Board Thread:Wiki Discussion/@comment-27345308-20180107062023/@comment-5956954-20180110093222

What is the Wiki Chat good for?

 * It allows those who haven't verified on the Discord server the opportunity to still communicate with other wiki users in a live-chat environment rather than Message Walls.


 * The wiki chat is customizable to allow a theme that not only fits the wiki as a whole but also makes the chat more easily identifiable. BetterDiscord exists, but that's a ToS violation (though they won't punish you).


 * It doesn't require you to create a whole-nother account for the purpose of possibly joining one server within your Discord account's lifetime.


 * Since the Discord server is technically separate from the wiki, it is more work for people to identify others on the wiki (though that can be a privacy benefit), meaning the Staff members who are banning users need to consult database resources to identify the user while also banning them twice for consistency, all the while setting reminders to have one notified when the banned user's time is up. The wiki chat allows one to do this with a simple click otherwise.

What is Discord good for?

 * The Discord is much more easily accessible once one registers one more account by checking one's Desktop or even entering the URL to use Discord on the browser. Since the new headers update, the chat button on the wiki navigation is gone, and the only way to enter the chat without the URL (How Discord can also be accessed) is to look at the right widget and find it. The DiscordIntegrator on the wiki is also on this rail and is much larger and noticeable, all the while being above the wiki chat widget if one scrolls down a page, which they have to do no matter what. Since Discord allows multiple servers on one account, with one window and one client/tab open, the user has access to all of their servers they can look at in one click without having to first go to the wiki and look for the widget to join the chat or otherwise have to type the URL in if the Discord client is used. It results in less maintenance required between each server, unlike the chat where you risk disconnecting and reconnecting repeatedly and earning a ban that way.


 * Speaking of maintenance, the strongest point in the "Stay" section is moot if there are no users joining frequently to justify it. When you look at the chat now through its widget, it only shows about two users on average, including the bot. According to the chat logs, people don't join for long and don't talk much and only once in a blue moon they actually do so. Because of this, it makes you question why it is still available. As FANDOM keeps making updates like modernization, the wiki chat has to be watched over in case anomalies happen with its JS or CSS. The extra work staff has to do for something not many will get to see or even witness along with the extra chat to monitor other than the Discord is not worth such effort when it can be made simpler for people.


 * The Discord server is limitlessly flexible because of its ability to allow the creation of text channels that help separate a passionate crowd. Some people want to just talk. Some people want to share creations they made. On the wiki chat, you were lucky not to get a "please drop it" if people start to murmur about how you are off-topic or otherwise being controversial or "hurtful." The flexibility allows more possibilities in communicating with people.


 * The Discord allows anyone to communicate with anyone at any time, unlike the wiki chat, where people have to wait for the other to enter in order to send messages about whatever. The Discord offers Ping features that can call upon people who are even offline or otherwise don't notice you straight away. Excluding the offline feature due to technicalities, you otherwise need scripts on the wiki chat otherwise to have pings be available. Not only this, but the ability to DM anyone at any time is also an advantage in case you want to inform someone something when you first think of it.


 * Discord is constantly being updated, meaning it will continue to inform the user of the platform's progress with introducing new features the wiki chat would wish to have along with constant notices of bug fixes. Wikia has been available in the WikiExtensions special page for nearly 7 years, and the only big update it has gotten is the introduction of a better ban and kick system. https://imgur.com/a/0rvkz

As a result, the Discord platform is clearly superior, especially in security, and is not still in the "experimental" section on the WikiExtensions special page. It is a chat client that appears to be actually cared for. Therefore, the wiki chat should be removed.