Improving NIWA

[Tina]

The two cons I am for-certain going to are Anime Central (ACen) in Chicago, IL

Oh hey. I'm going there this year too, although I think I would be way too shy to host a panel for NIWA. :V

[Xizor]

A Serious Board is possible. We'll see!

As for a panel, what would this panel even discuss? Who would do it?

[Maxite]

To quote from my original post on the panel idea: "A good idea might be a general Nintendo panel, covering its history, its people, and the history of notable franchises. That would have a decent chance of not only getting approved, but also of gathering an audience."

Throw in some relevant plugs at the appropriate times (for more information, or to participate in further discussion of the series, go to <name of relevant wiki>), and we could easily put in a plug that way. Or put in a plug saying that the panel is being "hosted by members of NIWA." in the description of what the panel is about.

As far as holding one at ACen, I could host one. If anyone else is going to ACen and wants the chance at getting a free badge (since panelists don't have to pay for their badges), it could work out.

[tacopill]

related to the panel discussion, we could have a booth where we hand out flyers and pamphlets about NIWA and the member wiki's. And if someone brings a computer and a projector, they can have people surf around the wiki's, showing off each wiki's individual look, style and such.

[Maxite]

related to the panel discussion, we could have a booth where we hand out flyers and pamphlets about NIWA and the member wiki's. And if someone brings a computer and a projector, they can have people surf around the wiki's, showing off each wiki's individual look, style and such.

For ACen? That'd be a no go. You can hand out fliers and pamphlets all you want, but if you want to set up a booth you have to pay $$$ to do so. Not sure of the cost, but I'd estimate over $100. Probably be better to put that money towards server upgrades than wasting it on a booth for 3 days at a con.

[Naesala]

A Serious Board is possible. We'll see!

A forum game bored would be nice.

[TurtwigA]

A Serious Board is possible. We'll see!

A forum game bored would be nice.

I thought one was being made

[tacopill]

related to the panel discussion, we could have a booth where we hand out flyers and pamphlets about NIWA and the member wiki's. And if someone brings a computer and a projector, they can have people surf around the wiki's, showing off each wiki's individual look, style and such.

For ACen? That'd be a no go. You can hand out fliers and pamphlets all you want, but if you want to set up a booth you have to pay $$$ to do so. Not sure of the cost, but I'd estimate over $100. Probably be better to put that money towards server upgrades than wasting it on a booth for 3 days at a con.

Not specifically for that con; for any con. I was actually going to volunteer to do this later on this year, if i am approved to do so.

A Serious Board is possible. We'll see!

A forum game bored would be nice.

I thought one was being made

One is in the making......but i am waiting for something to occur to remind someone to implement it.

[Maxite]

A Simple Plea for Generalization

People are lazy: They don't like to take more effort than necessary to do what they want. While there are exceptions, this is generally true. People's laziness has helped result in the growth of giant search engines because they don't want to type in a URL when they can just search for it on Google. It has resulted in eBay and Amazon becoming the shopping malls of the internet, because most everything you could want can be found on those two sites. People's laziness has even spilled into real life, with the gigantic growth of Walmart eating up smaller businesses. People want to get to their relevant information, and get to it quickly.

I bring this point up now because it will start affecting us at some point in the future, and already has. Nintendo Wiki already has one wiki that plays to this rule of laziness: Mario Wiki. Their broad and expansive coverage makes them a one-stop shop for anything and everything relating to Mario and Mario subfranchises and even related franchises. Donkey Kong Wiki, Smash Wiki, and even the newer and still developing Yoshipedia all to some extent fall under the shadow that Mario Wiki casts. Does this mean that Mario Wiki is being overzealous in their coverage? No, on the contrary, they are being smart: They are being as broad and as expansive as possible to make them a one-stop shop, which will benefit their community more than if they were more specialized.

This isn't to say that specialized communities can't be successful, they just have to work harder at it. In a fight for eyeballs and editors, the wiki that stands out the most will be the one that most likely wins, and a wiki that has a bigger footprint has better odds of standing out more than one with a smaller footprint. Any online community needs to have the public not only be able to find them, but also want to go to them. Having specialized content means that you can tailor the information to be most useful to that audience, so they want to come back to you and not other sites. Still, that isn't to say that a generalist wiki can't have specialized content that people would find just as useful as if they want to the specialist one. We also can't ignore the facts that specialist wikis are less able to find editors to contribute to their growth simply because they are more specialized in their focus, whereas a more generalist wiki can easily find people to contribute because there are so many more areas to contribute to.

If NIWA is to best promote Nintendo, and to best promote its members, then there should be some form of encouragement for more generalized wikis to help draw attention to NIWA and its more specialized and smaller members. Expansive sites like Bulbapedia, Mario Wiki, and Zelda Wiki are invaluable assets to NIWA, and we should be promoting more sites like those to join. It may even be time to seriously start considering expanding into third party franchises so that we can do more for all of our members. More options for the public to find us means more chances for every wiki to grow and develop.

[Tucayo]

?

[KidIcarus]

How about a board for topics of significance formerly restricted to staff members. I applaud NIWA for publicizing the thread on which staff members elected a NIWA Coordinator. I'd like to see more of this. For example, seeing the process of a prospective wiki being elected into the alliance would make for an interesting read. And of course, the threads could be locked.

Thoughts?

[Nintendoguy1]

Maxite: Explain?

[Reboot]

Maxite: Explain?

I think he wants wiki mergers and/or lots of scope creep so that all the NIWA wikis cover the same stuff (e.g., Zelda Wiki "should" cover Smash Bros. since Link & co appear. Since it then covers Smash Bros., it will have articles on Kirby characters and so "should" cover Kirby. And so on...)

[Maxite]

The basic gist of the "Plea for Generalization" is as follows
1. Bigger sites bring in more visitors
2. More visitors means more people who are likely to contribute
3. More bigger sites that are members of NIWA brings more visitors to NIWA
4. More visitors to NIWA brings more visitors to the smaller sites

In short, I'm making a plea for NIWA to not try recruiting more "generalized" wikis that would garner more attention to themselves, but to also encourage those wikis to try and draw more people towards NIWA itself.

Just as a mall needs anchor stores to help bring people in, it might be best if NIWA had anchor wikis.

Call it a marketing idea for NIWA.

[Xizor]

I wouldn't call Zelda Wiki "general" at all. In fact, neither would I call Super Mario Wiki general. They focus specifically on their franchises, and especially in the case of Zelda, that's fairly specific.

I see your point, but I don't really think that it's a problem.

[Greenpickle]

I'm making a plea for NIWA to not try recruiting more "generalized" wikis that would garner more attention to themselves

*not only?

(Oh, and I disagree with the whole thing, but haven't got the time to explain why.)

[Maxite]

What benefits does a wiki get in joining NIWA? It gets a nominal amount of publicity, a bit of influence in what NIWA does, and potential resource for help/assistance are what I can figure out. Is that it, or is there more?

[Jake]

For example, seeing the process of a prospective wiki being elected into the alliance would make for an interesting read.

In the case of wikis that have been accepted into NIWA, the topics are usually just polls with very little discussion. When a wiki comes along that is worth accepting, we're usually all in agreement. It's really not a worthwhile read, to be honest.

What benefits does a wiki get in joining NIWA? It gets a nominal amount of publicity, a bit of influence in what NIWA does, and potential resource for help/assistance are what I can figure out. Is that it, or is there more?

Support and publicity are often the most important things a wiki needs. I've run quite a few sites and forums before, but I can say that I enjoy running a wiki more than anything else. Speaking based on my own experience with NIWA, I can focus more on creating a great wiki than having to worry about advertising and finding users. Better yet, I know that there's always a group of helpful members here should I should ever need help with the software or hosting. Our wikis work with each other, borrowing great ideas and experimenting with new ones. I think this is the best part of our 'garden'; being able to help each other grow and prosper.

It may seem like NIWA only offers traffic and support, but a little help really goes a long way. I don't think I could ask for anything more from NIWA.

[Xizor]

I've gotta say, every one of your adjectives seemed to marginalize and trivialize what NIWA gives its members. I'm really starting to wonder why you're even here anymore, because it seems like NIWA just frustrates and confuses you constantly.

We give the traffic support of a hub site that gets around 500+ visitors a day (as far as I'm aware) and growing.

We give the traffic support of every other wiki linking back to you, which contributes to increased Google rankings, as well as simply more exposure.

Name is associated with NIWA, which hopefully grants your Wiki a bit of extra credence and credibility with users having a difficult choice picking their "definitive" source of information on your franchise.

Every member of NIWA has full and equal access to all of NIWA's resources, and has equal influence in the going-ons of the organization. Every member of NIWA staff, including all forum Administrators, have a Wiki they are on Staff at.

NIWA protects the interest of all its members equally. Those of us who are active here do not represent every Wiki, because not every wiki wishes to make its presence as known as some others do. That a few Wikis dominate discussion is more because OTHER wikis are apathetic than the dominating wikis are overbearing. However, I see, on a daily basis, usually at least one person from each Wiki posting about something regarding Staff, and everybody's voice counts.

I'm really not sure what else the organization would do, other than boost traffic, provide equal access to management of the thing, and provide a plethora of resources for member wikis to utilize.

[Maxite]

I've gotta say, every one of your adjectives seemed to marginalize and trivialize what NIWA gives its members. I'm really starting to wonder why you're even here anymore, because it seems like NIWA just frustrates and confuses you constantly.

I was trying to be conservative in my estimates, since I lack solid information on what the benefits are and how extensive they are. That is why I asked the question in the first place, so I could learn just the "what" and "how extensive." I'm not trying to pick a fight or criticise with my questions, I'm trying to learn and contribute.