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

{{Wiki Farm

|name            = <big>Wikia, Inc.</big> /<br><small>''FANDOM powered by Wikia''</small>

'''Wikia''', currently branded as '''FANDOM powered by Wikia''', and formerly known as '''Wikicities''', is a [[wiki farm|collection]] of over 400,000<ref name=About>[http://www.Wikia.com/about About | Fandom]; ''www.Wikia.com''; Wikia, Inc.; accessed 25 September 2018.</ref> [[wiki]]s.  Known as a '{{tag|WikiFarm|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>  It was founded by [[Jimmy Wales|Jimmy 'Jimbo' Wales]] (who had previously founded [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]) and his then business partner [[Angela Beesley Starling|Angela Starling]] in October {{tag|FoundedIn2004|2004}}.  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, a new CEO [[WikiaSite:community:Forum:Craig Palmer, new CEO of Wikia|Craig Palmer]] was appointed.  In late 2016, the entire Wikia site was rebranded '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].

[[Wikia|Wikia.com]] uses a unique and heavily modified creation of the {{tag|MediaWiki}} {{tag|Wiki Engine|wiki engine}}; it is visually different from regular MediaWiki sites 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 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://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]] (or one of its related [[Template:Wikia Community Central|other]] [[:Category:Wiki Language|language]] Community wikis).

[[:Category:Wikia Staff|Wikia staff]] and helpers have [[sysop]] powers throughout <u>all</u> Wikia wikis, as well as several types of automated detection and blocking 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.

The entire Wikia project is available as a backup file [http://s3.AmazonAWS.com/wikia_xml_dumps/w/wi/wikiaglobal/pages_full.xml.gz here] .  Individual Wikia wikis 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 wikis have a Statistics page, complete with the 'Database dumps' section containing appropriate placement for their backup file links, those Wikia wikis which show 'unknown' for 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.  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)].

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.

Until recently,{{When}} registered users who understood how to use preferences could choose which skin they used, but even this choice will now stop.

The default skin for Wikia wikis used to be called 'Monaco', more colorful and customizable than the default {{tag|MediaWiki}} '{{tag|Monobook}}' skin that [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]] used.  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 existing Wikia members left Wikia nonetheless.

Wikia 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 left, often [[:Category:Ex-Wikia|taking their wiki]] with them.

Wikia 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.

In December 2014, Wikia 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 User blog:Rupert Giles / Prototype for a new article layout], ''community.Wikia.com'', Wikia, Inc., accessed 13 February 2019.</ref>

[[ComplaintWiki]] has been set up expressly to look at problems that 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]].