[Header that I don't have because Tarax fails...]

Preface: I will not be writing report fictions. The only people I like to punish with my fictions are Sarin and, now, the newly appointed Voice. The rest of you are safe. However, I tend to ramble, so my reports may still be long. Oh well.

Introduction

Greetings all. This will be my first official report as the new Wiki Tribune. I'd like to thank Sarin and Muz for giving me the opportunity to take the reins of the wiki and also Ben, the former Wiki dude, for keeping everything running smoothly for the last three years. Ben and I have had a special relationship since our Quaestor/Aedile days in Dinaari, so it was fun working together like that again.

Now, a bit of an introduction. First, the confusing part. Though my dossier name is now Aidan Kincaid, my former name (and what I still go by in emails and on IRC) is Shadow Taldrya. I'll answer to Kincaid, but feel free to just call me Shad. The change was made strictly for fiction writing reasons, so I apologize for any confusion this might cause. Anyways.

I've been a member of the Brotherhood for a very long time—just over thirteen years now—and I've had a number of positions at pretty much every level of leadership. Most recently, I was the Combat Master prior to Mav, and helped him with the new character sheets and ACC revamp. For the last couple of years, though, my one constant DB job has been as a Wiki Staff member.

I am very much a fan of our wiki and love that we have this database of in-character information to keep record of all our events, storylines, and character developments. Before the wiki existed, we basically just moved from little blurbs of plot that were never connected and were usually forgotten by the time the next vendetta rolled around. Now, we have over 3,500 articles written by hundreds of Brotherhood members covering our collective fictional history for the last two decades. It's my hope to keep improving and expanding on the Brotherhoods Wiki—it is the greatest resource that we have.

Wiki Projects

For a long time now, the only "job" of the Wiki Staff was to correct mistakes on pages that showed up in the Recent Changes list and vaguely admonish members who made said mistakes. Many of you who use the wiki regularly will be well aware of this practice, and possibly even had some Talk Page discussions with myself or other Wiki Staff members about issues or ways to fix/improve wiki articles.

While the Staff will still be overseeing general Wiki maintenance, we've gotten to the point where all our "main" articles are already written and on the wiki. What we see now are mainly personal wiki pages (character, npc, etc) and unit-based wiki pages (armed forces, npcs, etc) that require little in the way of major investment from the staff. Therefore, the staff will be focused more on completing wiki projects and working with the various Dark Council members to improve or update important pages. I also plan for us to work with the Voice to ensure fictional elements on all articles are in line with Brotherhood standards.

First in a series of projects will be new wiki-related Shadow Academy courses. After reviewing the current courses, I've found both are in serious need of updating. I've been in touch with Bubba and Ood about creating new wiki courses that will be more focused on practical knowledge than the ones currently offered. It's great that members know what a wiki is and what it's used for, but I'd much rather be teaching everyone how to go about creating their own character page, how to properly using various wiki features, and how things like the wiki promotion requirement works. This project will be ongoing until we get everything hammered out. Until then, the current wiki course will still be available for members to take.

Another project I'll be working on is creating a set of standard requirements for members trying to complete the wiki-related tasks in the promotion guidelines. Currently, members are forced to create a page with the various help files and examples found on the wiki and then contact the Wiki Staff to get it approved. The new standard will be created as a complete page template, which will define from start to finish what is required for the DJK/JK wiki promotion requirement.

Wiki Staff

Just a quick blurb here. I am not currently asking for new staff just yet. Expect more information about staff and applications some time next week. Right now, I need to get a few things organized and set up before bringing on extra hands to help.

In Closing

For the time being, the wiki shall continue running as usual. Remember, the wiki is something collectively edited by all our members, so feel free to jump in and fix up or finish pages (not character pages without permission, please) or create your own pages. Your character page is a great place for you to expand on the information in your Character Sheet, or you can create NPCs for using in fiction and Run Ons. There's a lot of freedom with the wiki, so go add your mark to it.

If you ever need help with something, I've set up a few different avenues for members to get in touch with me. For minor questions or concerns, feel free to post on my Talk Page. I've also set up a Wiki Q&A on the Discourse forum to answer member questions. Solari has already asked a few questions that members are frequently stumped by, so make sure to check it out.

Now, I'm not much for scheduled updates, as I prefer to post information as soon as it's available, so expect more in the way of regular news posts from me than monthly reports or whatever. Fortunately, the wiki is one aspect of the Brotherhood that doesn't require constant updates. When something comes up, I'll be sure to let everyone know.

That's it for now!