User blog comment:Sarah Manley/Sneak Peek at the New Look - Community Activity/@comment-8072-20100829203736

Dear Wikia,
I have a lot of questions and thoughts, and I would like them addresed. I like the Wikia staff, you're all, in my experience, very nice people. But when stunts like this are pulled, it's upsetting. I write this as someone who has been here for almost 5 years now.

The man hours we have put into re-structuring wikis for New Monaco were tremendous. We took that bullet, and made those changes for you. In fact, many wikis are still rebuilding their Monaco skins.

What we're seeing now is not only a repeat of history, but a de-evolution, which is why I would like some answers.

"We've seen the reaction to the current plans, we certainly don't want to go further down that road" sannse on New Monaco, 10:04, 13 June 2008

All I can say now is "whoops!". To quote a popular summer internet meme, "You dun goofed."

The amount of negativity and hostility towards this new skin is just as bad if not worse than New Monaco. Given that I don't think there were over 1000 comments on New Monaco, let's just say it's worse.

So, to begin:


 * What is Wikia's response to the mass rejection as it stands?

When you make big announcements like this, and then regular updates aren't posted, it really looks apathetic to the community. I don't mean replies to individual blog comments. You need to be posting more blog posts that address majority concerns.


 * How will any change affect wikis like ArmchairGM, Halopedia, and Wow Wiki? Exceptions need to be announced, if any, and why.


 * How will any changes affect Answers wikis?


 * Have their been any changes made to the skin since the initial blog post? If yes, what are they?

It appears to me that we are losing content space. Can we have images showing how much content space we're losing compared to New Monaco? (And adversely, Monaco and Monobook? It would be interesting to see how much space we've forfeited over the years as a whole for ads.)


 * How will any changes affect communities who are paying Wikia for no ads?

Last time around, Danny was the main spokesman for New Monaco changes. A lot of promises were made, as well as strict statements.

"We tried out all three versions, and I think putting the box into the article actually creates the least disruption. A huge header would make the content disappear to the bottom. A huge sidebar would create a big blank area on the left side of the screen as you scroll down. Having the box at the top right means that the only space that's being used for the ad is the 300x250 box itself." - -Danny

This New Monaco skin was also described as "the best balance" based on all the 'testing' for this skin.

Danny went on to say:

"Big advertisers don't want their ads hidden at the bottom of the page, or squeezed along the side." 

Since that time, we've seen ads placed on the bottom of Wikia pages. What's the status of those with this new skin?

So, advertisers don't want ads squeezed along the side of pages? What else did they say?

"They want a 300x250 ad at the top right of the page, inside the content area. They're paying to make sure that everybody sees the ad, and that's the place where they're sure everyone will see it. "

"We spent a lot of time talking to ad people, and they all said the same thing: 300x250, top right, in the content area."

"In order to make Wikia attractive to advertisers, we need a 300x250 ad in the top right, inside the content area. We can't use any other alternatives to that."

"Prospective advertisers that we've approached have told us that they would be interested in buying ads that are inside the article space"

"We've been told by many advertisers that they would be more likely to buy ad space if they could get a 300x250 ad in the top right, in the article space" -Danny 

That's what you told us, Wikia, just 2 years ago. So what changed? I want specifics. What is different now? Help me here.

Have the advertisers started saying something different? What are they saying now exactly, when they were so strict on the 'inside the article space' thing, and why would you want to do business with companies who can't make up their mind?

And what else did you tell us 2 years ago?


 *  Ads will not appear on short pages.

'''Ads will only appear on article pages, image pages, preview pages and category pages.


 * '''The following pages will have no ads anywhere:
 * All talk pages – including article talk, user talk, image talk, etc.
 * User pages
 * Project pages
 * MediaWiki pages
 * Template pages
 * Help pages'''

When you have a mandatory ad in the sidebar, and on the top, you do realize that ads now effectively appear with all those pages you told us they would "not appear" on, correct?

Furthermore, based on feedback 2 years ago, a compromise Wikia made with us was a banner ad OR a box ad.

So, a review:


 * Every page you told us we would not have ads on, now get ads!
 * You're going back on your banner-or-a-box compromise!
 * Everything you told us stated that content-area ads were a 100% must, now that's false!

In September 2009, Wikia found profit.

One would imagine exactly 1 year later, with all the growth announcements, etc., even more money must be entering the coffers. So why the "mandatory" change now? You just announced new Monaco themes only 5 months ago.

Those "super talented designers" had to put in time to develop those didn't they? If a new skin comes into play, it looks like paying those designers was a waste of time and Wikia resources. Around that same time, you also announced speed improvements to Monaco.

How can you seriously suggest Monaco is "outdated" when you just upgraded it not once, but twice in 2010?

That's why this whole thing has devolved.

When you acknowledge changes are for advertisers, and the same thing happened 2 years ago, how exactly do you expect us to trust you? How do we know this won't happen again next year? (We don't.)

All I'm witnessing is an interest in more ad revenue, and zero interest in the actual editing community, when you go back on statements like this. Not to mention, the introduction approximately 7 months ago of outbound ads for anon users.

When were you going to tell us about that? Some of us who never logout had no idea.

It seems Wikian Havoc had it right when New Monaco was announced.

"The Wikia sales department is going to be running all your wikis now."

As it stands, anonymous users currently view up to 4 ads per article (the banner, the box, and potentially 2 box ads at the bottom), 2 ads in the left sidebar, and at least 2 ads per outbound link. At what point do you consider this massive spamvertising overkill? Be honest. I find myself wondering what's next.

What happened to improving the hubs?

And while I'm writing this:


 * Does the new skin have anything to do with Wikia's recent investment in Riak?


 * Does the new skin have anything to do with the fact that Wikia just opened a new sales office in Europe?

Also, can you explain what defines the "rich media and video links" type of advertising that's going to be sold in the European market?

And why aren't announcements like these made on the staff blog? Just wondering. I mean, I'm interested in the business side of Wikia, and one would only think these things, especially when Wikia sends out a press release, would bear mention on Wikia's blog.

We don't need "handy" trinkets, gadgets, widgets or modules. We just want to create great content with little to no interference or disruption, but it appears the people who truly matter are the ones with cash.

Your turn.