FAQ
Why Wikia? Wikia hosts most of the largest public wikis (except for Wikipedia of course) so they have got the experience Lostpedia will need as it grows to make sure it stays online and can grow without limits. Wikia has been running for more than 4 years and is a stable company that Lostpedia can rely on long into the future.
Will my user account change?
Lostpedia's user database will be merged with Wikia, giving you the advantage of single login to more than 10000 wikis! If you already have an account on Wikia and you use the same email address there as in your Lostpedia account, we will try to merge this with your Lostpedia account. Your personal preferences, user access permissions, and settings should stay the same. In the case of name clashes, some users will unfortunately need to be renamed. In most cases, this should not apply to active users. If you are renamed, your new account will be Lostpedia-OldName. For example, Bob would get renamed Lostpedia-Bob.
Will the site content or policies change?
Wikia will not be making any changes to these. As always, decisions about content and policy are in the hands of the community.
Will the skin change?
The default skin for unregistered users will be Monaco. All registered users are welcome to select any skin in their preferences, including Lostpedia's own Lostbook. The default colour skin for unregistered users can be changed by any admin in their preferences and changes can be made to the CSS in the normal way via MediaWiki:Monaco.css.
Will the URL change?
The main URL for the wiki will be lostpedia.wikia.com. Wikia will endeavour to maintain lostpedia.com and lostpedia.org as permanent redirects.
Will the site be faster?
We hope so! Lostpedia will utilize Wikia's geographically redundant hosting platform. Wikia's support staff are working constantly to speed up the wikis.
Will we get any new features?
Wikia has dozens of extensions, some of which are enabled automatically, and many more than can be turned on on request. For example, Wikia has extensions that make it easier to add images or embed videos, as well as lots of anti-spam tools and emergency anti-vandalism tools to negate the effects that malicious users might have on the site. Some of the new features that we can roll out over the next few weeks include a new rich text (WYSIWYG) editor and blog features. All of Lostpedia's existing extensions will continue to work.
Will the ads change?
Yes. Some of the ad placements will change and the main page layout will need to change slightly to account for this. Registered users will see fewer ads. Wikia will remove all of the Kontera ad links, and remove most of the other ads for logged in users, as well as most ads from the Lostbook theme.
What about the forums?
No changes will be to the Lostpedia forums. Kevin will continue to host the forums.
What about other languages?
Wikia can create new language editions of Lostpedia very quickly on request at http://requests.wikia.com/. As requested, a new edition in Hebrew has just been started at http://he.lost.wikia.com and will move to a Lostpedia URL shortly.
=== Will Lostpedia's content merge with Wikia's existing Lost wikis? ===
No. Wikia's English Lost Wiki uses a different license, meaning content can not be shared between that and Lostpedia. These two wikis will continue to operate independently from each other. Wikia's other language editions have few articles and will be replaced with Lostpedia's versions.
What about MediaWiki upgrades?
Wikia stays up to date with the latest stable release of MediaWiki, so upgrades are regularly done, and in a way that does not affect the wiki. You should not experience any downtime as the result of an upgrade.
Will Lostpedia be promoted on Wikia?
Yes. Lostpedia will be cross promoted with other Wikia site, which should lead to more users, more editors and better content.
Where can I discuss this?
Please visit Project talk:Move to Wikia to discuss the move. If you would like to ask Wikia's staff any questions about this move, please contact Angela, Wikia's co-founder (talk page / email: angela@wikia.com / skype: beesley / google talk: beesley@gmail.com). For technical questions, TOR can help. Uberfuzzy will also be available, especially for helping out with any queries on the talk page.