Join NIWA

NIWA is always looking for new members and affiliates. If you are interested in joining, please review the following guidelines to see if you'd be a good fit, and then reach out to us to apply! You may also join our public Discord server with any questions.

While only members receive voting powers within the organization, both members and affiliates receive access to NIWA's private Discord community where we collaborate and support each other's projects.

Member criteria

NIWA members are independent wikis that cover Nintendo topics. New members are expected to meet the following criteria as reviewed by existing members. Please note that meeting the following criteria does not guarantee membership. Just as well, if we see a wiki has great potential but is lacking in a few small ways, we may be able to accommodate.

  1. Related to Nintendo: The wiki's primary scope, or a significant portion of its coverage, must be related to Nintendo. This includes, but is not limited to covering games or franchises owned or strongly correlated with Nintendo. Wikis that fall out of scope may apply to be an affiliate of NIWA.
  2. Active: The wiki should be sufficiently active at a level proportional to its respective franchise. Wikis about inactive franchises may not need to be constantly edited, but the wiki should be kept up to date as needed and monitored for spam and vandalism.
  3. Independent: The wiki should be independent, meaning that decisioning and control of the wiki largely rests with the wiki's own staff and volunteer editing community, rather than an external party. Factors that contribute towards determining independence may include, but are not limited to:
    1. The editorbase's editorial independence from the webhost or any external parties.
    2. The editorbase's ability to request changes from the webhost or any other parties that have technical control over the site.
    3. Any history of the webhost or external entities exerting decisions contrary to the wiki community's wishes.
  4. Age: In general, the wiki should be at least 6 months old to ensure longevity. Exceptions can be made for new franchises. If the wiki was recently forked from another provider, the history of the previous site may count towards the minimum age requirement if the majority of the community has moved over to the new wiki.
  5. Coverage: The wiki should have enough content for it to be useful to its audience, and should at least cover the most major topics for its subject. Level of coverage may be compared to other resources; a wiki that is the leader in its subject area may be granted more leniency than a wiki that falls behind other websites.
  6. Policy and administration: The wiki should have at least a minimally defined policy and administrative structure. The wiki should have active administration that displays maturity and competency in governing the site.
  7. Involvement: NIWA shines when its members and affiliates collaborate and help out one another, and so the wiki's administration should intend to be involved in the network. At a minimum, this means being contactable and participating in the occasional vote, but we hope to see all members engage in discussion, share their best practices, and participate in events.
  8. Operational and usable: The wiki should be fully operational, with no glaring technical errors or usability issues. The wiki should have a functional and accessible layout for both desktop and mobile users.
  9. Intellectual property: The wiki should be respectful of intellectual property. This includes but is not limited to best efforts to abide by fair use; properly providing attribution or editing history for copied or forked content; and not distributing illegal content.
  10. Secure: The wiki should practice good security standards, including but not limited to using a supported version of the wiki's software.

Affiliate criteria

NIWA affiliates are websites, communities, and organizations that support our mission and share in our collaborative spirit.

  1. Mission and topic: The affiliate should support NIWA's mission, share in our collaborative spirit, and mesh well with our existing members and affiliates. While there is no specific topic area affiliates need to be under, we find that affiliates that cover videogames or other pop culture media fit particularly well.
  2. Active: The affiliate should be active. Depending on the nature of the website, it may not need constant updates, but it should be kept up to date and monitored.
  3. Involvement: NIWA shines when its members and affiliates collaborate and help out one another, and the affiliate's administration should intend to be involved in the network. At a minimum, this means being contactable, but we hope to see affiliates engage in discussion, share their best practices, and participate in events.
  4. Operational and usable: The affiliate's website should be fully operational, with no glaring technical errors or usability issues. The site should have a functional and accessible layout for both desktop and mobile users.
  5. Intellectual property: The affiliate should be respectful of intellectual property. This includes but is not limited to best efforts to abide by fair use; properly providing attribution or editing history for copied or forked content; and not distributing illegal content.
  6. Secure: The affiliate's website should practice good security standards, including but not limited to using a supported version of the website's software.
Discord