Help:URL

A 'wiki's URL' is the part of the web address before .wikia.com &mdash; that is, the URL in h ttp://URL.wikia.com. It is defined when the wiki is first created and may be changed later by request through Special:Contact.

The URL is separate from the wiki's sitename, and thus can be different.

Choosing a Good URL
When you create a new wiki, you'll need to choose its URL. Follow these guidelines:


 * The URL can contain lowercase letters (no CamelCase), numbers, "." and "-".


 * The URL cannot be the same as a language code. For example, "en" is reserved to mean an English language Wikia, and cannot be used for your wiki.


 * Generic words help people guess the location of your wiki. For example, people might guess the URL of music.wikia.com if they were looking for a wiki about figure skating.


 * Real words are preferable to made up terms, such as notespedia or mytunewiki. If the URL matches the keywords people are likely to use in searching, it helps your wiki rank higher in search engines.

Linking your wiki from other wikis
You can use the URL as a shortcut to create links from other Wikia wikis. To do this, create a wiki-link with the prefix w:c:URL.

For example, the code: Music Wiki would provide this link: Music Wiki.

You can also link to a specific article using this shortcut. eg. Barenaked Ladies on Music Wiki will give the link: Barenaked Ladies on Music Wiki

Changing your Wiki's URL

 * A wiki's URL can be changed but it must be changed by Wikia Staff. If you are a wiki admin, you can use Special:Contact to request a URL change.


 * If your request is granted, the new URL will become the default URL for your site. The old URL may be kept as a redirect to the new URL or it may be freed up for others to use.


 * If the new URL is already in use, you can merge the two wikis into one at the desired URL.

Next Pages

 * Learn about the wiki's sitename
 * Learn how to set the wiki's description
 * Learn how to merge two wikis

Further Help and Feedback
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