Super-wiki:Mission & Purpose
Mission & Purpose
The goal of Super-wiki is to provide an extensive information resource and compendium of fan knowledge, including not only the documentation of canonical information but the documentation of the Supernatural fandom.
In mind of this, the Supernatural Wiki is built on software that allows any visitor to sign up with a unique username and contribute their own knowledge.
The multi-authored nature of this model is considered central to the ideals the Supernatural Wiki is based on – recognising the value of fan knowledge, experience and production by providing an environment within which fans can document, share and research both their own experiences, community, and the show around which the community is based.
This multi-authored model is also key to ensuring the information contained within is as extensive and unbiased as possible. In order for the Supernatural Wiki to function reliably as such a resource, the free-for-all dynamic of multiple authoring needs to be tempered with an attitude that recognises the validity of each fan's opinions, beliefs and interpretations.
The Mission in Action
The Administration Team does not moderate contributions, but constantly monitors to ensure these ideals are adhered to. This may include re-phrasing contentious, offensive or opinionated text, seeking out and providing citation or credit where possible, and working to ensure the contribution is relevant enough for inclusion.
Where possible, the team enjoys working directly with the contributor to integrate their work, to ensure an even-handed approach.
History
Super-wiki was initially established in June 2006 as "Super-canon". Super-canon was built as a simple website model with a single author who had done the transcription and analysis work solo. As the resource expanded to include information collected by other fans as well, it was decided that the site would better function as a wiki.
In August 2006 it was converted into a wiki format, which not only allowed better organisation of the rapidly proliferating information, but opened up the field for any fan to contribute their knowledge.
Hope, the fan who started Super-canon, teamed up with fellow-fan Leandra to establish a solid base of pages in the wiki to get it rolling. Lea & Hope also decided to expand the scope of the wiki to encompass the Supernatural fandom as well.
The wiki continued to grow at a rapid rate, attracting more attention, visitors and contributors. Mid-2007, Hope recruited some more of the key contributors to the wiki, Jules and Vanae, to form an Admin Team to better ensure the wiki functioned as effectively as possible.
Shortly after the team was formed, an overhaul of the wiki took place, resulting in a more unique URL- supernaturalwiki.com; a name to match – Supernatural Wiki (while maintaining the Super-wiki nickname); and behind the scenes, a more structured organisation of the information contained within.
In September 2009, at the start of Season 5, the Super-Wiki got a new look and a new layout, celebrating more than 1.000.0000 page hits, 2.000 contributing users and 22.000+ edits.
In 2011 the site is averaging over 240,000 hits a month and we have over 20,000 follwoers on @SuperWiki. We were honored in April 2011 to win the SFX Best franchise Specific website award, beating out chucktv.net, The One Ring, Leaky Cauldron, Life, Doctor Who And Combom, and WhoFix. [1]
SFX Magazine described us as "The most comprehensive Supernatural site on the web, established in 2006, Supernatural Wiki is a well laid-out, intelligently designed, easy to navigate Aladdin’s cave of Winchester goodness."
