ref>

Wikia wiki sites are grouped under differing portals, or 'hubs', as displayed in the bottom centre of every page within individual wikis.  In line with the current Fandom branding, these presently include:

The entire Wikia project consisting of all Wikia wiki sites used to be available as a globally combined backup file [https://S3.AmazonAWS.com/wikia_xml_dumps/w/wi/wikiaglobal/pages_full.xml.gz here] .  Individual Wikia wiki sites may also backed up, and their backup files are available near the bottom of their relevant <tt>/Special:Statistics</tt> page, as explained [[WikiaSite:community:Help:Database download|here]].  However, whilst all Wikia wiki sites have a Statistics page, complete with the 'Database dumps' section containing appropriate placement for their backup file links, those Wikia wiki sites which show 'unknown' for where the actual URLs are expected definitely have <u>not</u> been backed up!  Local administrators do have the option to request a new, or updated dump.  The reality is that a vast proportion of Wikia sites do not have individual dumps available, and for those sites that do have live URLs to their backup files, they are invariably outdated, typically by many months, though some are outdated by many years (mid-2017 is frequently found to be the last time any backup was created, as of July 2021).  Originally managed internally by Wikia and found at <tt>WikiStats.Wikia.com</tt> or <tt>Dumps.Wikia.net</tt>, as of 2018, Wikia backups are provided by [https://AWS.Amazon.com/s3/ Amazon S3] from [https://AWS.Amazon.com Amazon Web Services, Inc.] (AWS).

Because all Wikia wiki sites are powered by {{tag|MediaWiki}} (albeit an outdated but extensively modified and customized version), they all have a <tt>/Special:Statistics</tt> page, which provides a standardized set of statistics specific to individual Wikia wiki sites.  These include page count statistics (content pages, all pages, and uploaded [[file]]s), edit statistics (total number of [[edit]]s since creation of specific wiki, and average edits per page), and [[user]] statistics; though it should be noted that the sources used in the third section are inconsistent.  Specifically, active users, [[administrator]]s, [[bureaucrat]]s, and bots correctly report data for their actual wiki; whereas the registered users output reports ALL registered users of ALL wiki sites throughout the entire Wikia project!

In respect of data for [[wikiFactor]] (wF) figures, originally found at <tt>/Special:PopularPages</tt> and subsequently at <tt>/Special:MostVisitedPages</tt>, this is now unknown because Wikia globally disabled the required page to output that metric.  In order to preserve the individual wikiFactor value for separate Wikia wiki sites, it would be helpful to update the <code>|wikiFactor URL=</code>&nbsp; field in the {{Template|Size}} template with the last known 'good' archived URL from either [[Archive.org]] or [[archive.is]].

In respect of global statistics for Wikia, the following were previously available:

*[[GreenReaper]] used to produce some very interesting and geeky [[Archive.org:20210729120758/https://GreenReaper.co.uk/stats/wikia/wikia.php|##Wikia IRC statistics generated by GreenReaper]], last updated 2013;

[[Archive.org:20070503120441/http://www.Wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Wikia|Here is their list]] (from 2007, via [[Archive.org]]), for the fan of [[WikiIndex]] to add from!

Unlike other {{tag|WikiFarm|wiki farms}}, Wikia will generally <u>not</u> [[:Category:Dead|close]] a wiki site if requested by the wikis' creator / [[founder]], and / or community of [[editor]]s.  Wikia prefer to maintain inactive wiki sites in a [[:Category:Dormant|dormant]] state, and actively seek other [[Wikian]]s to '[https://Community.Fandom.com/wiki/Adoption:Requests adopt]' said wiki sites.  This will happen even when former wiki [[owner]]s copy or '[[fork]]' their entire wiki project and [[:Category:Ex-Wikia|re-host]] it on another provider or [[wiki farm]].  Wikia wikis are only usually [[:Category:Dead|closed]] in exceptional circumstances, typically if the content or intent of the wiki breaches Wikias' [[Wikia:Community:Community Central:Closed Wikis|terms of service]].<ref name=Community>[http://www.Wikia.com/Community_Creation_Policy Community Creation Policy | Fandom powered by Wikia]; ''www.Wikia.com''; Wikia, Inc.; accessed 25 September 2018.</ref>

For those registered [[:Category:Wikia people|Wikia users]] having problems logging into Wikia, a solution is to disable scripts from Wikia, then clicking on the 'sign in' link which will send you to [[Wikia:Special:UserLogin|sign-in webpage]].

Wikia offers {{tag|Free MediaWiki wiki farm|free hosting}} for a community to build a wiki website powered by a unique and heavily modified version of {{tag|MediaWiki}}, in return for the display of {{tag|Advertising|advertisements}}.  Some registered [[user]]s complain that they have little say over the placement, or the content of advertisements their wiki site displays.

Logged-in users do not 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.

As of September 2012, Wikia was worth an estimated US$13.93 million 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.

When Wikia was originally founded (as Wikicities), it used '{{tag|Monobook}}' as its default [[:Category:Skins|skin]]; identical to the [[:Category:MediaWiki skin|MediaWiki skin]] that [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]] (and all related [[:Category:Wikimedia Foundation|Wikimedia Foundation]] wiki sites) then used at that time.  Subsequently, Wikia developed their own unique [[:Category:Custom skin|customised skins]], with an emphasis on accommodating various in-wiki on-screen [[:Category:Advertising|adverts]].

The second default skin for Wikia wiki sites was called '{{tag|Monaco}}'; more colorful and customizable than their original default '{{tag|Monobook}}' skin.  While registered [[user]]s could previously 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, including [[IP editor]]s, which was frustrating for some long-standing Wikia communities.  [[:Category:Wikia Staff|Wikia staff]] stated statistics showed that Monaco encouraged new registered users: by making [[edit]]ing easier; however, many existing [[Wikian|Wikia members]] disagreed, and [[:Category:Ex-Wikia|left Wikia]] nonetheless.

Wikia subsequently introduced a third new '{{tag|Oasis}}' skin, which became widely unpopular with registered [[user]]s.  [[WikiaSite:community:User blog:MarioGalaxy2433g5/To the people complaining about the new look|To the people complaining about the new look]] documented user disdain.  This new Oasis skin became compulsory for all users.  Because of this change, many Wikia users [[:Category:GoalAbandoned|have now left]], often [[:Category:Ex-Wikia|taking their wiki site]] and community members with them.

===={{tag|Wikis with a mobile-view site|Mobile skin}}====

Wikia also supports a {{tag|Wikis with a mobile-view site|mobile-view}} specific skin, designed to be used on [[:Category:Smartphone|smartphones]] and / or [[:Category:Tablet|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 then [[#Oasis|Oasis]] skin via a link at the bottom-centre of every page (and vice-versa to view mobile layout from a desktop version).

In December 2014, Wikia introduced yet another skin called '{{tag|Venus skin|Venus}}', making it their fourth default, and causing even more controversy among [[user]]s.<ref>[http://Community.Wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Rupert_Giles/Prototype_for_a_new_article_layout User blog:Rupert Giles / Prototype for a new article layout]; ''Community.Wikia.com''; Wikia, Inc.; accessed 13 February 2019.</ref>

[[ComplaintWiki]], an independently hosted wiki site, was created expressly to look at problems that [[Wikian|Wikia registered users]] have, and includes comments from communities that have [[:Category:Ex-Wikia|left Wikia hosting]]; as well as other critics of Wikia and [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]].

The [[Anti-Wikia Alliance]] (AWA) wiki site was founded on [[:Category:ShoutWiki|ShoutWiki]] to provide ongoing support and advice to the users of a number of former Wikia wiki sites who are now hosted either independently or on another [[wiki farm]].

In late 2016, at the same time as the global rebrand from Wikia to Fandom, its parent company, Wikia, Inc. also launched a non-profit sister site [https://Wikia.org Wikia.org].  '''Wikia.org''' also acts as a [[wiki farm]], and uses the identical custom-modified MediaWiki software as Wikia.com, but the most obvious difference is a lack of [[:Category:Advertising|advertising]].  Wiki sites hosted on Wikia.org continue to use the {{tag|Wiki Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike|Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 unported license}} (CC-BY-SA 3.0), so whilst Wikia itself will not profit from hosting sites on Wikia.org, there is the potential to reuse content from Wikia.org on another external website (as is allowed under terms of the CC-BY-SA 3.0), and those external sites are able to monetise from said re-hosted Wikia.org content.

*{{Wp|Wikia}} — at the [[English Wikipedia]]

*[[Wikinews:Potential Wikia mass exodus|Potential Wikia mass exodus]] — at the [[English Wikinews]], Friday 1 August 2008

*[https://archive.is/P6YVo Web Numbr - Number of active wikis on Wikia (377,007)] — from [[Wikia Answers]], via WebNumbr.com, archived by [[archive.is]] on 2013-11-05

*[[GitHub:Wikia|Wikia (Fandom) code repositories home page]] — at [[GitHub|GitHub.com]]