Help:URL

A community's "URL" is the part of the web address before .wikia.com — that is, the URL in http://URL.wikia.com. It is defined when the community is first created and may be changed later by request through Special:Contact.

The URL is separate from the community's Sitename, and thus can be different.

Choosing a Good URL

When you create a new community, you'll need to choose its URL. Follow these guidelines:

• The URL can contain lowercase letters (no CamelCase), numbers, "." and "-".

• The URL cannot be the same as a language code. For example, "en" is reserved to mean an English language wiki, and cannot be used for your community.

• Generic words help people guess the location of your community. For example, people might guess the URL of music.wikia.com if they were looking for a wiki about music.

• Real words are preferable to made up terms, such as notespedia or mytunewiki. If the URL matches the keywords people are likely to use in searching, it helps your community rank higher in search engines.

• When using the "Start a wiki" button, a new page will open (Special:CreateNewWiki) with two text boxes. The first is the "Name your wiki" box. As you type there, the lower box labeled "Give your wiki an address" will automatically fill in. Spaces will be converted to hyphens and the URL will be in lowercase.
  • The new URL will be checked to see if it is available or will provide a link to an existing wiki if it finds a match.
  • The URL in the lower box can be modified, but will prevent CamelCase.
  • Below the "Give your wiki an address" box is where the language for the community can be selected. Click on "change" to pick the new language.

Linking your community from other communities

You can use the URL as a shortcut to create links from other communities. To do this, create a wiki-link with the prefix w:c:URL.

For example, the code: [[w:c:music|Music Wiki]] would provide this link: Music Wiki.

You can also link to a specific article using this shortcut. E.g. [[w:c:music:Barenaked Ladies|Barenaked Ladies on Music Wiki]] will give the link: Barenaked Ladies on Music Wiki.

Changing your community's URL

• A community's URL can be changed, but it must be changed by FANDOM Staff. If you are a community admin, you can use Special:Contact to request a URL change.

• If your request is granted, the new URL will become the default URL for your site. The old URL may be kept as a redirect to the new URL or it may be freed up for others to use.

• If the new URL is already in use, you can merge the two wikis into one at the desired URL.

Next Pages

• Learn about the community's sitename
• Learn how to set the community's description
• Learn how to merge two wikis

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