Idea Wiki:Account


 * This article is about traversing your account. For your preferences page, see the special page Preferences.

This page is built to teach you about accounts and their options.

Accounts
Many FAQ's can be answered quickly, by the experts at Wikia, themselves. Help:Create an account|Help with: Account making, Help:User account|User accounts, Help:User page|User page, Help:Preferences|Preferences, Help:Achievements|Achievements

Let it be known
Wikia's guidelines as of January 1, 2009. This is only the relevant section of their terms. While you may use this Service without registering for membership, membership in the Service is void where prohibited by law, and is intended solely for users who are thirteen (13) years of age or older. Any registration by anyone under 13 is unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these Terms of Use. By registering the Service or the Site, you represent and warrant that you are 13 or older and that you agree to and to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement. If you choose to register for membership, in consideration of your use of the Site, you agree to maintain the security of your password and identification and to be fully responsible for all use of your account and for any actions that take place using your account.

The Company may terminate your account, delete your profile and any content or information that you have posted on the Service and/or prohibit you from using or accessing the Service for any reason, or no reason, at any time in its sole discretion, with or without notice.

You agree not to use the Service to: You further agree to:
 * Harass members of the Service;
 * Use the Service in any unlawful manner or in any other manner which could damage, impair, or overburden the site;
 * Post, upload, transmit, share, or store content which is unlawful, defamatory, infringing, obscene, or invasive of another's right to privacy or publicity;
 * Impersonate another entity or person;
 * Post, upload, transmit, share, or store unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, solicitations, "spam", or any other type of unauthorized solicitation;
 * Solicit personal information from any user under the age of 18;
 * Access or attempt to access any information on the Service through an interface other than the Service or otherwise approved by the Company;
 * Solicit passwords or other information for unlawful purposes.
 * Only use the services in a manner consistent with these Terms of Use and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
 * Maintain the confidentiality of any password(s) associated with your use of the Service;
 * Notify the company immediately in case of any unauthorized use of your account;
 * Not intentionally block, remove, or otherwise obstruct the proper functioning and view of advertisements, and/or user interface and functionality by other users, including but not limited to changing or adding javascript or CSS changes to the Service that would prevent the proper display or function of advertisements and/or user interface and functionality.
 * Use data provided by the Service only as allowed by the Service's Privacy Policy.

In General
In order to sign up for a Wikia account, only your username, password, and date of birth are required. An email address is also requested during sign-up. “Optional information” that we request you provide may include your first name, last name, and your gender. We may also request that you provide additional “optional information” such as your interests and hobbies for purposes of enhancing your profile among the Wikia community. Any “optional information” you choose to provide may be made public. We use this information to improve your experience with the Service, including the proper targeting of advertisements.

If you request the creation of a wiki at Wikia, all details submitted in regard to this may be made public.

Wikia also may send one or more cookies - a small file that lives in your web browser that helps the Service operate with full functionality (such as keeping you logged into the service). Most web browsers allow you to disable cookies, and you are welcome to continue to use the Service if you choose to do so. However, some of the Service’s features may not function properly if cookies are disabled. Wikia uses some of those cookies and the data tracked by some of those cookies in conjunction with various advertisers and advertising networks. Wikia has no control over the cookies and other information collected by advertising and advertising networks which service ads on Wikia, and this policy does not apply to the information collected in regard to either of those services.

Wikia’s user data is stored in the United States, and its servers log some information whenever you access the Service; information such as your IP address, the time of your visit, your browser type and your browser's language setting.

If you send a communication to the Company, we may hold onto that communication so that we can respond appropriately, and so that we can incorporate your feedback to improve the Service.

You are not required to register for an account or to provide any personal information to us in order to use the Service.

Wikia collects all the information you provide when you modify the content of a page or the Service (such as making edits, uploading images, etc.) An indicator that you provided that information is left on the History tab associated with the edited page or appropriate special/image page; on the Recent Changes link, in the Community box on the left side of the wiki pages, and in your user contributions.

Online behavioral advertising
Wikia may use Online behavioral advertising ("OBA") or multi-site advertising on some wikis. We collect data on the number of pages you visit per day, in order to support frequency capped advertising campaigns for certain advertisers or to improve the ad targeting based on the types of wikis you visit on Wikia. Third parties may also leave a cookie with your browser to track your visits to Wikia. We do not transfer data to third parties. Wikia users may opt out of this on the NetworkAdvertising.org site.

Sharing Your Information
Wikia only shares your information with others in the following circumstances: If the Company becomes involved in a merger or acquisition or any form of sale of some or all of its assets, we will provide notice to you, via an update to this policy, of any personal information to be transferred and/or subject to a different policy.
 * 1) As described above
 * 2) With our subsidiaries and affiliated companies, contractors, and vendors. We require these parties to process your information in compliance with this policy.
 * 3) As required by law enforcement agencies
 * 4) As we, in our sole judgment, deem necessary to investigate a breach of security

We may also share with third parties aggregated, non-personal information, such as the number of new user registrations over a specific time period or the number of users who edited a particular wiki.

These people also have info on the use of their freakin' logo! So they know a bit. What I just realized the logo is actually w[k]a (as those brackets are how most tags are written). Woah.

Benefits

 * It's easier to connect with and help you
 * You can use chat
 * You can earn achievements
 * It shows you are interested in helping the wiki
 * You're less likely to get blocked (as apposed to being anonymous)
 * You can personalize your experience here
 * You get a fancy banner that provides info quickly and efficiently

Drawbacks
I've done hours of research, and haven't found anything. I'll keep looking though. Beyond security, which is covered in the next section. (Wow, the irony!)

Security
Online security with the Genius:

Cookies are needed by Wikia in order for your account to work. There are two types of cookies: temporary and permanent. Both need to be understood.


 * Cookies are a small piece of data that tracks various pieces of information for various reasons. Citation

Temporary

 * Called session cookies
 * They are saved only while your browser is open
 * They are used to save history, and let the sites you are a member to know that your account is being used by you
 * From wiki answers "The MediaWiki software that runs this site uses a cookie to save your login information; this allows you to be able to return to the site and stay logged in. If you disable your cookies, you cannot sign into your WikiAnswers account. It is just the way WikiAnswers works. Note that not all cookies are security issues." Cookies are also used by browsers as a checkup to see if you are logged in. Wikia may give you a cookie. (in this case a "session" cookie) It says, Wikia, I am logged in. Say you refresh. Wikia checks for that confirmation. Your cookie says yes. Therefore, it will treat you as such.
 * Generally safe

Note: Achievements are not tied to cookies.

Permanent

 * These include saved games/progress, preferences about how websites appear, and possibly some info about your habits.


 * Also include tracking cookies
 * Tracking cookies MAY access your name (if you say it), location, preference, online habits and more
 * While they may not be evil (compared to viruses), advertisers may use them to sell to you more effectively (Do I really want an ad for Alaska when I live in Canada? And for hearing aids if I'm not even thirty yet?)
 * Companies may buy and sell this info for money. That is the paranoid/uninformed/yet completely true version of things. (I've taken marketing in school. They cover this stuff.) Let it be known that I myself do not mind them, and they do not bother me, as I know some things, like the stuff listed below.

Safety
Cookies are used for those different purposes. For the marginally safe but not fully aware of the possibilities, blocking all cookies are generally a good thing.

Cookies

 * 1) HOWEVER, one may go into settings, depending on their browser, and list certain sites, like Wikia, as an exception. Only those cookies are saved.
 * 2) For the even more elite, clear your browser cache, cookies and history after every use of the browser.
 * 3) Tell your browser to clear all that data on close. (That should remove history, cookies and clear the cache (which stores webpages for fast loading) automatically)
 * 4) Block third party cookies. I've never met one I liked. Wikia is first party. Advertisers are third party.
 * 5) Always remove cookie entries from Doubleclick or Fast click or anything with click basically (I get to view who shared cookies with me, and I know that that one is an ad agency.)

Browser

 * 1) Don't allow your browser to log address bar entries. Anything saved by the browser is usually in a form easily accessed by anyone.
 * 2) There is a setting (in Chrome, at least) that says "Block all sites from accessing my location". Do block sites.
 * 3) Never mention personal information online (Facebook will store that stuff forever. Don't say names, locations, ages. You can see on my userpage where my location is. Specifically vague.)
 * 4) Recommended: tell your browser NEVER to store usernames/passwords (I don't even do that even though I don't mind most cookies. Most browsers to not encrypt that data).
 * 5) Use encryption(s)
 * 6) Big organizations are more dangerous with personal info. Like Google. (Sorry Google, as much as i like your products, this "Don't be evil" slogan seems to be slipping away.)
 * 7) Use an adblocker extension. (You'll never/rarely click an ad by mistake; they're just not there!)
 * 8) Use inprivate browsing or incognito mode.

Internet

 * 1) Download (gasp?! download something?! Don't download pretty much anything unless you trust the source.) AVG (or any firewall) and Spybot Search and Destroy (or any antivirus). Pay if you REALLY want good coverage/protection.
 * 2) Use Webutation.org to find a site's reputation. Ours has a perfect 100!
 * 3) Secure your wifi with passwords
 * 4) Use passwords marked as secure via here
 * 5) Change your password regularly (This is everything I know, not necessarily practice.)
 * 6) Store personal info (if it needs to be on the computer), on a separate drive than the main one, and don't keep it connected when going online.
 * 7) Never share your password. If you do, change it ASAP afterwords
 * 8) Be careful around JavaScript. Veeery careful. Hackers like it. I allow it on sites I know.
 * 9) Be careful of what links you follow, and scan them. Even from friends.
 * 10) Make sure the "http://" in front of the www. address is written as "https://"

Computer

 * 1) Clear your recycle bin (for those with windows), defragment your drives often, run scans often.
 * 2) If you use a laptop, check your mic and webcam, use it only 5 mi below ground, where we can't use lasers to detect what you're saying through the window. There are crazy things possible these days.

Uuuuum, so that was a list of every possible thing I can think of, beyond shutting off your computer, cementing it into a box and posting guards around it. I don't even follow all of these, because i don't mind being advertised to if I can't see the ads. (Thanks, Adblock!) I also use something called Kick ass: destroy the web if i want a more personalized way of removing ads. It is javascript (uh oh), but it merely removes certain sections of a web page through an astroids-like interface.

I hope this was useful, and not terrifying. The web can be terrifying, but not nearly as bad if you know some things. Especially if you add humor.

Others with accounts
They can be found in the Community area.

Thank you for reading all the way here. We hope this was informative. Other places you should check for help is in the Tutorial. It's excellent.