ESB:Proposals/Bringing new users to ESB through the SBFW

Open Proposal The following is an ongoing proposal. Please feel free to voice your opinion, but be sure to follow the rules. How proposals work Concerns stage Someone brings up a topic for a proposal. The community discusses that topic. Voting stage The proposal is brought to a vote, taking into account any changes discussed by the community. The community votes. You can use any of the following prior to your comments to show your opinion. {{Support}} • {{Neutral}} • {{Oppose}} • {{Change}} • {{Comment}} • {{Reply}} • {{Question}} Neutral votes do not count in determining the outcome percentage.

Introduction

ESB is in a really bad place right now. We've had three major contributors leave the wiki in the last week alone, and we've had arguments erupt about the pettiest things, bringing the wiki further into chaos. Before we can solve the latter problem, however, we need to address the former with a source of new editors to boost morale and prevent more users leaving. The best place to find those editors would be another SpongeBob Wikia with a large community of people who either aren't familiar with or don't regularly edit ESB. The only site that fits that description is the SpongeBob Fanon Wiki, which is the only other SpongeBob wiki that has been able to grow these past five years with little or no help from ESB. Though the wiki was removed from SpongeBobia two months ago due to what was perceived as instability, the wiki has not only gotten stable enough to rejoin, but it's even more stable than ESB at this point. Letting the wiki back into SpongeBobia will not only provide a desperately-needed stream of new contributors to both sites, but it will improve the health of SpongeBobia overall, which is relying on the already-strained resources of ESB just to function. Having the two most active SpongeBob wikis to contribute their ideas instead of just one will be essential to SpongeBobia's future success.

This brings us to FSB, the SBFW clone that AMK adopted a while back. While FSB may have seemed like a good idea in theory, it has turned out rather badly in execution. It's difficult to navigate, the article creation process as it is right now is confusing and is barely being followed by any fanon writers, and the entire staff comes from ESB, meaning as the wiki grows, they'll either have to divert the attention they would have given to ESB to it, or they'll have to let poorly made and inappropriate articles pile up, which is what's already starting to happen. The best thing for ESB, the SBFW, and SpongeBobia as a whole would be for FSB and the SBFW to merge. That way, the newly merged site can be looked over by people who actually have experience running a fanon wiki, and the current FSB staff can focus on just ESB at the time it needs them most.

The SpongeBob Fanon Wiki is already on board with joining SpongeBobia. The proposal I made about it there got 12 supports, 2 neutrals, and the only oppose came from a user who wasn't part of the wiki anymore. This runs counter to the claim that the fanon wiki hates us and wants nothing to do with us, and it makes me confident that we won't run into any more problems with them from here on out.

Give them another change. They're obviously willing to give us one. This discussion will end on Sunday, August 10 at midnight. ~JCM 08:56, August 4, 2014 (UTC)

Discussion

Merge the fanon wikis and let SBFW join SpongeBobia

• Template:Extremely Strong Support This is honestly the best option. FSB will be too much of a burden to us in the long run, and the SBFW staff knows how to handle fanon and handle it better than we ever could. ~JCM 08:56, August 4, 2014 (UTC)

Let the SBFW join SpongeBobia without merging the wikis

• Neutral - Since we'll still be linking to each other, ESB will still benefit, but it may confuse some users, along with all the other issues with FSB I've already outlined. ~JCM 08:56, August 4, 2014 (UTC)

Comments

If you have any other ideas for bringing new users to ESB, please state them here, and I'll consider adding them. ~JCM 08:56, August 4, 2014 (UTC)