Fireside Chat Summary: Daniel "Grunny" Grunwell
Hey everyone!
Not too long ago, Fandom Stars sat down with Fandom’s Vice President of Engineering, Daniel “Grunny” Grunwell, for a Fireside chat on Discord. Stars gained insights into the engineering team's vision and priorities around the editor experience and product roadmap. They also learned how feedback directly influences the platform's development.
For those unable to attend, this recap highlights the critical questions from Stars and information from the Grunny, ensuring that the entire Fandom community benefits from the insights and discussions that emerged during this special event. Stay tuned for updates and further opportunities to connect with members of Fandom’s staff and contribute to shaping the platform that continues to emp…
Top Navigation Simplified
Just made a wiki but have no idea how to change the top navigation? Feel free to check the official Fandom's help page or this simplified guide for better understanding.
- 1 Where do I edit it?
- 2 What can I do?
- 3 How many can I add?
- 4 Syntax
In order to edit the top navigation on a wiki that you are an administrator of, you can search for the page name MediaWiki:Wiki-navigation or find the page manually by pressing Admin Dashboard -> Top Navigation.
There are three recommended levels of lists you can use:
- the one displayed on top and always visible;
- the one you see after hovering over the first;
- the one you see after hovering over the second;
- 4 first-level headings;
- 7 second-level items;
- 10 third-level items.
Have a look at the chart here:
The syntax is very si…
For the Love of Fans: Insight from Fandom's Product Designer Kat Crisante
Hey everyone!
Welcome back! This is the conclusion of our series spotlighting the talented product designers who shape your Fandom experience, and we're excited to share more amazing insights from a talented product designer. We introduced and reintroduced a group of creative minds behind the scenes here at Fandom.
These designers, working in tandem with your feedback and their team's ingenuity, are a driving force behind Fandom's ongoing evolution. Their passion lies in understanding your needs, incorporating your valuable input, and transforming ideas into features that make Fandom more intuitive, engaging, and enjoyable for editors and fans.
In this latest installment, we dove deep into the world of our talented designers. You got to know …
Fandom Star Highlights: Étiolles
Hey everyone!
We're back with another Fandom Star Highlight! Join us as we explore the perspectives and contributions of the fantastic Stars who bring passion, creativity, and expertise to the Fandom platform. Today, we celebrate a fantastic editor who has contributed to the platform not only as a supportive and encouraging editor but continues to contribute to as many events and expand opportunities to fellow editors as possible. As Fandom continues its efforts to expand the conversation about the impact of global entertainment, this editor continues to ask critical questions about putting editors first and ensuring they continue to have the information they need. If you haven't met the Star Étiolles, bureaucrat of the French Lord of the …
Extra! Extra! Read All About It: Insight from Fandom's Product Designer Audrey Jardin
Hey everyone!
Welcome back to our series, which spotlights the talented product designers who shape your Fandom experience. We're excited to continue pulling back the curtain and introduce (or perhaps reintroduce) you to another group of creative minds behind the scenes.
These designers, working in tandem with your feedback and their team's ingenuity, are a driving force behind Fandom's ongoing evolution. Their passion lies in understanding your needs, incorporating your valuable input, and transforming ideas into features that make Fandom more intuitive, engaging, and enjoyable for editors and fans.
In this next installment, we continue to dive deeper into another of the worlds of our talented designers. Get to know them, discover the philos…
Community-Powered Design: Insight from Fandom's Product Designer Ivy Pulchan
Hey everyone!
Welcome back to our series, which spotlights the talented product designers who shape your Fandom experience. We're excited to continue pulling back the curtain and introduce (or perhaps reintroduce) you to another group of creative minds behind the scenes.
These designers, working in tandem with your feedback and their team's ingenuity, are a driving force behind Fandom's ongoing evolution. Their passion lies in understanding your needs, incorporating your valuable input, and transforming ideas into features that make Fandom more intuitive, engaging, and enjoyable for editors and fans.
In this next installment, we'll dive deeper into another of the worlds of the five remarkable designers. Get to know them, discover the philosop…
Roundtable Summary: Structured Quotes
Hey everyone!
Fandom Stars recently joined with members of Fandom’s User Generated Content’s cross-functional team, Marcin Kostrzewski, Senior Software Engineer, and Antonio Castro, Product Support Lead, in a roundtable to discuss Structured Quotes!
If you’ve been keeping up with the latest detailed Technical Updates announcements, you’ll see that we’ve discussed the User Generated Content Team’s plans with the Structured Quotes tool, and thanks to the community's feedback, improvements have been made to the tool. Structured Quotes are a new way to capture and utilize information within quotes. This tool creates content integration and cross-referencing opportunities by allowing Fandom to understand and store the context and meaning behind t…
Fandom Star Highlights: Antvasima
Hello everyone!
Welcome to another edition of Fandom Star Highlights, a blog series dedicated to spotlighting the remarkable achievements of our cherished Fandom Stars. In this series, we delve into the fascinating journeys and contributions of these individuals who bring passion, creativity, and expertise to the Fandom platform.
We’re going beyond the surface to uncover the stories behind the Stars. We'll explore their motivations, inspirations, and aspirations as they share their thoughts on the entertainment industry through various questions and answers. Today, we honor Antvasima, a bureaucrat for the VS Battles Wiki and Tenchi Muyo! Wiki who believes in providing information and contributing to the platform to improve the community's we…
Let's Build Together: Insight from Fandom's Product Designer Jodie Eilers
Hey everyone!
Ever wondered who's crafting the features you love (and maybe even a few you're still getting used to) on Fandom? Well, wonder no more! We're pulling back the curtain to introduce and maybe reintroduce you to some talented product designers who work tirelessly to enhance your experience as editors and fans.
In combination with your feedback and the creativity of their fellow team members, these creative individuals are a driving force behind the platform's evolution, constantly striving to make Fandom more intuitive, engaging, and enjoyable for everyone. They're passionate about understanding your needs, incorporating your feedback, and transforming ideas into reality.
In this special blog series, we'll shine a spotlight on fiv…
Getting to the heart of your Community
A Wiki by Fandom’s standards is a virtual online community consisting of a large group users who are dedicated to discussions and informative content for a specific fandom. But for a Wiki to run smoothly, a strong set of staff needs to be available to assist the needs of the community, providing immediate feedback to questions, guiding a user through the dreaded ropes of editing, and so much more. But what is often overlooked by a lot of admins and moderators is the actual connection between staff and users. Throughout my time in community management of several different wikis, I have learned a lot of what is required to achieve the wiki’s fullest potential. So as my role of a Fandom Star, I want to relay my experience and advice to any ne…
Roundtable Summary: Traffic Team
Hey y’all!
The Fandom Traffic Team Roundtable, held in the #stars-roundtable channel, was a success. It facilitated engaging discussions and valuable insights among Fandom Stars and the Traffic team behind Fandom's strategies. This roundtable provided a platform for Stars to connect with the team responsible for driving visitors, increasing engagement, and optimizing wiki visibility across Fandom.
The Traffic team members contributing to the discussion were Jenny Uchisawa, Senior Community Manager of Trust and safety; Jodie Eilers, Staff Product Designer; Jason Carney, Manager of Software Engineering; and Jase Sanders, Senior Manager of Product Management. Although they couldn’t attend the live discussion, they contributed important informat…
Fandom Star Community Series Challenge: August
Hey y'all!
As we dive into a month of community roundtables, I would challenge Stars to consider trying something different. Below, you'll see"challenges" designed for anyone and everyone in the program. Whether you contribute to a larger or smaller community or prefer a personal challenge, I've created something for you this month. Please be as creative as you'd like! I understand that all Wikis are different as their communities function differently, but I'd love to hear how you've decided to take these challenges and make them your own. Read on to learn how to participate and why you should participate, and please reach out for questions or support!
This August, I'm inviting all Fandom Stars to ignite their communities with fresh activity…
August 2024: Event Updates
Hey everyone!
Time is really flying. It is already August, and you all continue to amaze me with the work you've put into this program. I know I mentioned that I would highlight a Star, but I thought I would take a moment to share what I have cooking up for the month of August.
This month, we’re launching a design interview blog series with Fandom’s product design professionals. We'll discuss what designers wish editors and fans knew about feedback and the design process. This series is a great opportunity to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the amazing work and features that make the Fandom platform so special.
On the week of August 12th, you’ll read posts from a few new contributors! Sharing their Fandom and design experiences with you. …
Wiki Creation Help
After any user creates a wiki, they can probably feel unsure of what to do after it’s been created. Below are some details about each aspect of maintaining a wiki after it was created
- 1 Page creation and customization
- 2 Requesting help with a wiki
- 3 Scripts
- 4 Rules and policies
- 5 Maintenance special pages
Pages can be created for characters, media and anything related to the specific topic or vertical, which are commonly films, tv shows, video games, anime, music and other topics. Page layout guidelines can be listed on a Manual of Style page whenever you’re wanting to create one.
You can ask on the discord server, through Special:Contact or discussions. Those places are mostly for help with templates, css and other wiki maintenance. Each platform has…
Roundtable Summary: User Experience Team
Hey everyone!
Fandom Stars gathered for a unique opportunity to engage directly with the team responsible for shaping their editing experience – the User Experience (UX) team at Fandom. The roundtable discussion featured members from Fandom’s UX team, including:
- Will Vong: Head of Product Design
- Jase Sanders: Senior Manager of Product Management
- Patrick Backman: Senior Product Manager
- Jenny Uchisawa: Senior Community Manager of Trust & Safety
The event kicked off with the UX team sharing insights into their current projects and upcoming plans for the platform. Stars even had the opportunity to sneak peek at a feature coming to the community in the near future! The conversation quickly opened up to an engaging Q&A session, where Fandom Stars had …
Fandom Star Highlights: JoeTDaFan
Hey everyone!
It's time for another Fandom Star Highlight and we're honoring JoeTDaFan aka Joe! As enthusiasts and contributors to the gaming and entertainment realm, Fandom Stars play a pivotal role in the community. They offer fellow fans an immersive experience and a deeper understanding of their favorite franchises. Read on to learn more about JoeTDaFan!
After spending 7 years on the platform, this Fandom Star serves as an admin and bureaucrat to quite a few wikis including: Hitman Wiki (Bureaucrat), NBA 2K Wiki (Administrator), and Wizards of Waverly Place Wiki (Administrator). Joe continues to work with community members to create content that is accessible, reliable, and useful and shares a lot of great advice for other editors who a…
Roundtable Summary: News & Ratings Brands
Fandom Stars connected with a few members of Fandom’s News & Ratings team for a roundtable! The N&R team was able to delve into the makeup of the team, current initiatives, and discuss their impact at Fandom while sharing a bit about the acquired News & Ratings brands that include Metacritic, GameSpot, GameFAQs,TV Guide, Giant Bomb, and Comic Vine. During the Roundtable, they posed questions to Stars, inquiring how they felt when it comes to cross-linking widgets and how they consume entertainment content. Read on to learn more about Fandom’s News & Ratings team in this summary and sign up to participate in their cross-linking experiments!
News & Ratings might be the newest brands within Fandom’s portfolio, but they’re making a major impa…
Fandom Star Highlights: TheExoticLion
Hey everyone!
Welcome to another edition of Fandom Star Highlights! In Fandom Star Highlights, we go beyond the surface to uncover the stories behind the Stars. We'll explore their motivations, inspirations, and aspirations as they share their thoughts on the gaming and entertainment industry through various questions and answers. Stars share their likes and love through this fun and light-hearted series, from their favorite gaming moments to their perspectives on industry trends.
Today, we honor and celebrate TheExoticLion! They are the bureaucrat of the Miniforce and Power Battle Watch Car Wikis. They are also a very supportive Star, finding ways to create the best experiences for other editors on the platform. Learn more about TheExoticL…
Fireside Chat Summary: Dr. Max Wartel
Fandom Stars sat down with Dr. Max Wartel, Director of Fandom’s Consumer Insights Team during a Fireside Chat on Discord to learn more about how he and his team works to uncover the intricate behaviors of fans and navigate the evolving fan experience. If you haven’t met Dr. Max yet, you’ve probably heard him present fan insights at Community Connect! You can learn more about Dr. Max and the Consumer Insights team in this summary of our latest discussion. Check out a few of the great questions Stars had for Dr. Max as he shared the methodologies and processes employed by his team.
About Dr. Max:
Hello everyone! My name is Dr. Max Wartel (Max or Dr. Max are totally fine). I am the Director of Consumer Insight and User Experience research here …
Fandom Star Highlights: GreenWithin
Hey everyone!
Welcome to another Fandom Star Highlight as we explore the perspectives and contributions of the amazing Stars who bring passion, creativity, and expertise to the Fandom platform. Today, we celebrate a long-time editor who has contributed to the platform not only as a helpful and supportive editor, but continues to bring awareness as Fandom continues its efforts to expand the conversation of the impact of global entertainment. Meet GreenWithin!
Their many contributions to Stars has been influential, encouraging the participation of spanish editors and providing feedback on various initiatives. This is one highlight you certainly don't want to miss. Dive into Stars, a bit of TV, and plenty of gaming and anime with Green. Let's g…
Fandom Star Highlights: AceEmotional
Hey everyone!
Welcome to Fandom Star Highlights, a blog series dedicated to spotlighting the remarkable achievements of our cherished Fandom Stars. In this series, we delve into the fascinating journeys and contributions of these individuals who bring passion, creativity, and expertise to the Fandom platform. Today, we celebrate the Fandom Star AceEmotional!
AceEmotional helps other editors on the platform and mentors users on wikis so they can ensure editors are enjoying being a part of the wiki and creating opportunities and experiences for others. They enjoy participating in wiki discussions while discussing various topics with fans and editors to ensure they are having safe experiences or learning something new. They currently serve as a…
Tweak Announcement: Closed Wiki Page Design Update
If you've visited our Closed Wiki page recently, you might have noticed it's been feeling a bit... well, closed off from the rest of Fandom. We heard your feedback, and we're excited to announce that a major refresh is underway! Our UX team is transforming this page to reflect the vibrant Fandom brand and say goodbye to that little remnant of the Monaco skin on Fandom in the middle graphic. Sorry, Monaco!
Tweak: Closed Wiki page design update
Launching: Next week
Premise: The Closed Wiki page is undergoing a much needed redesign. The update aims to modernize the page's aesthetic, aligning it with the current Fandom brand identity.
Designs
Tweak Announcement: Unification of Others Like You
Yesterday, I posted a blog announcing design changes to the Popular Pages & Recent Images widgets. We received the results for the Other Like You experiment and have turned the design change live to all users.
Tweak: Unification of Others Like You
Launching: Today!
Premise: We are unifying the designs of these widgets - instead of having similar but different designs, they will have the same design with differing content depending on the widget.
Data: Similarly to the other Unification of experiments, we did not see a massive pageview increase (we saw a slight one, though!), but that is okay because it was not our goal. However, unlike the other two experiments, we tested multiple variants - one with the new design, and one with the new design…
Tweak announcement: Unification of Popular Pages and Recent Images Widget Designs
Last month, I announced an experiment we were running to unify the widgets designs for the Popular Pages and Recent Images widgets. As I mentioned in the blog, this is part of our broader effort to make Fandom widgets more visually consistent.
The experiment is complete, and I'm back to announce the rollout!
Tweak: Unification of Popular Pages & Recent Images widget designs
Launching: The new design for Popular Pages went live last week, and the new design for Recent Images will go live this week.
Premise: We are unifying the designs of these widgets - instead of having similar but different designs, they will have the same design with differing content depending on the widget.
Data: In some experiments, our primary goal isn't always to increas…
Fandom Star Highlight: TotallyWitchy
Hey everyone!
Welcome to another Fandom Star Highlight as we explore the perspectives and contributions of these editors who bring passion, creativity, and expertise to the Fandom platform. Today, we celebrate a Fandom Star who has been editing on the platform for a decade and continues to offer her support to editors. Say hello to TotallyWitchy! You can find her binging tv shows and editing plenty of wikis, but she frequents Pretty Little Liars (of course, as since she's an admin) and The Vampire Diaries Wikis.
Get ready to dive into TotallyWitchy's thoughts on her experience with Fandom Stars and the platform, movies and TV, books, gaming, and more!
- 1 Fandom Stars
- 2 Movies and TV
- 3 Books
- 4 Gaming
- 5 Bonus Question
1. How long have you been on the Fan…
Fandom Star Highlights: Friendly Mountain
Hey everyone!
I'm thrilled to share another Fandom Stars Highlight with a phenomenal Star known as Friendly Mountain! They are the admin of Paramount Pictures and The Office wikis! If they aren't editing Paramount or Dunderpedia, you can find them participating in Stars events and providing a warm and welcoming environment for editors to learn more about the Fandom platform.
Ready to dive into the Fandom Stars journey and the entertainment takes of Friendly Mountain? It is time to explore the fascinating perspectives and contributions of these editors who bring passion, creativity, and expertise to the Fandom platform. Let's go!
1. How long have you been on the Fandom platform?
Friendly Mountain: Since September 2020
2. What inspired you to beco…
Fandom Star Highlights: VeggieGoBrrrr
Hey everyone!
Welcome back to another Fandom Star Highlight, where we honor and celebrate Fandom Stars' passion, talent, and dedication. Fandom Stars play a pivotal role in the community as enthusiasts and contributors to the gaming and entertainment realm. They offer fellow fans an immersive experience and a deeper understanding of their favorite franchises.
Today, we celebrate Fandom Star and Hazbin Hotel Wiki's very own VeggieGoBrrrr! This one-of-a-kind veggie has a passion for various forms of entertainment and is happy to raise their hand to support Fandom initiatives at any time. Read on to learn more about the journey of this very special veggie with a massive obsession for frogs!
- 1 Fandom Stars
- 2 Movies and TV
- 3 Anime
- 4 Books
- 5 Gaming
1. How lo…
Testing Announcement: New Ways to Embed Interactive Maps on Pages
Hello everyone!
While we’re currently running the third iteration of the experiment to track progress in maps, I’m here to announce another planned enhancement to this interactive feature for every community. Since the end of March, we already announced we were working in parallel, to both experiment with features like progress tracking, but also adding native enhancements to the Interactive Maps tool and for all the communities. The first one was the option to use the full screen to display a map, and we’re currently starting to test how we can embed maps on pages in different ways.
Project Name: New Ways to Embed Interactive Maps on Pages
Test Launch: June (Tentative) *
Type: Early Testing with Voluntary Communities
Will Be Tested On: All logged…
Fandom Stars Week 2024: Roundtable Summary
Hey everyone,
Stars celebrated two wonderful years of the Fandom Stars program and the many contributions made to the platform through constructive feedback and experience. The week-long celebration brought joy and insight, but I wanted to take this moment to summarize two important Discord Roundtable events that allowed Stars to share their expertise regarding their experience with editors and present opportunities for Stars and Fandom’s Product team to collaborate as we reach our North Star together.
John was eager to engage with the community and learn more about their needs and preferences for editing tools and the quality of data editors would like in the future. He was interested in hearing about the challenges Fandom Stars faced at ev…
Tweak Announcement: Quizzes on Discussions, Articles, or Both
Hi all!
You're hearing a lot from me this week, but hopefully that is a good thing! Today, I am announcing a change we are making to Quizzes. Please look below!
Tweak: Quizzes will be shown on Discussions, Articles, on both
Launching: June 13, 2024
Premise: Previously, Quizzes could only be either enabled and displayed in both Articles and Discussions, or completely disabled for the entire wiki. However, we received feedback from various communities requesting the option to show Quizzes only in Discussions and not in Articles. In response, we have now implemented the ability to enable Quizzes exclusively in Discussions, exclusively in Articles, in both, or to disable them entirely.
If you would like to see this change on your wiki, please either c…
Experiment Announcement: Unification of Others Like You Also Viewed
Hello!
The UX team is continued to work on unifying designs for right rail widgets, & this time we've tackled the Others Like You Also Viewed module!
Experiment Name: Unification of Others Like You Also Viewed
Test Launch: Wednesday, June 12, 2024
Test Closes: One Week
Will Be Tested On: 3% of logged out users on desktop
Hypothesis: We believe that creating a single Fandom-ized design for widgets in the right rail will lead to a better user experience. We believe that users will be more interested in visiting others pages if the widgets are branded in a single, Fandom-like style. We began this with design changes to the Recent Images & Popular Pages widgets, and we are continuing here.
Other Notes: We are running two variants - one with the new d…
Fandom Star Highlights: LucyKuranSKYDOME
Hey everyone!
I'm thrilled to serve up another Fandom Stars Highlight as we celebrate LucyKuranSKYDOME, but many Fandom Stars know her as Lucy. As a Discord Mod and member of SOAP, Lucy works with fellow editors and shares as much information as possible! She began her journey on Fandom in 2016 and is an admin on Disney Speedstorm and Hakuouki Wikis! Get ready to dive into these amazing responses from Lucy as shares her thoughts on all things entertainment!
Fandom Stars play a pivotal role in the community. They offer fellow fans an immersive experience and a deeper understanding of their favorite franchises. Dive into Fandom Stars, movies, anime, and more with Lucy!
1. What inspired you to become a Fandom Star and contribute to wikis on Fand…
Fandom Star Highlights: Fearless Diva
Hey everyone!
We're back with another highlight celebrating Fandom Stars' passion, talent, and dedication! Say hello to Fearless Diva (You can call them FD for short). Their hobbies include reading webtoons, and when not supporting fellow editors, they like listening to podcasts and watching Asian dramas. FD began their editing journey when they saw that the Pretty Little Liars wiki needed help adding information. They fell in love with it, and over the summer, they began making small edits—trying to get their feet wet, so to speak. Eventually, the bureaucrat at the time saw their efforts and asked if they wanted to become an admin! Now, FD is sharing wisdom and supporting editors as a Fandom Star.
Learn more about Fearless Diva and see how …
Experiment Announcement: Mobile Drawer
Hello again!
We have a mobile-based experiment coming through the pipeline this week!
Experiment Name: Mobile Drawer
Test Launch: Thursday, June 6, 2024
Test Closes: 1-2 weeks
Will Be Tested On: 6% of logged out users
Hypothesis: We believe that creating a Mobile Drawer to house widgets and other Fandom offerings outside of the article content will allow fans to either engage or not in a way that is both comfortable and useful for them.
Other Notes: The drawer will expand after the logged out user scrolls past the first paragraph and can be collapsed by clicking the arrow on the right. We are running two variants - one where the mobile drawer will not deploy if the video ad is active, & the other where primary video ads on top are suppressed.
Prel…
Experimentation Announcement: Progress tracking in Maps 3
Hello everyone!
We are already in June, and this is my fourth blog post on the Fandom Stars Wiki, talking about our recent experiments and implementations. Some of my recent updates have been about the current experiment on gaming wikis with maps to use a feature for progress tracking. Now I would like to explain a bit more about our next plans.
On June 10, we are launching the third iteration of our experiment, releasing multiple design variants of our feature interface. Before moving on to the next details, for people who are not familiar with the experiment, you can see the initial details we shared on March 8, and also the second iteration we announced on April 12.
Experiment Name: Progress tracking in Maps 3
Test Launch: Monday, June 10, 2…
Experiment Announcements: ToC Collapse and Unification of Recent Images, Popular Pages
Hi all!
We have two new experiments we will begin running this week!
Experiment Name: ToC Collapse, Read More
Test Launch: Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Test Closes: One Week
Will Be Tested On: 3% of logged out users
Hypothesis: We believe that improving the ToC will provide an environment that supports fans being able to find the content they desire more rapidly. We believe that this speed will translate to them not being frustrated and invite them to spend more time with us exploring the site.
Other Notes: We are releasing a few variants of this experiment, which will include having the ToC collapsed upon the initial page load with the option to expand it if needed as well as the ToC partially collapsed with an option to expand if needed.
Preliminary …
Experimentation Update: Map Progress Tracking Storage in Database
Hello everyone!
Since almost 3 months ago, we've been experimenting with Interactive Maps, adding a feature to track your IRL game progress using markers. You can read all the details about the release of the first iteration on March 4 here, but also extended details about the release of the second iteration here.
One of the previous limitations we had for the initial release was the storage of your progress data, using for these last weeks a local storage in each user browser.
We are glad to announce that, starting next Monday May 27, we’re starting to save your progress tracking in our database, using your Fandom account. This change would avoid losing your previous progress, if for instance you cleaned your data saved in your browser, or ad…
Fandom Star Highlights: Spookywilloww
Hey everyone!
We took a short break, but we’re back and better than ever with another Fandom Star Highlight!
Say hello to Spooky! You can find Spooky cuddled up with her two cats named after her co-admins of the Warriors wiki (Cloudy is named in inspiration of SnowedLightning's first wiki username). Spooky joined Fandom in 2015, and began taking up leadership roles in communities in around 2016. Spooky is the bureaucrat for the Warriors Wiki and an admin on Wookieepedia as well! These roles have taught Spooky a lot of useful skills, and they've grown from the wonderful connections made on this platform.
We are honored to celebrate Fandom Stars' passion, talent, and dedication. As enthusiasts and contributors to the gaming and entertainment r…
Tweak announcement: Removing Fan Feed for Pages Under 200 Words of Content
Hi all!
We are releasing a new update next week!
Tweak: Fan Feed will be removed from article pages with less than 200 words of content on desktop
Launching: April 15
Premise: Earlier this year, we experimented with the idea of removing the Fan Feed. Our hypothesis was that users would stay on an article for a longer time without the distraction of the Fan Feed. We tested different variations, like removing it completely, removing it from long pages, and removing it from short pages. We found that removing the Fan Feed from long pages or removing it all together actually caused a drop in engagement, while removing it from short pages increased page views.
Data: In the experiment mentioned above, we saw a .12% increase in PVs on short pages.
…
Experimentation Announcement: Progress tracking in Maps 2
Hello everyone!
This is my second time publishing a blog post here, on the Fandom Stars Wiki, and I really like to have this chance to share some of the projects the different Product teams are working on!
This time I would like to announce a new experimentation of the recently added feature in Interactive Maps, making them available for progress tracking. The first iteration was already launched on March 4, and as we announced on March 22, we would be analyzing the results and thinking about new ways to improve the tool.
Now this time has come, so let’s dive into the details!
Experiment Name: Progress tracking in Maps 2
Test Launch: (Tentative) Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Test Closes: 2 weeks
Type: A/B Test (for logged-out users)
Will Be Tested On: 100…
Celebrating National Arab American Heritage Month
Starting from April 1st to April 30th, we are going to celebrate National Arab American Heritage Month. Speaking as a Lebanese-American myself, I think this should be a time where we can reflect and cherish the positive contributions of not just Arab-Americans, but Arabs in the MENA Region and across the world.
This is also a time where we should focus on combating bigotry, stereotypes, and prejudices against Arab people, and to an extent, Muslims (keeping in mind that not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims and Arabs). Not just that, but show some sympathy to all the Arabs who were caught amidst the many conflicts and crises in the Middle East, between the wars in Iraq and Yemen, civil wars in Sudan, Syria and Libya, a number of poli…
Experimentation Announcement: Top Nav Bar
Hello everyone!
This is my first time publishing a blog post here, on the Fandom Stars Wiki, and I have to admit I’m really excited for it!
We’ve been already announcing the upcoming launch of a new experiment about a redesign of the global navigation bar. Now I would like to share some extra details about it, in case you’re wondering about what’s coming soon!
Experiment Name: Top Nav Bar #2
Test Launch: (Tentative) Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Will Be Tested On: 12% of desktop users (6% control group, 3% logged-in users and 3% logged-out users) from all wikis using English language.
Hypothesis: Re-working the global nav bar would create more space into which we can move other features there and achieve a more engaging nav bar, alongside making other s…
Experimentation Announcement: Welcome messages
Hey everybody!
We are running a new experiment on the platform:
Experiment name: Welcome messages for first-time editors
Test Launch: upcoming days
Test Clases: 3 weeks
Well Be Tested On: 100% of the editors after their first edit on a wiki with Message Wall
Hypothesis: We believe that welcoming editors after their first edit on a new wiki in a way that feels personal and relevant to the situation will make them feel welcome in this community, less clueless as to what to do next, and so motivate them to edit more.
Other Notes: After their very first edit on a wiki they have not edited before (regardless of whether they’ve edited other wikis on Fandom!), users will receive a message to their wall, authored by a Community staff member, thanking them for…
Fandom Star Highlights: CAMERAwMUSTACHE
We're back with another Fandom Stars Highlights feature and are thrilled to highlight CAMERAwMUSTACHE, admin of the Just Dance Wiki. Fandom Stars Highlights allows us to recognize the achievements of Stars and share their impact with fans. This fun and engaging series delves into each Star’s unique experience and amplifies their voices.
Each Thursday, we celebrate our Fandom Stars' passion, talent, and dedication. We're excited to spotlight CwM and learn more about their journey on the Fandom platform. As enthusiasts and contributors to the gaming and entertainment realm, Fandom Stars play a pivotal role in the community. They offer fellow fans an immersive experience and a deeper understanding of their favorite franchises. Learn more about…
Fandom Star Highlights: SnowedLightning
Hey everyone!
A new week means a new Fandom Stars Highlight feature where we recognize Stars on the Fandom platform. In Fandom Star Highlights, we go beyond the surface to uncover the stories behind the Stars. We explore motivations, inspirations, and aspirations as they share their thoughts on the gaming and entertainment industry through various questions and answers. From their favorite gaming moments to their perspectives on industry trends, Stars share their likes and loves through this fun and light-hearted series.
We provide a list of questions to Stars that participate in this blog series and ask them to provide an answer for at least seven questions. Luckily, with nearly all of the questions answered, we'll hear all and learn plenty…
Fandom Star Highlights: Minnichi
Hey everyone!
Welcome to Fandom Star Highlights, a blog series dedicated to shining a spotlight on the remarkable achievements of our cherished Fandom Stars. In this series, we delve into the fascinating journeys and contributions of these individuals who bring passion, creativity, and expertise to the Fandom platform.
Highlights go beyond the surface to uncover the stories behind the Stars. We'll explore their motivations, inspirations, and aspirations as they share their thoughts on the gaming and entertainment industry through various questions and answers. Stars share their likes and loves through this fun and light-hearted series, from their favorite gaming moments to their perspectives on industry trends.
As enthusiasts and contributors …
Fandom Stars: March 2024 Updates
Hey everyone!
It is time for a monthly roundup of event happenings, program updates, and things to look forward to in the Fandom Stars program!
- 1 Community Connect 2024
- 2 Fandom Star Highlights
- 3 Fandom Star Events
- 3.1 Tea Time with Pikushi
- 3.2 AMA with Becky Westmoreland
- 4 Women's History Month
Many thanks to the Stars, who provided suggestions to improve the virtual experience for Community Connect! Your ideas were presented to leadership and reviewed, and we’re genuinely excited to make this year’s Connect an inclusive experience for editors. We’ll announce event updates near the beginning of April and encourage you to tune in and join the conversation!
For those who mentioned the need for more sessions with editors, we’re exploring opportunities to…
Tweak announcement: VisualEditor performance improvements
Hey everybody!
New update about an upcoming feature that you will see next Wednesday in our wikis:
Tweak: VisualEditor performance improvements
Launching: March 6, 2024
Premise: We believe that a faster-loading editor will make editing more appealing to new and experienced editors, leading to an increased success rate in the editor, and a higher number of editors overall.
Data: The User Generated Content team experimented with loading the VisualEditor before accessing it. During the experiment, the VisualEditor was preloading when users were hovering the top right edit button and other edit entries. It was limited to the users using the VE as predefined editor.
In this experiment, we saw around 4% increase in the number of editors completing an edit…
Responsive Theming and CSS Coloring: The Basics
Hellou there. I'm Mark.
In this blog post, I'll show you how to make your wiki be adaptable to any kind of theme that it might be on, and even making it less frustrating to design it. Color is everything for a wiki's design, branding, and image, so you should pay extra care to it.
When you open up ThemeDesigner for the first time, you'll notice that there are two tabs for both the light and dark theme. This is incredibly useful to set unique and different coloring for each theme of the wiki, especially if you know what you're doing.
However, you'll be soon quick to realize that this only affects things and elements that Fandom has designed to use, not your templates, decorations, or boxes (there's so many boxes...). What do you do now? Fix it…