Bandz Wiki:Introduction To Bandz Wiki
From Bandz Wiki: The Encyclopedia of Silly Bandz And Other Shaped Silicone Rubber Band Bracelets
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This site is a wiki (a collaborative encyclopedia where readers can edit and contribute) running on MediaWiki—the same software that powers Wikipedia. User editing is heavily restricted at this time (more on that below), but this will change in the future.
The left-side navigation area contains links to nearly all of the content on Bandz Wiki.
Under Bandz Wiki are pages about the site itself.
Band Basics contains information on what shaped bands are, who makes them, and where to get them.
All Packs By Brand is the heart of the wiki, featuring pages for all known packs of shaped bands.
Pack Categories sorts packs by type—such as Glow In The Dark, Tie Dye, or Discontinued.
Articles links to pages with history and commentary on the band craze. There may be more opinions and predictions in this section than you are accustomed to from a wiki. We don't claim to be neutral!
Toolbox is part of the MediaWiki core software. Most of these links will only be of use to experienced/advanced wiki users.
Much of the sidebar links are nested within collapsible tabs, so you will have to click on the arrows and plus-signs to un-collapse them.
We are firm believers that wikis (and websites in general) should be easier to navigate than they often are, so please contact us or leave a comment if you have any trouble or suggestions on how to improve the wiki in that regard.
To create a user account, click on the link at the top of the page. (You don't even need an email address to sign up!) Don't be afraid to create an account, and we suggest you do, as plans are in store for registered users. Any personal information you enter will be kept safe.
What Can I Do While I'm Here?
Research: Trying to find whether or not Logo Bandz has made a pack for your favorite team? Want to know how many packs Stretchy Shapes has produced? Interested in which Silly Bandz packs have been discontinued? You've come to the right place.
Browse And Shop: Bandz Wiki isn't just the single best information source on shaped bands (if we do say so ourselves), it doubles as the most complete "product catalog" anywhere. Without naming names, Bandz Wiki organizes and presents some of these companies' products better than their own official sites!
While Bandz Wiki is not an online store, if you're looking for a particular pack, BW may actually be the first and best place to go. Most pack articles include a "Get It!" link that leads to Amazon.com (or another retailer) where you can purchase the pack. Please consider purchasing bands through these links, as your purchase will go toward supporting Bandz Wiki's hosting fees and the wiki's further growth and development. We love building this site, but it's hard work. We hope you will show your support!
Rate: If you want to rate band packs, just click on the rating bar to give each pack a rating between 1 and 100. If you are a logged in user, you can only vote once, but you can change your vote at any time by clicking on the rating bar again. Your individual votes will be saved, and in the future we will introduce a feature where you can view and display your personal vote list!
If you are not logged in, you can vote more than once, but you can only vote once per day from the same IP address. Bear in mind that your votes will NOT be saved in a way that you can retrieve them later if you are not logged in. You must create a user account.
Comment: You can comment on any article by entering your name and comment in the form at the bottom of the page. Not every page has a comments section. If you want the name in your comment to link to your personal user page, type "User:" in front of your name, and enclose it all in two brackets, like this: [[User:yourusername]]
Does Bandz Wiki Have Everything?
No! While no other website is as comprehensive as Bandz Wiki, we do not claim to have collected every shaped band pack ever released by every brand.
We are aware of many brands and packs that have not been added to the wiki yet. We will get to them. You can check the To Do List to get an idea of what we're working on.
However, even if we get to every single brand and pack that we know of, there are dozens, maybe even hundreds, that we DON'T know of! The shaped band market has exploded since late 2009. New packs are being released every week, and it seems like every time we turn around, a new brand is on the scene. The truth is, Bandz Wiki is unlikely to ever be complete. We'll do our best, but don't be surprised if you run into a pack or a brand that you don't see here.
Why Can't I Edit Or Create Articles?
At this time, Bandz Wiki is very new and still in a "beta" phase. We want to make sure everything is running smoothly before dealing with the many issues that can arise once editing is enabled.
In addition, it is important to us to keep the wiki safe for children, and safe from spammers, and we need more time to get safeguards into place.
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