Board Thread:New on Merlin Wiki/@comment-4623180-20140212175013

undefined '''The Visual Editor has been deactivated due to problems. '''

Hi all, it's been a while and I have no idea who is around and will read this. I am in fact ready for no response at all! If you are here and remember me, say hello anytime! What I can say is, despite the absence of community discussion (i.e. look at how long ago the last blog was) the Wiki is still strong and looking good! I am even working on some new featured content for the home page to help reminisce the spirit of the show which still burns inside our hearts!

One thing I have to point out: our Wiki nearly has 23 million views! I remember it had less than 5 million before I became an admin. A whole heap of these views seemed to come when the show had ended (and discussion died down a lot, apart from the discussion about the ending...). Interest is still strong.

So what I'm here to actually talk about is the redesigned editor that I have switched on through Wiki Labs. Editors/mods/admins who are still active here, this is important. Firstly, read this blog post here which goes over the feature.

It's the next step in Wiki editing, to sum it up:


 * It is more characterised by the WYSIWYG approach (What You See Is What You Get) that distinguishes Wikia from Wikipedia. It's very visual and blurs the line between 'editing' and viewing the page as it is. It is only beta for now so you will need to be patient and may need to reload the page several times. But it's been quite fast for me after a few times.


 * Once again, patience is necessary! This is new but, like Message Wall compared to Talk pages (if you remember that far back, ah those old times) it's the future direction of collaboration.

Which is why feedback is appreciated so I haven't pissed too many people off adding this! It's easier to use than the previous editor and all the same features are there. Source heavy pages may confuse you a bit but the option for pure source mode is still there so nothing is impossible to do. But people can have different experiences, so please leave a comment- editors- and help pave the future of the Wiki!

My final words: (if you're still reading and not distracted by Merlin's awesome glowing eyes in the right corner of the screen) while it seems I've retired I'm still here, flying over, watching over the Wiki from time to time. We as a community have changed the world- reaching a very large audience (22, nearly 23, million!) and this Wiki has gained the attention of BBC themselves. The main purpose it serves is, like any other article on the Internet, is to be there, accessible, and at the same time enjoyable. For Merlin fans to access information on and reminisce on the show to their heart's content. Of course, if other Merlin-related projects come up in the pipeline, like a possible spin-off, this could be the destination so obviously as you all know protecting the Wiki (Fimber talked about spammers in the last message wall post) still has lots of meaning at this time, over a year since the show ended.

I think it would be a good idea to recruit more admins to help edit protect the Wiki, or at least some moderators who can report any threats to admins. So anyone willing can drop a line (perhaps a returnee will see this and apply!), but you will be on strict probation by the current three active admins.

P.S. Active admins, send me a line about the new editing system, if it's causing too many problems and making it impossible to edit tell me before switching it off. I want to get some thoughts first, it's only a test.

Thank you!

 