User blog:Xean/Featured Wikian: Dser

Welcome to the next exciting installment of our Featured Wikian Interviews. Today we're speaking with Dser, Founder of the Currency Wiki and a self proclaimed CSS and HTML guru.

Wikia: Tell us a little bit about yourself...just some general information about you.


 * Dser: I am an American high school student, numismatist, exonumist, and notaphilist, meaning I collect coins, exonumia (coin-like objects), and paper money. In addition, I am also interested in cars, firearms, and archery. I learned css online in a short period of time, and am looking into learning more Java and JavaScript.

Wikia: How did you first discover Wikia? :


 * Dser: In 2008, I stumbled across Wikia while looking for video game cheats. When I saw the state one of the wikis was in, I began contributing as an anon user and made an account shortly after.

Wikia: Which wikis do you spend the most time on -- and which is your main wiki?


 * Dser: I probably spend the most time on Currency Wiki, my main wiki, but lately I've also started contributing to Classic Car Wiki. For a while, I was active on Top Shot Wiki, but unfortunately, that time has passed.

Wikia: How has Wikia inspired you or supported your passion?


 * Dser: Wikia has inspired me to learn more about coding and to pursue a career involving computers. After contributing to the service for a few years, I should be in good shape. :)

Wikia: What would your top 5 tips for new folks on a wiki be?


 * Dser:


 * 1) Find a wiki to contribute to
 * 2) Make friends
 * 3) Read policies
 * 4) Don't be afraid to ask if you need help
 * 5) Don't feed the trolls

Wikia: What would you like to see that isn't on Wikia already?


 * Dser: I'd probably like to see a better community messaging system for the Wikia skin. With Monobook, site messages are displayed at the top of each page, making them easy to find. However, with the Wikia skin, there is only a single page you can find site messages on, and as far as I'm aware, the notification that pops up when the community corner has been edited shows up for a limited period of time. As a result, some users might not be notified of any changes.

Wikia: How did you first get interested in coins? And do you have a favorite?


 * Dser: I became interested in coins in 2006, when I received the state quarter of my home state. From that point, I began collecting the quarters of the other states until I had at least one of each in my possession. Afterward, I didn't care much for coins until a few years later, when I purchased my first foreign money. Since then, I've been collecting currency from around the world and try to expand my collection every 2 to 3 months. I don't really have a favorite coin, but in my opinion, African and Asian coins bear the coolest designs.

Wikia: You started the Top Shot wiki, can you tell us what's different about starting a wiki rather than just becoming an editor?


 * Dser: Starting a wiki is, in my opinion, more difficult than contributing to an existing one. The founder is tasked with setting the wiki's foundation by creating templates, making a few articles, creating a logo and favicon, and coming up with policies, while a normal editor typically doesn't need to worry about these things when joining an active wiki.

Thank you to Dser for taking the time to answer our questions! If you or someone you know would make a great Featured Wikian, please let us know by leaving a comment here with their username and a sentence on why they should be featured.