Board Thread:Support Requests - Getting Technical/@comment-5079138-20121219140341/@comment-842519-20121222062337

Thanks for the quotes guys, but I do not believe that either of those statements means that Wikis can't be locked down to "Registered Users Only".

To me, the statement...
 * "Not to intentionally block, remove, or otherwise obstruct the proper functioning and view of advertisements, and/or user interface and functionality by other users, including but not limited to changing or adding javascript or CSS changes to the Service that would prevent the proper display or function of advertisements and/or user interface and functionality;"

... means that you can't mess with Wikia's back end to change how the Wiki functions natively and the way that the Wikia Developers have designed it to function. Since every single page has the ability to be Protected so that only registered users can make edits, this is not a breach of Wikia's Terms. So if an Admin or any other User choses to go to each and every page of a Wiki to Protect the page so that only Registered Users can make changes to that page, it would not be a breach since it is using the features of Wikia (ie. the ability to Protect a page). However, if an Admin was to change their Wikia's CSS to put a restriction on the ability to edit a page beyond that which is permitted natively, that would be a breach of Wikia's Terms.

As for the second quote, to me the statement...
 * "all Wikia projects are open to the public to edit. There is no option to restrict editing to the founder or to a particular group,"

...means that anyone that has jumped on the net and seen information in a Wiki for the first time should be able to correct the info. Forcing someone to become a Registered User does not inhibit this mission statement, as anyone can become a Registered User by taking the three minutes it takes to jump through the hoops to make an account.

I believe that this statement is staying that you can't create a group of Users (eg. My Snobby Elite Friends Only Club) and then lock pages so that only members of that group can edit the pages of your Wiki. That would be a breach of Wikia's Terms.

Disclaimer of Bias
Of course, my stance on this subject is almost certainly being coloured by my experience interacting with Wikia staff in relation to the M:AA Wiki for which I am an Admin. Our Wiki was subject to extreme and prolongued vandalism and abusive Trolling (threats of violence, accounts getting hacked, these losers needed to get a life). Th trolling resulted in our Wiki's staff/team (five people at the time) taking action to protect our Users from these losers. All pages got locked down so that only Registered Users could edit the pages (this was a manual process that we had to do to each page). We then took several other measures to protect the Wiki further when the Trolls resulted in making sockpuppet accounts (which is definitely a breach of Wikia's Terms of Use). It was hillarious when one of the Trolls tried to contact Wikia to try put in complaints about us, and to get around our protective measures.

It was a shame that someone in Wikia's team told these losers what we'd done to block them, since this now meant that they knew what we'd done and thus knew what they had to do to find a way around it [grumble]. Oh well, they were trying to be helpful. [sigh]. I just wish they'd contacted one of our Wiki's Admins to ask us about it BEFORE they'd been overely helpful. ; )

Thankfully, Wikia's staff had access all my support requests on record (the ones I'd submitted to ask for help with dealing with these losers), and thus had record of the history and were able to tell the Troll, "too bad, suck it up, we're on the M:AA Admin's side".

YES! Score one for the good guys!!! : D

But back on topic...

My point is that while it is possible to interpret these Terms as you have chosen to do so, I personally believe due to my experience corresponding with Wikia Staff that this is not how their terms should be interpreted.

To respond to Drek's comment about the WoW Wiki having completed 100% of the Tasks... The M:AA Wiki has done this too, and we can't implement it. So no, the reason the WoW Wiki have this Wiki-wide lock down is not because they've completed all their Tasks. Rumour has it that the WoW Wiki wanted to lock down their Wiki to Registered Users only. Wikia said that they wouldn't do it. Sony said, "fine, we'll take our Wiki business (and thus all the people that use our Wiki) elsewhere. So Wikia said, "WAIT! We'll make an exception just for you because you are a popular Wiki and worth huge amounts to us in advertising". This story could be true, but it could also be complete bollox since there's no real way to find a credible reference for this. But while Founders and Admins do not have the ability to lock a Wiki down, Wikia staff do, and it's completely up to them as to whether or not they will do it for you.

In the mean time, you can lock down every page as I have suggested, but if you play with your your Wiki's backend code to try and make it Wiki-wide action, that will be in breach of Wikia's Terms as pointed out by Cåm above.