User blog:TheSlicer/Users, Unite!

I have made this blog post to promote a cause. This cause is Custom BIONICLE Wiki itself, as well as its partners on Wiki Metru: HeroFactopedia, Custom Hero Factory, BIONICLEpedia, and the main forum. See, ever since the end of BIONICLE, activity has been declining significantly on all BIONICLE-related sites, and we've been hit hard. Many prominent users have become less active or left altogether.

Compare the number of active users from February 2010 to that a year later--the number's dropped a total of 28%, and it seems the editor number may be about to undergo a sharp decline, judging from the decrease of activity since January. And BIONICLEPedia's even worse--the community wasn't that large to begin with, but now the number of users is down by over a third, and very few of the remaining editors are actually editing.

Yes, more people join all the time, but not all of them stay for very long, and those that remain still aren't enough to counterbalance the number of people leaving. Although this wiki has enjoyed an age of prosperity even past the end of BIONICLE, those days are waning. If the community is to continue, we need new members. I propose the following strategies to keep this site alive:

Get a Wikia Spotlight
A large-scale advertising campaign would be great for Wiki Metru, and what better way to attract users across Wikia than to have Wikia do advertisements for us? While this may not be possible yet for BIONICLEPedia (and if you want it to be possible, GO OVER THERE AND EDIT THOSE ARTICLES, people), as they don't fulfill all the requirements, it certainly is for us.

The important requirements for Wikia Spotlights are: As you can see, there's one more thing that needs to change. Just one. We have nearly 1,000 articles that are uncategorized, and all of these need to go. All of them. Now, this may be a mammoth task, but I'm sure that if we can combine our efforts, we can accomplish it.
 * The wiki should have at least 200 content pages, not counting stubs. Stub articles should make up no more than 1/5th of all pages on the wiki.
 * The main page of the wiki should have at least one picture, and clear links to the most important content. It should also be unprotected unless there is a strong history of vandalism.
 * The wiki should have a clear category structure to help readers navigate around the site. Every content page should be in a category.
 * The wiki should not be in the middle of choosing new admins, or any other upheavals; it should be a stable, friendly place.
 * The wiki should have a customized skin.
 * The wiki should not use offensive language or include inappropriate images.

What can you do to help?
Simple: look at the list of uncategorized pages and help bring the number of articles on the list down to zero. It'll be slow, yes, but if every user active now were to fix just 12 articles, then there wouldn't be a problem anymore.

Look for other BIONICLE fans
This concept shouldn't be hard to grasp. Even after the end of the main story, there are still many fans floating around the Web: many of them are concentrated on BZPower, but there are lots more. We're not the only ones, and if we can help to bring people with the same interests together, on this site, we'll be accomplishing something.

However, of most of the other BIONICLE websites, there are virtually none that remain active save BS01 and BZP. (Or at least, none worth speaking of.) In theory, the best move would be to join up with them, but the Wiki Metru leaders forbid it. Instead, we have to choose other allies, and luckily, not all have given up on the toyline yet.

For example, the BIONICLE portion of FanFiction.net has a very active community. I've already talked to the people on [http://z15.invisionfree.com/BCCenter/index.php? BCCenter], and they seem friendly; while I don't know much about the BIONICLE community on DeviantArt, they seem to be so as well.

Also, we shouldn't forget our former friends on Wikia, sites like BIONICLE Reviews and Extreme BIONICLE. And while we're on the subject, there are our foreign-language counterparts: Wiki-Nui Fan Fiction, BIONICLE Fanon, Bio-Masters, and MOC Territory. While they may not speak English, it's clear that they share our interests

In addition, there are BZP-related wikis out there too: the BZP-affiliated CIRCLE wiki is very active as well, not to mention BZP Comics, BZP Epics, and BZP Battles (with which we quietly had an agreement a few months ago and had their pages imported).

What can you do to help?
Look for other sites and find some friends. Negotiate with them, explain what CBW is about, and encourage them to visit. We need allies, so if you can contact the leaders of friendly websites, explain that Wiki Metru would probably like to form an unofficial partnership with them in order to keep the legend of BIONICLE alive.

Help new members
In a relatively small community like this, each member needs to be valued highly. The thing is, though, that many new users are discouraged by the size and complexity of the site, or simply lose interest and leave. The best thing we can do for new users is help them grow accustomed to the wiki, and hopefully encourage them to continue their contributions.

What can you do to help?
When someone new arrives, it's good to guide them, step by step, through the workings of the site. Explain to them what things mean and how things work. Then, once they've adapted, they can truly contribute to the site, and we will have one more member in our friendly community.

Make it easier for people to find CBW
This is a very important question if we want this wiki to survive: How do we attract new users from the Internet? If the people who are here now were specifically looking for this site, then what did they search for? If people found it by chance, then where did they find us? These are important questions.

What can you do to help?
Just make a response in the comments about what drew you to this site. Me? I was already an active(-ish) Wikia member, and I was looking for BIONICLE-related wikis. I did a Wikia search for BIONICLE things, and it was then that I stumbled across this place.

Feedback, please.