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

|founder          = [[Jimmy Wales|Jimmy Donal 'Jimbo' Wales]]<br><small>([[:Category:Wikia Staff|President]])</small><br>[[Angela Beesley Starling]]<br><small>([[:Category:Wikia Staff|ex-VP]])</small>

|CEO              = [[Craig L. Palmer]]<br><small>(CEO)</small>

{{for|the Wikia [[wiki]]s which deal with the administration and management of the whole Wikia project by specific language|Wikia|Wikia-De|Wikia-Es|Wikia-Fr|Wikia-Pl}}

{{for|the Wikia community portal wikis in various languages|Wikia Community Central}}

{{for|those Wikia wikis who left Wikia to re-establish as an independent wiki or on another wiki farm|category:Ex-Wikia}}

{{for|sub-categories of Wikia wikis by official language portals|category:De.Wikia|category:Es.Wikia|category:Fr.Wikia|category:It.Wikia|category:Ja.Wikia|category:Nl.Wikia|category:Pl.Wikia|category:Pt-Br.Wikia|category:Ru.Wikia|category:Sv.Wikia|category:Zh.Wikia}}

See also the <code>{{template|Wikia boilerplate}}</code> [[:Category:Templates|template]].

'''Wikia''', currently branded as '''Fandom''' and originally 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 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].

'''Wikia, Inc.''' is a {{tag|Wiki company|company}} registered in the State of Delaware, U.S.A. (corporate number C2935209), whose registered office is at 360 3rd Street, Suite 750, {{tag|San Francisco}}, CA 94107, U.S.A.<ref name="Terms" />

[[Wikia|Wikia.com]] uses a unique and heavily modified creation of the {{tag|MediaWiki}} {{tag|Wiki Engine|wiki engine}}; it is visually different from conventional MediaWiki sites (such as 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 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 [[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.

The vast majority of Wikia 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 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-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 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 wikis are grouped under differing portals, or 'hubs', as shown in the bottom centre of their page. These include:

*[https://www.fandom.com/topics/games Games]

*[https://www.fandom.com/topics/movies Movies]

*[https://www.fandom.com/topics/tv TV]

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).

Because all Wikia wikis are powered by {{tag|MediaWiki}} (albeit an outdated but extensively modified and customised version), they all have a <tt>/Special:Statistics</tt> page, which provides a standardised set of statistics specific to individual Wikia wikis.  These include page statistics (content pages, all pages, and uploaded files), edit statistics (total number of edits 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, administrators, bureaucrats, and bots correctly report data for their actual wiki; whereas the registered users output reports ALL registered users of ALL wikis 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 figure for separate Wikia wikis, it would be helpful to update the <tt>wikiFactor URL=</tt> field in the {{template|Size}} template with the last known 'good' archived URL from either [[Archive.org]] or [[archive.is]].

*[[GreenReaper]] used to produce some very interesting and geeky [https://GreenReaper.co.uk/stats/wikia/wikia.php ##Wikia IRC stats], last updated 2013

*[[Wikistatistics.net]] used to produce graphical [[Archive.org:20160220134326/https://www.Wikistatistics.net/wikia|Wikia Interactive Statistics]], last available 2016

*{{U|mutante}}, creator of WikiStats by [[S23-Wiki|S23.org]], has a tabular [[Archive.org:20180618144502/https://S23.org/wikistats/wikia_html.php|list of top 250 Wikias]]

Unlike other {{tag|WikiFarm|wiki farms}}, Wikia will generally <u>not</u> [[:Category:Dead|close]] a wiki if requested by the wikis' creator/founder, and/or community of editors.  Wikia prefer to maintain inactive wikis in a [[:Category:Dormant|dormant]] state, and actively seek others to '[https://Community.Fandom.com/wiki/Adoption:Requests adopt]' said wikis.  This will happen even when former wiki owners 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>

Wikia offers {{tag|Free MediaWiki wiki farm|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 [[user]]s complain that they have little say over the placement or content of advertisements their wikisite displays.

*''They rarely show up, but have been more common recently; Wikia has tried placing [[wp:In-text advertising|in-text advertising]] in page content occasionally''.

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 [[Wikian|Wikia members]] left Wikia nonetheless.

Wikia introduced a new 'Oasis' skin, which became 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 / or 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.

[[ComplaintWiki]] has been set up 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 was set up to provide ongoing support and advice for a number of former Wikia wikis who are now hosted either independently or on another [[wiki farm]].

* [[Template:Wikipedia / Wikinfo / Wikia / WikiKnowledge — comparison table]]

<references />

*[[wp:Wikia|Wikia]] at [[English Wikipedia]]

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