The Future of the Wiki

UPDATE: A form has been made. Click here to fill it out and share it with as many people as you can.

ok so unless you have been living under a rock, you've probably heard that the Minecraft Wiki has moved from a wiki-hosting service called Fandom, which most of you are familiar with for better or worse... mostly the latter.

So why exactly is this relevant? Well, if Minecraft did it, then Wynncraft should probably follow suit.

But why is Fandom bad?
Look at this image:


It doesn't take a PhD in everything to require the reason why this is terrible: ads. Ads everywhere.

And some people even get popups like this (not my screenshot, its from a discord thread linked below):


Does it personalize your experience by making it bubbly or just saying "oh sry you can't go here" if you select that you're a kid? Nope. You still get ads regardless, and while I can't say exactly how selecting a that you're a kid affects you experience, it is for advertising purposes.

The site is pretty much unusable on mobile too, given that it uses so much data and your reading experience is constantly interrupted by an ad showing a product you could care less about.

Oh but it doesn't stop there! While this might not be relevant to the Wynncraft wiki, this is still definitely something to bring up here: Fandom does not give a shit about the admins, editors, or users of a wiki. Ok, where's your proof? Here it is:
Remember that one thing that happened over the summer called the Grimace Shake? Well, the McDonald's Wiki was vandalized by Fandom in a promotional campaign that was coordinated with the company featured in the wiki, and the page was locked to that for the promotional campaign. Let that sink in: Fandom prioritized an advertising campaign that would reach few and far people over its own editors who put their hearts and soul into the wiki. ok enough about that child serial killer back to what I was talking about

Ok, yea Fandom sucks, but why are we still using it?
2 reasons, one minor, the other one the main argument for staying on Fandom:

• Moving the wiki hasn't been a huge priority, and the second, far more important reason:
• Fandom has great Search Engine Optimization and will make sure it stays on top of the search results at any cost.

If we decide to move (which you shouldn't think of as moving, but instead forking), Fandom will not let the wiki close down for any reason whatsoever. No measure will be effective in leaving the old wiki a barren desert. You cannot lock pages nor vandalize them nor smear the new wiki url all over the pages, because that is vandalism in Fandom's eyes. So why does Fandom still keep an abandoned wiki running? Well, because Fandom cares about the fandom of the topic very much and wants to always have this wiki around as an option... which when putting it through my corporatespeak translator comes out as we will keep the wiki running to pull it ad revenue and hog up more data usage than MIRAI.

But onto the other main part of the point: Fandom has weasled its way to the top of the search engine results, as you can see with the new Minecraft Wiki at the bottom and the old one at the top.

(also support the new minecraft wiki, do not click on any Fandom links for it)​

And if we move, then the new official wiki will have to compete with the old abandoned wiki, and what would likely happen to those searching for it to click on the fandom one, which tells the SEO that the fandom wiki will get more clicks and more ad revenue.

So do we have any alternatives?
As a matter of fact: yes. A lot, actually. You can see them listed below, and there are quite possibly several other options, like MediaWiki (which would make the transition between a new and old wiki more seamless, as Fandom is built on MediaWiki). Alternatively, Wynncraft could also make a pretty similar move that the Hypixel Skyblock devs did: host their own wiki on their site, which did do the sisyphean task of overcoming the Fandom wiki in SEO. However, this also comes at a massive cost of Wynncraft having to host the wiki themselves on the page, and Salted has said that vandalism would have to be managed a lot more promptly and often than on the Fandom wiki. This could be solved by limiting the wiki editor team like the Skyblock wiki has done, but this also comes at the cost of content on the wiki being added far more slowly. To put it simply, the best option for the wiki is not crystal-clear right now, and what might have worked for the Minecraft wiki might not work for us.

and here's some more people who support the move (i'm trying to peer pressure you)
And this isn't just limited to the vast majority of wiki users that don't edit, tons of our editors also support the move, including some admins:
@Salted - Head Wiki Admin (he gave us his blessing to move but doesn't officially endorse it)
@Markus_Rost - Wiki Admin
@EarthInSpace - #2 in WikiPoints on the leaderboard (JESUS CHRIST CHILL MAN!)
@FrozenEarth - Wiki Admin (He's pretty much the main one atm)
me - #4 in WikiPoints on the leaderboard
@TrapinchO - Former Wiki Observer

Wynncraft GMs, Devs, & Mods:
@Samsam101
olivercom (sry idk what your forums name is)
@Magicmakerman
@Deusphage - also a wiki editor
@AmbassadorDazz
@Viridian

and a large majority of the average-joe players.

(ping me if you want a spot here)

Closing Remarks and some other places to discuss this
tl;dr: Fandom bad, we should move

if you want to discuss this further, go to the thread on the Wynncraft Discord called "Move Wiki from Fandom to MediaWiki" or go to the Wiki Discord. I'll DM the links to these if you convo me.

Minecraft Wiki's Discussion on moving from Fandom: https://minecraft.wiki/w/Minecraft_Wiki:Moving_from_Fandom/Second_discussion

 

Tbf there's only like a select few people who actually contribute to the wiki and approving a small-ish number of people for wiki editing would not be too big a hassle for the staff team (maybe)

 

Fair and valid point, me, EarthInSpace, and Madeline (purpleemerald infrequently does it) are the main editors on the wiki atm. The main issue could be the wiki editor application process for anyone new who wants to edit the wiki, though this might only be for the option where Wynncraft itself hosts it (idk if the other options can do the same thing).

 

I was waiting until someone made a thread about this after the Minecraft wiki migrated. Absolutely, let's move!

 

No the hell I'm not

Not even a little

 

But

 

You literally picked a single day as an example and pictured it as if I do the same amount of editing weekly

 

THANK YOU. I don’t care where the wiki moves, just MOVE!

I actively avoid Fandom as much as I can due to the horrendous ads they put, especially on mobile. Thankfully ad blocker blocks all of them but oh my god please move out of this dogshit website.

 

Like FrozenEarth said on the Discord thread, while a shoutout would help, it would also be better if it was also advertised in-game with one of those notices that appear (to those who don't know what I'm talking abt, its the thing that appears that says "Use /kill if you have 6+ Soul Points to get out of a tough spot!") and/or being mentioned in a line in King's Recruit that says to go to the (new) wiki if you are lost in-game, and you could also update some links to the wiki on the official website to direct you to the new wiki instead.

Another thing to note would be removing the Official wiki tick at the top of the Fandom wiki, because as Markus_Rost said (iirc), Fandom has to comply.

Unfortunately a simple shoutout can't fix the issue entirely, as readers might not see it and the Fandom wiki will still be at the top of the search results. It is a community-led effort, yes, but it also requires the devs and staff to also be hands-on about it too.

Appreciate the response, though, especially with you supporting the move.

 

I’m glad so many communities are making the move. Also, wiki.gg is a great option- they host the Monumenta and Terraria wiki. They have ads, but they are for games on the hosting platform and they aren’t intrusive.

 

Please do this. Also to anyone who's interested I highly recommend the extension "Indie Wiki Buddy". It shows you alternatives to fandom wikis and can even remove fandom from search results if you want, avoiding the SEO problem.

 

Eve

Even if the new wiki link isn't permanent, Content creators can still tell their viewers to go to the new wiki. Since Olinus10 and Looni get decent amounts of views on their videos, they could easily inform a wide range of players.

 

bumping this for some updates on discussion in the wiki discord & another thing:

• The wiki probably won't be independently hosted, due to the fact that it requires infrastructure to be set up and constantly maintained.
• Current options that are being looked at right now (and the pros and cons of using them):
  • Most info is from other people on the Wynncraft Wiki (mainly TrapinchO and SLScool) and from this discussion on the Minecraft wiki: Click here for their host comparisons
  • wiki.gg
    • The only ads seen are ads that are from games Freedom Games publishes or works with. The only spots for the ads are at the very top and bottom, alongside a sidebar on the right that will always be there, though its not too intrusive.
    • Seems to be very stable as a platform, so the fact it could collapse seems to be a possibility that's not too likely.
    • It is free to fork to, but the big caveat with that is that they are apparently quite selective with new wikis coming in.
    • Not as hands-on compared to Fandom, which means that there's a more liberal palette for some themes. Worst part about it would be a blue bar at the top, but it's not too intrusive and pretty far away from where you would probably be clicking.
    • No custom domain, but that's not too important.
  • Miraheze
    • No ads, but...
    • ...because the entire thing is voluntarily user-funded, this makes the farm very unstable. Apparently they almost shut down in mid-2023 due to a lack of user funding.
    • It is free to fork there
    • You have pretty much any customization options as you wish
    • Custom domain
  • ABXY
    • Only 1 ad at the top and bottom of the page
    • dunno about stability
    • idk if theres a cost. i dont think there is, tho cuz of the ads
    • Same customization as Miraheze
    • Custom domain

Again, if you want to shoot some ideas for the wiki hosting, join the Wynncraft Wiki Discord (i can DM you an invite if you want).

(also @juicyradish why do you prefer fandom. just asking out of curiosity)

 

Update: Fandom has officially changed their forking policy. When a wiki forks, no notice can be displayed saying they moved unlike what it previously was (2 week notice to move).

If you hate fandom, then this is bc they are trying to censor spreading the word a wiki moved.

If you love fandom, then this is bc of vandalism of old wikis which say "go to the new wiki". This is also the reason Fandom cited, but it should obviously be taken with a grain of salt bc admitting that their platform is bad makes them look bad and will only cause other wikis to flock to new platforms. Therefore, there won't be a notice on the wiki itself that it forked so when it does, we need your help to spread the word as best as you can.