Improving NIWA

[Maxite]

I'll keep that in mind to try and keep my messages clear.

The problem is that a lot of what others say isn't clear, and if I am to participate in this community I would have to ask for clarifications on a lot of things before continuing, or make a best guess and hope I'm right.

Moving on to my next question:
Since I've seen this brought up a few times and never really seen it explained: What are "NIWA's interests"? One of the few details I know about it is that it includes helping out developing wikis, and working on expanding the member wikis.

[SuperAlpaca]

Another good one is  .

[tacopill]

I'll keep that in mind to try and keep my messages clear.

The problem is that a lot of what others say isn't clear, and if I am to participate in this community I would have to ask for clarifications on a lot of things before continuing, or make a best guess and hope I'm right.

Moving on to my next question:
Since I've seen this brought up a few times and never really seen it explained: What are "NIWA's interests"? One of the few details I know about it is that it includes helping out developing wikis, and working on expanding the member wikis.

Sounds good.

To answer your next question, this is what i see: What the Wikis want. NIWA isn't some facility you are required to visit or oblige with. Examples:
* If WikiBound wants to hold a Smash Bros. tournament, They can come on here and see if Lylat Wiki, DK Wiki and Smash Wiki would be interested in helping.
* If AC Wiki is looking to improve their infoboxes, they can come here and ask our template experts on how to improve them code wise, and ask the animal crossing fans on how to improved them Kirby-information wise.
* If Lylat Wiki is attacked by new spammers, Metroid Wiki can come in and help fix it, due to our staff being at work or school or something.
* And best of all: Nintendo Wiki. First thought of by the memeber of Mario Wiki (RAP) and Bulbapedia's webmaster agreeding to host it. And since then it's been helped out by members of Lylat Wiki, Bulbapedia, WiKirby, ZeldaWiki and Many others.

With this mentality, NIWA isn't stepping on people's toes, going into their wiki saying "You should do this and that". NIWA can recommend something, but no wiki's are forced to abide by it.

So, in my opinion, rather than think of it as "What are "NIWA's Interests'?", think about it this way. "What are the interests of the Wiki's and in what way can NIWA help them succeed?".

This doesn't mean that NIWA can't have it's own goals; it does. It just means, that we must meet the needs of the Wiki first. Ot at least not be harmful to any wiki.

If NIWA wishes to hold a Template designing completion, and it would be beneficial to the wiki's that participate, then we will have one. If however no wiki's think it would benefit them, then it won't happen.

Feel free to still recommend ideas to improve NIWA as a whole. I would like to see it become more than just a "Bloated Affiliate system". I'd like to see it be able act and staffed on it's own. But these ideas are just my own, and what i think would be best for NIWA.

Another good one is  .

Yes! that's a good one as well.

[Nintendoguy1]

NIWA doesn't make people do anything, NIWA just lets users communicate with eachother. We don't enforce policies, we don't require actions. You just do what you want, and NIWA makes it possible.

[Xizor]

NIWA's only real true interest is to make sure that can always happen.

[Naesala]

Is there any way to have a search engine on the hub that would cover all the wikis?

[Jake]

Is there any way to have a search engine on the hub that would cover all the wikis?

That's planned, and it will be coming along with the redesigned main page.

[Maxite]

As I understand things, NIWA is a complicated affiliates system. It has no real will of its own, which makes me wonder if Xizor has any actual powers beyond acting as a moderator for discussion. I would like to propose the following:

That NIWA be set up as a centralized judiciary for the wikis.

1. In the event of interwiki disputes, the disputers could bring their case to NIWA, and the NIWA Coordinator would act as judge.
2. Should the member wikis so desire, conflicts within their wikis could be brought to NIWA for hearing.

This may sound absurd at first, but since NIWA is so diverse it would be possible to get people who don't have any strong feelings towards any of the members (this may not be possible to do internally in some of the smaller member wikis), and thus be able to offer more impartiality on the subject. It would also give the NIWA Coordinator formal powers to act as a judge and a mediator, since at the moment I am not aware of if the member wikis have to follow any advisements made by the NIWA Coordinator.

Just a random thought.

[Nintendoguy1]

Maybe, as long as every wiki involved agrees to have the mediation.

[Xizor]

As I understand things, NIWA is a complicated affiliates system. It has no real will of its own, which makes me wonder if Xizor has any actual powers beyond acting as a moderator for discussion.

Wonder no more, for you are mostly correct. My only real "power" is that in the event of deadlocked staff discussion, I was given the authority to have the final say, which does give me considerable power in certain situations. I'm also the "face of NIWA" and I generally am here to just guide NIWA where it needs to go. We chose the title "Coordinator" because it denoted that I, for lack of a better word, coordinate actions and discussions, but because it does not connote dictatorship. I am not "in charge" of NIWA by any means. That is, unless somehow every wiki decided to give the position that kind of power. I personally would not want the position, with me or without me, having that much power. It wouldn't serve NIWA as well that way.

As far as your proposal, there's nothing stopping a particular member wiki from doing such a thing. However, we've had relatively little conflict, almost no conflict, even, between wikis. Between certain staff members in a particularly heated discussion sometimes, yes, but there have been no wiki feuds. If there were, then it would be up to those wikis to come to NIWA. Obviously, in the event that a feud begins affecting the rest of NIWA's members, then the rest of the members could discuss how to resolve the issue, or if no agreement can be reached, how to best let a wiki (or wikis) bow out of NIWA with as little harm as possible to all. I don't anticipate it ever getting that far, because we have taken every effort to make cooperation almost impossible to ignore. We all joined NIWA wanting to help each other and ourselves, so there is no real worries in that department.

As it is, though, I have no power, and I cannot force anyone into anything. However, the vast majority of staff members wanted me for the job, and so I feel that my voice is listened to with great consideration. So regardless of the fact that I have no power, I certainly have influence, and ultimately, the only difference is that influence is granted, whereas power is generally assumed. The reason the position works without the power is because we wanted it. We created it specifically because we needed a "leader" type role, and this is what we came up with.

Perhaps, pending a quick staff discussion on the matter, we can shed light on the way the role functions by publishing the topic in which we discussed creating it (locked, of course). I'll see what they all have to say on it.

[Maxite]

A thought occurs to me:
Create a "NIWA Archives" subboard, so that important or historic threads can be placed there. Approximately half of the stickied threads in the NIWA General section are no longer of current interest, and I'm not a big fan of seeing half a page of stickied threads before I find the actual active topics.

[tacopill]

A thought occurs to me:
Create a "NIWA Archives" subboard, so that important or historic threads can be placed there. Approximately half of the stickied threads in the NIWA General section are no longer of current interest, and I'm not a big fan of seeing half a page of stickied threads before I find the actual active topics.

This sounds like a good idea to me.

[Nintendoguy1]

A thought occurs to me:
Create a "NIWA Archives" subboard, so that important or historic threads can be placed there. Approximately half of the stickied threads in the NIWA General section are no longer of current interest, and I'm not a big fan of seeing half a page of stickied threads before I find the actual active topics.

This sounds like a good idea to me.

All the forums I know have an archives subboard, where they stick all threads that are dead/outdated. I think it's a great idea!

[Maxite]

No idea on where else to post this, so I'll just post this here:

Has NIWA, or NIWA members considered hosting a panel at conventions? If a wiki has members going to a convention that has panels, it'd be a good way to get the word out. I wouldn't recommend doing a panel on "Independent wikis" or anything similar, but a panel based on a series would be nice, and then throw in a plug for both the relevant member wiki and NIWA as a whole.

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.

I'm going to at least two cons this year, and I've hosted panels before. They aren't too much work to setup.

[Volatile Dweevil]

I don't really go to conventions, but it sounds like a great idea

[Xizor]

Both Comic Con and E3 are in Southern California, where I'm from. I'd love to do something like this, but I'm not sure how possible this really is outside of just dreaming?

[Maxite]

The two cons I am for-certain going to are Anime Central (ACen) in Chicago, IL and AnimeIowa in Coralville, IA. They're both anime conventions, but both conventions have lots of Nintendo-based cosplayers.
Last year at AI there was a guy who was a Magikarp fishermen (the guy who always had 6 Magikarp), and that doesn't count lots of other Pokemon, Super Mario Bros, and Zelda cosplayers. There is a good amount of interest in Nintendo at these conventions.

[Naesala]

could we have a "serious discussion" bored?

[Xizor]

You mean a board to have debates and such here on the NIWA forums? It's possible. I was actually just thinking about that today.

[Naesala]

You mean a board to have debates and such here on the NIWA forums? It's possible. I was actually just thinking about that today.

Or religions and political topics, with stricter mods of course.