Updates
If you have not read the message below, do so first. It might help these make more sense. ;)
- Update 1: Wikia has pushed back the date of implementation one week, to June 17th, to "give everyone more time". ElasticMuffin 23:07, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
- Update 2: Wikia admins have said that the Monobook theme that we currently use will be modified to have the same ads in the same places as Monaco, leading to the interesting question of why the new Monaco theme is mandatory. ElasticMuffin 03:39, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
- Update 3: We've caught an important change to the Wikia Terms of Service where the line saying that Wikia will never display pop-up ads has been removed. This opens up the possibility for them to offer any kind of intrusive ad they like. In other news, Wikia has also said that they intend to "put the same ads" in the current Monobook theme as they will soon have in the Monaco theme. We're still working on a move, and are in negotiations to purchase the creatureswiki.com domain. Thank you for your patience. ElasticMuffin 16:30, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
- Update 3a: The popup change has been reverted after several people pointed out how silly it was. --GreenReaper(talk) 05:34, 21 June 2008 (UTC)
The Future of the Creatures Wiki
Good afternoon, Creatures Wiki visitors.
In a move that was at least somewhat expected but nonetheless extremely disappointing, Wikia will soon begin forcing all wikis that are hosted by them (of which there are many thousands including this one) to begin switching over to a new, "improved" Monaco theme. This move will begin tomorrow June 17th tomorrow; it was only announced in early June, with almost no chance for community leaders to weigh on on the changes. What's the big deal, you might wonder. It's just a new look, right? Well, if you look over everything carefully you will discover that the problems are manyfold:
- The new theme will add considerably more distracting ads, including a large ad box inside the top right corner of many article pages and two large ad blocks on the front page.
- The new theme will be applied so that every non-registered (anonymous) user will see it first- giving users an instant bad impression. You have to register and set your user settings if you wish to use the old theme (which they have not promised they will not change as well).
- The new theme is significantly more cluttered, unnecessarily colorful, and harder to navigate than the current "Monobook" theme (this one is a matter of opinion, really. I strongly dislike it but not everyone does).
These changes mean, to us, an unacceptable decline in service. We, the administrators, will do everything in our power to avoid forcing a wiki of this quality level on our users.
Wikia has so far turned down numerous offers by ourselves and other wiki admins to solve the problem by paying money to keep service as it is or without ads. Their only explanation for this is that it is "too complex" to accept money and that users cannot be relied upon to pay the money on a month by month basis. They also refuse to provide any useful figures to determine how much the advertising on a wiki is worth.
In addition, Wikia has taken control of the domain creatureswiki.com without letting us know and without even forwarding the domain to this site. As this domain has very high searchability and value, a Wikia admin claims they grabbed it to prevent other people from "domain-squatting". They called this practice "routine" and said it "did not warrant any big discussion". They claim that they hold it because on behalf of the overall community to "protect" them, but it is obvious to me that them owning this domain makes it harder for us to move (in other words: extortion). Wikia admins have all but ignored our insistent questions about this since the initial response (which was only received after several pointed questions on the admin's talk page). As you can see on that linked page, Wikia owns 139 other domains, many of which are likely similar cases (we do not know this for sure, but if it is "routine" for them to do this, it seems likely). This practice of sneakily buying up relevant domains behind the backs of their community leaders is dishonest and unfair to the communities who bring them traffic.
In my opinion and the opinion of others, it seems that Wikia has decided that it must have control over the communities it hosts rather than work alongside them for a good cause. As the content is free to host anywhere, if the users leave Wikia is left with nothing of value. We are not assets -- we are a community, and should be treated with respect.
As such, we are currently working on a solution to this problem. Please stay tuned to this page for future updates. We are not 100% certain yet whether this will involve a move, and if so, when the move will take place. If it does move, the new location will be prominently posted here as well as on all major community forums.
To the users who read and improve the Creatures Wiki on a daily basis: Thank you, and we hope that this situation will be resolved to the benefit of all.
ElasticMuffin 17:50, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
Comments
Please place your comments, if any, here.
This is ridiculous, I can't believe that not only would they force a theme on people, but that they wont let the community pay for it, and they bought up stuff that has no relation to themselves at all. It reasonable for them to force ads considering its free, but an entire theme? 71.196.107.210 21:00, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
Oh Lord, that looks awful. D:> Why in the world are they doing this? Is there anything we can do to push them to keep the old theme? Officer 1BDI 06:03, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
- Goodness knows lots of people are trying, but so far without success. They say "oh, well, you can set it when you're registered", but they also say they will add the ads to this theme as well eventually. ElasticMuffin 16:30, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
What Officer said. I see no real point in doing this, unless wikia just hates us or something. -Crystalnorn 06:16, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
Gah, what a bunch of friggin morons. It seems all they want is money, money, money -KC11 9:l9, 12 June 2008 (Pacific)
- Well, they are a company. But it would be preferable if they would try to make money in a way that would not anger everyone. ElasticMuffin 16:30, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
Awful. Is there a possibility of transferring the content to another host? --Fang Aune 11:00, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
- Looks as though you are already planning to do so. My bad. --Fang Aune 12:04, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
Why not just get creatureswiki.net? or some variation thereof, like wikicreatures? Vipero07 20:22, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
- It's more the principle of the thing, see. ;) 128.61.57.112 21:53, 20 June 2008 (UTC)