This is an essay on the What Wikipedia is not policy. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia by the Wikimedia Foundation that anyone can edit.
Fandom is a free service for hosting wikis that anyone can create and edit. It uses the same underlying MediaWiki software as Wikipedia does. However, it serves a completely different purpose.
Wikipedia is a place where factual articles of educative value are created and maintained, i.e. like an encyclopedia (hence the name Wikipedia). Fandom's free hosting service can be used for anything from fan wikis for communities to in-depth information on conspiracy theories.
Both were founded by Jimmy Wales, but they are not affiliated. As a result, some things acceptable on Wikipedia are not accepted on Fandom, and vice versa. Some of the differences between Wikipedia and Fandom include:
There are also many similarities between them (e.g. copyright violations are just as unacceptable on Fandom as they are on Wikipedia, although Wikipedia's rules on non-free content are stricter than Fandom's).