Revision as of 15:12, 15 June 2012

MansonWiki is an English encyclopedia project which aims to cover all things related to the rock band Marilyn Manson. The name MansonWiki is a portmanteau of the words "Manson" (the content to which the site valors) and "wiki" (a type of collaborative website). Since its creation on March 4, 2007, MansonWiki has grown steadily. There are currently 4,291 users registered with MansonWiki, and as of today, there are 4,153 featured articles in the encyclopedia. MansonWiki stands out among most well-known media websites maintained by fans, as rather than being expanded by owners and select members, MediaWiki software allows any person with an Internet connection to expand its database.

History

Conceiving MansonWiki

"I once had this idea for a complete Manson website with articles, images, forums, quizzes, and everything else you can think of. The more I thought about it, the more ideas I got and the bigger it became in my head. It would be the ultimate Manson website.

Nothing happened.

Then someone on the phant suggested to start a MansonWiki, because the NinWiki was so popular. I did that, so yes, I guess I started all this. But then hardly anybody ever added information to it until Vixen came along, who if you ask me is responsible for 75% of the content on the wiki. Without him the wiki would be as useless as an empty beer bottle. You see what it is, you know what it's supposed to do, but there's just nothing in it.

After the wiki started growing and MansonUSA was down for the nth time I decided to add the forums, which have spawned a very small but interesting community mainly existing of me, vixen, cult killer, J.A., delandos, frau dietrich and blackeden (and sAINT, who's not around so much anymore).

Then I realised with a wiki and a forums we have the basis for that fantastic website I daydreamed of years ago. So now "Jones" [...] and I have started taking that idea to the next level"

— Litso, MansonWiki Forums^[1]

MansonWiki was an idea which founder Litso formed in early 2006. His original idea was to create a website from scratch, which would include a self-made content management system, including a wiki-based encyclopedia for Marilyn Manson, a tag-based and user-submitted image gallery, forums and an online radio station dedicated to the band's music. However, this idea eventually dissipated until when, in March 2007, Litso took notice to a thread on The Heirophant Council which requested a wiki for Marilyn Manson content. Litso's response to the thread was the creation of MansonWiki, which began based on his home server, before being relocated to his own domain, www.litso.com.

Shortly after MansonWiki went online, it was frequented by Steven "Vixen Windstorm" Maxim (known at the time by the username Rtiztik). Upon his return to the website in May that year, Litso discovered Windstorm's contributions and became inspired to continue actively building MansonWiki. It was also at this time that Windstorm was appointed the second administrator for the website. Shortly after this, the website was moved from litso.com/mansonwiki to its current domain name. In November, a third administrator, JarvisGanon was appointed. On May 4, 2008, MansonWiki expanded its audience with the introduction of MansonWiki Forums,^[2].

Litso, Jones and Vixen Windstorm went on to prepare a graphic overhaul for MansonWiki,^[3] which also included plans to merge MansonWiki and MansonWiki Forums into "one entity, so that the website can be looked at as more of a Marilyn Manson fan community anyone can edit and update, rather than a Marilyn Manson wiki with a forum that gets more action than the wiki itself. Imagine an editable Heirophant."^[3][4] This overhaul was later delayed indefinitely, due to Jones' disassociation with the project, as well as various distractions surfacing in both Litso's and Windstorm's personal lives preventing them from concentrating on the endeavour.

MansonWiki redefined

In December 2009, Litso announced that he no longer had the time or energy to put into the site, as he once had. At this point, Litso was contacted by several people who were interested in taking over the responsibilities of the site. Shortly after speaking with two longtime members of the Marilyn Manson online community, Litso appointed two new administrators, [god]speed and ‡-me-‡ to manage and promote MansonWiki. The real-life couple accepted the offer, admitting they "would love to have the opportunity to share the site as a team and ensure its future with a stable foundation." Shortly afterward, Litso handed over the reigns of the website to the two. Initially, Litso and Windstorm announced their departure from the website's staff, until [god]speed and ‡-me-‡ convinced the former to stay onboard, citing the importance for the website to maintain its original founder. In turn, Litso also convinced Windstorm to revoke his departure from MansonWiki, instead entering an indefinite hiatus.

The newly appointed administrators [god]speed and ‡-me-‡ began to diligently promote MansonWiki, as they began to lay the framework for what would become the current design of the website. Their vision was to create an entirely new infrastructure for MansonWiki, fusing together the elements of MediaWiki software with those of a visually appealing and unique website. This concept resonated well amongst Litso and Windstorm, who had been planning a similar idea since 2008 but were unable to develop it when one of the coders, Jones, departed.

In February 2010, MansonWiki began employing the concept of senior editors, members who had a greater degree of control over the information submitted to the website, but were not considered MansonWiki officials. The first senior editors of MansonWiki were Yawaraey, I4ig0, M1shael and Lagozzino, in acknowledgement of their contributions to the website. Many other additions were made to the website, including a section dedicated to lyrics, an interview archive, tablature and an extensive photograph gallery. By the middle of February 2010, the new design of MansonWiki was completed and awaited coding, before being uploaded to the server. After two months, MansonWiki contacted Antickon, a well-known HTML programmer whose most notable contribution to the Marilyn Manson community is the customized and hand-coded official Marilyn Manson message board, Babalon. By the end of April 2010, MansonWiki began testing and planning for the launch of the new design.

On May 13, 2010, the second incarnation of MansonWiki went live after a successful viral campaign which consisted of mysterious codes and number sequences, partially inspired by the infamous "Celebritarian codes" and the use of teaser trailers. The website was released to the fans, many of whom received personal invitations via e-mail or social networking websites. MansonWiki re-launched featuring its first exclusive interview, held with professional photographer Anthony Silva, a friend of Manson whose notable contributions are featured in the Eat Me, Drink Me liner booklet as well as the upcoming film Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll.

On August 15, 2010, MansonWiki's second interview piece was published, featuring excerpts from a conversation between [god]speed, ‡-me-‡ and Manson's father Hugh Warner, the day prior. As of September 2010, all four administrators of MansonWiki will be active with the website, after nearly a year of on-and-off contributions from veterans Litso and Windstorm.

Since its redesign, a series of new design concepts for MansonWiki have been pushed forth. These include emdedded YouTube videos, a Like Button for Facebook and the forthcoming ability to view MansonWiki in different languages.

On March 17, 2011, administrator ‡-me-‡ resigned from MansonWiki. Two days later her departure, as well as that of another administrator, [god]speed, was publicly announced. Through Litso, MansonWiki managed to find a replacement in Harlequin shortly after, on March 24, 2011.

Contests

MansonWiki has been known to hold contests rewarding members of the community for either building it or using it as a research tool. The website's earliest contest occurred in December 2008 and called for editors to write an informative article about Isani Griffith,^[5] while a more recent contest taking place during June 2010 asked members 15 questions which they would more than likely need to browse MansonWiki articles to solve.^[6] The following month in August 2010, 15 more questions were made available, with the winner of this quiz being awarded another vinyl release.^[7]

'MansonWiki's got talent' 
On May 28, 2011, MansonWiki launched Its first talent contest giving members the opportunity to "release their inner celebrity" by submitting a cover video of their favourite Marilyn Manson song. From the entries submitted, 5 finalists were chosen by the MansonWiki staff. The public were then asked to vote for one winner out of those finalists. 

Staff members

Current members

• GrislyGrizzly — April 2007–December 2009, March 2011–May 2011, April 2012–present (social media and wiki)
• M1shael — February 2010–present (social media and wiki)
• Harlequin — March 2011–present (social media and wiki)

Former members

• JarvisGanon — November 2007–May 2010 (wiki)
• ‡-me-‡ — December 2009–March 2011 (social media and wiki)
• [god]speed — December 2009–March 2011) (social media and wiki)
• I4ig0 — February 2010–May 2011 (wiki)
• Lagozzino — February 2010–February 2011 (wiki)
• Yawaraey — February 2010–2011 (wiki)
• Red marquis — May 2011–October 2011 (wiki)
• Antelope — April 2011–May 2012 (YouTube and Tumblr)
• Litso — March 2007–June 2012 (social media and wiki)

References

1. ↑ The Heirophant - Now allowing discussion of leaks?!?!. MansonWiki Forums. Litso. March 31, 2009. pp. 2
2. ↑ WELCOME! - Read this first!. MansonWiki Forums. Litso. May 4, 2008
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Feature requests. MansonWiki Forums. Vixen Windstorm. March 29, 2009. pp. 2
4. ↑ Making the wiki a better place!. MansonWiki Forums. Litso. March 31, 2009. pp. 4
5. ↑ Write an article about Isani Griffith and win the new album!. MansonWiki Forums. Litso. December 6, 2009. pp. 1
6. ↑ MansonWiki Contest|15 questions 1 prize!. MansonWiki Forums. ‡-me-‡. May 31, 2010. pp. 1
7. ↑ MansonWiki mOBSCENE Contest. MansonWiki. ‡-me-‡. August 2, 2010.

External links

• MansonWiki Forums
• Official MySpace profile
• Official Facebook page
• Official YouTube channel
• Official Twitter feed