The Fanlistings Network
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fanlistings Network is the largest directory of fanlistings on the internet, with over 44,000 approved fanlistings listed [1]. The network, which was originally created by Janine Mischor in May of 2000, usually has 5 senior staffers, a few developers working on improving coding and the network backend, over 60 category staffers who process applications among other things, and over 100 trouble-checkers who make sure all sites listed in the directory are active and following rules.
Anime and manga fanlistings were previously listed at the network, but due to the immense size of the category, all fanlisting pertaining the topics were moved to their own network, AnimeFanlistings.org, in September of 2004.
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[edit] History
Janine Mischor (born in 1983) is the original creator the concept/term of "fanlisting", but not the creator of the concept of listing fans of a topic on a website. Internet "cliques", or sites where fans join to show their association with something or admiration for a topic, overran the web in the late 1990s. Clique topics ran from colors, to ethnic pride, to birth months. People from around the globe would come to these sites to submit their names, email addresses, and possibly websites and countries, to make a list of fans or whatnot of the topic. It is not known if Mischor was inspired by the clique craze, but there are similarities between fanlistings and cliques.
Mischor began doing her own web design in 1999, and soon built her first website, which was dedicated to Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled "The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lurky Lounge" [2]. After another Buffy the Vampire Slayer site was created, Mischor built Slayers Empire, a website, and fanlisting also about BtVS. This would become the first, and longest running, fanlisting the network has listed [3] Soon, Mischor found herself building a headquarters for all fanlistings and a place where others could apply to run and eventually list their own website fanlistings.
TheFanlistings.org was officially born in May of 2000 when Mischor started the website. As the site grew, Mischor recruited a group of friends to help her maintain the venture.
Two years of growing took place before Mischor handed over the site to the senior staff, led by Sasha van Twist, in 2002.
From June 2002 until April 2004, van Twist led the senior staff of The Fanlistings Network [4]. Working to improve the site overall, van Twist converted the website from hardcoded HTML to the PHP and MySQL backend it is currently using today. The newest version of the site is also accredited to van Twist. In April of 2004, however, van Twist decided she would take a step back from her duties, and have a lesser role in the network from then on. The network was handed to a group of volunteers from around the world (the senior staff), each taking on a different job maintaining the growing network.
From 2004 on, The Fanlistings Network has grown at an extremely fast rate, with fanlistings for topics ranging from celebrities, to colors, to nature, to drugs. There are currently over 44,000 fanlistings listed at the network's official site. The number of fanlistings fluctuates greatly, however, due to fanlistings being removed and added to the network with each update.
[edit] Staff
[edit] Senior Staff
The senior staff, or the leaders/maintainers of the general website and network, consists of five volunteers from countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and the USA. These six staffers make important decisions on what to implement into the site, and how the network should be run. They may also staff categories, performing duties such as approving and rejecting applications to run fanlistings, updating fanlisting information, and heading the "troubles" lists (the process of removing fanlistings from the network). The senior staff also is in charge of complaints, policies and rules, and general inquiries. The current senior staffers are:
- Adia of Salishna.net
- Akasha of GloryFades.org
- Ally O of Drowned-World.net
- Brittany of Darkness-Falls.org
- Hoppy of Waking-Empty.net
- Jen of TragicDisco.net
Past senior staffers include:
- Abby of Dreamtyme.org
- Bee of Raining-on-Sunday.org
- Beth of Eurotrash.cc
- Bonnie of Burbling.net
- Cathrine of Untried.net
- Charlotte of Tinyblob.net
- Jackie of Psyche.nu
- Jai of Free-Joy.org
- Janine of Black-Inside.org
- Kim of 17thstreet.net
- Sasha of Nothing-Less.net
[edit] Developers
Developers of The Fanlistings Network are the ones who have contributed to developing the site's management system and design, among other things. If the senior staff want to implement a new system of some sort, the developers would be the actual ones to code it and add it to the website. The developers are currently working on a new backend to implement into the network.
According to the network's message board, there are three listed developers as of August 2006, Amy of Ywing.net, Julie of New-Place.org and Meaghan of Brilliant-but-Lazy.net.
[edit] Category Staffers
The category staffers of the network are the ones responsible for the majority of the updates that happen, from applications, to troubles, to form updates. There are over 50 staffers, some doing one category, others doing several. There are three categories the staff falls into: application staffers, troubles staffers, and finished/update info/closed-form staffers [5].
Application staffers are the ones who approve or reject applicants who apply for a particular fanlisting. Sometimes they will have to reject one person, at other times many many people. There is usually one staffer responsible for applications for each category. If they need help deciding who is to be approved for a fanlisting or helping with apps, they may require the help of other category staffers who do not staff their category, particularly for deciding upon the approval of subjects for which they themselves have applied.
Troubles staffers are in charge of trouble checker volunteers, as well as making updates listing all fanlistings that are "in trouble", or pending for removal from the network. They process report forms of fanlistings that might be in trouble, send out troubles emails to the owners of fanlistings that are in trouble, and grant extensions to fanlisting owners, among other things. They are also responsible for removing troubled fanlistings from the network.
The form staffers are the ones who process update, closed, and finished forms for fanlistings at the network. Update forms can be sent for a fanlisting if the owner has adopted it out to another person or moved their fanlisting to a new URL. Closed forms are for fanlisting owners who no longer want to keep a fanlisting, and have decided not to, or cannot, find a new owner. Once the closed form is processed, the fanlisting is thus removed from the network and is open for application again. Finished forms simply let the form staffers know that a fanlisting that was approved is finished, and can be listed at the network. Fanlistings that are still on upcoming cannot be transferred directly to a new owner if the approved owner changes their mind about wanting to run them; these are closed and then reopened for application.
[edit] Trouble Checkers
Trouble checkers are volunteers who dedicate time to checking fanlistings for things that could possibly land them "in trouble", and possibly get them removed from the network. A massive amount of trouble checkers (currently over 100)[6] is needed to help check the over 44,000 fanlistings listed at the network. A trouble checker is allowed to check for up to three categories, and works closely with the troubles staffers of each category they check for. There is a large variety of things trouble checkers look for when examining a fanlisting: from dead links, to rules that prohibit certain people from joining, to not listing countries. Trouble checkers, along with the rest of the staff, are vital to the maintenance of the network.
[edit] Categories
As of November 2006, there are 57 categories. Some have gone through merges and name changes over the years, but this is how they stand:
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[edit] Inspired Networks
Due to the popularity of the fanlisting idea, spin-offs networks, have been created by other people to house fanlistings for different things, possibly things not approvable at the original fanlistings network. Some of the networks inspired by TFL include:
- The Taboolistings - approves listings on subjects that TFL refuses
- The Physical Fanlistings - approves fanlistings for physical parts of bodies
- The Name Listings - approves listings for names
