WikiFur:Conventions/RainFurrest/2007

Presentation draft
What's WikiFur?


 * Wiki - user-editable website with almost 8000 articles
 * Place for neutral information both unique and relevant to the fandom
 * Comics, conventions, people, websites, novels, characters, MUCKs...
 * Contains most things furry you'd think of looking up, and lots you wouldn't
 * If WikiFur doesn't have it, we probably link to it
 * Free content - all site text and many images under GFDL

When?


 * Founded July 2005
 * 1000 articles within a month of the first content, 2500 by end of year
 * 4400 on its first birthday

Why WikiFur?


 * Preserving history - too many things forgotten over time
 * Method of connecting new furries to relevant groups and websites
 * Somewhere to go to share or learn the latest information
 * No site quite like it at the time
 * GreenReaper wanted to learn more but didn't want to spend time looking ;-)

Why not (just) Wikipedia?


 * Because Wikipedia doesn't want to cover "original research"
 * Facts liable to be deleted unless written in a newspaper or a book
 * Websites don't (usually) count as references - anyone can make one
 * Result: Majority of furry topics deemed "not notable" - even Midwest FurFest!
 * Wikipedia still has a role to play: a general introduction to the fandom

Who contributes to WikiFur?


 * Everyone!
 * Over 1,300 registered users plus anonymous editors
 * Representatives from just about every convention
 * Artists, writers, but most of all regular fans
 * You don't have to register or use a fan name to edit, though it helps

Who runs WikiFur?


 * Everyone!
 * Consensual decision-making - discussion (talk) pages are important
 * In practice: people who contribute most become administrators
 * They get the work nobody else wants to do
 * Most important job: Helping everyone else to achieve consensus
 * Second most important job: Watching for, blocking and reverting vandals
 * Administrators are there to help, but it's not their job to decide who's right
 * That said . . . if they all think you're wrong, you probably are

Why do people contribute to WikiFur?


 * To help their fellow furs
 * To better-describe the fandom to the public
 * To record history for posterity
 * To show off their artwork
 * To promote (or discredit) their group, activity, a friend, or themselves
 * Because they love to organize information
 * Because they don't have anything better to do on Friday night. ;-)

Of course, WikiFur isn't perfect:


 * Articles are of variable quality - some are great, others just stubs
 * Vandals, while ineffectual, still drop by now and again
 * People sometimes edit pages out of spite or promotional gain
 * This is OK as long as it's adding facts, as tone can be edited out
 * It's hard to know the truth; references aren't always easy to come by
 * Still, like Wikipedia, it keeps getting gets bigger and better over time

Personal exclusion


 * Reasoning: WikiFur is there to serve furry fans, not to hurt them
 * Results in blanking and protection of the page about a person
 * May not be required; removing things like real names and addresses is fine
 * Applies only to articles about people, not (say) their comics
 * Subject to approval: if consensus says it's in the public interest, it stays
 * A relatively minor sacrifice to avoid a lot of hassle and bad feeling

How to edit (1)


 * Pick a page, click edit! No login required for most pages.
 * The wiki language is a lot like forum or HTML
 * Link with double square brackets. Put a pipe after the name for display text
 * External links have square bracket, link, text, close bracket
 * Italics with two surrounding quotes, bold text with three
 * Register to upload image. Usage: [[Image:A.jpg|right|thumb|200px|description]]
 * You can use HTML and too, though some style is restricted
 * If in doubt, find some other page that does what you want and copy it

How to edit (2)


 * To make a new page, link to it from an existing page, or change the URL
 * If a page name is wrong, move it (you must be registered for a few days)
 * Two things with the same name? Move to e.g. Skunk (comic book), Skunk (person)
 * You can make tables with HTML, but there is also a wiki syntax - see main page

Writing good articles


 * Write in the third person, like any other encyclopedia
 * Include all relevant points of view, and say who holds them
 * Don't make it sound like WikiFur holds an opinon - only people hold opinons
 * Think like a news writer and a historian - what are the most important facts?
 * If a source holds useful but extensive detail, reference and summarise it
 * Use internal links for keywords, once per page, even if they don't exist yet
 * At the end: add a moderate number of relevant, useful external links

Working with others


 * You don't own articles, even if they are about you or your projects
 * WikiFur reflects the opinons of everyone, and so should its articles
 * Try to incorporate other people's edits within your own rather than reverting
 * Get to the facts, then figure out language that is acceptable to everyone
 * If there is a problem, bring it up on the discussion page or user talk pages
 * If you cannot solve your differences, ask for others to help
 * Assume good faith and things will go much more smoothly! :-)

Looking forward


 * More languages - French exists, Czech added, German in process
 * Partnered with existing Finnish TurriWiki
 * WikiFur News - better than trawling through LiveJournals or newsletters
 * Plenty of room for new ideas and expansion, the fandom is growing >10% a year
 * Should reach the original target of 10,000 pages within a year
 * You're welcome to help us get there!

Any questions


 * WikiFur's LiveJournal
 * Confidential: can contact admins through the link on the main page
 * Or ask right now!