Help:Start a new community

Any logged-in user can create a community (known as a "wiki") on Fandom at any time through the creation form. Below we walk through what to do and how to go about creating a community.

Creating a community

Before you start

• Plan your project and decide what it will be about.
• Check to see if a community already exists on the topic you want to cover by searching for it with Special:SearchCommunity. If your topic is already covered by an existing community, your new wiki may be closed by staff after review. Multiple wikis on the same topic do exist on Fandom, for example to allow fans to focus on fan-fiction, role-play or satire on separate communities - but as a rule, we encourage fans of the same topic to work together.
  • You can also search by going to Fandom's home page. Enter the name of a community into the search bar at the top of the page, and hit enter or click the search icon on the right. You will be redirected to a search results page where you will see results from Fandom articles (on the left side) and community results on the right module. Click on the View More Wiki Communities at the bottom of the right module to see all the results.
• Read Fandom's Terms of Use — become familiar with what is and isn't okay.
• Read Fandom's Community Creation Policy — communities must be freely licensed, publicly editable, and free of abuse.

Create your community

The screen to write the name of the wiki.

1. Click on the Start a Wiki button in the global navigation bar on the left of the page. This button brings you to the creation form.
2. Decide on a name for the community. — To help users find you in search engines and help your rankings, try not to use obscure names or -pedia. Instead, it's best to use common keywords or titles for your topic.
3. Choose the URL or address for your site — Similar to the name, the URL or web address you choose for your site will affect how easy it is for people to find your site and understand what it is about. The URL automatically changes to a URL version of the name of the wiki you are creating when changing the wiki name. However, this can be changed.
4. Duplicate wikis - if Fandom detects that you may be creating a wiki on a topic that already exists, you will see a warning. It will tell you which other wiki(s) cover your topic and encourage you to edit there instead. If you want to proceed and start your own wiki anyway, you will be asked to give a reason for why it should exist later.
5. What's your wiki about? - Describe your community's topic briefly. This text will automatically display on your wiki's main page. This can be skipped and changed at any time.
6. Checkbox - Is this community directed to children under the age of 13? If so, please keep in mind Fandom's Terms of Use for users under that age.
7. Choose a Hub - A category that best describes the subject of your community.
   1. Seven categories are available: Games, Movies, Comics, Books, TV, Music, and Lifestyle.
   2. Eight additional categories are also available to choose from: Anime, Books, Comics, Fanon, Movies, Music, TV, and Video Games.
8. Hit Create a new wiki. If your wiki was previously flagged as a potential duplicate, you will now be asked to give a reason for why it should be created anyway. If not, you will move right to the next step and your wiki will begin being created. The creation of your wiki may take a few minutes, and the progress bar at the top will let you know how far along it is.
9. Choose your theme - While your wiki is being created, a list of premade themes can be chosen from. You can make any changes to the theme later in Help:Theme Designer.
10. Congratulations! You've now created a community!

Your community's next steps

Create the main page

Main page on your new community

The main page is just that; the page everyone sees. When you first create your community, there is some default text that will appear on the main page. All of this can be modified/removed once you start to create your main page:

• Welcome to (community name here): is the description you wrote when you described your community's topic.

• Describe your topic: Here you can write a more detailed description of what your community is about. If some description was already added in the creation form, the description section will automatically modify from its default text after the wiki's creation.

A few things to do in the beginning:

First impressions count. Your main page is what nearly everyone will see when they visit, so there are a few things to do in the beginning that are important:

• Make sure your main page clearly communicates what your community is about. Write a short introduction to what the community is about.
• Link to new articles and categories on your front page as you create them, so you can keep things organized. This will also increase search engine optimization to help potential visitors find the wiki.
• Create a "to do" list so new visitors know how they can help and what to add. Be specific about what the community needs.

Create content

The most valuable thing you can do when you start a community is to write article pages. This is called "seeding". It will give visitors and potential editors an idea of what to start from. The articles don't have to be long or perfect from the start. Remember, it's a community and others can help build on what you start.

You may need to add dozens of articles before people start to join in. Don't get discouraged. The more content you add, the sooner the search engines and potential editors will find your site and the quicker your small project will start to grow.

Use the Wiki Progress Bar to get your community off and running by following the tasks listed in your admin dashboard.

Create your profile and user page

Add a friendly face: Your profile page is a chance to tell people about yourself. So is your user page. You can keep it as simple as you want, or go all out. The important thing is to give people a way to see "who" is behind this community.

Keep an eye on your community

We suggest that you turn on email notifications for your talk page/message wall and community in your preferences. If any visitors leave you a message on your talk page/message wall while you're away from the community, you'll receive a reminder to come look at your talk page/message wall. You will also see a bubble in global navigation next time you log in.

As the founder of your community, you can also choose to receive emails about who edits, joins, or views your community. You can choose which emails to receive in your preferences in the 'Email' tab. The 'Watchlist' tab also allows you to select what content you want added to your watchlist, thus what articles you will receive emails for when they are edited.

Invite editors and visitors

Once you have completed the above steps, you are ready to open your community to visitors and other editors. Invite your friends, family, and other people you think would be interested in the subject. Reach out to communities you already belong to or related communities. Special interest forums are also a great place to find people passionate and willing to contribute. Be careful not to spam, though!

Welcome everyone!

Keep an eye on recent changes, and when you see someone new edit the community, add a nice welcome message to their talk page or message wall as soon as you can! Communities work when there is a community of people editing; try to keep in contact with the other people who show up to edit, as it will encourage them to stick around.

Friendliness and humor can go a long way in making new visitors feel welcome.

Other advice

Don't be afraid to ask for help!

If you have problems at any time, are not sure how to make the changes you want to your community, or want help customizing your site, then check out the Community Central discussions. No questions here are off limits!

If things get especially hard you can always contact Fandom Staff through Special:Contact.

Create together!

Creating a community with a team will give you a stronger start and will prevent it from looking like a personal site. Launch a discussion on a forum and encourage your friends to contribute. Most importantly, gather people before you set up the community rather than after, otherwise they may not see the community as their own community.

Building a community is an art, not a science!

Don't be overwhelmed or discouraged. Take risks, remember you can always change or delete later. Above all remember: have fun!

Using writing tools

There are many writing resources and tools that are freely available on the web, such as Online Word Count Tools and Online Grammar Tools. You can make the most of them to improve your writing productivity.

Further help and feedback

• Browse and search other help pages at Help:Contents
• Check Fandom Community Central for sources of further help and support
• Check Contacting Fandom for how to report any errors or unclear steps in this article