4 Ways To Start A Wiki

Once you’ve entered the requested information, click REGISTER to create your account. After creating your account, open the email message from Fandom and click the CONFIRM NOW link to complete the sign-up process.

If Fandom thinks a wiki on that topic already exists, you’ll see a warning.

Make sure your idea for a wiki doesn’t already exist before creating one. Click the Search icon at the top-right corner of the page, type your wiki idea, and then click the arrow to search. If your wiki idea already exists, it will appear in the right panel. It’s better to join an existing wiki for your topic than to create a new one. [1] X Research source This way you can work with others with information that already exists rather than start from scratch. Since Fandom offers free hosting, your wiki’s address will be in the “www. [name]. fandom. com” format. If the language you want to use is not already selected, choose it from the menu.

You can check additional categories after selecting your main category.

Fandom will be working to create your wiki in the background. A progress indicator appears below the themes to display the progress. Once your wiki is built, you can customize the theme at any time.

Click the button with a sheet of paper in the upper-right area of the page to create a new article. Enter a page title into the first blank of the “Create a new article” window and click NEXT. Develop your article in the visual editor. Editing tools are in the top area of the screen. Once you’re finished, click Save.

The Wiki panel, which lets you customize the colors and layout of your wiki. The Community panel, which is where you can add and manage users, make announcements, and get help. The Content panel, which lets you manage categories, add pages, and insert media into your main page.

MediaWiki is one of the most popular wiki platforms (used by Wikipedia and wikiHow) and is supported by popular webhosts like Dreamhost, HostGator, SiteGround, and dozens more. [3] X Research source You can also easily install it on any dedicated or virtual private server—for the latest installation requirements, see https://www. mediawiki. org/wiki/Manual:Installation_guide. TikiWiki is another popular option supported by many popular webhosts out of the box, including Bluehost, Hostmonster, Inmotion, and Web Hosting UK. TikiWiki has strong plugin support, allowing you to add features such as forums, image galleries, calendars, and more. If you have your own server, you can install TikiWiki from https://info. tiki. org/Download. Some other popular options are DocuWiki, TiddlyWiki, Wiki. js, and XWiki.

Follow this guide for detailed information on MediaWiki, or follow this guide for TikiWiki information. Wiki software you download will come in a compressed file. You can either extract this file on your computer, or extract it on the server.

If the database and web server are on different servers, use the appropriate hostname in place of localhost (e. g. , mediawiki. example. com). See this guide for more details on creating a MySQL database.

Wiki name — This is the name for your wiki. It will show up in the metadata for your wiki, and will be integrated throughout the site. Contact e-mail — This is the main administrative email address. It will be displayed on all email notifications and on some of the error pages. Language — Use the drop-down menu to choose the language of the wiki interface. Copyright and Licenses — Choose your license information. GNU Free Documentation License is the license compatible with Wikipedia. Admin username and password — This will be the first admin account that can block users from editing and perform other administrative duties. You can create more later. Database host — This is where the database is located. If it is on the same server as your wiki software, set it to localhost. Database name — The name of your database. Database username/password — The username and password used to access the database. [5] X Research source

You should also change the logo on the wiki to match the function of the wiki.

Wikis work best when they have a broad focus that allows as many knowledgeable writers and editors to contribute as possible. If you are trying to build a popular wiki with lots of community involvement, then the focus should be open-ended enough to allow for lots of expanding. For example, it would be better to start a wiki about a game company and all their games than just one of their games.

Be sure to check wiki services other than the one you’ve chosen. For example, if you’re creating a Wikia wiki, check both Wikia and Wikidot for duplicates.

You can generally use your wiki’s settings page to determine who can post or edit, both on a wiki-wide scale and on a per-post scale.

Remember, when you’re starting out, it’s up to YOU to create the content that will bring people to your wiki. Be sure that you are well-versed in the topic you are covering so that you can have comprehensive articles available from day one.

You may want to write standards on how weaving the web of links should be done, and on article noteworthiness standards. Not all of your contributors will follow the style guide you create, but it will aid in patrolling and editing articles. A guide is more friendly than verbally reprimanding. It’s more social to be corrected by a text than by a person.

Be as much tolerant as possible. If your version and the new version are both correct, keep the contributor version. It will enlarge the wiki point of view and welcome the contributors.

By creating admins from your community, you relieve a lot of the pressure that you face when it comes to patrolling and maintaining your content. Set up forums and talk pages to allow your community members to discuss the wiki’s rules and style. Allow your admins to vote on policy and style changes. Run community events such as editing competitions to get all your loyal editors excited.

Describe your wiki on WikiIndex (wikiindex. org). Search smaller wikis and suggest collaboration. Do not hesitate to ask questions on the other wikis. Advertise your wiki through social media.

You should also ensure that you are updating to the newest version of your wiki software package whenever possible to get the latest features and security fixes.