New Wiki is in the works

Very shortly, we will have a brand new wiki. It is be exactly the same as Wikipedia in just about every respect. The new Wiki will be open for business very soon, once I have completed a few infobox templates, finished the main page and completed an article, so I can then create a tutorial, which will be in the form of an article on the Wiki.

Once it's up and running, you will need to start your articles from scratch. Observers will not be allowed to have articles on the Wiki.

It's hoped that the new, familiar format will spur greater use. If you're familiar with editing Wikipedia articles, you should find using the new Wiki an easy task.

In the meantime, you might like to start copying your articles of the old Wiki and think about getting you new articles ready to go. Once the new Wiki is launched, just click the Wiki button on the navigation bar to get there. Once this happens, the old wiki will be abandoned.

Awesome.

I'm looking forward to it, Daniel. Let's hope everybody gets involved - wiki pages aren't too challenging once you've got the hang of it.

Getting the templates to work is just about doing my head in.

Nice, man! Will we start from a scratch?! So, it means we have to do it all again, right? :suspect:

Unfortunately yes. It should be relatively easy to copy your article from the old Wiki into notepad or something, rather than start completely from scratch. You will need to upload photos etc to the new Wiki.

Okay - the new wiki is now ready. Before you start, you might first want to go back to the OLD wiki and copy the contents of any articles you have there into a notepad or other programme so you have it ready to go.

The OLD wiki is at: http://aoin.wikia.com/wiki/Alliance_of_Independent_Nations_Wiki

The NEW wiki is at: http://ain.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page

The Wiki button in the navigation bar now points to the new wiki. As of now, it is obsolete and we have now moved to the new one.

As always, please observe basic etiquette. Never edit another member's article without their permission.

To get started, go to the main page. Read the article under the headline of "Featured Article" and then come back to the main page. Click on your countries name to start your article.

Thanks Daniel! Great news!

Why wasn't this discussed among all the admins first? I'd have liked to have a say in this matter before a decision was made.

Because it was something that just needed to be done. The old wiki was stagnant and the format was terrible. It looked shabby and we had absolutely no control over that.

This is something that has been in the pipeline for at least a year. It was also part of my election platform.

Wikia had done everything in its power to alienate its customers and, as such, they were being abandoned in droves. I personally found Wikia infuriating.

Also, it is not an administrative issue, it's an executive one.

I understand that you have put a great deal of work into your article on the old wiki. Yes, it will probably be a bit of work to transfer everything over, but I can safely assure you that you will be happy with the result. You will no longer have a third of your page hogged by a completely useless toolbox, squeezing your article into one narrow column.

The new wiki is EXACTLY the same as Wikipedia and we've been looking for this alternative for months.

I will be spending my entire weekend improving the functionality of the new Wiki, something that was impossible with Wikia.

As I have said, I understand that members have put a great deal of work intro their articles on the old wiki. It is unfortunate that it will be lost. However, the fault is entirely with Wikia. If they hadn't forced this change on us with no option, we would have had no need to seek a new platform.

The new wiki is easier to maintain, cleaner looking and more secure.

I'm sorry if you feel slighted an having not been consulted, but honestly, it seemed a no brainer.

Thanks for the good job Dan.

Having just fully uploaded my own Wiki from Wikia to the new wiki, I can assure you that it isn't as hard as I expected. All you really need to do is re-upload some images, edit your infobox slightly and copy the "Source" coding from Wikia onto Shoutwiki.

It took me no more than an hour, and that's two pages worth of writing, plus extra images.

Also, a reminder that the AIN Wiki is only open to Member States and Associate Members. We will not be opening it to observer nations due to a lack of activity from a vast majority of them on the forums.

looks good, maybe i'll have to switch unions jk, it looks like a hard day's work daniel, probably atleast a week is more like it, and its evident. Great Job

Will

Don't worry Will, we also have just got a new WIP wiki

Sounds good and looks MUCH better! Excited for the new Wiki

Wikia also had the publicity boxes that were very annoying... The new wiki is very easy to use, I already started my page and am happy with the result.

Excellent news Julien. Unfortunately I don't have the time to do real Cattala updates atm, so this allows me to at least do something to update my nation.

Could you possibly add Currency and a Military Conflict infoboxes Dan?

Will do. Might take some time, though, but I'll add it to the "to do" list. I'm flying to Queensland in a week and a half and I'll be gone for a week, so I'll endeavour to have all the infoboxes ready to use before I go.

Another thing I'm trying to do is flag icons. You know on Wikipedia when there is a county's name and there's a little flag next it? That. Unfortunately, it is turning out to be an inordinately complicated process, so I'll put it on the back burner and work on the infoboxes for now.

I like this new one. it just looks like the original wiki.
I'll work in my wiki later.

Fantastic!

I'll get right on my article(s) after my exams...

Okay... after a MARATHON session, I have completed as many infobox templates as I thought we'd need. If there are any more that you want added, please use this thread to request them.

Infobox templates can be found at http://ain.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Templates

For detailed instructions on how to fill them in, go to the corresponding Wikipedia template. I find it handy to have the Wikipedia template open in another tab for reference when I fill them out.

EDIT: I've just added ones for roads and ports to the list, but I'll do those tomorrow. Sleepy time now.

Thank you so much for all your hard work Daniel. It's greatly appreciated and I'm sure everyone will utilise it.

It appears that the Wiki's server has gone down. If you are having trouble accessing it, leave it for 24 hours and try again tomorrow.

Yeah its down... :pale: I hope its not the haters again... -.-'