Forum:The future of Central

Hi All,

We've been pondering how this wiki could be better used, and how we can make it more effective. One part of this is the new multi-wiki search that Kyle mentioned in his Fall update. This should mean that anyone searching on Central is directed to the best wikis for their search term, rather than to the "blue-box" directory pages here and then to the wiki they want. This will be live on Central tomorrow, although it will need further refinement of the search results over the coming weeks.

This makes the blue box pages here obsolete, especially now that they are so much harder to keep in order with automatic wiki creation! Which presents another question: what should Central be? Wikia needs more of a community area offering help and support to everyone. What we propose is to tidy up Central, remove all old and obsolete pages, and create a solid community hub that draws people to it.

So, we would like to get some feedback from regular users of Central. What are your ideas for this wiki? What do you need here and what do you think new editors on Central will want here? We can't promise to use all ideas, but would love to hear what you think!

Thanks all -- sannse (talk) 01:54, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * I definitely see a big potential for making this a large help and support community. I said in Kyle's blog post (I think that's where it was) that we either need to cut back on just telling people "Go to Special:Contact" or we have to be a lot friendlier while doing so. I see some users saying that on multiple talk pages, and it just strikes me as people brushing off people's need for help. Granted I don't think that's the intention, but I think a lot of people may get the wrong idea about it because of how that's phrased. Some people just don't want to use Special:Contact either. Honestly, I've always gotten faster help through talk pages than Special:Contact. The only time I'd use that is if it was the weekend. Having people tell me to use Special:Contact just gets a tad bit annoying. That's my biggest pet peeve around here. - Brandon Rhea (talk) 03:09, December 9, 2009 (UTC)

When you say "searching on Central" do you mean just the wikia.com homepage, or the sidebar and Special:Search as well? The blue box pages being obsolete, doesn't mean they will be deleted or not updated when a new wiki is created, does it? --Sxerks 03:46, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * Immediate thoughts. 1, the main page should be reviewed more often. The Twilight wiki has been on it ALL YEAR LONG, and that kind of free press is unfair to all the other wikis here. Second, in terms of removing old and obsolete pages, I'd like to request that this entire forums archive remain untouched. -- LordTBT Talk! 05:49, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * When sannse says "searching on Central", I think she means all searches from Central, from the homepage and from the search bar. Personally, I seriously doubt any forum archives will be removed, but I think the 50,000 or so "blue box" pages may be removed. I hear Wikia is working on a new home page design - an update at last - but unfortunately, I don't think we'll be rid of Twilight.
 * Making Central a "community hub" is the idea that immediately comes to mind. This is already half of Central's function with its forums and all. Probably giving the forums a bit more precedence over the straight and narrow Special:Contact would help as well, as Brandon Rhea suggests.
 * When you say "tidy up", to what extent do you mean? Wjxhuang,  the 888th Avatar  {Talk} 07:03, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * I'd then like to know what qualifies Twilight for over a year of time on Wikia's main page. -- LordTBT Talk! 18:02, December 9, 2009 (UTC)

do you mean just the wikia.com homepage, or the sidebar and Special:Search as well? Yes, the homepage searchbox on there now will properly tie into an actual search (which the sidebar already does), as will what ever ends up on the future homepage.

The homepage revamp is coming down the line (lots to consider), but one of the primary reasons for the revamp is to allow us to update its contents much easier/more often.

What do you want "tidy up" to mean? Thats the feedback we're looking for, from the people that are here often. --Uberfuzzy 09:36, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * Personnally, my fav is directly on the forum section. I never go on wikia main page unless someone say there's something it need to see. — TulipVorlax 12:41, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * "Tidying up" I suppose for me means two things. Tidying up always includes basics like categorisation, deletion of obselete pages etc. for easier navigation and less bloat, but for me, it also means making the wiki more visually pleasing. I get the feeling that all of us sometimes treat Central purely as a technical resource, and in a lot of places it looks that way. There's a lot of inconsistency - compare this hub to this hub (animated gif and all) as an example. Cleaning up the look of a wiki is often overlooked as a priority, but I feel that impressions count, and this is particularly true of Central, the entry point of Wikia.
 * On that note, I'm pleased in a way for the demise of the blue box pages. They were always cumbersome, forever in need of an update, and got confusing when dozens of wikis on the same subject popped up in no particular order.
 * I never go on the Wikia main page either, and mainly because for me, it is totally useless. In fact, most frequent users don't. I'm not sure how healthy that is - most of that frequent user group do visit their home wiki's main page often (so much so that Special:MyHome was opposed in some quarters because it "replaced" the main page in some respects) - so I suppose a revamp which allows Wikia to update contents more often is a step in the right direction. Wjxhuang,  the 888th Avatar  {Talk} 13:20, December 9, 2009 (UTC)

There should be an easier way to allow users to ask questions, more like Wikianswers. Currently users have to visit the Forums, which some people might find hard to find or hard to use. I'm thinking of something like a build-in live support (no, not IRC, build-in). This should make it easier for people to find help, and allow them to get a quick response.

I also think Central should get a new skin. Current one is far too basic and static, not inviting users to ask.

Also, the Community Portal should be updated; this page is useful for new users. It should be a base-directory to all help pages and wikia-pages. A brand new, clear lay-out should do the trick. Users should (feel) invited to join, and build up a large community at central. Mark (Talk) • (Contribs) 18:07, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * najevi's vision for Central

See User_blog:Najevi/A_vision_for_w:c:central


 * Assumptions
 * central = w:c:central
 * blue box pages = pages like Sailing, Recipes, Code, etc.
 * tidy up = staff and/or users liberally using delete and then waiting maybe 15-30 days (for any discussion/objection) before pages are actually deleted
 * Wikia-wide search = w:c:central:Special:Search
 * Wiki-wide search = w:c: :Special:Search

-- najevi 21:52, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * A bit big for this page Najevi, let's give others room to comment too! :) But we will read it all -- sannse (talk) 20:57, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * Fair enough. However, the above assumptions are important to be verified (or corrected) at this forum thread. -- najevi 21:52, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * While a lot of najevi's ideas make a lot of sense, I disagree with the "blue box" page solution. That solution is based on the assumption that Wikia staff are usually the ones who update them, correct them etc. However, the blue box pages have always been editable, but are even then still ineffective. I believe the majority of wiki founders abandon their wikis after a fling at a few days' work. Why would any of those even bother to touch their blue box page on Central? If we told them about the need to update their blue box pages, why would any of them update them once they've effectively abandoned their wiki? What may work though, is that established wikis, that is, those that won't be abandoned any time soon with at least ten fairly frequent editors, could have their own "article" on Central, possible for promotion etc., which is a bit like the "tours", but actually based on Central. In general though, I would get rid of the blue box pages.
 * Merging Help with Central is an interesting idea, and I think it could work well. Then at least, all support questions will be centralised here, rather than spread here and on Help, which doesn't work too well.
 * Special:Contact really irks me. I'd much prefer that preference be given to Central forums. I don't believe for a minute that it is difficult to track a number of forums. We should have a system where Special:Contact is used only when the usage of the Central forums is impractical. After all, these wikis are meant to be open, transparent, and community-based. najevi has a good point when we are more satisfied having found an answer from the community rather than through a terrible email feature.
 * In answer to LordTBT, who obviously dislikes Twilight as much as I do - tough, this is what happens when a book and film series becomes ultra popular. :( Wjxhuang,  the 888th Avatar  {Talk} 22:55, December 9, 2009 (UTC)