Forum:Promoting the Wiki

''This topic is intended as a discussion place and hub for methods of promoting The Vault. Off topic bickering will be snipped.''

Ever since The Vault moved to a new host, we've been looking for ways to promote it. Here's a couple of ideas:


 * If you ever linked to The Vault, update your links to reflect the new URL
 * Usually, it's just a matter of replacing the first part of the URL, from ...wikia.com/wiki/Article_name to falloutwiki.com/Article_name.
 * News posts are a bit trickier. The original format was ...wikia.com/User_blog:Ausir/News_title. The new format is more straightforward: falloutwiki.com/Blog:News/News_title.
 * Promote good content! I cannot stress this enough. We have a great deal of unique content, such as a massive repository of Fallout 3 concept art, nearing a thousand images, 809 of them in high resolution, or excellent, reliable articles, such as a a complete, sourced and well referenced Brotherhood profile and more and more.
 * Edit. Another basic part. There is always work to be done. Hell, even clicking on Random Page and improving the page you land on a bit is good.
 * Come join us on the Facebook page and kill mutants mingle with people.
 * Above all, have fun. The Vault is currently in its eight year of operation ever since its humble beginnings on Duck and Cover in 2005 and we're not going anywhere.

This message brought to you by Tagaziel.

Discussion
Two comments: --(talk 18:08, 8 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I don't use Facebook, and I don't want to. Is that page siphoning away community discussions and/or other activity that could be happening here instead?
 * I like being encouraged to make improvements to random pages. Having my Wikia edits reverted for no good reason was one of the reasons I came here after learning of the split.


 * As I have already raised similar topic here back in September. Ausir was going to link our News RSS to Facebook (Google+ doesn't seem to support such a feature; strangely). I'm not sure though if he actually did this, always forget to check once a new post appears.


 * Still there is other ways to promote The Vault. E.g. I sometimes answer Fallout-related questions on Yahoo Answers. Once you have reached Level 2, you can add links so I usually link to corresponding Vault article. Though being marked as nofollow, those links can attract visitors. Also if you use Google Reader, you can subscribe to The Vault news and easily share 'em via Google+. This also create some links.


 * Of cause, we cannot attract thousands, not now. But it is crucial for us to make some rank by the time next Fallout game is released. Once it's out, hordes of gamers will start to google for some guides, bug reports and backstory so we need them to find us.


 * Still, I agree that in the long run, actively editing is the best way to promote the wiki. Our main problem is that most of our articles are the same as on Nukapedia. And since Nukapedia is considered to be older, Google lowers our search rank. So the more we edit, the more we differentiate. This is good for as as long as we aim for quality and not for difference itself.


 * veryblackraven 18:49, 8 January 2013 (UTC)


 * We have a comparable PageRank (4). What is problematic is the fact that all the popularization effort we made for The Vault while it was at the old host is now benefiting the new site. That's why I'm suggesting updating The Vault links so that they, well, link to The Vault. Backlinks are a, well, bitch.
 * I've started making headway on articles likely to be the most visited. I'm still proud of the History of Lyons' Brotherhood or the Tactics intro analysis, but I'll keep editing.
 * The Facebook page is a big advantage, as it allows us to reach thousands of people within hours. Tagaziel 18:56, 8 January 2013 (UTC)


 * This link may help with spotting backlinks: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22the+vault%22+%22fallout.wikia.com%22+-site%3Afallout.wikia.com
 * Also, the Wikia wiki still has "The Vault" in its HTML, and Google shows it in search results:
 * 

      The Vault Navigation
 * Example results: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22the+vault%22+site%3Afallout.wikia.com
 * Anyone have contacts over there to get that cleaned up?
 * --HunterZ_tiny.png(talk 19:22, 8 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Most of those results aren't connected to The Vault. The only suspicious thing I've spotted on the first 3 pages was The Vault Navigation, but I was unable to find it on an actual page. Looks like some kind of cache. But why searching on Nukapedia? Check your own accounts on various blogs, forums, social networks. Maybe you've added the old link to the user profile. Change it now! I did it in the first month after moving here but still sometimes I find some forgotten accounts. veryblackraven 21:19, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

One thing that I've done is I added a link to The Vault under the supporter of section of the main page on the English Sturmkrieg. I can also add a link under Featured links on the sidebar so that it will create a link on every page. I also turned off nofollow, so all links from Sturmkrieg will give search engine benefit. Any time we do anything related to non 40k games, especially Fallout, we can recommend The Vault and direct people here. I can also add links from my own personal website, sashaweb.net, which will give another second-level domain that links to us. ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contrib) (Edit Count) Contact: CW - SK (de) - MW.org 22:00, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Google Author
I'm not totally sure how useful this will be on a collaborative wiki where articles are edited in the traditional wiki sense, but it might be useful, especially if it supports multiple authors per page. We'll need to get the Widgets extension installed and then create a Google Author widget here, which I created at Sturmkrieg.

What Google Author does is it lists a page writer's name, picture, and Google+ profile in the search result for that page. It might also give improved ranking. If someone contributes a large amount to a particular article, we could allow them to add their Google+ profile to it. If it supports multiple authors, than we could allow as many users who make significant contributions to the page to add their name to it. ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contrib) (Edit Count) Contact: CW - SK (de) - MW.org 21:52, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Affiliate and supporter links
Getting other websites to provide support with a prominent link exchange could be very helpful, depending on how good the other website are about it. Links on homepages or under a list of endorsed or recommended websites could be good. Going to various gaming related websites and asking them if they want to help would be good to find supporters. ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contrib) (Edit Count) Contact: CW - SK (de) - MW.org 21:52, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Google +1
It would be useful and definately help our search results if we added the Google +1 button to our wiki. When ever it is clicked, it promotes the page that it is on and tells Google to improve the ranking of that page. If we have a lot of people clicking +1 on popular articles, they should quickly and easily outrank the mirrior. ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contrib) (Edit Count) Contact: CW - SK (de) - MW.org 07:17, 14 January 2013 (UTC)


 * I like this idea. Should maybe also add a button to share pages on Google+ and such. --HunterZ_tiny.png(talk 16:59, 14 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I think it would be a great thing to implement. I've seen wikis that have it and are popular get tons of +1s on popular pages.  Sternkreuz.png ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contrib) (Edit Count) Contact: CW - SK (de) - MW.org 08:50, 19 January 2013 (UTC)


 * I'd also suggest adding Facebook "like" button alongside Google's "+1". A small social widget in the corner of the page won't do any harm. veryblackraven 18:29, 20 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I think a recommend button would be better, similar to here. It's very useful that anyone who finds the page useful can then easily share it on Facebook.  It's more useful than just waiting for people to share our pages on Facebook since posting a link isn't that hard, because having a Facebook button on the page would remind people that it's an option.  Sternkreuz.png ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contr) (Edits) Contact: Fanon - SK (de) - MW.org 07:00, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Notice
I was forced to remove a part of this thread, complete with a history purge, as per the notice at the top. If you have nothing constructive to add and just want to harass The Vault and its editors, please do it on your own website, blog or other personal. Tagaziel 20:29, 15 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I'm fine with that, although I still think I added a bit of constructive criticism by stating that The Vault should build up its article innovation and userbase/leadership before worrying about search engine results. Just a favour to ask before I head off of here, though: What started up my grievances in the first place is that it seems like every time a forum/blog like this is started up, there's always someone making snide comments or accusations about Nukapedia. Can this please be regulated in the future? I can assure you that we'll have nothing bad to say about The Vault if that finally stops. 67.187.96.246 20:35, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

Organizing a gaming wiki group
I think it could be useful to organize an association of gaming wikis, possibly those that have moved away from Wikia, but also for any gaming wiki that wants to join. We could possibly have a mainpage template at the bottom that lists the other associated gaming wikis, or just a logo with the name of the gaming wiki group on it and a link to the homepage that lists the various wikis. ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contr) (Edits) Contact: Fanon - SK (de) - MW.org 20:56, 22 February 2013 (UTC)


 * For such a group we have to have more than a few wikis. I know maybe 2-3, that's not enough. If you know more, please provide the list. veryblackraven 06:49, 5 March 2013 (UTC)


 * We have our project, which is pretty extensive, and I know there's also Rlyehable, which is another gaming related project. I'd personally be fine with creating templates to put on the bottom of the main page listing each of the various wikis and associated projects.  We could possibly create them here and then use interwiki transclusion to display them on other wikis, which would keep them up to date across all wikis displaying them.  We could also have a home page, which I could set up, that goes into more detail about each project.  Sternkreuz.png ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contr) (Edits) Contact: Fanon - SK (de) - MW.org 07:25, 5 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Here's a link to the template I'm working on for displaying on each of the wikis' main pages: User:Inquisitor Ehrenstein/Sandbox/gaming wiki alliance template
 * Sternkreuz.png ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contr) (Edits) Contact: Fanon - SK (de) - MW.org 08:02, 5 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Wiki managers considering this should look carefully at scary transclusion on MediaWiki. There are both pro's and con's to transclusion. --Rlyehable 20:34, 5 March 2013 (UTC)


 * I personally have used it extensively, and it seems to work fine. One important bit that I've found useful is to use the "raw" transclusion, which means that the wiki text is from the page is read on the local wiki.  All the links in this template are external, so it shouldn't be a problem, but when transcluding articles, raw transclusion is important because otherwise all links will link to the other wiki.  I am currently using interwiki transclusion with a large number of attributed articles from another wiki as a way of using filler content until people begin writing articles.  Sternkreuz.png ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contr) (Edits) Contact: Fanon - SK (de) - MW.org 21:10, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Fallout imageboard
I just made a forum style imageboard with a board for Fallout. I also included a link to this wiki on the home page. ఠ_ఠ Inquisitor Sasha Ehrenstein des Ordo Scharzenkommando (Contr) (Edits) Contact: Fanon - SK (de) - MW.org 01:37, 5 March 2013 (UTC)