User blog:Yaviey/Wikia Wednesday - How to Communicate on Wikia



For the past four weeks we've shown you all sorts of great tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your Wikia experience. We've shown you how to edit a Wikia page, create a new page, add multimedia, and more. Today we're here to show you one of the most important tasks of all – how to communicate!

Why Communicate?

There are many reasons why you will find it useful to communicate with other Wikia users on a Wikia. For instance, you may want a new page you just created added to the top navigation, and in order to do that, you would need to ask an administrator to add it for you. (You can do this by asking them on their Talk Page.) Another example is when you find a page on a particular topic and want to know more information. Making a post in the comments section is the best way to communicate with those working on or reading the page. Also, many of our official SOE Wikias have forums. The Wikia forums are a good place to discuss the layout, structure, and content of a Wikia. Finally, don't forget Wikia Chat. Wikia Chat can be a great place to hang out and talk shop. There's a lot to discuss and luckily there are many tools that let you do this!

About Talk Pages & Message Walls

Every user who signs up to use Wikia and makes an edit on a Wikia gets a Talk Page or a Message Wall. If a user contributes on more than one Wikia, they will have a Talk Page or Message Wall on each Wikia that they contribute on. Individual article pages can sometimes have their own Talk Pages as well.



Using a Talk Page is simple! Many will have links off of Wikia pages. You can also click on a user's profile to get to their Talk Page. To start a discussion, click the "Leave a Message" button. You can then enter in the message in the editor that pops up. Be sure to type a topical header such as "Suggestions for Additions to Top Navigation" so that people reading it will know what the message is about. It's also very useful to type four tildes at the end. This automatically signs your post with your Wikia username. You can then click the "Preview" button to spell-check and all that fun stuff, and then click the "Publish" button when you are finished. As you are in a discussion on a Talk Page, you can use a ":" (colon) to indent each future message. That will make it much easier to read the individual responses.

About Commenting

We all have things we want to say! Sometimes a Talk Page is not available for a Wikia page. In that case, a comments section may be usable. If it is available, you'll see it at the bottom of the page. You can just type your comment right in the box and click the "Post Comment" button when you're finished. Just make sure to spell check it for typos! Your comment will be immediately displayed on the page. Note: you do not have to be signed in to make a comment.



About Wikia Forums

Some of our Official SOE Wikias have Wikia forums. They are a great place to discuss more in-depth topics about Wikia content, layout, or what a Wikia needs. If a Wikia has a forum, you can usually access it from the top navigation. If it's available, it can also be accessed from the Discussions section at the bottom of a Wikia page. This feature works much the same way as forums you may have used in the past.

You can start a new discussion by clicking the "Start a Discussion" button. In the "What do you want to talk about?" section, add in a header that clearly states the topic. Then you can post your message in the "Post a new message..." section. Click the "Preview" button to preview it. Look out for any spelling and grammatical mistakes. When you're finished previewing it, click the "Post" button. If you want to reply to an existing post, type your message in the "Post a Reply" box underneath. You do not need to be signed in to use the Wikia forums.



Do note however that any game-related topics put into the Wikia forums are not likely to be read by developers. Want to tell the devs about your cool, new idea for flying vampire squirrel mounts? Your really awesome game idea should be submitted on your game's official forums to make sure it gets in front of the developers for consideration. Just as with the official game forums, forum guidelines are expected to be adhered to or else your posts can be exterminated. We have moderation tools on the Wikias just like we do on the game forums.

About Wikia Chat

Looking for a great place to hang out with fellow Wikia contributors on your favorite game? Some of our Official SOE Wikias have Wikia Chats. They are a chat room inside the Wikia. If it’s available on your Wikia, it will be listed on the top navigation. To get started talking in chat, just type in the chat box and hit "Enter!"



There are so many great ways to talk to your fellow contributors. It’s really up to you how you want to get your message out there. Just remember that each contributor is a real person and everyone should be treated with respect. Be kind,  please rewind, and party on dudes (and dudettes).

Up Next

Join us next week when we show you how to better organize content on a Wikia by using categories!

Need Some Help?

If you have any questions related to the Official SOE Wikias, please feel free to e-mail the SOE Wiki Project Manager, Jennifer Bridges at [mailto:jbridges@soe.sony.com jbridges@soe.sony.com].

-Yaviey, Wiki Project Manager @ SOE (talk) 17:09, October 30, 2013 (UTC)