User blog comment:DaNASCAT/Technical Update: September 12, 2016/@comment-30384903-20160913161345/@comment-20644-20160914125153

The Fan Contributor Program is not a direct replacement for Wikia Stars. It just ended up offering a lot of the same things Stars did, so Stars ended up becoming a redundant program that we didn't have anything unique to offer anymore. We're really happy with what the Stars program accomplished, though, because it laid a great foundation for even bigger fan programs that users can join. The Fan Contributor Program is one such opportunity.

NukenZack: Users who are interested in joining the Community Council can still ask to join by sending us a message via Special:Contact. The way Council works has not changed.