User blog:CzechOut/Leveraging Lifestyle wikis

 How Lifestyle wikis can help you 

Have you ever written an article on a wiki but had it deleted because it "just didn't fit in"? Has your work been taken down because it was about the your home wiki's fandom, rather than its subject matter? Have you ever developed a hankerin' to talk about your Mad Men-themed birthday party, but didn't know where on Wikia to put it? If so, Lifestyle wikis may be what you're lookin' for. Finding a place to talk about your fandom See, it's probably against your home wiki's rules — or at least unwritten "norms" — to talk about how you express your fandom. Articles that explain how to make an R2D2 cake are likely disallowed at Wookieepedia. And it's just possible that instructions on how to replicate Master Chief's helmet are not allowed at Halopedia. That makes sense. A wiki like Tardis is trying to build an encyclopaedia about Doctor Who itself. Giving you instructions on how to build a replica sonic screwdriver is simply outside its function.

So where do you go if you wanna whip up some sizzle-crisps for a Korra viewing party? A good place might just be a blog post on a relevant Lifestyle wiki. What are Lifestyle wikis? Lifestyle wikis tend to have a different focus than a Gaming or Entertainment wikis. They're generally more how-to in nature — giving readers tips, advice and practical knowledge. There are a lot of Lifestyle wikis out there. More than you likely know about. There are ones about sewing, children's books, pets, chocolate, cooking — even facial hair and tobacco. So to use them, just think about how their subject matter relates to your favourite franchise. Write your blog from their perspective, and you'll probably come up with something useful and fun to read.

Examples Obviously Wikia's staff have been using Lifestyle blogs lately to hold all sorts of competitions. Recently, for instance, the Recipes Wiki hosted an instalment of Wikia's ongoing Food Fiction battles to come up with the ultimate gaming feast. But that needn't be the only way in which Lifestyle wikis can be used. At Tardis, we've begun to use wikis to highlight certain areas of fandom. We're not blogged much so far, but for now we've looked at Christmas-themed Doctor Who food at the Recipes Wiki and the growing phenomenon of Doctor Who nail art at the Nail Polish Wiki. Your turn Have you ever used a Lifestyle wiki to augment coverage of your chosen subject at Wikia? Do you have any concerns about coming onto "someone else's" wiki and using it to foster discussion about a particular franchise? If you mainly work at a Lifestyle wiki, would you have any problems with people trying to generate franchise-specific discussions in your blogspace?

If so — or if you have any other concerns — why not share them in the space below?