User blog:Mira84/Introducing the Wikia App

"Mobile is the future!", "Mobile is the future of the world!", or "Mobile will dominate the future!"

You might have read similarly-titled articles around the web in the last couple of years. From new apps to skins, mobile is the latest big buzz. Here at Wikia, we have been similarly intrigued, and today I am happy to announce we have our own exciting mobile news!

Presenting the Wikia App!
We at Wikia are always looking to innovate and give you, the community, the best experience possible. Whether it's reading, editing, or just enjoying a chat with your favorite wiki community; we're always thinking of new ways for our users to enjoy their content and be proud of what they've created together. That's why we're developing the Wikia App!

This will be our flagship app that will extend the reach of our community generated content and educate a broad audience about Wikia and our communities. The Wikia App will start off as an iPad Reader, which will be launched early next year. New features and support for operating systems will follow.

Key features of the first version of the Wikia App:


 * Choose your favorite hubs (Video Games, Entertainment, or Lifestyle) and/or wikis
 * View streams of articles for each wiki that you can rank by Trending or Recent order
 * A magazine-like, article reading experience with the ability to change display settings (increase/decrease font size, toggle between serif or san serif fonts, etc.)
 * Article bookmarks
 * And much, much more!

Here's how you can help
As with all new features we're developing, we want to include you in the app development process.

Here's what can you do to make your wiki look great on the Wikia App:

Examples of Wikia App-friendly articles include:
 * Complete your wiki's Special:Promote page. Choose a high quality main image and write a good synopsis of your wiki.
 * Make sure your wiki navigation is organized and functional.
 * If applicable, add multiple images and/or videos to each section of a page. Try to upload high resolution photos (low resolution photos can look super pixelated on retina screens--especially in landscape). People love media, so you'll lure more visitors to your wiki!
 * Use template names that clearly indicate the subject of the infobox. For example, an infobox for characters most likely should be "Template:Characters." It seems obvious, but it's always good to check.
 * Be selective with use of tables. With more and more people using mobile devices, the content that you create has to be flexible and adapt to different screen sizes and orientations. Tables are great for organizing data such as this table of James Bond films, but not ideal for making page layouts. Sometimes, simpler is better.
 * http://arresteddevelopment.wikia.com/wiki/Lucille_Austero
 * http://jamesbond.wikia.com/wiki/Skyfall

We are extremely excited to make another big splash in the mobile world next year. Stay tuned for more updates  and as always, use the comments section below to let us know what you think and ask us any questions you might have.