User blog comment:Sarah Manley/Beyond the Encyclopedia - A Wiki for Everyone/@comment-473563-20100901030256/@comment-473563-20100903022310

Show me the data
Show us the data (not just the conclusion) and you might be surprised by how understanding we can be about Wikia's decision to discontinue support for such features as Widgets.
 * BTW, are Gadgets going to be supported?

Long term support agreement
The sad fact of the matter is that those of us who vigorously objected to having Monaco made mandatory were simply stone-walled in very similar ways to the stone-walling that is going on today. The implied message being "suck it up - Monaco is the new Wikia look ... so like it or leave it!"

Well many of us did "suck it up" only to find that a relatively short time afterwards that support for Monaco and some of it's innovative features is now being discontinued and so this brings into question the degree of long term support that Wikia is willing/able to guarantee for any skin - including Oasis!


 * I'd have thought that since Wikia seem agreeable to keep the plain vanilla Monobook skin as an admin option for a privileged few wikis then surely that skin (Monobook) can be offered as an admin option (and not merely a personal preference) to all communities that prefer a more traditional appearance for their wiki.

You might even be surprised by how motivated that group of users might be to innovate around the Monobook skin if Wikia give assurance that it will be supported long term.

Can wiki users be trusted to cooperate with Wikia advertising obligations
I may be completely naive when I imagine that if Wikia simply specifies the frequency, size and placement of advertising then you might be pleasantly surprised by how cooperative that group of wiki users will be in complying with such terms in consideration for the otherwise free hosting (and excellent technical support) for their wiki(s). In my experience people seem to cooperate much better when they are made to feel they are "opting in" to such a necessary evil rather than having it forced upon them.