User:GreenReaper/WikiFur: By and for the furry community


 * This article was originally posted 13 August 2005, in about five or six furry LiveJournal communities. It is probably the number-one reason for the subsequent boost in contributions (including the posting as the Something Awful "Awful Site of the Day"). WikiFur did reach "ten times that size" on 28 August 2005, and a hundred times on 7 October 2008.

I have a dream, and I want to share it with you.

I dream of a place where people can come together and write about what they love in the furry community. I dream of a place where those new to the furry fandom can come, and learn of all the wonderful comics, websites, worlds and people available out there from those who know them best. I dream of a place where the content can be freely used by others, where everyone has an equal say, and which doesn't die just because one person lost interest. You can read more about my dream here, but thanks to the fine folk at Wikicities (who also run Wikipedia), that dream is one step closer to reality. A few weeks ago, WikiFur went live. We've got the software. We've got the servers. We know the Wiki way works. What we need most is you.

I've made a start, with the help of a few worthy helpers, but we can't do it by ourselves. We're approaching 100 pages now, with topics as diverse as Uncle Kage, Tapestries MUCK, World Tree and WCotP, but that's just scratching the surface - WikiFur could be ten times that size, or a hundred, with your help.

If you're interested (or perhaps just curious) I invite you to read through some of the current pages. Perhaps you could see a way to improve them - if so, simply click that "edit" tab at the top, and start writing. No login is required, unless you want attribution, and your changes will be visible immediately. Don't worry - you can fix it if you make a mistake, just go into the page history and edit an older date. You might even decide you want to write a page of your own; again, go right ahead! Be careful, though. . . it can be addictive. ;-)

If you're more of an artist, feel free to upload some of your art to brighten up the pages! We can't pay except in gratitude (and a link of your choice on the picture's description page) but you'd have the satisfaction of knowing that you helped illustrate that topic. You do have to register to upload files, but it only takes a few seconds; after that, just hit Upload at the bottom left, and read the instructions. We're also looking for a site logo - can you help?

On my part, I will do what I can to ensure that WikiFur is a success. I shall try to keep things neutral. I will choose other administrators to help me, from those who have made good edits and written good pages of their own. I'm not perfect, but last time I tried this, things seemed to go well enough, so I believe this will as well.

And in case anyone wonders - no, I don't make a penny out of this. I just get a kick out of seeing things grow. I hope some of you do, too. :-)

''If you would like to keep up with events, join or monitor the wikifur community. Your own posts are welcome! If you want to cross-post some or all of this message, you can use this source, or just point to this post. Translations are also fine, and if you think there's a demand, other languages could be offered on WikiFur. Let me know what you think!''