Thread:DaNASCAT/@comment-776174-20151007220834/@comment--20151008000435

Hello,

If maintenance is planned, then we have a communication strategy in which we send on-Wikia messages (through the message bubbles) to our users as well as post forum threads and warnings in our Technical Updates thread. We try to nail down specific periods of read-only a week in advance.

When technical issues arise, sometimes we have to take the site to read-only. There is no way to know when this will occur - this is the meaning of emergency. Still, because other communication methods are accessible - such as Twitter or Facebook - we try to make sure we use every tool we have to inform users. There is a plan in place on how, where, and when to communicate to users both in cases of planned maintenance and emergencies.

Read-only, just to be clear, also does not mean that Wikia is inaccessible. We have 99.99% uptime; this means that our site is readable, even if not editable. Read-only periods are very rare - I don't have a percentage of that handy, but I feel comfortable saying should be near 99% or higher as well.

As for Monday's emergency, you can read more about what happened in this blog on the matter. You will see after reading that this truly was an emergency. We had to put the site into read-only to prevent any damage from an attacker.