About Us
Wikia sites are written by community members that are passionate about subjects ranging from video games, TV shows and movies to food, fashion, and environmental sustainability.
Some of the biggest communities on Wikia are in gaming and entertainment, such as World of Warcraft and theMarvel Database Project, but comprehensive sites on genealogy, ice hockey, and children's books keep a diverse number of people interested and engaged. There’s even a wiki on solar cooking!
What's the name all about? “Wikia” is derived from the Hawaiian word “wiki” - which means “quick.”
Founded in 2004 by Jimmy Wales and Angela Beesley, Wikia was inspired by the model of Wikipedia - the free, open-source encyclopedia to which anyone could contribute content. Wikia focuses, however, on being the definitive resource on many topics that do not fit into the traditional encyclopedia model, building entire communities around pop culture content. (See the Wikia Timeline.)
Wikia is equally committed to openness, inviting anyone to contribute information on topics they they know well. Unlike Wikipedia, however, Wikia invites users to have a point of view, and encourages people who are passionate about specific subjects in categories like Gaming, Entertainment and Lifestyle to create the ultimate resource on those topics.
It is that very passion that has driven Wikia’s tremendous growth over the past six years. We’ve gone from being a few solitary contributors and readers to a handful of communities to over 2 million registered users on 150,000 wiki communities.
And it only gets better from here. In the past year, Wikia has expanded, bringing on a slew of new talent and opening offices in New York and London, in addition to those in San Francisco and Poznan, Poland.