Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia:Announcements/Archive 2

Announcement Archive
Archive 1

A lot happens on the Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia and we want to keep you up-to-date. So please take a moment to check this page out every once in a while for news, events, and general information that we feel would be of use to you.

June 2013

• Do you like Mark Moraghan's narration?

1. Yes - 462
2. No - 21
3. No Preference - 22
4. Not as good as Angelis/Brandon - 82

It seems Mr. Moraghan has a large amount of support in the fanbase and I am not surprised. He has brought a fresh start to the series but still retains the classic charm of the narrators before him. Little disliked him or had no preference, but a good group of people don't believe he is as good as Angelis or Brandon. Anyway, new poll is up! Vote in it now! :) Toby7 Sláinte! 09:46, June 4, 2013 (UTC)

• Hello, We wanted to let you know that in order to comply with federal law, Wikia is reviewing the way it handles communities that may be considered directed to people 12 years of age or younger. This wiki has been flagged as falling into that category, and I wanted to let you know about it. While I am sure this wiki has many fans of all ages, it can also be especially appealing to the younger demographic for purposes of the newly revised Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The only change you will notice is that we will be turning anonymous editing and commenting off for wikis in this category. Your users will still be able to edit and participate. They just need to make sure that they are logged in first. We hope the impact on your community will be minimal. We realize this might be an inconvenience, but this is a step Wikia has to take in order to make sure we are in compliance with federal law. You can find out more about COPPA here: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/12/coppa.shtm. The changes to the law will be going into effect July 1st, 2013 although you may see some changes before then. Be sure to keep an eye on Community Central where e will be announcing these updates to the wider Wikia Community on Monday on the staff blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks, and Happy Editing! --semanticdrifter (help forum | blog) 01:07, June 21, 2013 (UTC)
• Toby7 here, hello! Just wanted to talk about something that I've noticed lately. Many users have been removing messages from their walls. This is acceptable if it is either profane, spam or harrasment. However, it is strictly against the rules to remove messages that don't fall under those categories. I am upset at how many regular, usually well behaved users have broken this rule. If you aren't sure if a message falls under one of the previous categories, at least run it by an admin. We often look at past messages as sources while conducting admin business. It is best in the end to either leave an admin to remove messages or if it seemed they missed one, report it. Thanks. Toby7 Sláinte! 22:08, June 22, 2013 (UTC)
• For more info on this change, please see the Community Central blog post. Feel free to comment on the general policy there, and keep the wiki specific discussion here. Thanks, --semanticdrifter (help forum | blog) 18:47, June 24, 2013 (UTC)

May 2013

• So which character are you most looking forward to seeing in King of the Railway?

1. Stephen - 269
2. Millie - 72
3. Connor - 48
4. Caitlin - 28

Well, with a score of 269, it's clearly Stephen! That's not a big surprise either considering he's going to be the main character (after Thomas) and is based after Stephenson's Rocket! Millie came in second, which is understandable considering she's narrow gauge and somewhat mysterious. (By that I mean we don't know much about her.) And then came Connor and finally Caitlin. Can't say their placement is much of a surprise either. Very few people seem to like them and even fewer like Caitlin. Thomasfan Peep! Peep! 08:13, May 1, 2013 (UTC)

• Hey everyone. I'm sure a lot of you are excited because for many of our users Summer is right around the corner, and that means a lot of you will be out of school. I'm excited too! However, in the Summer we tend to have bit more free time. If you are bored, please to do not make pointless edits. I've seen correct grammar changed to clearly incorrect grammar for no reason. This includes adding categories that make no sense, and adding stubs to large pages. (For more editing standards, read our Manual of Style). When people make a large number of pointless edits, it makes an admins job a lot harder (It's not all fun and games :P). Thanks! Check this page later for more periodic updates. :) Toby7 Ding!Ding! 01:53, May 8, 2013 (UTC)

• I know this may come as a shock to everyone, but the time has come, I feel, for me to step away from the Wikia. I will still come around when you guys need help, but I won't be coming on a daily basis. This has been a long time coming and is one of the reasons why I had Toby, Richie, and Skarloey promoted a few months back. I stayed on awhile after their promotion to help them find their way and get used to things. I think I've passed on everything I know to them, so it's now time I just step aside and let them have some more freedom to do things their own way. I'll remain in my bureaucratic position for the time-being, but even that may not last. I know this will upset many people, but it's just how I feel. The fandom has been falling apart almost since its beginning and it's come to the point where I just don't want to be a part of it at all. All of the fighting and bickering between everyone on all sides is just sickening and I refuse to be associated with it anymore. There are still many, many good people in the fandom, but they're few and far between. And the few good people there are get ridiculed and bullied so much even they become what I hate about this fandom. This isn't to say that there aren't any good people in the fandom who haven't remained good, but they're even more rare than a good person at all. (I'm happy to say that most users here are good and have always remained so.) I'm sure this has made you all depressed by now, but there is some good news! Not only will I still come to the Wikia every now and then, but I'll still be on the Wikia's forum, Twitter, and YouTube. And, as I've committed to doing it, I shall finish uploading the trading card series on the Wikia's Twitter account. After that, I'm not sure. I may leave the Wikia's Twitter account to someone else or I may continue with it. Depends on how things go really. That's about all really, but I do have one word of advice for my fellow staff members: You come third. God is first, everyone else is second, you're third. So serve God, serve everyone in your life (including our members), and then serve yourselves. That's the way to run anything and everything and I hope that you guys will try (because I know you'll fail a few times; I did) to live by that. For everyone else: I know you'll have tons of questions and many goodbye messages and perhaps even a few pleads for me to stay, but I've already explained my reasons for leaving and I've already made up my mind to leave. I will appreciate any goodbye messages though. :) I think that sums everything up. I'm sorry if this upsets anybody, but I couldn't stay forever. Toby, Richie, and Skarloey are great and I'm sure you'll all come to love them too! And let's not forget about SteamTeam and ZEM! They're still about to help you guys out! ;) Thomasfan Peep! Peep! 05:55, May 13, 2013 (UTC)
• I just wanted to give a huge public thanks to Thomasfan on behalf of myself and all the other admins. The work Thomasfan did for this Wiki is absolutely unbelievable! I can't even imagine what the Wiki would be like now if he hadn't come along. I'd take a bold guess that it'd be a lot like the Answers Wiki. Thomasfan did more than his fair share of work here and I don't know how anyone else will ever be able to match the enourmous amounts of time and energy Thomasfan put into making the Wiki so great. I can honestly say that without a doubt he is one of the most effective admins I've ever seen on any site. He always stuck to his guns when edits were being disputed or when users got out of hand, but his best interest was always for the Wiki as a whole. This is one trait I hope I have interited from watching him over the past several years. Thomasfan, know that you will be dearly missed by all of us here and that the message I left on your wall was just to warm myself up for this one! ;) *Cue Season 1 outro music from Mike and Junior * So with that I'd like to wish "dry rails and good running" to Thomasfan from all of the admins and all the users of the Wiki! - - SkarloeyRailway ...you will find two little engines called Skarloey and Rheneas... 20:51, May 13, 2013 (UTC)
• Evening users. I'm sure all of you are very upset with Thomasfan's departure. I am. First of all, I can't thank him enough for his work here. He has dedicated a good 4 years of his life putting energy into our beloved website. Without him, the wiki would have fallen into a "dark age" again, of spam and vandalism. There is no way to repay him for that. TF has been a very close friend here. He got me started on the right foot and took me under his wing when he first joined. Never in a million years would I have imagined that one day he would step down from his position and ask my friends and I to fill his boots. And what very big boots we have to fill! We could never do what Thomasfan did, but we will do our best to keep it up to the standard that he has upheld. Thomasfan is not leaving completely though. He will still be active on our forums and will help out here when he is needed. It actually gives me great pride and love for this corner of the internet. It's a passing of the torch. All I have left to say is good luck too my dear friend in his future ventures. We will always welcome you back with open arms. Toby7 Sláinte 20:47, May 13, 2013 (UTC)
• Hello everyone, this is zem2point0 (formerly ZEM). You may or may not know me, but I'm an 'old' admin here on the TTTE Wikia. Thomasfan is a good friend of mine from the days when I was an active admin. I'm very pleased with the work that Thomasfan has done here during the past 4+ years. He has been a good editor since late 2008 and a great admin since I promoted him on July 22, 2009; a few months before I began disappearing for long periods of inactivity. It is hard to believe that so much time has passed and it is even harder to believe that Thomasfan won't be here everyday as he has been in the past. I can't really say anything more that won't echo what has already been said, but it is worth repeating that Thomasfan will be missed. "Dry rails and good running" Thomasfan! God Bless. Zem2point0 (talk) 21:21, May 13, 2013 (UTC)