Community:Zelda Wiki

Zelda Wiki.org (ZW) is a collaborative project between numerous Zelda sites with the mission to become the definitive wiki-based Zelda source, by bringing together an abundance of Zelda websites, instead of having many smaller wikis scattered across the internet.

Originally started by users of Zelda Universe, Zelda Wiki aims to act as a hub for information on The Legend of Zelda series — created by users for users, using the anyone-can-edit wiki software. Eventually, it grew out of its Zelda Universe roots and attracted the attention and collaboration of many websites throughout the internet, all with the same goal: To provide free, open, in-depth information about The Legend of Zelda series.

History
The original Zelda Universe Wiki (ZUW) was created as an "act of boredom" in April 2005. Yami and Jason suggested the idea in the ZU chat room, where it was created and assembled. The ZUW was quickly filled with information, not only about the Zelda series, but also about Zelda Universe and its community. It was also to be used to host Zelda Universe's Zelda Encyclopedia. On an older version of ZU, the encyclopedia existed as a list of words from the Zelda series with short definitions; with the help of the ZUW, the Zelda Encyclopedia expanded and became much more detailed as well. The Zelda Universe Wiki served Zelda Universe for over a year, before it crashed during a server move.

In September 2006 the Wiki was moved to another new server, with a new philosophy and under a new name. The name initially chosen was The Zelda Effect (TZE), however this was quickly changed to Zelda Wiki.org (ZW).

Philosophy
Zelda Wiki.org's mission is to serve as the ultimate source of Zelda information available online, aiding not only Zelda Universe, but all Zelda fan sites across the internet, connecting the Zelda community as a whole through one amazing encyclopedia. As the Wiki gathers affiliations and users, and makes its mark across the internet, it hopes to achieve the type of standards set forth by larger Wiki-based sites such as Wikipedia.

Zelda Wiki.org is a project that requires an open mind to connect to: Whose site it truly currently belongs to is ambiguous, because everyone who wishes to use this Wiki as "their" Zelda encyclopedia has the right to. So in a sense, it is everyone's wiki: a truly collaborative project that is made up of the communities of every collaborating Zelda fan site.

Achievements

 * Currently Zelda Wiki.org contains articles and has received  page views. To date,  users have registered. (See also: Special:Statistics)

"Want to know anything about the Zelda franchise, anything at all? Just look it up on zeldawiki.org - an online Zelda encyclopedia."
 * The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy, published by 'Open Court' in November 2008, mentions Zelda Wiki.org and recommends it a visit.

- pg. xiii


 * On August 14 2009, Zelda Wiki.org received LegendOfZelda.com's Pinnacle award, given to the overall best site for the last year.

"... it is impossible to deny the quality of writing and maintenance that Zelda Wiki maintains ... Not all articles are perfect, but that is the nature of all wikis – the imperfect is perfected, the scrawny are bolstered, and the quest is never ending ... It is a testament to the robustness of this community, this Zelda Online Community, that a project like the Zelda Wiki, which started as Zelda Universe’s own wiki, has evolved into a website that is truly worthy of this award."

- Xizor of LegendOfZelda.com

The Masterminds
Zelda Wiki.org is a collaborative project managed by a number of contributing websites, collectively known as "The Masterminds". Since its revival and renaming in 2006, the Wiki has remained hosted on the same server as Zelda Universe under the control of Jason. However, in keeping with the collaborative nature of the project, the administration of Zelda Wiki.org is shared by the webmasters of each contributing site, as well as the other wiki staff members. There is no limit to the number of Masterminds, and all Zelda sites are encouraged to join the project.

Of the original Masterminds, only two sites currently remain (Zelda Universe and Zelda Dungeon), with the other sites having either closed or fallen inactive. Since then, the lineup of Masterminds has changed a number of times, with each site contributing to the unique evolution and growth of the project.

Partnerships

 * Zelda Wiki.org currently has a collaborative link with Zeldapendium, a German-language Legend of Zelda wiki. The partnership allows Zelda Wiki.org to provide relevant interwiki language links in the sidebar, using the   template.


 * Zelda Wiki.org has a long-standing affiliation with  StrategyWiki.org , a site offering strategy guide information in a wiki format. All of our game articles carry a link to the relevant guides at StrategyWiki.org, and individual strategy links within articles are facilitated using the StrategyWiki template.

Contributor Banners
As a way to increase activity, some of the Mastermind sites offer 'Zelda Wiki.org Contributor' banners to members dedicated to both the forum and Zelda Wiki. The banner is not permanent, as users can be stripped of it if they are suspected of having edited Zelda Wiki.org articles for the sole purpose of obtaining a banner.

Zelda Universe began offering its banner on November 11, 2008. It has since been awarded to 11 people.

For 'active' Wiki editors, they get a Wiki banner, their username is changed to blue, and they get access to the Wiki usergroup. Everybody can view the Wiki forum, but only members of the Wiki usergroup can post in it. It has since been awarded to 17 people.