Hey everyone! Today we're pleased to announce an improvement that will help many editors just starting out on our platform. We're rolling out several enhancements for creating new wikis.
When a user decides to start a new community, the process usually kicks off with the creation form. Once those steps are completed, the new wiki launches with a default template. This template—colloquially called the "Starter Wiki"—is the one we've improved. We've added new resources and optimizations to facilitate the growth of these new communities, specifically with new editors in mind.
Helping Editors as a Priority[]
You can take a look at how basic the Main Page was until now.
One of the most frequent pieces of feedback from the community—and one we completely agreed with—was the lack of resources for beginners. The previous version, dating back to 2020, only contained brief descriptions and a few links. It just wasn't enough.
The new default Main Page now features more complete, accurate, and optimized descriptions of what a wiki is, what each section is for, and how to customize them based on the topic.
Plus, we've added various links to help pages and special wiki pages for creating content, reviewing existing pages, or contacting an admin. We also created a couple of extra pages that appear by default on all new wikis: one for detailing local community policies and another for reviewing accessibility details.
New Visual Elements[]
An example of the default Main Page that appears on a new wiki.
Another concern was the lack of visuals in new wikis. Aside from a simple example image in the infobox templates, the Main Page didn't have any assets to reinforce the content or help users understand how the wiki worked.
In fact, the Main Page had an image gallery but no actual images. This was confusing and frustrating because clicking the links—which should have led to example pages—resulted in broken links or simply the page for uploading new images.
We've fixed this by including six new images by default, created by our Design Team. These serve as references for the six types of example pages you can create.
Focus on Page Creation[]
This is the character page template that is generated by default.
Once a new wiki is created, the first task is usually... creating articles! The wiki starts out empty (except for the Main Page), which also needs updating to link to future pages.
To help with this, we've added the ability to create new pages using a predefined format. Right below the gallery, you'll now see six buttons for different article types. Any new editor just needs to type a title in one of the boxes and click the "New Page" button.
By default, these buttons preload a sample template included in all new wikis. These templates show examples of the most common formats, sections and templates (infobox, quote, contextual links, navbox) and include instructions to make the process as easy as possible.
Editors simply need to swap out the examples, fill in the info, and hit save!
Introducing Our Features and Utilities[]
Two sections of the Main Page, containing a table with progress tracking and an Interactive Map.
As mentioned, support for new wikis hasn't been updated since 2020. Since then, Fandom has focused heavily on offering new features that substantially improve the user and editor experience.
To help new communities get up to speed, we've provided simple examples that—along with the advice on help pages—will guide editors on how to use them.
The Main Page now includes a simple example of a progress tracking table and an Interactive Map*, featuring a fresh new image from our team. Also, since we're implementing StructuredQuotes (which now appear in new wikis), we've eliminated the old duplication while still keeping it easy to add quotes.
You'll find a table with progress tracking on all six page templates, and the map on the mission and location templates.
Accessibility First[]
We encourage everyone to review our accessibility checklist.
We couldn't make these improvements without prioritizing accessibility from the start. We identified and removed old bad practices, like the initial header using code directly on the Main Page.
Both the Main Page and all new content have been revised to ensure compatibility across desktop and mobile skins, whether using the visual or source editor, or viewing in light or dark mode. We also reviewed readability across the board.
Images, for example, now include alt text for screen readers, and we've created a new page to help admins and editors review these aspects.
This entire effort was made possible with the collaboration of our colleague Chris—we really appreciate the support!
New Wikis for Everyone[]
Finally, we understand that some of these changes might seem overwhelming or unnecessary to experienced users.
As we explained, we want new wikis to be accessible and intuitive for everyone, so we placed special emphasis on beginners who need these resources the most.
We know a new wiki doesn't always mean a new user. However, for those cases where these resources aren't needed, adapting the wiki and removing them is quick and easy.
The intention is for most of these resources to be temporary. Eventually, as a wiki grows, its pages and templates will adapt to the final content, and the help resources will be replaced.
We hope you like these improvements and that they help make your experience on the platform even better!
*Disclaimer: While implementing the changes, we discovered several bugs that couldn't be fixed immediately. One of these affects the Interactive Maps, so we've temporarily removed them. We'll be correcting and implementing a series of minor improvements over the next few days.
Click here to follow the Fandom staff blog.
Click here to sign up for the From the Desk of Community email newsletter.
Join our Official Discord server for registered editors!