Forum:Is Special:RandomWiki random?

I can't find my way around Wikia, so I tried the RandomWiki button to see if something interesting would pop up. It seems that the same sequence of pages are displayed every time i try it out. How do I find some interesting stuff, if I don't know what I'm searching for? Leo.laursen 08:25, June 26, 2011 (UTC)


 * I have noticed that if I am on an entertainment wiki and press Random, I tend to end up on another entertainment wiki. I have noticed that if I am on a gaming wiki and press Random, I tend to end up on another gaming wiki. Perhaps it’s just my imagination … Anyway, if you look at the very top of your screen, you will see three pulldowns, one each for Entertainment, Gaming, and Lifestyle. You could just trying browsing that way. — Spike  Toronto  08:58, June 26, 2011 (UTC)


 * Thank you. Unfortunately Entertainment and Gaming are exactly what I was hoping to stay clear of, and I found nothing of interest to me under Lifestyle. Leo.laursen 09:37, June 26, 2011 (UTC)


 * At first I was wondering if there might just be a list of all of the Wikia wikis. Then I realized that that would not be of much use since there are tens of thousands of them. (Why, just the other day I found three different Zombipedias here at Wikia!) I wonder if there is a subject and/or title index somewhere? (I looked. Couldn’t find one.) — Spike  Toronto  09:54, June 26, 2011 (UTC)
 * For a title index, you can use Special:Newwikis, which includes all of the wikis ever made here in order of how recent they are, plus a search function. It's not particularly useful unless you know what you're searching for, though. Cook 10:03, June 26, 2011 (UTC)
 * I've noticed how there's wikis for just about anything. Another tip I can think of is to do a search for wiki, and chances are you'll get a wiki about it in there somewhere. --W H  (Talk) 09:24, June 28, 2011 (UTC)


 * You can make a list of all wikis, actually. http://community.wikia.com/api.php?action=query&list=wkdomains&wkactive=1&wkfrom=1&wkto=5000 - gives up to 5000 wikis at a time, in order of their wikifactory ids. This, essentially, is a random list of wikis. You can get more by increasing  and   by 5000 respectively.


 * Thank you all.
 * W H : The search is good, but I was hoping for something surprising, that I would never have thought of by my self.
 * Monchoman45: I'm guessing that the result is like Old Wikis, so I'll get there in time with Cook's advice. But with the present offset of 294386, it might take a while.
 * Still I would have liked a truly random solution, but I can see why a popularity-weighted approach might be preferable to the majority of users.--Leo.laursen 08:39, June 29, 2011 (UTC)

I’m not sure that it is a popularity-based algorithm. When I press the random button, I sometimes am taken to obscure wikis, dead wikis, never-really-started wikis, etc. I think where it may not be so random is its assumption (or rather, my perception of it having such an assumption) that you want to see more of the same as it tends to take you along a line of wikis that could be categorized like the one you were on when you first started pressing random. — Spike  Toronto  12:24, June 29, 2011 (UTC)


 * It seems to me there's a pool of, I don't know, 50 – 200 wikis, and if I keep going they start to repeat themselves. I don't have the patience to go beyond that though, and I didn't count the exact numbers.--Leo.laursen 14:29, June 29, 2011 (UTC)


 * You may have a point. I think that there may be a popularity element. Perhaps even an advertiser/promotional element. But, I still get some obscure ones … — Spike  Toronto  14:59, June 29, 2011 (UTC)