Forum:New Wowpedia Name

Forums: Village pump → New Wowpedia Name

WE HAVE MOVED TO https://warcraft.wiki.gg - SPREAD THE WORD!

Now that the vote to leave Fandom has concluded and passed, we're on to our next order of business: deciding upon our name. The first question is the biggest one: do we keep Wowpedia, or change to something different?

On the one hand, we have been Wowpedia for 13 years now (13 years as of today, in fact, since it was suggested for our first move). It's a good name, and a well-known one, and there's definitely a lot to be said for maintaining that. It may even be easier to direct people to the new site by simply telling them that Wowpedia's URL has changed, rather than asking people to remember a new name.

On the other hand, Fandom's site will still be Wowpedia. It may be better to make a clean break and help differentiate us by not having the same name. Moreover, it would be more accurate to our wiki if we had a name that used "Warcraft" generally rather than "WoW" specifically, since we focus on the entire franchise. And as far as directing people to the new site, giving them a new name could help them google it if they don't remember the new URL.

Like before, we're going to leave this vote up for two weeks to allow for adequate discussion while the technical aspect of the migration takes place. ~~It will conclude on October 16th at 12pm PDT.~~

The vote has closed early due to conflicts with Fandom policy. The new wiki is now available for editing at https://warcraft.wiki.gg

Votes

Yes - Change to a new name

Yes Dark T Zeratul (talk) 05:12, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (Wowpedia is a great name and it would suck to lose it, but I think it would just cause more confusion and make it harder to compete with Fandom if we shared the name.)
Yes X59 (talk) 05:54, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (While I am fond of the wowpedia name, a clean break and differentiating us from FANDOM makes alot of sense.)
Yes Meorawr31439 (talk) 08:31, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (Feel that it'd be confusing for end users to see two sites with identical names in search engines.)
Yes Numynum (talk) 08:55, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (agree with the above)
Yes --XreaperDK (talk) 09:23, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (Not rebranding would give us a nightmare with SEO since Fandumb wont remove the current Wowpedia. And it might just cause confusion to many.)
Yes User:Nathaliemlromer - (optional comment)
Yes Baal (User talk:Baalqliphoth - (would prefer to keep wowpedia but it does seem necessary to avoid confusion sadly)
Yes Andre1070 (talk) 21:10, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (Will miss Wowpedia also, but a new name makes sense)
Yes Erkorr (talk) 03:38, 4 October 2023 (UTC) - (I've been thinking hard on this and I think I'll vote yes. It'll be a bit tough to get people used to the new name and wiki, though. Hopefully we can decide on a name as snappy as this one.)
Yes Kanariya (talk) 02:31, 6 October 2023 (UTC) - (As much as I strongly prefer to keep the name Wowpedia, it won't do us any good in drawing readers away from Fandom, and will result in confusion for those out of the loop. Folks will just go to the fandom wowpedia, not ours.)
Yes Nith (talk) 10:29, 6 October 2023 (UTC) - (I don't like the idea of changing names, I don't find any of the alternative names nearly as good as wowpedia, but I have to agree that it's probably for the best SEO-wise)
Yes Kaydeethree (talk) 23:48, 6 October 2023 (UTC) - (Going to be difficult to compete on SEO if we don't change)
Yes WardsJames (talk) 12:10, 7 October 2023 (UTC) - (Agree with Kaydeethree)
Yes KodamaSeason (talk) 21:30, 7 October 2023 (UTC) - (optional comment)
Yes Berenal (talk) 04:42, 9 October 2023 (UTC) - (While unlike fandom SEO isn't our main priority, it's the only way people can actually view the site. No point in trying to fight an uphill battle.)
Yes Zusk (talk) 18:38, 10 October 2023 (UTC) - (SEO is really important here.)
Yes Vraul Jawrip (talk · contr) 02:08, 11 October 2023 (UTC) - (As much I like the Wowpedia name, I loved the WoWwiki name better and we moved on from that a long time ago. A rebrand would not only differentiate us from this place, but it would also give the whole project a clean slate. I suggest after changing it, we should spread the word as much as we can to announce where the current efforts will be going to and watch it grow. It might be difficult to get onto the SEO and we might even be third behind the original projects, but keeping the name is absolutely not worth the confusion that would happen.)

No - Keep Wowpedia

No Eithris (talk) 17:18, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (wowpedia rolls off the tongue in a way none of the proposed names do; it has a lot of brand recognition attached to it, so to speak; and imo even though we are about all of warcraft, wow is probably what most people are most familiar with. it’s like… almost the face of the franchise.)
No Yuvyuv111 (talk) 19:05, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (Agree with Eithris although it might be hard to overcome the current wowpedia)
No Ryon21 (talk) 20:48, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (I'd prefer to keep the old name. Wowpedia has built a lot of reputation over the years. It's an identity at this point. Rebranding is something that takes a lot of time to be used to. ...)
No Sandwichman2448 (talk) 23:35, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (We have gone through this once before. The only good options to me are the WoW-wiki and WoW-peida constructions. WoWWiki is tainted with bad memories and reputational rot, but Wowpedia is still good. Everything else name-wise feels like a spyware-laden Russian ripoff.)
No — SurafbrovWowpedia administrator T / C 13:33, 4 October 2023 (UTC) - (no comment)
No HazyRiver 15:16, October 6, 2023 - (Wowpedia is perfect. Since it's the WoW version of Wikipedia. It would suck to lose it. It's just too good of a name to lose)
No Alayea (talk) 21:15, 9 October 2023 (UTC) - (I switched my vote from "yes" to "no" after further discussion elsewhere offline. There will be confusion regardless and the rest of the names are just third-rate after WoWWiki and Wowpedia. While the former was lost due to legal reasons, we are not hampered this time with Wowpedia and it's a good name that should not be ceded to Fandom. As decent as a substitute "Warcraft Wiki" is, WoW is the face of the franchise and most likely to be used while in the course of utilizing a search engine whether it be an old-timer or a fresh face. That's just reality. Since we'll be fighting ourselves anyway, it may as well be with the name that was established over the years in defiance of Wikia/Fandom.)
No Supergrunt16 - (I think Wowpedia is too good a name to lose, as the people above me said. And with the inevitability of fighting for recognition against Fandom, even if the name is changed, it seems like a shame to lose it.)
No Gray Wolf 4 6:00 pm, October 10, 2023 - (I was not aware that there was a vote on whether or not to stay with Fandom or move to another hosting platform. If I had known, I would have voted to stay on Fandom. I understand that there are issues with the ads and other features, but there are ways around them. Users can utilize ad blockers, and there are custom codes that can be used to change the layout to look like it used to when under Gamepedia. I can't speak for the other issues though, as those two were the only ones that I've ever encountered.-----As for the name of the site, my vote is to keep the name. I don't understand the reason behind why Fandom is able to seemingly "take ownership" of a name/site because of how popular it is, but we shouldn't just let that happen. If we move to a new hosting platform, we should keep the same name (Wowpedia), and do our best to inform users that the site has moved to a new location. I believe something similar was done with the old WoW wikipedia site that I've heard some people mentioning, but this was before my time playing World of Warcraft. It may be slow, but eventually users will see the message and come to the new site, realizing that the old site will soon been outdated as it is no longer maintained. I can't see any harm in adding to the main page, popular pages, or anywhere that we can a "We've Moved!" notice along with the new link.-----Fandom doesn't own the rights to Wowpedia as far as I'm aware. If they did, then we wouldn't be able to leave and go to another hosting platform in the first place. The problem stems from them not wanting to lose revenue from ads generated by people visiting the site.-----I have a few more thoughts on this, but I wanted to at least post what I had written down so others would have time to see and read it.)

Comments from ineligible voters

Yes Opalana (talk) 19:31, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - ()
Yes B6i6o6 (talk) 2:32, 4 October 2023 (UTC) - (Can't we rename Wowpedia to something else before moving ? Like rename it now, continue to be active for a few months or so for the renaming to look legit to Fandom, then make the switch on the new site which would keep using the name Wowpedia ?)
Yes Stpain - (Clean break)
No I exist, I really do 8:37 PM, 7 October, 2023 (AEST) - (Nope. Wowpedia is a great name. Doesn't really connect with Fandom, either.)
Yes User:Tovox - (Need to differentiate from Fandom for SEO. I suggest something like Warcraftpedia.)
Yes ScorpioSymbol (talk) 20:10, 10 October 2023 (UTC) - (optional I'm fond of the name WowLore)

Comments

Just wanted to share that the vote is on the wow forums. I've seen at least one person in the comments request that we keep the wowpedia name, but that's about it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by X59 (talk · contr) on 14:47, 3 October 2023.

a note: wiki.gg doesn’t currently support custom domain names. i don’t know whether there’s a possibility of that eventually changing or not, but at least in the near future, our URL will be ____.wiki.gg —Eithris (talk) 18:41, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

Thanks for sharing.--X59 (talk) 18:56, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

If the name will be wowpedia so the URL will be Wowpedia.wiki.gg ? (Yuvyuv111 (talk) 19:06, 3 October 2023 (UTC))

Not necessarily. We might go with warcraft.wiki.gg regardless of the site name, for ease of searching. But deciding on the name will help us decide on the URL. -- Dark T Zeratul (talk) 19:26, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

I will point out EU forum also has a thread about this topic: here. So maybe we can read what EU is thinking about this topic. (Yuvyuv111 (talk) 08:36, 6 October 2023 (UTC))

Alayea, regarding your comment on the Wowpedia name. We don't have a choice about leaving "Wowpedia" behind. Fandom intends to use the name for this wiki going forward. All admins taking part in the fork will be getting de-adminned, and they'll happily revert any name/theme/etc changes that happen on this wiki and pretend that the fork never happened. --Kaydeethree (talk) 23:00, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

I am aware of that. -- Alayea (talk) 18:47, 10 October 2023 (UTC)

How do you propose we claim the "Wowpedia" brand from Fandom? Feel free to join us on the Discord if you have ideas. --Kaydeethree (talk) 22:56, 10 October 2023 (UTC)

A new name

If we do change our name, the big question is what to change it to. Right now we've only floated one really serious suggestion, which is "Warcraft Wiki." We're inviting anyone who has another idea to add that option here as well.

Even if you would prefer to remain Wowpedia, we ask you to please also choose the name you'd prefer if the vote ends with changing our name.

Warcraft Wiki

Yes Dark T Zeratul (talk) 05:12, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (I'm not totally in love with it, but it's clear and direct and reflects that we're about Warcraft as a whole rather than just WoW.)
Yes X59 (talk) 05:54, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (no comment)
Yes Meorawr31439 (talk) 08:32, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (no comment)
Yes WardsJames (talk) 08:43, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - ()
Yes Eltreum (talk) 08:50, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (The domain warcraft.wiki could be used and would fit very well)
Yes Numynum (talk) 08:55, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (this would allow us to use warcraftwiki.com, which has a strong preference for me over warcraftwiki.wiki.gg or warcraft.wiki.gg or whatever (assuming Kaydeethree is happy with that). In my mind, that's the only future-proof solution. I'm neutral about warcraft.wiki; just so long as the domain used is in our control, and not the control of a corporation)
Yes --XreaperDK (talk) 09:23, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (I think it just rolls off the tongue a lot better than any of the other options I've heard making the rounds (save maybe owopedia... that one's a great option too uwu))
Yes User:Nathaliemlromer - (optional comment)
Yes Alayea (talk) 18:17, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (I had much going back and forth between the two proposed names. While I'm still uncertain, this one edged out the other simply because, "which term is your average end user more likely to type into the search field".)
Yes Baal (talk 18:54, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (I'm fine with warcraftpedia BUT I do think we would then need to talk to the Hearthstone etc wikis to see if they'd want to share the space, or make sure we link to those wikis on the main page, or something, especially with Blizzard seemingly moving forward with the "Warcraft Universe" stuff which may or may not lead to some increased overlap, and at the very least "Warcraft" is not just "WoW".)
Yes Ryon21 (talk) 20:48, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (... But if we do change it. Warcraft wiki would be the best option imo.)
Yes Erkorr (talk) 03:42, 4 October 2023 (UTC) - (It's probably one of the best choices you can use at this point. Wowpedia has never exclusively had World of Warcraft content on it, as far as I remember. As long as it works, y'know?)
Yes — SurafbrovWowpedia administrator T / C 13:33, 4 October 2023 (UTC) - (no comment)
Yes Sir_Weltschmerz (talk) 23:06, 5 October 2023 (UTC) - (Third time's the charm?)
Yes Kaydeethree (talk) 23:48, 6 October 2023 (UTC) - (optional comment)
Yes WardsJames (talk) 12:10, 7 October 2023 (UTC) - ()
Yes KodamaSeason (talk) 21:31, 7 October 2023 (UTC) - (optional comment)
Yes Berenal (talk) 03:37, 9 October 2023 (UTC) - (As much as I'm not hugely sold on it; it's what most people are probably googling anyway when they don't remember the name of the site. will help with the inevitablility of SEO fighting we'll have with Fandom.)
Yes Vraul Jawrip (talk · contr) 13:42, 11 October 2023 (UTC) - (Tried thinking of other names, but yeah this is the best one. The other options are nice, but Warcraft Wiki flows off the tongue the best. May be biased 'cause I really liked the old WoWWiki name, but I digress.)

Warcraftpedia

Yes User:conmanW 11:59pm, October 2, 2023(UTC) - (If we change the name of wowpedia, this is my vote)
Yes Eithris (talk) 17:18, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - ((my second choice))
Yes Mondoblasto (talk) 21:27, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (Using 'wiki' as part of the name reminds me personally too much of the split from Wow Wiki, and how misaligned that name is now. It did start with WoW and that is the majority of the site, but we've become bigger than that. 'Warcraftpedia' is an adaptation, growing forward to what the site is now.)
Yes Sandwichman2448 (talk) 23:35, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (That said, if I had to pick, it would be the cumbersome "WarCraftpedia".)
Yes Hawki (talk) 02:40, 4 October 2023 (UTC) - (no comment)
Yes Yuvyuv111 (talk) 08:17, 4 October 2023 (UTC) - (I like this name better in case we will change name. Even though I still think we should keep wow related and less warcraft as warcraft now contaminating so much more such as warcraft rumble and games alike.)
Yes Nith (talk) 10:29, 6 October 2023 (UTC) - (If we have to change names then I guess there goes my vote)

Wowmanac

Yes Eithris (talk) 17:18, 3 October 2023 (UTC) - (like almanac, but wow)

MeoWWiki

Yes Ketho (talk) 19:36, 5 October 2023 (UTC) - (If this is illegal then I vote for OwOpedia👍)

Something else