The Sims Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive 5

Fanon wiki merge discussion
Ok, after you hear this, I know that some of you may think that I am crazy, but I think we should merge The Sims Fanon Wiki with The Sims Wiki. Hear me out, at the Avatar wiki, they have merged their fanon wiki with the main one. While this was initially a controversial move, they claim that it paid off, because their wiki has many more contributors and visitors, making it much more active. I think we should merge these two wikis because with The Sims 3: Ambitions coming out in June, we will need to make our wiki known to people, preferably before the release. Another reason is that I have noticed that the activity of the fanon wiki went down for a while. What better way to bring the activity back up than merge it with a more popular wiki? Thank you for listening to this and please tell me what you think. --Random Ranaun 03:05, April 5, 2010 (UTC)

I hear your reasoning. I support the merging of the 2 wikis! Archie 03:08, April 5, 2010 (UTC)

I don't think that would be a very good idea. I think because there would be loads more of vandalism, but I'm just an IP so what do I know? :) 74.216.88.170 03:10, April 5, 2010 (UTC)

I'm assuming there was a reason for creating a separate wiki for fanon. Has that reason gone away? Will it come back if the two are combined? If the two are combined, I'd think there would have to be some way to "mark" fanon as such. How will that be handled? I'm not categorically against a merger, but I'm also not sure it's all that great of an idea. Dharden 14:30, April 6, 2010 (UTC)


 * There were two reasons for creating a separate wiki. One Dharden mentioned, the need to mark or keep separate premade content from custom content. The second was whether an editor had the right to change something that someone else had written given that player stories are creative rather than encyclopedic. I had a brief discussion with a former admin. At the time I was pretty much the only one on, I didn't want to spend all my time fixing the spelling and grammar of everyone's story and decided to move the stories to subpages. At this point, I concede that merging might be a good idea. It would also make the discussion on what downloads and custom content should be included moot. --a_morris (talk) 03:05, April 7, 2010 (UTC)

I do have my concerns about increased vandalism, but, it would seem good for the community. Author 03:12, April 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * I personally believe the two wikis should stay divided. There must be a reason why they were made into 2 different wikis, after all! Bleeh (talk) 22:40, April 28, 2010 (UTC)

I hate to jump back onto this Wiki after being so inactive for so long to voice my opinion, but I actually don't think this is a bad idea. My reasoning: 1) If I remember correctly, fans do come here and do post fan material that then needs to be moved and/or deleted by admins. Merging the two wikis makes this no longer necessary, and encourages game fans to visit and enrich themselves in knowledge of the game while posting their own content. 2) Merging the two allows the new merged wiki to capitalize on the visitors to both, increasing the number of visitors, number of editors, and number of active members. 3) Merging the two makes it easier for a visitor to find information both on the game and on fan material in one location.

Additionally, even if the two were created intentionally separate, that's not necessarily a good enough reason to keep it that way. Just as there is no point in needless change, there is no point in maintaining the status quo if doing so is detrimental. It's up to the best judgment of the Admins and members here (and on the other wiki) to determine whether or not the status quo is detrimental or not - I hesitate to say that it is, though I still support their combination.

That's just my $0.02 though. LostInRiverview 23:31, April 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * I actually never thought of those possibilities. Though, if users did add info about their own characters, there would need to be a way for other users to be able to distinguish whether or not it's a Sim that's made by Maxis. There would need to be a category, or something, which I'm sure most new-comers to the wiki wouldn't add, since Wikia is confusing enough. Bleeh (talk) 23:37, April 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, I'm not saying it wouldn't be complicated. That's why it's important to determine whether the changes are needed or desired enough to justify upsetting the status quo. LostInRiverview 21:14, April 30, 2010 (UTC)
 * C'mon people! We need to vote! We've had 16 people vote, but, no results! Archie 23:56, April 29, 2010 (UTC)

I will begin the official vote, according to our voting procedure, on May 1 and put an announcement on the main page. In the event of a tie, we will keep things the same, i.e. stay divided.

Should the "We combine" option prevail, it will be followed by a discussion/vote to determine how to add the new content and the merging will begin upon its conclusion and any maintenance tasks required (ex. creating templates, etc.) Any new content may be left until a decision is made. --a_morris (talk) 14:01, April 30, 2010 (UTC)
 * So then, if a user makes a page about a fanon Sim, we just let it stay in the wiki until the voting is over? Or would we move it to the user namespace? If it's the first, then how would we remember to move it to the user namespace if the wikis stay divided? Bleeh (talk) 20:49, April 30, 2010 (UTC)
 * No. After the first vote, if we are going to combine, only then will fanon pages be left as is until we decide how to deal with them. For now and if we decide to stay divided, fanon pages should be moved to the user namespace, as usual. --a_morris (talk) 23:15, April 30, 2010 (UTC)

FYI - TamBams219 has requested to adopt The Sims Fanon Wiki. This may have an impact on whether we will be allowed to merge the two wikis. --a_morris (talk) 00:14, May 1, 2010 (UTC)

Should we combine or stay divided Stay divided We Combine
 * At the present moment, I am mulling my thoughts over. I'm kind of thinking a merger would not be the worst thing. The Sims Wiki has a much more structured and, clean lay out. Of course given the time, I feel that I could equally make the Fanon Wiki just as efficent. Another plus, the fan fiction people make/compose would reach a wider audience if merged. It's a toguh decision... TamBams219 02:21, May 1, 2010 (UTC)

Fanon wiki merge vote
The Sims Wiki and The Sims Fanon Wiki should merge.

Voting ends Sunday, May 16, 2010.

Agree

 * 1) --a_morris (talk) 00:14, May 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * 2)  Archie   Andrew   fan
 * 3) Aurora 04:28, May 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * 1) Petty773 16:54, May 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * 2) TamBams219 20:58, May 1, 2010 (UTC)

Neutral

 * 1) --Auror. plus the great Andrachome 04:03, May 1, 2010 (UTC) I'm so not sure!
 * 2) Dharden 05:11, May 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * 3) Author 21:01, May 1, 2010 (UTC) I'm really not sure now

Disagree

 * 1) --Bleeh (talk) 03:28, May 1, 2010 (UTC) Bet I'll be the only one, but so be it. I definitely disagree with the option to merge, but hey, it's not my wiki anyways.
 * 2) --Sparrowsong 04:01, May 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * 3) -- Kiwi tea 09:12, May 1, 2010 (UTC) I know I'm new, and I can see the arguments in favour of this, but I see it making a mess. I have extensive Fanon for Riverblossom Hills. Now that would make things confusing! I'm sure I'm only one of hundreds like that.
 * 4) --  David  MC  123  14:13 Saturday, May 01, 2010 (UTC) (I think that's the right time)I have made an image of pros and cons. Here is the image.