Forum:Vote to move to independence

After the disaster of the problems with ShoutWiki, I know many of you want to move away elsewhere, mainly to independence. We will not be moving to another host for sure so it's ShoutWiki or independence. I am writing a list of positives and negatives towards ShoutWiki and Independence.

ShoutWiki

Positives

• Lots of staff members.
• Staff are very helpful.
• A range of wikis that all are connected due to being a host site.

Negatives

• Many wikis will be moving away, thus lowering ShoutWiki's Google ranking due to less pages.
• Simpsons Fanon is still broken.

Neutral Points

• ShoutWiki will probably not make the same mistakes twice. They will be putting forward many things to stop this from happening again.
• They are also making a tool for bureaucrats to make their own database dumps, meaning we won't lose as much next time if this does happen.

Independence

Positives

• We get our own domain name (probably simpsonswiki.net)
• Admins get our own email addresses (username@simpsonswiki.net)
• Google Analytics for advanced stat tracking.
• Our forum will also be moved to its own subdomain.
• Hosted by a member of NIWA may mean more members, etc.
  • Many users also prefer independent wikis, as seen when SmashWiki moved from Wikia and gained a lot of new users.
• We will most probably get Vector (I will need to double check this).

Negatives

• Not as well linked, since we are not hosted, there will be no host linking to us.

Discussion

I have two questions: Would moving to an independent site cost anything, and who's to say that we won't have database problems if we move? -- Brian McClure 07:28, 2 May 2011 (MSD)

No. The person who came to me, Jake, is willing to pay all costs towards the wiki. And no one is promising that we won't have any problems there either. We could have problems any where we go. ☆The Solar Dragon☆ 13:06, 2 May 2011 (MSD)

Vote

The number of votes won't be everything. The strength of the argument will decide the move.

Support

1. I support for the benefits of moving to independence. I have no problem with ShoutWiki - I'm moving a wiki here - although we have a good opportunity which should benefit us. There is something about an independent wiki which is much more appealing. The domains (especially for the forums) are a lot more convenient. I think we should take advantage of this opportunity. --Cook879 01:23, 2 May 2011 (MSD)
2. I support your move, I moved my wiki to independent and its so much better, if theres a problem you can actually see whats wrong and fix it instead of waiting two weeks before a staff members posts a vague blog on whats going on. Certain things have to be learnt to do (such as mediawiki extensions etc) but there is heaps of info on how to do all that. Escyos 07:02, 2 May 2011 (MSD)

If you know how to contact staff (IRC is usually best) then they can fix problems pretty quickly. The crash was pretty bad but now that ShoutWiki is back up, once speeds are back to normal, ShoutWiki will be business as usual. Sure, independence is great if you know what you're doing. We will, however, have someone who does know what he's doing looking after us if we do move. We're being hosted by someone else, the same person who hosts Animal Crossing Wiki on NIWA. ☆The Solar Dragon☆ 14:44, 2 May 2011 (MSD)

Neutral

1. ShoutWiki has been very good to us. They are a great host and have the potential to be better than Wikia (I really believe that). They need good wikis to help them achieve this goal. However, I have to think about the wiki. I feel that Wikisimpsons will gain a lot if we move. The positives show that. I am at a total loss right now. I don't know whether I want to follow my heart and stay with ShoutWiki or follow my head and move to independence. I need the rest of the community to sway my view to one side and I will possibly be making a final decision based on the feedback. The number of votes won't count. ☆The Solar Dragon☆ 22:02, 1 May 2011 (MSD)
2. Supporty-Neutral SW is a very good host who have lots of potential. They have good tech. staff and are a lot better than most wiki farms I know, especially that one that should not be named. However Wikisimpsons will gain from moving, such as more users and higher rankings. I really hope that Shout Wiki doesn't go down, but I'm afraid we cannot afford another outage like last time. Doh5678 23:35, 1 May 2011 (MSD)
3. I don't really know. ShoutWiki is a very good host (if you forget about the crash that has just finished anyway). I've always liked the idea of moving to our own domain, but nobody will probably find us. It's very difficult for an independent wiki to be found if there are no wikis that link to it. Of course, we could look for affiliates, but it would still be hard for people to find us. ShoutWiki is good now, every page is back, nothing wrong at the moment. I think we shouldn't move. But because of the positive stuff about moving, I don't really know what to do. — ^TheHomer ^{(Talk • Contributions)} 01:41, 2 May 2011 (MSD)

Oppose

1. I think you shouldn't move. Hanging on to ShoutWiki is the best option. --Silver Knight 08:11, 2 May 2011 (MSD)

Please explain why you think it is the best option. ☆The Solar Dragon☆ 13:33, 2 May 2011 (MSD)

There is another Simpsons Wiki at Wikia and one here. If you move, that creates three Simpson wikis. Then it becomes ridiculous because all three wikis are actually the same. The visitor will say: "Should I go to Simpsons Wiki, Wikisimpsons, or ShoutWiki Simpsons?". I also don't recommend it because despite the fact that staff has cost us over 5 weeks of editing, they still offer us useful features along with the new Vector skin they released and of course, great customer support. If this breakdown happens again, then I would recommend moving then. --Silver Knight 13:41, 2 May 2011 (MSD)

There are several counter-arguments to that. First point: ShoutWiki staff will close down the wiki at request. They are not Wikia. Also, if we were to move, I would look into making our own custom skin, not Monobook, Monaco or Vector. It would be totally unique. There are many extentions out there which we can install. Many features as you would call them. ☆The Solar Dragon☆ 13:46, 2 May 2011 (MSD)

Well, I'm not moving Autopedia and I really like Wikisimpsons here. It would be a shame for see you move. :( --'SilverKnight 16:21, 2 May 2011 (MSD)