SandBox:Potential/Proposed Changes

Welcome! My name is Mark (Puma), I'm also here with my partner Julia. We'd like to make our plans regarding some major changes coming to Neodex publicly aware, so please take the time read through the whole presentation. We guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Introduction

Neodex, as you're well aware, came to life in 2006. Through trial and error, various staff members and memorable names, the Wiki built itself up to a successful and prosperous sate for many years along with Pink Poogle Toy. Unfortunately, this did not last.

As changes came to the host site, PinkPT, so did changes come to Neodex. In 2010, various and previously dedicated staff would fall of the map, no longer playing Neopets or contributing to the the site, leaving the Wiki in a state of stale decayness; old information, informal arrangements, annual edits made by few user only regarding Pet Day information and new colours.

In 2013, Julia & I set out to make our own Neopets wiki. As Neopets.com very recently began to integrate Official fansites, a program in which popular and successful fansites would be allowed to be linked from the Neopets site, the two of us wishes to join the ranks amongst such sites with a Wiki. We then began to do research, and found Neodex is the state of decay it is in now. We found evidence of past hardships, dedication, and trials. We had a choice:

Make a new Wiki, or try to adopt this one?

Changes are coming

After much consideration, we made a decision: Try to save Neodex, not compete with it. We felt it would be best to salvage the work set by those before us and catapult it into a successful future to be readily available to users for years to come.

Through the help of people such as Dave from Jellyneo, Ian from The Daily Neopets, and Pink Poogle Toy's very own Blue, we successfully made contact with Kym, the owner of Pink Poogle Toy, and hope to make this happen.

With this impending occurrence, we'd like to make everyone publicly aware of what will happen if Kym agrees to let us adopt Neodex.

Meet the WockyMedia system

The first major change: Neodex will not longer be called Neodex.

As you're probably aware, the term Neodex is combination of Neo and Codex. A quick Google search quickly reveals why such a term is now allowed, therefore such a name would be unacceptable on Neopets.com.

Neodex, will become WockyPedia, the free Neopets Wiki almost anyone can edit. (Almost anyone can edit because we have to become COPPA co-operative, you'll see more about that in the sections below).

And yet another change is coming: Neodex will be split into a series of multiple wikis, composed of a central wiki, a Petpet Park oriented Wiki, and a 'simple English' wiki. The trio will be inter-connected through Shared Databases, in which user accounts, edits, and various other features can become connected so that the WockyMedia system can operate successfully.

WockyPedia, the Neopets Encyclopedia

The first major change, the introduction of WockyPedia.

WockyPedia will ultimately be the "hub" of the WockyMedia system and will host all events, news, and articles related to Neopets.com and related happenings. All articles and users from Neodex will be carried over and maintained, with alterations to the way things are run (Such as staff positions and rules - But rest assured, remaining staff will retain while staff inactive for 3+ years will be downgraded to normal users).

PetpetPedia, the Petpet Park & Neopets' Petpet Wiki

As Neopets.com hosts a variety of Petpet species, and Petpet Park has become large and independent enough to be host a variety of information separate from Neopets, PetpetPedia will be 100% dedicated to Petpets and anything related.

As it presently stands, Neodex hosts hundreds of "Petpet" articles, which describes a number of Petpet Species and types in a few short lines. As they aren't that relevant on Neopets, they're given but a few words to describe the depthy information regarding their histories. PetpetPedia will change this, by giving all Petpets, regardless of age, release, or type, full articles detailing all colours, variations, and stories with each Petpet.

Additionally, Neodex does not presently cover much of Petpet Park and it's characters, locations, and happenings. We wish to change this by having PetpetPedia also operate as a Petpet Park Wiki, so all information regarding Petpets will be readily accessible to any user. If articles are relevant to both Neopets and Petpets/Petpet Park, then an indication be be given that reads "Read about XXX of WockyPedia" and vice versa on Wokcypedia "Read about XXX on PetpetPedia".

PooglePedia, the simple English Neopets Wiki

PooglePedia will work differently from the above Wikis, as it will not go into detail regarding information, but rather give quick, simple definitions for any user looking for fast information, in addition to acronyms and terms. The name was created to pay tribute to Pink Poogle Toy, and will be represented by a Jelly Poogle which looks very similar to a Pink Poogle.

Articles representative of WockyPedia and PetpetPedia will be featured, only giving the simplest definitions possible. From both the WockyPedia and PetpetPedia sites, users will be given an indication above the article that reads "Also available on PooglePedia", and vice versa.

New Features

Several New features are to be added as well. These include:

• Daily News - WockyMedia and Neopets.com news posted directly to the front page.
• Fansite Support - We're currently in the process of making deals with two popular fansites, Jellyneo and The Daily Neopets in order to integrate them into our site, as well as our site into their's.
• Integrated Forums - We'll utilize a new forum software which allows the forum and the Wiki(s) to be linked.
• Regulations - Rules, filters, and guidelines.

Daily News

The first new feature will be the addition of the Daily News.

WockyPedia's new page will feature a section dedicated to news. Here, news regarding the Wiki, Neopets.com, and anything else relevant will be posted to this section for users to see. For instance, if we were to update the Wiki rules, or make a major change, we'd post about it here. When Neopets.com updates their news daily, we'd post about it here. If The Neopets Team announced a new site event, or perhaps something strange goes on, we post about it here.

We have the advantage of being able to post news of a speculative nature.

We'll also host a variety of Polls regarding recent news in order to gather feed back and opinions for both ourselves and The Neopets Team.

Fansites

We're currently in the process of creating partnerships with fansites such as Jellyneo, SunnyNeo, The Daily Neopets and various others to create a diverse network:

Account Linking

The feature feature, account linking.

Through this, we allow user to sign up or sign in using their Jellyneo and MyTDN accounts. We can easily give these sites access to our userbase and allow them inject new users through account linking. Basically, they'll be able to use their existing fansite accounts to log in with us, and possible receive special perks for doing so. Users will be able to link accounts even after an account is created.

Such a feature is possible through encryption, so their login data can safely move from one server to another.

Fansite Feed

Through JavaScript and PHP, we're able to parse these Fansite's RSS feeds and post them anywhere we wish, meaning user can access these site's news without leaving our homepage. Users will be able to view news, links, and content posted by other sites straight from WockyPedia, and will be able to visit these news posts through a simple link. The title, author, and first 16 characters (If any) of every news post will be view able, with users having the option to click ahead to read more.

We've installed software which can easily rotate content, meaning each site's news can be represented equally and randomly on every refresh.

Sites that currently support RSS feed: The Daily Neopets, SunnyNeo, Jellyneo and S2 Book World.

An extension will be added to the end of each URL which adds something along the lines of "?Ref=Wockypedia". This will alert the fansite that we've linked to them, so a "back to Wockypedia" image will be loaded with a link back.

Fansite staff-accounts

The staff of partnered fansites will be given special perks and permissions other users are not. We'll offer the staff of these sites accounts, in which they'll be able to perform special abilities other users cannot.

The Benefits of fansite support

By partnering with fansites, both sites (Us and them) will greatly benefit:

• Multiple fansites will be gathered in one place: It's a fantastic chance for users to explore other sites and utilize them.
• By posting their news, a greater audience will be aware of what's going on their site. On the opposite side, they'll link back to and acknowledge us.
• We can utilize them as valid sources - Meaning we're allowed to use images, quotes and various other content posted on their sites (Granted we expressly leave credit and cite them appropriately).
• If one site is represented, likely another site will not want that particular site to get all the attention and therefore sign on with us.

The fact that our fansite support will be non-biased and useful will link these sites together in ways they never have before.

Forums

The WockyPedia forum will open using the IPBoard Software. These forums will be representative of our three sites, WockyPedia, PetpetPedia and PooglePedia.

There are several benefits to using IPBoard with MediaWiki:

• IPBoard can connect to MediaWiki - This means users can share accounts between the forums and Wiki, using the same login session. It does not matter if they sign up through the Wiki or the forums, it will all act as one account.
• Edits, users groups & more - The amount of edits made will on the Wiki will be represented on the user's forum account, show how much they participate. We'll also be able to share usergroups between the two - So moderators, admins and staff will be given the same powers on both the Wiki and the forums.
• We can connect to multiple Wikis - Users will be able to share their accounts between the three Wikis and Forums, again using the same login sessions. Number edits, activity and more will be posted to the user's account.

Regulations

Several regulations will also be added:

On COPPA Terms

In order to comply with COPPA terms, we need to confirm that all users are at least of 13 years of age to contribute/post, and all content on the site is safe.

Using IPBoard, we can verify the user's age and see if they're old enough to start editing. Using a series of Extensions such as Abuse Filter, we can assure that all profanity and any inappropriate content is not posted. We'll get an alert if somebody posts a no-no word.

We can do the same with IPBoards regarding profanity, using it's built in filters to prevent naughty talk.

On Neopets' Terms

If we wish to be accepted as an official fansite, we'll have to make a few changes to the way the site works.

First of all, we'll have to disable off-site linking, only allowing users to post links to site approved by Neopets.com. A list of these sites is featured here.

Secondly, we'll have to advise users to not to user their Neopets' passwords with our system, that's pretty easy.

Thirdly, we'll have to establish a copyright system for images and content. We'll need to distinguish the difference between Neopets & Non-Neopets content, if whether it's fair user, public domain, owned/not owned by Neopets, so forth.

How much will this cost?

We've done a tally of how much the total cost would be, including the cost of hosting, URLs, and various services. We've tallied the opening & yearly cost:

Service	Price
IPBoard License	175$ USD (+25$ annual 1/2 year renewal)
VPS Hosting	30$ USD/Month
URLs	108$ USD/3yr (324$ including .net & .org redirects)

The opening cost comes out to be exactly 313$ USD. However, we were given a discount code for hosting by Jellyneo so the actual costs comes out to be 283$ USD. If we decide to purchase redirect URLs, that would come to be 499$ USD.

The yearly cost would come out to be 994$ USD Per Year without .org/net redirects, and 1062$ USD with redirects. If you include the opening costs (With discount), that would be 1171$ USD this year without redirects, and 1243$ USD with redirects this year.

How will you pay for that?

We plan to put in our own resources if needed, however, this is certainly not favourable. We're planning on connecting with other fansites and asking if they'll help us sponsor a fund raiser. If that fails, we'll run ads until the cost is met.

We plan to live 100% on donations, if at all possible. We wish to be an ad-free, non-profit Wiki made just for the benefit of Neopets users around the globe.

How long will this take?

Such plans will take quite some time to implement. The two additional wikis will need to be constructed, connected, have staff hired, set up the forums, change wording & operation, and pay for it all.

In total, we estimate a minimum of two months, and maximum of four months to accomplish such a project. During this period, account creation/anonymous editing will be disabled while the staff work on re constructing the site.

Thank-you

Thank-you for taking the time to read this presentation, it is in our best interest and hope that we accomplish them and launch the site into a prosperous future.

If you wish the discuss the matters at hand, please make a note on the Talk Page and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

--Mark & Julia