How to Create a Free Wiki with Wikia
Create an account., Choose a topic., Plan the project., Request your wiki., Complete a request form., Edit your user page., Go to the MediaWiki page called "User-identity-box-group-founder" and change the name from "Founder" to "Owner" or any...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Create an account.
Registering on Wikia is simple.
By clicking on "Create an account" link beside the Wikia logo on the Main Page you will be asked create a username tied with a password.
You will need to register an email, but you aren't required to use your real name.
Creating account will translate to creating a profile.
An editing profile gains more credit on a wiki rather than as an anonymous writer.
Registered users are also entitled to more editing privileges and input into relevant discussion over policies and editing features.
This means only people with a Wikia profile can request rights to start a new wiki. -
Step 2: Choose a topic.
Wikia currently hosts over 4300 communities, and before requesting a wiki it is necessary to check whether it meets the policy of having a wide enough appeal to attract a large potential audience.
If your proposal is too narrow you will be asked to broaden it.
You're also recommended to find out if your idea is already covered by an existing Wikia or become part of a Wikimedia project. , Decide what the aims of your wiki will be.
Draft a mission statement.
You will need to decide a title and name for the wiki.
For a peer review, a wise step to take is to have your idea evaluated by others.
This means discussing the plans for your wiki on the proposed wikis forum, or writing several pages on the Scratchpad Wiki to give a general overview.
From there, you could start by creating a "Mini-Wiki" at the Scratchpad Wiki.
Later, this can be transferred to a full Wikia. , You can enter the Requests Wikia from the navigation toolbar on Central Wikia "Request a Wikia".
Wikia cannot set up a wiki without assurance that the requester is motivated, organized and willing to take on the role as the founder of a wiki.
Filling out a requests form is necessary to present your plan to Wikia at a formal approach.
There are four terms you must accept before the request form.
Is your wiki unique? Will your wiki attract lots of contributors? Are you happy for everyone to edit this wiki, and for it to be under a free content license? Do you agree to Wiki's terms of use? , Name for the wiki; what the wiki will be named as a URL, e.g. <insert wikia name here>.wikia.com.
Title for the wiki; the general name of the wiki on the browser toolbar, e.g. books.wikia.com might be labeled "Books Wiki".
Default language for the wiki; and language will be set as a default for the wiki.
Description of the wiki; about the wiki and what sort of articles to be included.
Community; who will edit this wiki, how will you promote this wiki so that others will join in? , Include some content on who you are, so other people will learn more about you (this step is optional). ,, The main page of the wiki should describe what it is about, what its mission statement is, etc. , Look for freely licensed photos and articles to add to your wiki so that your editors have content to edit.
Wikimedia Commons, Morgue File, Flickr and Everystockphoto are good sources for freely licensed images. , Make your new theme creative by adding color, customizing the wordmark, etc. , Effectively attract and maintain an editing population.
Giving that the topic is relevant to a high number of potential editors and ample promotion has been staged, expect several helping hands.
Try promoting your wiki by emailing friends and colleagues about it, advertising it on social networking sites, etc. -
Step 3: Plan the project.
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Step 4: Request your wiki.
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Step 5: Complete a request form.
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Step 6: Edit your user page.
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Step 7: Go to the MediaWiki page called "User-identity-box-group-founder" and change the name from "Founder" to "Owner" or any similar term that best fits for presenting yourself as the local wikia possessor.
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Step 8: Create the main page for your new wiki.
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Step 9: Find some content to add.
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Step 10: Change the theme if you'd like.
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Step 11: Build a community.
Detailed Guide
Registering on Wikia is simple.
By clicking on "Create an account" link beside the Wikia logo on the Main Page you will be asked create a username tied with a password.
You will need to register an email, but you aren't required to use your real name.
Creating account will translate to creating a profile.
An editing profile gains more credit on a wiki rather than as an anonymous writer.
Registered users are also entitled to more editing privileges and input into relevant discussion over policies and editing features.
This means only people with a Wikia profile can request rights to start a new wiki.
Wikia currently hosts over 4300 communities, and before requesting a wiki it is necessary to check whether it meets the policy of having a wide enough appeal to attract a large potential audience.
If your proposal is too narrow you will be asked to broaden it.
You're also recommended to find out if your idea is already covered by an existing Wikia or become part of a Wikimedia project. , Decide what the aims of your wiki will be.
Draft a mission statement.
You will need to decide a title and name for the wiki.
For a peer review, a wise step to take is to have your idea evaluated by others.
This means discussing the plans for your wiki on the proposed wikis forum, or writing several pages on the Scratchpad Wiki to give a general overview.
From there, you could start by creating a "Mini-Wiki" at the Scratchpad Wiki.
Later, this can be transferred to a full Wikia. , You can enter the Requests Wikia from the navigation toolbar on Central Wikia "Request a Wikia".
Wikia cannot set up a wiki without assurance that the requester is motivated, organized and willing to take on the role as the founder of a wiki.
Filling out a requests form is necessary to present your plan to Wikia at a formal approach.
There are four terms you must accept before the request form.
Is your wiki unique? Will your wiki attract lots of contributors? Are you happy for everyone to edit this wiki, and for it to be under a free content license? Do you agree to Wiki's terms of use? , Name for the wiki; what the wiki will be named as a URL, e.g. <insert wikia name here>.wikia.com.
Title for the wiki; the general name of the wiki on the browser toolbar, e.g. books.wikia.com might be labeled "Books Wiki".
Default language for the wiki; and language will be set as a default for the wiki.
Description of the wiki; about the wiki and what sort of articles to be included.
Community; who will edit this wiki, how will you promote this wiki so that others will join in? , Include some content on who you are, so other people will learn more about you (this step is optional). ,, The main page of the wiki should describe what it is about, what its mission statement is, etc. , Look for freely licensed photos and articles to add to your wiki so that your editors have content to edit.
Wikimedia Commons, Morgue File, Flickr and Everystockphoto are good sources for freely licensed images. , Make your new theme creative by adding color, customizing the wordmark, etc. , Effectively attract and maintain an editing population.
Giving that the topic is relevant to a high number of potential editors and ample promotion has been staged, expect several helping hands.
Try promoting your wiki by emailing friends and colleagues about it, advertising it on social networking sites, etc.
About the Author
Kenneth Hill
Specializes in breaking down complex organization topics into simple steps.
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