Declaration of Independence

''This page is just a backup and may not be the most current version. Please check the copy on Wikia (here) for a likely more recent version.''

There comes a time where the individuals contributing to the development of an online encyclopedia may forget what it means for a site to hold the title of a wiki. And when such a moment comes, it becomes necessary for the definition to be rediscovered and the principals of such a site restated so that people will once again remember the basic ideas and principles that make a wiki a wiki.

The word Wiki comes from the Hawaiian word for fast, wiki (pronounced witi.) The accepted definition of a wiki states that it is a digital repository of information that can be accessed and edited by the masses of the internet. A wiki acts as a source for information, and the information each Wiki can contain can vary without any limitations. But for a wiki to present information easily to its users, it must have various requirements.

One of the most vital requirements is that a wiki's true goal is to act as a repository for knowledge. While a wiki may contain various features unrelated to the storage and organizing of that knowledge, it's ultimate purpose is still to act as an online encyclopedia or datacenter of some form. A wiki must also appear appealing to the individuals that absorb and add new information, and the layout of the wiki must not drive away anyone due to difficulty of navigation and/or an unattractive outlook, not to say an unattractive outlook is worse than a featureless one. Furthermore, a wiki must be properly moderated so that any vandalism of sites can be dealt with swiftly, and any problems on the wiki are quickly reported.

When, over the course of a wiki's life, Wikia's skins become intolerable, the loss of content space and freedom of customization requires that users everywhere protest to the company's staff and bid goodbye to Wikia, inc forever. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all users — staff or users — are equal, that they all deserve the liberty to have their say within their respective wikis and not to be alienated; that among these are happy communities, freedom of editing, and the pursuit of the best wikis they work so hard to create. Wikia's upcoming layout, which would ruin the appeal of various wikis, is unacceptable by accepted MediaWiki Foundation standards in style. And we, the members of the Anti-Wikia Alliance (from here on, AWA,) will indubitably leave in order to protect the principals that our Wikis are built for; to act as libraries of knowledge and not as blog-sites riddled with advertisements. We will leave, users and communities as wholes, unless Wikia cancels its planned change to the Wikia skin and refrains from making any other negative changes that would ruin the Wikia community and the goals that wikis strive for.

Wikia has acted in several ways that the AWA has deemed unacceptable; often not with regard to the skin itself, but the way the Wikia staff has been handling its publicity and improvement. These offenses include, but are not limited to:
 * Advertising schemes
 * Content space that is is too small
 * Creating a popular Blog Posts section
 * Inserting a photo gallery on every page
 * Enabling commenting on articles
 * Replacing the useless MyHome with an even more useless Wiki Activity page
 * Wikia-wide navigation at top of page
 * Seeing wikis as Blog Sites, and forcing blog site-like features upon them
 * Failing to listen to their community
 * Not giving administrators the freedom in customization that both Monobook and Monaco allowed

In every stage of the staff's abuse, personalities from the communities have bounded together for justice. They have expressed their morbid anger and frustration in the form of art, they have written it in the form of poetry, and in the form of prose. Have these not been the users suffering from the design of Wikia's "New Look" skin? We, the editors, in the name of wikis everywhere, solemnly declare that all wikis should have the freedom to stick up for themselves. That it is their right and their duty to surpass the New Look and to build their wiki communities with their beloved Monaco skin.

This is why the AWA is helping users and wiki communities to move out of Wikia's hosting service, and into new and better futures, on new and better wiki farms. These include, but are not limited to: The AWA has also been pondering ideas to create its own wiki farm. We hope to create a safer home for the communities, or at least to help them find better places to thrive. For a list of these wikis, see Forum:Anti-Wikia Alliance. Thank you.
 * Wikkii
 * NIWA (Nintendo Wikis only)
 * Techessentials (Tech Wikis only)

AWA founders:
 * Airhogs777
 * Smiley12