Webkinz Guide:We're back!

What happened?

On November 16, 2022, our wiki host, Miraheze, had one of their databases crash, and the Webkinz Guide text content was stored on that database. We paused making wiki edits while we waited for an announcement on data recovery. Luckily, on December 31, 2022, the wiki was fully restored. For the nuts-and-bolts technical and historical breakdown, have a read of the Server Reliability Engineering noticeboard at Miraheze Meta.

What now?

We knock wood and continue as normal, but we have to catch up on about 45 days of missed items, pets, and events.

Can I help?

Yes! Here's a non-exhaustive list of established niches. If you're feeling bold, create an account, verify your email address, and make some edits where they're required; if you're feeling prudent, feel free to drop a message in our Discord server and we'll point you in the right direction.

• Updating: Update the Webkinz Picture Guide and Webkinz Item Guide pages for major events such as floaty-clickies, holidays, mystery boxes, etc.
• Archival: Mirror the in-game updates in the Archives, then update the Webkinz Picture Guide and Webkinz Item Guide portions accordingly.
• Back-filling: Look through old WKN pages or fansites to fill out the missing Archives entries, or update stub or long-dormant Item Collections pages to current standard.
• Explanation: Flesh out barebones pages with more text, like adding or editing ledes or columns to Webkinz Item Guide pages for in-game mechanism of availability, or adding new columns to Item Collections with in-game functionality.
• Expansion: Create new Item Collections pages, either with robot help or by manually browsing the Webkinz Picture Guide for items that fit.
• Deep-diving: Reverse-engineer or own a page in Information and Guides, Item Collections, or elsewhere for a specific game mechanism that interests you.
• Polishing: Beautify or standardize formatting, copyedit for readability, sweep for small but repeated errors.

Can you explain this to me in rhyme?

once upon a morning wintry, autohotkey running nimbly
over many a quaint and curious new file, none of which had been seen before
while i waited, day job procrastinated, the master list was terminated
i grew frustrated, outbursts m-rated, our ill-fated host server was no more
"'tis not possible," i sharply stated, "give me back my guides and lore!"
quoth the wiki... "404"

ah distinctly i remember, time marching through december
dreams and hopes fell off tightropes as updates threw wrenches galore
eagerly i awaited, offline edits i created,
cursing the database behated, hoping we weren't done for
no money, time, or experts had brewed up the perfect storm
with bated breath, it missed our door

finally, they parted their curtain: a full recovery was certain
which thrilled us - filled us with overwhelming relief never felt before
shoutout to comcast's monopoly, slowing the work with internet throttlery
but the clouds cleared as we cheered for the return of our amour
there's much we missed and learned, and some habits changed therefore
what else will there be in store?