Advice for a new comer?

[Darkanine]

First of all, sorry if this is in the wrong board, or if this has been answered a million times or so. I did browse the WikiReference board to see if this was asked/answered before but the most similar thread I found was about the wiki installation process itself.

So, I never early contributed to a NIWA wiki but I'm a long time lurker of Wikimon and to a lesser extent, dragon-quest.org, mariowiki and khwiki, and somewhat recently thanks to you guys and Wikisimpsons, I felt inspired to try and start my own independent wiki. After lots of trial and error, I managed to get my own domain and install MW and made my own independent wiki. I have a decent amount of background in Wiki editing with basic knowledge of CSS and I think I managed to create something halfway decent looking. Anyway, I'm a little uneasy about typing this up since I tend to be the type to try and figure out everything on my own but after two months of thinking something is just "off". I decided to post a thread here since I plan on, in the distant future when most of these problems are hopefully resolved, I would like my site to become a wiki affiliate.

Anywho...

• I read that their was a start up guide that only staff members could see. If it's possible, could a staff member PM me the guide, or inform me of the gist? I would be very appreciative.
• Are there any common pitfalls or trappings I should avoid?
• Are there any guides on how to efficiently design a home page to be comprehensive while also good looking? I ask because I felt like my home page is currently only "half way done". I modeled it after a blend between the Batman Wiki, Spider-Man Wiki, Wikizilla.org and the KitaWiki and while I think it looks decent enough, I feel like the informative aspect of the page is rather lacking. A news and site update column is currently in development.
• I noticed some Wikis have banners at the top of the screen, and some are intractable. I wanted to know if anyone knows how to do that?
• And lastly, are affiliates held to the same standards as actual members of NIWA?
• Any basic advice one could give about running a wiki? I'm an admin on two fairly popular wikis, but I don't really "run" them. The only other wiki I ever really ran has a very small community and I kinda "winged it" to mixed results.

Thanks to anyone who responds to this. I felt like I bit off a lot more then I can chew with this project, but at the same time I've had tons of fun with the project so far.

[tacopill]

Sorry no one has gotten back to you on this, but this thread didn't show up in any way to see if there are new threads and honestly, I don't check here often anymore.

Anyway, welcome to the forums! Pretty cool that you are starting off your own and thanks for saying we inspired you.

I can only answer some of the things you asked for, since it has been many years since I started and I am bit fuzzy on the details myself.

• I'll send you the roadmap.
• For a page banner at the top of the wiki, I think you are looking for the Site Notice. Not sure what intractable means, though.
• Affiliates are not held to the same standards as members

If you are on discord, feel free to send me a friend request at tacopill#1781.

Good luck with it .