From MechWikia

A message from Some Guy, starter of MechWikia:

As some of you might already be aware, Nic Jansma of Sarna.net recently converted his website to a wiki format using the MediaWiki software (the same software that runs MechWikia, Wikipedia, and many other wikis). He has proposed a possible site merger between MechWikia and Sarna.net. He and I have been discussing it over the last few weeks and I feel that a merge would be a potentially good move, as we could combine the resources of both of the sites.

To effect a merge, we could copy all of the content from MechWikia over to Sarna.net. There, there would no longer be a MechWikia, but of course all the content would exist there and at most you would have to reregister to continue involvement there.

Things would basically continue there as they have here. Registration to edit would still be optional. Most of the rules and policies would remain essentially the same (not that we have many at the moment).

Of course, since MechWikia is a community project, I alone don't have the final say in whether this merge is carried out. I'd like to get everyone's opinion on it first. Please discuss your feelings on this matter and any concerns you have. Remember to sign your comments with four tildes (~~~~). Some Guy 20:52, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

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[edit] Discussion

• I have thought that a wiki devoted to BattleTech would be a boon and an awesome resource to the whole CBT community for quite some time. I seriously thought about starting one myself, but knew I just didn't have the time nor the contacts to promote it very well, so the idea merely lingered. When you announced your wikia on CBT.com, I felt like I was one of the first to support it verbally, in spite of the arguments regarding 'faction bias' that were brought forth.

When I first visited your wiki, it was bare bones, with little to offer, and I thought I'd see how involved you would be as the primary Admin before I invested my time and efforts in it. When Nic announced the transformation of Sarna into a wiki, I remembered your's and brought it up with him that there was no reason the the two of your sites should compete, because both would suffer and the wiki idea would never develop. When I came back to visit the site here, while there still wasn't much content (how could there be when there is so much to cover and the wiki is so young), but I could tell you and the other editors /really/ have a grasp at what the wikia needed to be, format-wise. The 'mech entries were simply awesome and I liked how the individual category Tables of Content (TOC) were designed.

Sarna, however, differed in several ways: it does not have anything resembling the 'mech files, nor the TOC structure. The guidelines on how to 'wiki' (which a majority of the CBT editors would need) simply did not exist other than as links to online sources I felt were lacking for newbies. But, Sarna has two things MechWikia simply does not have: 1) pure data (in the form of planetary data and the like) and 2) an established community. That community is not made up of Wikiers [is that the right title?], but CBTers who flocked to its forums when FASA provided a bare web presence. Until the explosion of php software, Sarna was /the/ meeting place online for CBT fans around the world. While I was never that involved in the CBT forum community during its heyday, I believe that the majority of active CBT posters of today that existed then were citizens of Sarna [love that alliteration].

It is for that reason I support bringing your talent (and I mean all 13 or so contributing editors of MechWikia) over to Sarna. I /don't/ see it as a shutting down or failure of this wikia, but the merging of talent & drive with community recognition and available resources. I have done a lot of trolling in the past week through this wikia, in order to make myself a better informed editor than I am on Wikipedia and doing so has paid off in spades. I've learned how to harness infoboxes (but not yet build from scratch) and I've 'borrowed' almost wholsesale pages of Help:, Template: and Category: ideas from here.

While it won't be perfectly familiar to MechWikia editors, there will be some items of note that will work for ya'll. There really is not a 'community' of Wikiers over there at all: Nic has been automating much of the creation of the database into articles (see the Planets and Years category), while I've been adding the above mentioned articles. We've had two 'wild' articles added by hit-&-run Creators, but the sense of community is not developed. I say this as a good thing: you're not having to shoehorn your way into a community of people who don't want to change their style to your's...its pretty much just Nic and me.

While Nic announced the change to wiki at CBT to more favorable response than MechWikia received, there is a lot of work to do for a core group. If MechWikia's editors agree to the merger, I think the site would grow quickly and with purpose. At the time a re-announcement is made throughout the CBT forums 'verse, I think the new souls to visit would be somewhat impressed by what a CBT wiki could provide.

On that note, I summarize this essay by saying I strongly support the merger of MechWikia and the Sarna BattleTechWiki. Revanche 21:30, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to hear you feel that way :) . Some Guy 05:20, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

• Hi -- Nic from Sarna.net here. I'm really impressed with the quality of work (and its editors) here on MechWikia, and would love to merge the content of MechWikia to Sarna.net. I am open to any concerns anyone here has -- Sarna.net's wiki is just starting out as well. I think that combining resources would give us a great head start. -- Nic

• Not to rub against the grain here or anything, but I have been over to the Sarna site, and I remember Sarna from years ago when I was only in my teens. But when I was there recently to see how navigable the Wiki is it doesnt seem to have the very user freindly front page that Mechwikia seems to have. I know that Sarna has always been a presence of Battletech on the internet and I would be honored to be able to help it along, but if we do merge I would ask that the front page layout be made more....user freindly like the layout that is here on Mechwikia. Oh and I will be mirroring all of my past and future work both here and on Sarna's wiki until there is a merger. CJKeys 01:20, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
  • I agree with you here, and Kevin had the same concerns. I will be revamping the front page and moving the search box up in the left pane, among other things by the weekend. -- Nic
    • I'm Kevin, by the way, I don't remember how many places I've posted my name but I wouldn't expect people to remember it. Some Guy 05:20, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

• Well, I haven't seen anyone opposed to this idea yet, and the discussion seems to have died down. Can we start migrating some of the conten over to Sarna.net?. -- Nic 24.16.110.73 07:45, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
  • I'd like to hold off until we get opinions from a few more users. I've left notes on their talk pages, hopefully they'll add their comments soon. Some Guy 14:18, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

• I have no strong opinion either way. This MechWikia is my first experience in the medium and hence I am biased toward it. The format is familiar to me. Since Sarna's is most complete and maintains the same verisimilitude as this site, I see no reason why the two should be merged. Any thoughts to identity and nomencalture I can wait for. Go ahead. -- User:Chum Slikk
  • I would say the fact that both have gone to a lot of effort to maintain NPOV, that's a strong reason they should be merged. Having two wikis, working towards the same goal, just splits the potential readership (and, therefore, the potential editorial staff) tremendously. I'd prefer to see one great work, rather than two. This is a fine example of how the sum can be greater than the two parts. (BTW, if your put three or four tildes after your post or press the 2nd button from the right on the editor's bar, you'll be able to 'sign' your thoughts.) --Revanche 07:48, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

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Well, we've got one yay, and two comments that I'm having trouble catagorizing as yays or nays. I was really hoping for more feedback, but there's been a serious dropoff in activity lately. I'm not sure if people are just busy or giving up.

If nobody else comments I'll try to decide what to do in the next few days. Some Guy 19:43, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Yay! great idea! Josh'Ecura 11:30, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

• Merge. United we stand, divided we fall. Also, it would be great if we could increase cooperation between the editors of Btech wiki(s) and Wikipedians. Piotrus from Wikipedia.--71.206.215.104 01:08, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

• Might as well - It'd be a shame to lose good content, and it's entirely within the scope of a wiki to be both accessible to newbies as well as veteran gamers; so to quote Piotrus: "United we stand, divided we fall." --Xoid 12:51, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Not sure if this issue is still in dispute but I agree with the merger. There's no sense in two sites working towards the same goal. -AidanPryde from Wikipedia and sarna.net. 66.56.85.32 02:23, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

• I like the idea of a merger. But who should become the main? imho, wikia should be the main, and Sarna the readonly backup. *oups* i realise that this discussion is a year old! ... and both wikis are not yet dead, but they already smell funny Kraehe 20:18, 27 September 2007 (UTC)