WikiFur

2011-12-10T04:33:54Z

175.98.66.204: /* Quotes about WikiFur */ For the furry, by the furry, about furry ? It is the best motto that I have ever heard. :)

{{Infobox website
| title = WikiFur
| image = [[File:Wikifur.jpg]]
| caption = ''WikiFur: By furries, for furries, about furries''; and ''WikiFur, the furry encyclopedia''
| author = '''Founder''': [[GreenReaper]]<br />'''Curators''': [[WikiFur:Colleagues|(see list)]]<br />'''Contributors''': [[stats:EN/TablesWikiFurEN.htm#wikipedians|(see statistics)]]
| url = http://wikifur.com/ ({{lj-comm|wikifur}})<br>[http://uwashington.worldcat.org/title/wikifur/oclc/2830755004821 ISSN 2164-0521]
| status = Active
| began = July 24, 2005
| ended = ongoing
| articlecount = 14,500+ in English version (Nov 2011)
| genre = Encyclopedia
| rating =
}}

'''WikiFur''' is a website dedicated to the collection and preservation of information about the furry [[:Category:Community|community]] and [[:Category:Culture|culture]]. It is a wiki, built by contributions from readers: anyone can edit the site, and their changes are reflected immediately. Translation/localization efforts exist in [[:zh:|Chinese]], [[:cs:|Czech]], [[:da:|Danish]], [[:nl:|Dutch]], [[:eo:|Esperanto]], [[:et:|Estonian]], [[:de:|German]], [[:fr:|French]], [[:hu:|Hungarian]], [[:it:|Italian]], [[:ja:|Japanese]], [[:ko:|Korean]], [[:no:|Norwegian]], [[:pl:|Polish]], [[:pt:|Portuguese]], [[:ru:|Russian]] and [[:es:|Spanish]], with affiliates in [[:fi:|Finnish]] and [[:sv:|Swedish]].

:''For more information about how WikiFur works, see '''[[WikiFur:About]]'''''

<div style="float:right">__TOC__</div>
== Mission and content ==

WikiFur's stated mission is to "record information of use to the furry community", in an attempt to distribute it to others. This mission has been widely interpreted, and WikiFur contains articles on [[art]], [[literature]] and other forms of culture both created by and of interest to members of the [[furry fandom]], as well as the people and characters within it, their history and interests, the worlds they inhabit, [[News:Front Page|news]] on events of current interest, and much more besides. It can also offer a good introduction to the fandom, although [[Wikipedia:Furry fandom|Wikipedia's article]] is considered by WikiFur's founder to remain the best single page on the topic.

Motives for contributors vary. There are those who simply enjoy collecting and organizing information on anthropomorphic topics. Many are fans of particular topics and wish to help write "the definitive article" on it. Some see WikiFur as a means of "getting the truth out" about contentious subjects like the [[babyfur]] community, while others value it as a source of information which, while not completely without bias, is at least subject to an element of peer review and modification.

== Audience and impact ==

As of September 2006, WikiFur received 2000 to 2500 visitors and 15,000 to 20,000 pageviews per day ([[Wikipedia:Google Analytics|Google Analytics]] figures). Around 4000 edits were made per month, with around 75 contributors making five or more edits, and eight or nine contributors making 100 or more edits (Wikia figures). Roughly ten articles are created a day, excluding articles that are later deleted.

WikiFur has been referenced by others, both within and without the fandom, including ''[[Animal Passions]]'', an article on [[Anthrocon 2006]] published in the [[Wikipedia:Pittsburgh City Paper|Pittsburgh City Paper]]. Some have mentioned that WikiFur was the source of information leading them to attend a [[convention]].

WikiFur has been linked to by [[WikiFur:Supporters#WikiFur Linking Supporters|several popular sites]], including [[Crush! Yiff! Destroy!]], [[Fur Affinity]], [[PeterCat]]'s Furry Infopages, [[Rabbit Valley]], [[Yiffstar]] and [[Califur]]'s website. The site has an international reputation, with links from [[Dutchfurs.com]], [[FranFurence]], [[Furbase.de]] and [[Furry.it]], as well as a partner agreement with [[TurriWiki]]. WikiFur has visitors and contributors from every continent.

== Organization ==

WikiFur consists of a loose [[Wikipedia:federation|federation]] of wiki communities bound together by common purpose. Each is run as a [[Wikipedia:meritocracy|meritocracy]] granting [[WikiFur:Colleagues|greater power]] — and responsibility — to those who display ability and devote time to the project. Most decisions are dealt with by forming consensus among small groups of interested editors, while larger issues are debated by the entire body. For example, when [[WikiFur:Moving hosts|searching for a new host]], WikiFur editors with relevant expertise submitted proposals which were discussed and voted on by most long-term users.

Significant authority rests with the founder, [[GreenReaper]], who owns the ''WikiFur'' mark and wikifur.com domain name, handles [[WikiFur:Donations|donations]], and manages the hosting provided by [[Timduru]]. He acts as the public face of the English project — and, by extension, WikiFur as a whole. However, editorial authority is vested in the entire body of colleagues, and his involvement in non-English projects is normally limited to technical, custodial and advisory matters.

Wiki projects not using the [[WikiFur:Trade and service marks|WikiFur marks]] or wikifur.com, but which share a common theme and principles (most notably, [[WikiFur:Copyright|freely licensed]] textual content and the [[metawikipedia:Neutral point of view|neutral point of view]]) are treated as sister sites, and added to the WikiFur [[mw:Manual:Interwiki#Interwiki links to other languages|interlanguage links]] and international portal.

== Promotional activities and advertising ==

WikiFur has engaged in various methods of [[WikiFur:Promotion|promotion]] and [[WikiFur:Advertising|advertising]], the latter being paid for by [[WikiFur:Supporters|site supporters]]. Promotion usually focusses on two goals: increasing readership, and attracting new editors. Emphasis is often made of WikiFur's size, both in terms of articles and audience, and of the importance of its mission. Methods of promotion have included [[conbadge]]-like [[Wikipedia:Business card|business cards]], [[:Image:WikiFurAC2006Flyer.png|flyers]], ribbons, and posts and comments on news sites, forum and [[LiveJournal]]s, along with paid [[conbook]] advertising and [[Wikipedia:Google AdWords|Google AdWords]] coverage.

== Internet coverage ==

Three weeks after its foundation, WikiFur was selected as [[Something Awful]]'s Awful Link of the Day.<ref>{{cite web|title=Awful Link of the Day|work=[[Something Awful]]|date=2005-08-15|url=http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=3132}}</ref> Massive vandalism ensued, but the boost in traffic allowed rapid growth.

It was selected by [[Wikia:Wikia|Wikia]] as Featured Wikicity in December 2005.<ref name="Wikia feature">[[Wikipedia:User:GreenReaper/Featured wiki/WikiFur|Wikia features WikiFur as Featured Wikicity]], December 2006</ref>

In May 2009, [[Wikipedia:Cracked.com|Cracked.com]] editor<ref>[http://www.cracked.com/members/David+Wong David Wong's cracked.com member page]. Retrieved 2009 June 12.</ref> David Wong included WikiFur as #4 in a list of "5 Terrifying Bastardizations of the WikiPedia Model". [[Wikipedia:Conservapedia|Conservapedia]] was #5, [[Wikipedia:Encyclopedia Dramatica|Encyclopedia Dramatica]] was #3, Pagan Wiki was #2, and Metapedia was #1. The WikiFur section included modified excerpts of the WikiFur articles on [[Nazi Furs]], [[Yiff]], and [[The Furry Map of Denmark]]. David went on to call [[Christian Fur]]s especially weird for their depiction of Jesus as a lion.<ref>''[http://www.cracked.com/article_17341_5-terrifying-bastardizations-wikipedia-model.html 5 Terrifying Bastardizations of the WikiPedia Model]'' - David Wong, [[Wikipedia:Cracked.com|Cracked.com]] (11 May 2009)</ref>

== Controversy ==
{{NPOV}}
As a popular fandom site with avenues of discussion, WikiFur has its share of controversy.

=== Concern over mission and misuse ===

A few people worry that WikiFur provides a source of information for [[troll]]s, furry-bashers, and others who partake in pointing out certain aspects of the fandom. WikiFur does contain information that confuse or disgust some people, and it has been linked to by websites that seek to highlight such information to promote [[stereotype]]s of the fandom, though so far the effect has not been particularly significant.

There is also concern that WikiFur may be co-opted by such people to push their point of view in the name of neutrality - this was highlighted when an [[Encyclopedia Dramatica]] user was found to be editing the same articles on WikiFur and on ED at the same time.<ref name="j'accuse">[http://en.wikifur.com/index.php?title=User_talk:SleepAtWork&oldid=70252#J.27accuse.21 Accusation of dubious editing practices] by [[User:GreenReaper|GreenReaper]] against [[User:SleepAtWork|SleepAtWork]]</ref>

WikiFur has also been criticized for characterizing attempts by editors using sockpuppet accounts to import unsupported arguments that have nothing to do with Furry fandom onto WikiFur as "content disputes" and not vandalism, and for allowing users to document [[drama]] and fetishes which some consider unrelated to furry fandom.<ref>[[Talk:Inflatables.yiff|Talk:Inflatables.yiff]] - [[Xydexx]], [[Wolfkid23]] et. al.</ref>

=== Removal of information ===

Roughly half of the articles on WikiFur are articles about people.<ref>August 18, 2011 calculation of 51%: 7138 articles in [[:Category:People]], 1900 articles as at [[Special:Statistics]].</ref> Contributors are encouraged to make articles about themselves and other members of the furry fandom, as well as about people who create material of interest to furries, including people who not consider themselves members of the fandom. Acknowledgment that some people do not want information about them on WikiFur led to the development of a [[WikiFur:Personal information|personal information policy]] that is under continued review.

One of WikiFur's objectives is to do no harm to past or present members of the fandom. Some contributors and non-contributors feel strongly that people have a "moral right to privacy", and this has compelled removal of factually correct information from articles in some cases. At the same time, there are those who consider it to have a moral duty duty to ''other'' members of the fandom to preserve history, especially when they believe there is an unstated reason to remove it. Balancing the two views is not always easy, and has led to heated discussion and criticism of WikiFur from both sides - the former calling it a "stalker's heaven" while the latter accusing it of compromising its mission or "playing favorites" (as there are no absolute rules about what information may be removed).

Several people have proposed a '''legal''' right to privacy, but so far have failed to come up with any relevant laws when challenged to do so. The use of legal threats has not helped the case of those requesting a removal.

Exclusion of a person from WikiFur (as authorized by the consensus of the community) is typically implemented through locking the page about them with a [[:Template:Protected-Excluded|short message]].

Non-notable artists and other fans are usually removed on request without comment, although some instead watch the page or to turn the page into a personally-controllable page (an option later discontinued).

Notable people, including some "famous" artists, entertainers and members of the fandom who have caused controversy are opened to debate, and in some cases certain information is moved to relevant pages before exclusion is applied. Extremely notable people are unlikely to receive full exclusion of the page about them, though some particularly decidedly personal information may be removed.

A person's real name and location is usually allowed to be removed without question, although there are cases in which even this has not been granted even after debate (the prime example of this is [[Sibe]]). Removal of a person's name from an article that is not specifically about them is generally only permitted if their identity is not important. For example, in 2005 the name of [[Talk:Further Confusion/Eyes of the Night|a person who bought a painting for $10,000 at auction]] was not considered important since the issue was the price of the painting.

Articles about comics and other public works are not subject for removal even if the author requests it, as they are not "personal information". Some creators have contended that their work is "not furry", (such as the 2006 discussion at [[Talk:Guardian Knights]]) but as the work is described on WikiFur because it is ''of interest'' to furry fans, this is not been taken as sufficient for removal of information about a work.

=== Bias ===

There is an ever-present danger of bias on WikiFur. The most notable bias is due to the fact that most editors (and all of the most dedicated members) are members of the furry fandom, and the majority are likely to have a positive opinion of it. This can lead to accusations that articles are biased towards the furry fandom's position - and sometimes these accusations are accurate.

Arguments about content, such as the addition of biased information whether overly positive or overly negative, are typically solved by removal of unsourced information, the provision of references, or (in the case of opinion) specific attribution of statements. The relative proportion of content that is present in an article may itself put the topic in a [[Wikipedia:False light|false light]]. The usual answer to this is to suggest that the person complaining about it fix it by adding other relevant information.

WikiFur has been criticized for allowing unsubstantiated rumors to be presented as facts, as the acceptable standard for inclusion on WikiFur is whether a contributing editor '''believes''' it to be true, not whether it is '''actually''' true. Despite this, WikiFur '''is''' perceived by some to be a more reliable source than others on contentious topics that it covers<ref name="Starfinder_Beware">[http://community.livejournal.com/artists_beware/90313.html?thread=1638089#t1638089 Comment about WikiFur] in regards to [[Starfinder]] by [[Darkwolven]] in [[artists_beware]], 9 August 2006</ref>, and it has been praised for its attempts to provide useful information while avoiding bias.<ref name="nothingkat">[http://nothingkat.livejournal.com/49215.html?thread=446271#t446271 Praise for WikiFur's attempts at avoiding bias] by [[nothingkat]]</ref><ref name="barona">[http://barona.livejournal.com/6037.html?thread=21653#t21653 Comment on the use of WikiFur] by [[Chris F. Grant]]</ref>

=== Vandalism ===

Like many furry forums and sites which allow comments, WikiFur has its share of vandals. However, since it is a simple matter to return to a previous state, most vandalism is reverted within minutes. The members of [[4chan]]'s ''/b/'' board took particular interest in the site, and regularly organized raids until August 2006.{{fact}}

Despite multiple attempts, no vandalism since Something Awful from any source has succeeded in disrupting WikiFur for more than a few hours{{fact}} - the worst case was a sophisticated account-registering bot that used the [[Wikipedia:Tor|Tor]] proxy system, which has since been blocked.

== Timeline ==
{{main|History of WikiFur}}
WikiFur was conceived in July 2005 by British software developer [[GreenReaper|Laurence "GreenReaper" Parry]] while creating an article for ''[[The Blind Pig]]'' on the English-language [[Wikipedia]]. Founded July 24, 2005 on the Wikicities (later Wikia) wiki hosting service, WikiFur was initially promoted on Wikipedia's [[wikipedia:furry fandom|furry fandom article]] talk page, followed by posts on [[LiveJournal]] and [[alt.fan.furry]]. By August 28, the wiki held over 1000 articles; the count reached 10,000 in 2008.

WikiFur also made inroads into non-English content, beginning in 2006 with an affiliation with the autonomously-administered Finnish-language [[Turriwiki]]; this was furthered with the launch of three Wikia-based language-specific WikiFur projects in 2007. New languages were launched on the wikifur.com domain from mid-2008, hosted on a server provided by [[Timduru]], and the other languages joined them over Summer 2009.<ref>[[WikiFur:Moving hosts]]</ref><ref>{{newslink|WikiFur moves languages to new server}}</ref><ref>
{{newslink|English WikiFur moved to en.wikifur.com}}</ref>

== Interesting facts ==

* What was the first content page? [[Sibe]]! [[Uncle Kage]] followed three hours later. :-)
** [[Image:Censor_panda_nyr_button.png|right|Nyra button]] The first ''non''-content page was the [[WikiFur:About|about page]] ([{{fullurl:WikiFur:About|oldid=2}} initial version]), while the first image was the [[:Image:Censor_panda_nyr_button.png|Nyra button]] from [[Mab]]'s [[Censorship Pandas]]. The very first edit was a reduction of [{{fullurl:MediaWiki:Lastmodifiedby|oldid=1}} MediaWiki:Lastmodifiedby].
* WikiFur was not the first time the concept of a wiki for the furry community was raised - one was [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.lifestyle.furry/browse_frm/thread/41d3c0b95e66c60f/d8b09a18e03b8ce8 suggested] by [[David Cooke]] in 2001 on [[alt.lifestyle.furry]]

== Recommendation within furry fandom ==

WikiFur has been in the ''Recommended Anthropomorphics List'' published by the [[Ursa Major Awards]] every year since 2006 (listed under "Recommended Anthropomorphic Miscellany").

"Somewhere else in this thread somebody posted a link to the furry wiki. As of so far, this is the only even handed thing I have seen posted here regarding Starfinder as it reports the allegations, doesn't claim them as truth and provides information on what to do. How hard is that?"<ref name="Starfinder_Beware" /> -- [[Darkwolven]] comparing WikiFur to [[artists_beware]]

"WikiFur was definitely useful, I would have spent months gathering information without it. Feh on that! I was also glad to see that it seemed to maintain a rather evenhanded point of view overall; considering how factionalized FF can be that can be difficult. One man's fair is another man's controversy..."<ref name="barona" /> -- [[Chris F. Grant]]

== Quotes about WikiFur ==

* ''WikiFur? Furry has to take everything and make a down-syndrome version of it.'' -- [[Chuckles]] on [[HLM]]
* ''Furries have the worst case of [[Wikipedia:Manifest Destiny|Manifest Destiny]] ever.'' -- [[Spiral Cut Mink]]
* ''Someone recently told me about the WikiFur Central project. It's a wikicity on furryism, basically. It's pretty crappy and a perversion of what Wikipedia is supposed to be about, but that's not really my point.'' -- [[J]] of [[God Hates Furries]]
* ''Thank you very much, Wiki moderators. As to my drinking, this is indefensible, and you have my abject apologies. I find of late that I have very little choice in the matter of expressing emotions. When I browse WikiFur I can either drink, or I can weep. And drinking is so much more subtle.'' -- [[McGroarty]] in a shout on [[HLM MUCK]]
* ''[[Special:Allpages]] has its pages ranked into sections for listing. They should make the results a slogan. "Wikifur: From [[2]] to [[Zoophilia]]." Eh? EH? :)'' -- [[Crassus]]
* ''I first cringed at the thought of a furry wikipedia roaming on the net. I figured it to be a rather one-sided "don't talk about the bad, only use it as a propaganda site to make furries look good" website. What I found it to be instead was a rather well done unbiased encyclopedia on the fandom.''<ref name="nothingkat" /> -- [[nothingkat]]
* ''Please do not take offence, but this site [[fursuit|featured article]] scares me. It is a person dressed in an animal costume sitting on a couch.'' -- [[Wikia:User:Makon|Makon]], on the WikiFur nomination for [[Wikia:Featured Wikia#WikiFur|Featured Wikicity]]
** ''OOH! Shakespeare wrote about some of them in [[Wikipedia:A Midsummer Night's Dream|Midsummer Night's Dream]].'' - [[Wikia:User:Robin Patterson|Robin Patterson]], in reply
*''I had no idea that furry culture was this big! Wow, this is really a nice community. :3'' -- [[User:The LP|The LP]]
*''Wikifur is definitely one of the fix-stars on the furry sky ;)'' -- [[User:Toumal|Toumal]]
*''It's a field crowded with high-quality entries, but WikiFur's emergence and growth after a smear campaign makes it uniquely qualified to receive attention, methinks.''<ref name="Wikia feature" /> -- [[Tom Howling]] voting for WikiFur as a Featured Wikicity
* ''For the furry, by the furry, about furry ? It is the best motto that I have ever heard. :)'' -- [[Alphawolf Kiba]]

== Related terms ==

* The term 'Wikifur' (sometimes inter-capped as WikiFur, also [[:Category:Wikifurries|Wikifurry]]/WikiFurry) is also used to describe a frequent contributor of WikiFur, much like 'Wikipedian' is used to describe a frequent contributor of Wikipedia
* A WikiFur [[:Category:People|page about a person]] is sometimes (incorrectly) referred to as "a wiki" or "my wiki", in the same way that people refer to "my LiveJournal" or "my MySpace"; this usage is not endorsed by regular editors

== References ==
<references />

== See also ==
* [[:Category:WikiFur-specific news|WikiFur-specific news]] (obsolete; see LiveJournal)

== External links ==
* [http://wikifur.livejournal.com/ WikiFur LiveJournal community]
* [http://dumps.wikifur.com/ WikiFur database dumps] and [http://dumps.wikifur.com/aarddict/ offline browsing files]

=== Statistics ===
* [[stats:|WikiFur statistics]]
* [[Special:Statistics|Local wiki statistics]] ('''note:''' page views and user count inaccurate)
* [https://www.google.com/analytics/home/report?rid=52980 Google Analytics reports] ([https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount Google account] and [[User talk:GreenReaper|prior authorization]] required)

{{WikiFurProjects}}
[[Category:WikiFur projects and affiliates]][[Category:2005 births]]

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WikiFur - User contributions [en]

WikiFur