Wookieepedia:April Fools' Day 2012/Wookieepedia merging with SWfanon

As a user on Wookieepedia, I have witnessed many phases on the wiki. There have been user and visitor spikes during major releases, such as a TCW season's first episode or TOR's release. However, except for these occasional spikes, the editor count has been declining since its peak around 2008. The number of pages viewed per visitor has also been on the decline, indicating that people spend less time on the site than they used to. This could, until very recently, be seen on Quantcast; however, Wikia has decided that visitor counts etc. are business secrets.

In discussing this with the rest of the administration, we came to the conclusion that something needed to be done. Users who sign up need to stay involved and passers-by need to get involved. We need to make Wookieepedia a place where anyone can feel like they make a difference. After several long conversations between my fellow administrators, followed by some collaboration with Lucasfilm VIPs and Wikia Staff, we've decided to make some major changes in how the site is run.

Firstly, we need to make everyone feel like they are welcome, and we will therefore start allowing any fan activity to have a page on the site. Notability of fan projects will no longer be Wookieepedia policy. We've discussed this with the administrators of the SWfans wiki, and they've agreed with the merge.

Secondly, we have also decided to allow fanon on the site. This has been discussed with SWfanon's administrators, and we will be moving their content to Wookieepedia shortly. How exactly the content will be added to the site has not yet been decided; essentially we have two options: (a) Creating pages named "Fanon: " or just incorporating the fanon into existing articles, maybe with "fanon start" and "fanon end" tags (like the minor spoiler tags). We have transferred some articles from SWfanon to Wookieepedia to see how it would look like, as well as featuring fanon on the Main page together with an FA. In accordance with the merge, we will be unblocking all users that are currently blocked for the addition of fanon into articles.

The decision to merge is final and is not up for discussion. However, we are more than glad to listen to your ideas how to exactly incorporate fanon with the rest of the content on the site. We are going to discuss this for a couple of days before the content is going to be merged.

Regards,

1358 (Talk)  00:08, April 1, 2012 (UTC) on the behalf of the administration

A message from Dave Filoni
Dear fans,

A few months ago, we made the transition from the StarWars.com Databank to the new Encyclopedia, and included links to your Wookieepedia, without explaining our reasoning. Leland and I feel the time has come to explain our decision, and share some exciting new developments for the future of the Star Wars canon.

First, we acknowledge that Wookieepedia has done a far better job of chronicling the facts and history of Star Wars than the official site ever did. We should have given up on that a long time ago, and we have finally deferred to the masters in that regard. But in addition to that, I've been looking at the interesting changes I've made to this great universe and thought, "why should I have all the fun?"

So in conjunction with the administration of Wookieepedia, Star Wars Fanon, and Star Wars Fan Wiki, we are creating a process by which you, the fans, will integrate your own creations into the Star Wars canon. Leland will explain this in greater detail, but in a nutshell, Wookieepedia will replace the Holocron as the official chronicle of continuity, and your creations will be taken into account in all new material published by our licensing partners.

I, for one, find this extremely exciting, as my own creations prior to joining Lucasfilm, when I went by the online handle of SuperShadow, will finally get the recognition they always deserved.

So have fun, and know now that your creative efforts will have greater meaning. We regret that we will be unable to compensate any of you directly, but Wikia will receive a percentage of future Lucasfilm publishing revenues, and I'm certain they will be able to work out an amicable arrangement with the userbase.

Dave Filoni

Discussion

 * I, for one, am very happy about this. God knows we as a community can do better in creating canon than that old fuddy-duddy George.<- Omicron (Leave a message at the BEEP! ) 00:20, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Clearly, we need to denote the fan-created content somehow, but I think our existing system of tags is sufficient. Thoughts? -- Darth Culator  (Talk) 00:20, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Why bother separating them? Surely we can accommodate Luke Skywalker training 6,000 Mary Sue fanon characters within the span of one year, can't we? Gal-icon.jpg  OLIOSTER  (talk) 00:24, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * For indicating what hasn't appeared in print, and for working out licensing issues when things do go to print. -- Darth Culator  (Talk) 00:27, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * I see your point and that point is money money money! Gal-icon.jpg  OLIOSTER  (talk) 00:30, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * At some point, we would have needed to act. Now with this official declaration, we can go ahead with this idea. --  Riffsyphon  1024 00:23, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm happy to help in making this easier for you guys in whatever way I can. Given that I'm also a Star Wars Fanon administrator, I can help to ease the transition. - Brandon Rhea (talk)  00:25, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * GREAT! I'm glad a Wikia Staff member is willing to help. We all need to be thankful to Dave Filoni. We need to remember that he is the one who made all this possible. If not for his fanon contributions, we would never have a chance to see our fanon published!&mdash; Cal Jedi Infinite Empire.svg (Personal Comm Channel) 00:48, April 1, 2012 (UTC)


 * Hey, everyone! I'm so happy you all are so excited about this idea. If anyone has any questions, feel free to drop my a message! And remember YOUR fanon will rule Star Wars!DaveFiloni 00:56, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Your fanon is not welcomed.  JangFett  (Talk) 01:08, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't welcome it either. I find it hard to believe that all these years struggling for a more canon content based-wikia, the board now decides to mix up all this with the Fanon whithout any indication whatsoever of what is Fanon and what is Canon. Good Job! And how long before all the children start editing previously featured articles in which so many people worked for, only to see it destroyed by the inception of fanon ideas. Winterz 01:29, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Try to look at this from our perspective. We have to make a business decision that's in the best interest of our wiki's survival. As this forum notes above, the lack of editor activity has come to a crawl over the past four years, and we simply don't have the resources to survive at this current rate. It's our best hope that this merge helps jump-start a new editing base for both wikis that will sustain us for many more years to come. The simple fact of the matter is, article content is just not as important as staying alive, in one form or another. Toprawa and Ralltiir 01:37, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * I understand your reasons and I believe that if this really has to happen, then decent indications of what is canon or fanon should be placed in order to separate and make it more a clean article, respecting previously Wookiepedia's editors hardened work. But either way, remember one thing. What made Wookiepedia so unique was the fact that it was always strongly based on Canonic content, and incorporating Fanon just like that, makes it a hell of a troubling transformation for some people. Basically you've killed all the older Wookiepedia stood for just so it would gain a bit more activity. PS Apparently Cad Bane is now Boba Fett and there are no other articles on them.Winterz 01:42, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * I definitely empathize with your concerns and wish this didn't have to happen. In all honesty, the only way I can imagine this NOT happening is for people to start chipping in with donations that would allow us the economic flexibility to branch off and operate independently. Paid administrators = the full-canon Wookieepedia you've come to know and love. If you can find it within your heart to give $5, $10, or even $20, please contact via e-mail address with your digits. He can take care of all contributions. Many thanks to all in advance! Toprawa and Ralltiir 01:53, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * How come Wookieepedia users were allowed to vote on decisions regarding the wiki using the CT or by other means for other issues, but now suddenly we have the biggest (and most controversial) event in the wiki's history and the users have no say whatsoever in it. Also, why does Wookiepeedia need donations if it's part of Wikia which makes money through ads?--Masterbmw 02:04, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Wookieepedia isn't making money. Wikipedia is. We users get no money.&mdash; Cal Jedi Infinite Empire.svg (Personal Comm Channel) 02:06, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Since the decision so greatly impacted both communities, we thought it would be unfair to hold a vote that didn't allow input from the Fanon Wiki editors as well. So we held a forum of both Wookieepedia and SW Fanon admins, during which the decision was ultimately approved. And as for money, Wikia keeps all ad revenue. Wookieepedia administrators don't see a dime, sadly. Toprawa and Ralltiir 02:08, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * What do you mean, sadly? Don't you understand the concept of a wiki?--Masterbmw 02:25, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * If Wookieepedia is replacing the Holocron, why was the decision not to move all of Wookieepedia off of Wikia and put in on a Lucasfilm website that can be edited?--Masterbmw 01:02, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Remember, when nominating QOTDs from fanon, mark all the misspellings with [sic] Enochf 01:06, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * As an active member of both wikis, I approve of this decision. Atarumaster88  Jedi_Order.svg ( Talk page ) 01:30, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Chuck Norris approves. Plagueis327 02:07, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Chuck Norris is now allowed. Better make the article before someone else does. Gal-icon.jpg  OLIOSTER  (talk) 02:08, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Chuck Norris, Schmuck Norris. We have better. We have Kyle Katarn! Enochf 02:11, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * In fact, we should probably just REDIRECT Chuck Norris to Kyle Katarn, to avoid confusion. Enochf 02:13, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * An excellent idea! DONE AND DONE! Gal-icon.jpg  OLIOSTER  (talk) 02:17, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * Why don't we create a new Namespace called "Fanon:"? I've read somewhere that Wikia can give us two namespaces, and we could use one for that purpose. Thales César  (discussão) 02:24, April 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * I think a better plan would be to work Chewbacca's mother into every article we can. Menkooroo 02:29, April 1, 2012 (UTC)