PvXwiki:Wikia FAQ

Moving to Wikia
Please see Gcardinal's message at News/20090217.

Why Wikia? Wikia hosts most of the largest public wikis (except for Wikipedia of course) so they have got the experience PvXwiki will need as it grows to make sure it stays online and can grow without limits. Wikia has been running for more than 4 years and is a stable company that PvXwiki can rely on long into the future.

Will my user account change?

 * note: renames are still going on. You may need to temporarily log in as PVX-OldName.

For 99% of people, your account will not change.

PvXwiki's user database will be merged with Wikia, giving you the advantage of single login to 12000 wikis!

If you already have an account on Wikia and you use the same email address there as in your PvXwiki account, Wikia can merge this with your PvXwiki account.

For 1% of users, there is a name clash with someone else using Wikia. These users will unfortunately need to be renamed. In most cases, this should not apply to active users. If you are renamed, your new account will be PVX-OldName. For example, Joe would get renamed PVX-Joe.

If you are an active user who got renamed and you would like either your old name back or a different name, please leave a message here.

People who are being renamed may need to log in temporarily as PvX-OldName until the renames are complete.

Will the site content or policies change?
Wikia will not be making any changes to these. As always, decisions about content and policy are in the hands of the community.

Will the skin change?
The default skin for unregistered users will be Monaco. All registered users are welcome to select any skin in their preferences, including PvXwiki's old monobook skin. The default colour of the skin for unregistered users can be changed by any admin in their preferences and changes can be made to the CSS in the normal way via MediaWiki:Monaco.css.

Will the URL change?
The main URL for the wiki will be PvX.wikia.com. Wikia will endeavour to maintain PvXwiki.com as a permanent redirect. pvxwiki2.com, guildwars.no and gw2builds.com will also be redirected to PvX.wikia.com.

Will the site be faster?
We hope so! PvXwiki will utilize Wikia's geographically redundant hosting platform. Wikia's support staff are working constantly to speed up the wikis.

Will we get any new features?
Wikia has dozens of extensions, some of which are enabled automatically, and many more than can be turned on on request. For example, Wikia has extensions that make it easier to add images or embed videos, as well as lots of anti-spam tools and emergency anti-vandalism tools to negate the effects that malicious users might have on the site.

Will the ads change?
Yes. Some of the ad placements will change. Registered users will see fewer ads. Wikia will remove ads for logged in users, except on the home page.

What about MediaWiki upgrades?
Wikia stays up to date with the latest stable release of MediaWiki, so upgrades are regularly done, and in a way that does not affect the wiki. You should not experience any downtime as the result of an upgrade.

Will PvXwiki be promoted on Wikia?
PvXwiki can be cross promoted with other Wikia site, which should lead to more users, more editors and better content.

Where can I discuss this?
Please visit Talk:News/20090217 to discuss the move. If you would like to ask Wikia's staff any questions about this move, please contact Angela. For technical questions, TOR can help.