User blog:Sci100/2014 - A Year of Change: Update 2



As you know, I released an important blog about two months ago concerning 2014, which I have dubbed "The Year of Change". This blog is to explain the changes that have happened and will happen, espically concerning Wiki-Cleanup, Chat Moderators, and Welcome Messages.

Changes that have Happened

 * 1) Community Guidelines, the Blog Policy, the Chat Policy, and the Upload Policy were updated.
 * 2) The Ultimate Guide to a New User was created.
 * 3) Featured Picture was officially closed down
 * 4) Featured Character was voted as the replacement for Featured Picture
 * 5) Page Creation Portal got admin support again.
 * 6) Visual Editor was tested for one week
 * 7) Template:Universe was expanded from the Main 52 to the Main 100.
 * 8) Category:Candidates for Deletion was emptied.
 * 9) Voting For Featured Character began on 2/1/14.
 * 10) The First Meeting of the Fanon Con Commitee occured on 2/8/14
 * 11) The Wiki's Navigation was updated.

Upcoming Changes

 * The Main Page will be Updated this month.
 * The Page Creation Portal will be updated this month, or early April.
 * At least 200 Uncategorized Pages will be categorized.
 * Retraining of Chat Moderators on a set weekend in March.
 * Additions to Fanon Con
 * Creating a new welcome message
 * Making Wanted Pages (unknown amount of time).
 * And Possibly More....

Details on the Main Page and the Page Creation Portal
Currently, a new main page is being looked into. If you have suggestions about the main page, please contact my message wall, or comment on Ben 10 Fan Fiction/Prototype.

As for the Page Creation Portal, a new "Movie" section, as suggested by The Awesome Jack, a "timeline" section, and a "universe" section will be added. More infomation on this will come later. If you have any suggestions about the Page Creation Portal, contact me on my message wall.

Cleaning Up the Wiki
I have been relaxed about cleaning up the wiki for the last two months. However, there comes a point where we need to stop writing our fan fiction, stop chatting about nukes and SlenderBens, Pokemon and Doctor Who, Batman and Iron Man, etc; and work to improve our wiki.

Now, I realize we are not Ben 10 Planet, but that doesn't mean we can't try and be as professional or as good as they are. So, to support Cleaning up this wiki, I am throwing a competiton. You may ask, "Why are you throwing a competion? Shouldn't we just be cleaning the wiki up because its our duty as editors?". Well clearly that's not happening, so I'm giving a push. You may also be asking, "What will I get if I win this competion?". Simple, my friends. You will recieve: An offical forum will be made for the competiton, which is set to begin on Monday, March 10th, 2014. It will last until March 28th, and on March 29th, the winner will be annouched.
 * 1) Automaticlly a nomination as next host of Fanon Con (meaning in May, you will be one of the 4-6 users who could become the next host). This excludes Paper and Myself (since we have each hosted twice), and Lego, who is not allowed to host again until Winter Fanon Con 2014.
 * 2) A special logo to be made by NickFusi0n for any project of your choosing (only one logo).

Here are the rules: Whoever has added the most categories will win.
 * 1) Have proof that you added the category (via Page History)
 * 2) Link the pages you've added categories to on the forum

Re-training of Chat Moderators
I once proposed the re-training of Adminstrators and Chat Moderators, but that was turned down in the admin meeting due to various reasons. However, I propose re-training Chat Moderators again. For I sense that it is time for this re-training, so that we can update how we deal with users with no edits, trolls, and so on and so forth.

This would all happen on one day. The following week would be "Chat Moderator Testing Week", which would be the observation of chat moderators as they face various situations.

However, this is a proposal, that will only be acted upon if I gain support from the majority of the Chat Moderators, the community, and hopefully, the administrators of the wiki. If supported, the re-training will take place on The Everything Everything Wiki at Noon EDT on March 15th.

Updating the Welcome Message
I believe that we need to update our welcome message, as it is old, and it does not help our new users as much as it should. It was last updated on May 10th, 2013 by Roads. Its been almost a year. Users have somewhat changed, the circumstances have changed. We need a new, better, welcome message. So, I have a proposed one:

Hello, and Welcome to Ben 10 Fan Fiction Wiki! We noticed that you're new and just made an edit.

Here, you can write any fan fiction (or story) about Ben 10, meaning you can make up your own Omniverse! You can write a series with detailed episodes, give your main character new aliens you made up, or continue from the canon Ben 10 storyline. The possibilities are endless!

If you're new to Wikia in general, we recommend reading The Ultimate Guide to a New User, which is a step-by-step guide, or instruction manual on how to edit, make pages, comments, blogs, forums, and much more.

Be sure to read our Rules. These are important to know because if you break these rules, you may be temporarily blocked from the wiki.

Want to go on our chatroom? Be sure to make 25 Edits first. 15 of these edits have to be on pages. They can't be from the same page though.

A list of active bureaucrats, admins, and chat moderators can be found at Project:Community Team. A full list can be found at Special:ListUsers by checking the tabs for those three categories, deselecting all other tabs, and hitting "Show".

Also, feel free to write a blog post to make announcements about your series or for other purposes, but be sure to read our blog policy. Or, drop by our forums to share prototype ideas, ask for help, or discuss others' series. We'll be glad to help.

Need inspiration? Look around at other people's series, aliens, etc. But remember: don't steal ideas without giving credit! ;) Have fun! If you need help, ask any administrator for help. Hope to see you editing soon!

-The Admins

''Note: This is an automated message given to users after they make their first edit. You can reply, but the person shown as the sender didn't manually send it.''

So, what do you think? Please state your opinion by using two templates in your comments.

For deciding if we should re-train our chat moderators/this version of the welcome message should be used, use:

For Deciding if we shouldn't re-train our chat moderators/should make a different version of the welcome message, use 

.

To make these templates, type and  in Source Mode. Please give VALID reasons to why you Support or Oppose both decisions.

Voting for the re-training ends on March 12th. Voting for the welcome message ends on Saturday, March 22nd, 2014.

Personal Thanks
There are plenty of people who make a difference every day to the Wiki. These are just some of the users who I've noticed have made a big difference on the wiki, and have contributed making 2014 ... A Year of Change:
 * Roads - for working on an update to the Main Page, as part of the 2014 - A Year of Change agenda.
 * Jack - for helping come up with another section for the Page Creation Portal.
 * Ulti - for showing support for the 2014 - A Year of Change agenda
 * Lego - for believing that new users need help to become as experienced as many of our more experienced users. Also, I wish him good luck on his Fanon Con duties.
 * Sannse - For commenting on our The Ultimate Guide to a New User on this blog.

Thank you for reading this blog. Make sure you stay postive, be respectful to ALL kinds of users, and have a great time on Ben 10 Fan Fiction Wiki! :)