List of fan wikis

A fan wiki is a wiki[a] that is created by fans, primarily to document an object of popular culture. Fan wikis cover television shows, film franchises, video games, comic books, sports, and other topics.[1] They are a part of fandoms, which are subcultures dedicated to a common popular culture interest. The digital humanities scholar Jason Mittell stated in 2013 that fan wikis were "[o]ne of the most popular and widespread uses of wikis".[2]

Fan wikis usually operate according to internal policies. Editors reach decisions through discussion and consensus decision-making. Some wikis are more hierarchical, while others operate more collectively. They usually appoint a small group of editors to serve as system operators (sysops) or administrators, who have additional powers to enforce rules.[3] Many fan wikis have rules that require editors to provide citations to reliable sources to verify their claims.

Early fan wikis started in the early 2000s. Many fan wikis formed out of Wikipedia over disputes about the level of detail that should be provided in articles.[4] These included fans of the television show Battlestar Galactica,[5] as well as fans of the Star Wars franchise, who founded Wookieepedia after facing complaints about the "overabundance of minutiae related to Star Wars appearing on Wikipedia".[4]

In 2004, the Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and the former Wikipedia board chair Angela Beesley founded Fandom as WikiCities, a for-profit wiki hosting service that hosted regional wikis for cities. In 2006, the company attracted venture capital funding and changed its name to Wikia.[6] Wikia then began to assimilate independent fan wikis, such as Memory Alpha (a Star Trek fan wiki) and Wowpedia (a World of Warcraft fan wiki).[7] In the late 2010s—after Fandom and Gamepedia were acquired and consolidated by the private equity firm TPG Inc.—several wikis began to leave the service, including the RuneScape, Zelda, and Minecraft wikis. Those wiki communities cited Fandom's advertising methods, issues with security and outdated software, and corporate control as reasons for migrating.[8]

The following list summarizes fan wikis with articles on Wikipedia.

Fan wikis

Fan wikis
Wiki Date launched Status[i] Founder(s) Most recent wiki hosting service Subject Notes Ref(s).
Heroes Wiki October 2006 Defunct (2020) Fan community Independent Heroes (American science fiction television series) [9]
Lostpedia 2005 Live Kevin Croy Fandom Lost (American drama television series) [10]
Memory Alpha 2003 Live Dan Carlson and Harry Doddema Fandom Star Trek (American science fiction franchise) [11]
Nukapedia (a.k.a. Fallout Wiki) 2005 Live Paweł Dembowski Fandom Fallout (American video game franchise) Moved to Fandom in 2007; forked to The Vault by Dembowski in 2011 after he joined Curse LLC as an employee [12]
Supernatural Wiki 2006 Live Fan community Independent Supernatural (American horror television series) [13]
The Vault 2011 Archived Paweł Dembowski Fandom Fallout (American video game franchise) Forked from Nukapedia in 2011 after Dembowski joined Curse LLC as an employee; hosted by Curse LLC to early 2019, when Curse's Gamepedia wiki hosting service was acquired by Fandom; archived by Fandom [14]
Wookieepedia March 2005 Live Chad Barbry and Steven Greenwood Fandom Star Wars (American science fiction franchise) [15]
Warcraft Wiki October 2023 Live Fan community Wiki.gg World of Warcraft (American massively multiplayer online role-playing game) Forked from Wowpedia (hosted by Fandom) in October 2023 following community vote [16]
Wowpedia October 2010 Live Fan community Fandom World of Warcraft (American massively multiplayer online role-playing game) Forked from WoWWiki (then hosted by Fandom) in October 2010 following community vote; hosted by Curse LLC from founding to early 2019, when Curse's Gamepedia wiki hosting service was acquired by Fandom; forked to Warcraft Wiki following community vote in October 2023 [17]
WoWWiki 2004 Archived Fan community Fandom World of Warcraft (American massively multiplayer online role-playing game) Forked to Wowpedia in October 2010 following community vote; archived by Fandom in May 2020 [18]
  1. ^ Current as of August 2024.[update]

Notes

  1. ^ A wiki is a form of hypertext publication on the internet which is collaboratively edited and managed by its audience directly through a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages that can either be edited by the public or limited to use within an organization for maintaining its internal knowledge base.[1]

References

Sources

Book chapters and reference work sections

  • Jones, Henry (2021). "Wikis". In Baker, Mona; Blaagaard, Bolette B.; Jones, Henry; Pérez-González, Luis (eds.). The Routledge Encyclopedia of Citizen Media. Critical Perspectives in Citizen Media (ebook ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-61981-1.
  • Mittell, Jason (2013). "Wikis and Participatory Fandom". In Delwiche, Aaron; Henderson, Jennifer Jacobs (eds.). The Participatory Cultures Handbook (ebook ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 35–42. ISBN 978-0-203-11792-7.

Journal articles

  • Hunter, Rik (March 2011). "Erasing 'Property Lines': A Collaborative Notion of Authorship and Textual Ownership on a Fan Wiki". Computers and Composition. 28 (1): 40–56. doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2010.12.004.
  • Hunter, Rik (November 2014). "Hypersocial-Interactive Writing: An Audience of Readers-as-Writers". Literacy in Composition Studies. 2 (2): 17–43. doi:10.21623/1.2.2.3. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  • Kaplan, Deborah (2010). "Interview with the Super-wiki Admin Team". Interview. Transformative Works and Cultures. 4. doi:10.3983/twc.2010.0200. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  • Mittell, Jason (2009). "Sites of Participation: Wiki Fandom and the Case of Lostpedia". Praxis. Transformative Works and Cultures. 3. doi:10.3983/twc.2009.0118. Archived from the original on October 17, 2023. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  • Toton, Sarah (January 17, 2008). "Cataloging Knowledge: Gender, Generative Fandom, and the Battlestar Wiki". Flow. University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original on May 18, 2024. Retrieved August 11, 2024.

News and magazines

  • Bailey, Dustin (October 21, 2022). "The Biggest Zelda Wiki Goes Independent to Fight 'Corporate Consolidation,' Urging Others to Follow Suit". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  • D'Anastasio, Cecilia (December 13, 2018). "Twitch Sale Of Curse Media Will Combine Two Popular Gaming Wikis". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 2, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  • Hinman, Michael (March 13, 2006). "Venture Capitalists Invest Wiki-millions". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  • Jackson, Gita (September 28, 2018). "Video Game Wikis Abandon Their Platform After Year Of Problems". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  • Martinelli, Marissa (September 21, 2017). "The Keepers of the Canon". Culturebox. Slate. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  • McLean, Thomas J. (May 4, 2007). "Wookieepedia Tracks Star Wars". Variety. Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  • Oshry, Dave (January 14, 2012). "Fallout Wiki Banned from Wikia for Promoting Curse". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  • Stanton, Rich (October 4, 2023). "Minecraft Wiki Completes Exit from Fandom, Gets Ready to Fight Its Own Zombified Corpse". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  • Steyer, Jean-Sébastien (October 2015). "La Vie Dans Star Wars: Une Histoire (Sur)naturelle" [Life in Star Wars: A (Super)natural Story] (PDF). Revue des Deux Mondes (in French): 130–137. JSTOR 44435926. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  • Tossell, Ivor (January 12, 2007). "It's a Wiki, Wiki World Out There". The Globe and Mail. p. R.20. ProQuest 383474262.
  • Whitbrook, James (March 30, 2021). "How Star Wars' Biggest Fan Wiki Found Itself in a Fight Over Trans Identity". io9. Gizmodo. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.

Websites

  • Brian / Admin (2020). "User:Admin/Goodbye". Heroes Wiki. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  • Carlson, Dan (August 23, 2016). "How Memory Alpha Helped Star Trek Beyond". TrekCore. Archived from the original on March 3, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  • DiscordianKitty (November 1, 2023). "Wowpedia Has Moved – Now Warcraft Wiki". Wowhead. Archived from the original on September 2, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  • Laime, Mira (May 12, 2020). "This Wiki Has Been Archived. Please Contribute on Wowpedia From Now On". WoWWiki. Fandom. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  • v
  • t
  • e
TypesComponentsListsComparisonsNotable wikisWiki farms
See also
  • v
  • t
  • e
By type
Genre
Medium-specific
Production-specific
Demographics
Organizations
and events
Publications
and activities
Conventions
Topics
  • v
  • t
  • e
Website topics
By type
Lists by type
Lists by subject
Other