Wikianswers is Wikia’s main answers-based wiki, with a format where pages are created as questions that other users can then answer. This page will outline everything you need to know about maintaining and using an answers wiki.

Developing an answers wiki

If this wiki is still without questions, you could add 10 questions you would like answers to, as well as add 5 questions and answers to help encourage other users to get started. Populating a wiki with content is always a good way to attract users. Once they arrive and begin asking questions, be sure to be an active voice in answering them. Add categories to as many questions as you can as well, that way people can find them.

As with a standard wiki, be sure to promote it. There are plenty of ways you can attract some new contributors to the wiki, including means such as Facebook, Twitter, other social media sites, or on Wikia itself.

Keeping your wiki neat and tidy is always a good thing too. Make sure questions are a full sentence and use words like "how to" and "who is" and "what is" to start. Edit questions and answers that may not make sense, that way the best information possible is being provided. Always remember to welcome new users as well!

Editing your home page

You may have noticed the absence of an edit button on your answers wiki’s main page. Not to worry! If you want to edit the home page of an answers site, you need to add ?action=edit to the end of the URL. For example, http://MYSITE.answers.wikia.com/wiki/MYSITE_Answers?action=edit

Another way you can easily edit pages where the edit link is not visible is to enable double click editing in your preferences. This allows you to edit the home page and other pages just by double clicking your mouse within the content area.

Other language editions of Wikianswers

If you are interested in starting an answers wiki in another language, please see How can I start a new Wikianswers in my language?. Please contact Wikia if you need any help getting started.

Asking a question

Now that you are ready to dive into your answers wiki, you can begin asking questions you are interested in. Just type it into the big "Ask a question" box at the top of any page and press the ask button or hit enter. Submitting the question automatically creates a new page with the title that is your question.

The question will then be labeled "Un-answered" until someone answers it. An un-answered question is automatically listed under the "New Questions" section on the wiki's main page. Once it is answered, it is moved over to the "New Answers" section.

To find out when your question is answered, it's important to logged in when you ask the question. You will be able to follow the question and be notified by e-mail when it is updated.

This question will then be added to your watchlist, and you can be notified when an answer is given. If you want to watch another question, simply add it to your watchlist by clicking on the "watch" text.

Rewording a question

To re-word a question, simply click on the "edit" text to the right of the question.

You will then be brought to a new page, where you can re-word the question. The new question will create a new page on the wiki, so make sure to check the box that says, "Leave a redirect behind ". This is redirect the old question, to the newly reworded question. Then click on move page button (which may say save or rephrase depending on if it has been modified) to save.

You are encouraged to rephrase badly written questions. This can include spelling or grammar errors, as well as statements that are not in a question format.For example, if someone asks "dog food", you could turn it into "where can I buy dog food" or "what is the healthiest type of food for dogs".

Getting your question answered more quickly

1. Tag questions so that people can find it more easily when browsing.
2. Post your question to Facebook, Twitter or other sites so your friends can help answer it.
3. Have a clear, specific, well-worded question that people can understand. If your question is bad, reword it.
   • Make sure your question is not vague. A question like, "What type of government does our country have?" may sound clear, but remember people from many countries may read questions and answer them. Specify as much as you can. Change the question to: "What type of government does the U.S. have?"—or the name of whatever country you may live in.
4. Have a question that other people can answer. Questions like "how old am I" are not suitable and probably won't be answered (at least not correctly).

Answering a question

To answer a question, all you need to do is fill in the "Answer this question" box below the question. Once you've completed your answer, just click save.

You do not need to change the answered and un-answered tags as these change automatically when you add or remove an answer.

Anyone can ask questions and anyone can answer. You don't even need to make an account. If you're logged in, you can be notified when your question was answered or your answer was improved.

What is a good answer?

Try to give a good objective answer. Don't worry if your answer is not complete - anyone can edit the page again and add to or improve your answer. If the question has already been answered, you can edit the answer to make it better. You can learn how to edit an answer here.

You can also help by rewording questions and tagging questions.

Edit an answer

If an answer does not correctly answers a question, then it should be reworded or edited. Short answers that provide little description, such as "yes" or "sometimes", can have additional information added to it. You can also make spelling and grammatical changes if necessary.

If you find an answer that needs to be reworded, simply click on the "edit" button to the right of the answer.

You will then be brought to an edit page, where you can make the necessary changes. Once you are done, click save, and the new answer will appear.

Tag a question

On an answers wikis, tags are like categories. They are used in order to help find questions that have already been asked and, therefore, answers to those questions. By default, the tags that show whether a question is answered or un-answered are automatically added when you ask or answer a question. You do not need to make any changes to this.

You can add tags that are specific to your wiki's topic. For example is you have a wiki on cooking, you may want to add tags for different food types, such as "Italian" or "Mexican."

Adding tags to an un-answered question does not change its state from un-answered to answered. If you can not answer a question, you can still help by tagging it. That way, someone who can answer it is more likely to find it.

You can create new tags just by typing it into the tag section below the question.

If a tag has been used before, a preloaded tag will load below, which you can select. Once you have added all the tags you need, click save.

Pages can tagged with multiple words.

You can view all questions that have a certain tag by following the link in the tag section below the question.

See also

• Learn how to create a new Wikia wiki

Further Help & Feedback

• Browse and search other help pages at Help:Contents
• Check Help:Wikia Community Central for sources of further help and support
• Check Help:Contacting Wikia for how to report any errors or unclear steps in this article