explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1150: Instagram

2012-12-26T19:26:56Z

Castriff:

Randall completely ignores the fact that "Chad" offered to store people's stuff for free and with no problems. That's how "Chad" ended up with a garage full of stuff. That's why the sudden notice that "Chad" was going to sell the stuff upset all those people. The hover text neglects to mention whether or not the people across the street are also offering to store people's stuff for free.[[Special:Contributions/96.233.16.30|96.233.16.30]] 10:39, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

: As well as the difference between leaving a clearly worded (though still rather jerk-y) note and slipping unclear language into the already bloated Terms of Service. [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 11:53, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

:The fact of the matter is, he may be storing the stuff for free, but there's nothing to say that there are "no problems" involved. Effectively, once it's in Chad's house, he owns it. In any case, there's nothing to stop Cueball from not giving Chad any more stuff, or taking his stuff back from the garage. Of course, I understand it's not going to be as easy taking stuff off Instagram, but there you go. --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 14:17, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Please note that a lot of people thought the new ToS allowed Instagram to sell their pictures but this is a misunderstanding of these ToS. This explanation should be slightly reworded in that sense. See http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/12/18/instagram_privacy_uproar_why_it_s_absurd_in_three_nearly_identical_sentences.html {{unsigned|82.235.150.60}}

Great explanation, but what is meant by "to sell user-uploaded images without profit"? Sell sth without profit sounds like a paradox... – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 14:23, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

:The explanation says/means "without profit to the content generators" - i.e. the people who are uploading the images (content) to Instagram. I'm sure Instagram would be making a profit selling the images...just not the original uploaders --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 15:45, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

I disagree with the second paragraph of the explanation. Cueball / content generators didn't "give" their stuff/photos, they merely accepted the offer of free storage. The terms and conditions of the agreement have been changed to benefit Chad/Instagram. There's no such thing as a free lunch...

:Read the fourth panel again. --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 02:03, 22 December 2012 (UTC)
::The use of the word "giving " does not imply transference of ownership. The joke lies in the fact that there is no contract for storage facilities due to the absence of consideration.
:::But now it does have legal value, due to Instagram's terms of service. The slate.com link above sheds good light on this phenomenon. --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:26, 26 December 2012 (UTC)

The "Explanation" above starts with the assertion that this comic makes sense by itself. No, it's crazy without the context provided by the title. The point of the comic is the unrealistic expectations that Instagram's users have. {{unsigned|174.125.139.140}}

:I was not aware of the Instagram back story and without understanding the title of this comic or how any of this pertained to Instagram I was still able to understand and appreciate the joke.--Matt

:I thought the comic was sort of funny when I first read it, but when I saw the title everything really clicked. I wrote "the comic makes sense by itself" because it did to me before I noticed the word "Instagram." [[Special:Contributions/108.233.253.211|108.233.253.211]] 22:56, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

Another slight difference is that when Chad sells Cueball's stuff, Cueball can't use it anymore. If Instagram sells its users' photos, they can still use them. If the users try to sell them though, they probably will make less money if Instagram sells them for less. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 05:39, 23 December 2012 (UTC)

1150: Instagram

2012-12-26T19:20:13Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1150
| date = December 21, 2012
| title = Instagram
| image = instagram.png
| titletext = I'm gonna call the cops and get Chad arrested for theft, then move all my stuff to the house across the street. Hopefully the owners there are more responsible.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic title indicates that it's an allegory for a recent controversy over {{w|Instagram}}, a photo-sharing social network now owned by {{w|Facebook}}. In December 2012, Instagram changed their [http://instagram.com/about/legal/terms/ terms of use], allowing the network to sell user-uploaded images, without profit to the content generators. This infuriated many users, who closed their accounts or stopped uploading images.

The title text notes two flaws in the logic of disgruntled Instagram users. You cannot accuse Instagram of stealing because it was you who gave them the images in the first place, and it is irresponsible to assume that this will not happen if you give your photos to another social networking company.

{{w|Craigslist}} is a website for the US and Canada where individuals can contact others interested in buying or selling goods. As a verb, it means to sell something on Craigslist.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and a friend. Friend is at a computer.]
:Cueball: I've been putting all my stuff in Chad's garage.
:Cueball: He has nice shelves.
:Cueball: And he lets me in to see it whenever I want.

:But I got this note from him:
:Note: Dude
:Note: In like a month im gonna Craigslist all that shit you left in my garage
:Note: Just FYI
:Note: -Chad

:Cueball: It's an ''outrage''! This is no way to run a storage business!
:Friend: Are you paying him to look after your stuff?

:Cueball: No.
:Friend: Then what he runs isn't a storage business.
:Cueball: Well, I'm ''this'' close to not giving him any more stuff
:Friend: That'll teach him.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:1150: Instagram

2012-12-22T02:03:35Z

Castriff:

Talk:1150: Instagram

2012-12-21T14:19:50Z

Castriff:

Talk:1150: Instagram

2012-12-21T14:19:24Z

Castriff:

Talk:1150: Instagram

2012-12-21T14:17:30Z

Castriff:

1150: Instagram

2012-12-21T14:11:03Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1150
| date = December 21, 2012
| title = Instagram
| image = instagram.png
| titletext = I'm gonna call the cops and get Chad arrested for theft, then move all my stuff to the house across the street. Hopefully the owners there are more responsible.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic is in response to {{w|Instagram}}'s change to their {{w|terms of service}} (ToS), allowing the {{w|Facebook}}-owned network to sell user-uploaded images without profit to the content generators. In response, many Instagram users have chosen to either close their accounts or to cease uploading images to the network.

{{w|Craigslist}} is a website for the US and Canada where individuals can contact others interested in buying or selling goods.

The alt-text notes two flaws in the logic of disgruntled Instagram users. You cannot accuse Instagram of stealing because it was you who gave them the images in the first place. And it is irresponsible to assume that this will not happen if you give your photos to another social networking company.

They have your stuff, folks. Just bow your head and walk away in shame.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and a friend. Friend is at a computer.]
:Cueball: I've been putting all my stuff in Chad's garage.
:Cueball: He has nice shelves.
:Cueball: And he lets me in to see it whenever I want.

:But I got this note from him:
:Note: Dude
:Note: In like a month im gonna Craigslist all that shit you left in my garage
:Note: Just FYI
:Note: -Chad

:Cueball: It's an ''outrage''! This is no way to run a storage business!
:Friend: Are you paying him to look after your stuff?

:Cueball: No.
:Friend: Then what he runs isn't a storage business.
:Cueball: Well, I'm ''this'' close to not giving him any more stuff
:Friend: That'll teach him.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1150: Instagram

2012-12-21T14:09:47Z

Castriff:

{{comic
| number = 1150
| date = December 21, 2012
| title = Instagram
| image = instagram.png
| titletext = I'm gonna call the cops and get Chad arrested for theft, then move all my stuff to the house across the street. Hopefully the owners there are more responsible.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic is in response to {{w|Instagram}}'s change to their {{w|terms of service}} (ToS), allowing the {{w|Facebook}}-owned network to sell user-uploaded images without profit to the content generators. In response, many Instagram users have chosen to either close their accounts or to cease uploading images to the network.

{{w|Craigslist}} is a website for the US and Canada where individuals can contact others interested in buying or selling goods.

The alt-text notes two flaws in the logic of disgruntled Instagram users. You cannot accuse Instagram of stealing because it was you who gave them the images in the first place. And it is irresponsible to assume that this will not happen if you give your photos to another social networking company.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and a friend. Friend is at a computer.]
:Cueball: I've been putting all my stuff in Chad's garage.
:Cueball: He has nice shelves.
:Cueball: And he lets me in to see it whenever I want.

:But I got this note from him:
:Note: Dude
:Note: In like a month im gonna Craigslist all that shit you left in my garage
:Note: Just FYI
:Note: -Chad

:Cueball: It's an ''outrage''! This is no way to run a storage business!
:Friend: Are you paying him to look after your stuff?

:Cueball: No.
:Friend: Then what he runs isn't a storage business.
:Cueball: Well, I'm ''this'' close to not giving him any more stuff
:Friend: That'll teach him.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

863: Major in the Universe

2012-12-20T20:00:51Z

Castriff:

{{comic
| number = 863
| date = February 21, 2011
| title = Major in the Universe
| image = major in the universe.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = I hear Steven Levitt is writing a book analyzing A.J. Jacobs' quest to spend a year reading everything Malcolm Gladwell ever wrote. The audiobook will be narrated by Robert Krulwich of Radiolab.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, several authors are referenced. {{w|Malcolm Gladwell}} is a Canadian author who wrote such books as "The Tipping Point", "Outliers" and "Blink". {{w|Steven Levitt}} is one of the co-authors of the book, "{{w|Freakonomics}}" and also the Freakonomics blog on NYTimes.com.

{{w|Robert Krulwich}} is a science corespondent for {{w|NPR}} (National Public Radio, for those outside of the US) and a co-host of the show {{w|Radiolab}}.

{{w|A. J. Jacobs}} is a journalist who immerses himself in different ideas and lives them out for periods of time. For example, he lives a year according to {{w|The Year of Living Biblically|all the rules in the bible literally}}.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] as a college student, meeting with his adviser or professor trying to decide what to major in. He decides to major in "The Universe", but when his adviser details the real work required of that major, Cueball scratches his head and tells what he really means. If you have not read Malcolm Gladwell's books, they all are slightly similar and details Gladwell's different "discoveries" about the world based on things that have happened.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball before a professor]
:Cueball: How can I pick a major? I'm interested in everything! Can't I major in "the universe"?

:Professor: Okay. First, I'll need papers on every European trade summit that did not result in an agreement. Then, spend a year memorizing every microprocessor instruction set ever used in a production chip.

:[Cueball scratches head]

:Cueball: What I meant was I just want to read Malcolm Gladwell books and drink.
:Professor: We all do, sweetie.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

899: Number Line

2012-12-18T17:59:10Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 899
| date = May 16, 2011
| title = Number Line
| image = number line.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = The Wikipedia page "{{w|List of Numbers}}" opens with "This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it."
}}

==Explanation==
*Negative numbers just wanna be positive numbers or some joke of that nature.

*'''0.99'''.... is {{w|0.999...|provably equal to 1}} because there is no number between 0.99.... and 1. ([http://www.exploringbinary.com/binary-converter/ Binary 0.0000000000000000000000000001 = 0.0000000037252902984619140625])

*The {{w|Golden ratio}} is the length to width of rectangles that are most pleasing to the eye. The number which is about 1.61803, is the numeric value is called "phi", named for the Greek sculptor Phidias. The {{w|Parthenon}} is a perfect rectangle in size. The number of spirals on the head of [http://www.popmath.org.uk/rpamaths/rpampages/sunflower.html Sunflowers] are also said to exhibit the Golden mean/ratio.

*Forbidden Region and Unexplored are both map jokes.

*{{w|e (mathematical constant)|e}}(Euler's number) is 2.71828... and π(pi) is 3.14159265...

*2.9299372 is a President's Day reference because it is the average of e and pi just as the American President's Day is always observed on the 3rd Monday of February (between {{w|George Washington}} and {{w|Abraham Lincoln}}'s birthdays). (For non-US residents, those were the 1st and 16th Presidents of the USA.)

*{{w|Gird}} Could be a reference to [http://www.strangehorizons.com/2000/20001120/secret_number.shtml Bleem] - a fictional integer between 3 and 4, also see [http://icarly.wikia.com/wiki/Derf iCarly's Derf] - a fictional integer between 5 and 6; and [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bleen George Carlin's Bleen] - a fictional integer between 6 and 7.

*Site of the Battle of 4.108 is not a reference to anything I think it is another map joke.

*You do see often on TV and in the media that "It has been 7 years..." or "In the last 7 years..." etc.

*8 is not the largest even prime. 2 is. I'm sure this is like the 0.99... entry above, Randall is trying to start internet battles over the subject. Here are all the prime numbers on the chart above: 2, 3, 5, 7

*The last entry seems to be a reference to {{w|Discrete Math}}, which rarely deals with numbers higher than 9. Randall again is trying to incite a internet flame war with Mathematicians who study other forms of math.

==Transcript==
:(( number line ranging from -1 to 10 ))
:(( arrow pointing left, towards negative numbers )) Negative "imitator" numbers (do not use)
:(( line right before the number one )) 0.99... (acutally 0.0000000372 less than 1)
:(( line at the golden ratio )) Φ - Parthenon; sunflowers; golden ratio; wait, come back, I have facts!
:(( line at a region between two and 2.2 )) forbidden region
:(( line at Euler's number )) e
:(( line a bit before 3 )) 2.9299372 (e and pi, observed)
:(( line at π )) π
:(( line at 3.5 with a ribbon as the numeral )) Gird - accepted as canon by orthodox mathematicians
:(( line a bit after 4 )) site of battle of 4.108
:(( blob between 4.5 and 6.5 labeled unexplored ))
:(( line at seven )) Number indicating a factoid is made up ("every 7 years...", "science says there are 7...", etc)
:(( line at eight )) Largest even prime
:(( line at 8.75 )) If you encounter a number higher than this, you"re not doing real math

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

Talk:952: Stud Finder

2012-12-18T17:43:10Z

Castriff:

In most of the U.S. local building codes specify 16 inches (about 41 cm) center-to-center as the standard distance between wooden studs.[[Special:Contributions/138.163.106.72|wknehans]] 15:22, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Could Black Hat probably have fixed Cueball's stud finder so that it always showed studs everywhere? [[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 15:23, 21 November 2012 (UTC)
:Well, I think it's Randall who's talking in the alt-text. --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 17:43, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2012-12-18T02:07:46Z

Castriff: /* Whatever Happened to the Template? & Transcript Redirect */

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== Spampage Rampage ==
Hail fellow admins, Jeff, distinguished editors all,

We've just been through a second spike of spam, (the first being around the 1110 Click and Drag comic) so as your friendly Angel of Death to such spammery, I'd like to open the floor to discussion on strategies to deal with the issue.

Personally, I don't mind the role of grim reaper for these miscreants, but I'd also prefer that it doesn't grow in magnitude; of late, I find myself almost exclusively dealing with the matter, leaving little enough time to enjoy the site, let alone contributing to it. Anything we can do to keep things under control would be appreciated.

So far, the spam comes in these flavors:
* One-timers. New users that create their own user page, oddly alike (couldn't be a spam-bot, eh?) always linking to "their" website. By far the biggest percentage of time the scythe falls, it falls on these.
** Two-timers. A variant of above, except they create one or two additional pages, typically the user's talk page, or a page same as the username, but not in the user namespace. Here too, quickly dispatched across the Styx.
* IPersonators: IP users that create faux user (and other) pages. Second largest group, though this trend has been growing, especially during this recent onslaught.
** A particularly insidious variant: IPersonators creating or modifying a real users' page. I've been pretty careful, so far, to track down the author, and block ''them'' (as opposed to assuming author = user) but I can see how this flavor of spam risks accidental blocking of legit contributors, which would be doubleplusungood.
* Jibberish vandal: Somebody creating content that isn't spam, but just repeated ''asdf'' or ''ghjkl'' content. Treated as above, though I don't call this spam in the logs. My guess is that this is a spam-bot under development. Fairly infrequent, and addressed using techniques as for above.

There are a few other one-off types, too, which I won't bother elaborating here.

So, the open-ended question stands: What do we do?

# There has been a suggestion to block IP-only contributors (ie must log in) ... perhaps only on an as-needed basis.
# Another thought would be to (by some as-yet unspecified means) prevent the creation, or cause the timely deletion, of user pages by other than said user.)
# Restricting external links (by a similarly as-yet-unspecified means) either to a specified approved white-list, or by a specified set of contributors (must have made more than n edits, for example.)
# Other thoughts? Let the discussion unfold...

No solution is likely to be perfect; this is a matter of raising the bar to where whatever processed meat can crest over it can be most easily managed... all without being so draconian that we compromise the appeal of the site.

All said, I have no problems with the grim reaper enterprise, but would like to spend more time in the [[User:IronyChef/TestKitchen|kitchen]], and less in the [[Special:Log/block|dumpster]].

A little postscript to put the issue into perspective: the ''top four contributors'', (as per Active Users as I write this) are as follows:
* Lcarsos [169 edits in the last 30 days]
* Davidy22 [282 edits in the last 30 days]
* Bpothier [298 edits in the last 30 days]
* IronyChef [433 edits in the last 30 days]
I can tell you that of my four-hundred plus edits, only about a dozen have not been spam related. Lcarsos and Davidy22 are two ace spam-seeking deputies, so a large part of their edits involve tagging pages with the spam template, not (as I'm sure they'd prefer) actually chiming in on matters xkcd. The rest of the field: not even close in terms of edit magnitude. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:30, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

:I was going to suggest a range block, but the IP addresses com from everywhere. The only pattern I can see is in the 83.<25 range. We could also change the captcha to cut into the bots for a little while. Another suggestion would be to create every explanation page, then mark the unfinished ones with the <nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> template, if that exists in this wiki. Then we can block anonymous page creation without having to worry about stopping anonymous users from creating new explanations. We'll have to make a few modifications to the site, to instruct users on how to find pages in need of explanations, but it'll kill all the userpage and self-help spambots. We can figure out how to deal with vandalism later - I would recommend implementing wikipedia's cluebot to automagically roll back page clearing and the like. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 23:16, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

:Also, we can semi-protect important pages like categories and templates. Chances are, anonymous users aren't familiar enough with wikis to be handling those anyways, and wiki veteran anonymous users will probably make an account. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 09:30, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

... ''Madame la Guillotine'' has been busy, dealing with no less than four dozen spammified pages and their attendant contributors in the last hour, to address a third spike in spam. Our hyper-contributing editors have been helping identify these malefactors, so the process has been fairly straight-forward on my part, but it's awfully quiet here....

The top five contributors, as of this writing, are:
* Divad27182 [133 edits in the last 30 days]
* Davidy22 [202 edits in the last 30 days]
* Lcarsos [207 edits in the last 30 days]
* Bpothier [267 edits in the last 30 days]
* IronyChef [537 edits in the last 30 days]

Number six is comes in at less than half of Divad's, and the curve decays precipitiously from there... so this is becoming a call to arms for admins to convene and discuss, ''or'' Jeff to anoint other, more active contributors, admin status.

Thoughts?

-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 06:02, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

:Would it be possible to volunteer to be another admin to move some of the load off of IronyChef? It feels slightly cruel and unusual for him to be the only active admin, and thus ad-hoc in charge of keeping the engines running. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:16, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

::Another admin is definitely needed, given the volume of spam. It'd be nice if we could [[Special:UnusedTemplates|clean]] [[Special:UnusedFiles|out]] the attic too. Shall we hold a vote? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 06:41, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

::I only have sporadic time to do edits, so I'd likely not be an ideal choice if there can be only 1 more... --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 07:19, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

::: This is yet again great. I'm researching SPAM prevention tools in use on other wikis. Let me know if you have something you think will work. Also, Lcarsos, you are up. Best new admin I can think of. I'm not afraid to add other admins if some (including myself) are less active. Other candidates can be submitted here. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:53, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

::::I'm immensely honored that you trust me that much. Thank you, I'll work hard to better the wiki. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:00, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Redirect main-page of explainxkcd.com ==

I mentioned this on the old site, but I guess this is a better place. The first page most people will get to is still the main explainxkcd.com page. With no more updates there it looks at first glance like a dead place, and when I out of habit go there, I still get an instinctive feeling that the site is dead because the first place I am send is a dead place. PLEASE redirect the main-page to this wiki, since this is the place that is still alive. [[User:Carewolf|Carewolf]] ([[User talk:Carewolf|talk]]) 14:40, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
: Good idea. Will work on that soon. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:49, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Tagline ==

I haven't created [[MediaWiki:Tagline]] yet, but we need to think about what to put there. That's the familiar "From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." over at Wikipedia - it appears right under the title of each page. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 10:39, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
 Moved from [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]] --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:09, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:I think it's pretty obvious we should keep the "It's cause you're dumb." :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:20, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:: Well, since there haven't been any objections, I went ahead and added it: [[Mediawiki:Tagline]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:46, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

== Separate discussion page(s) ==

I think we should create a separate Discuss the wiki page, so that each discussion can go under its own header. I'd suggest setting up a todo list where people can help out. I'd start with a suggestion:
: We should be using [[mw:Manual:Short URL|cleaner urls]]. Maybe [http://shorturls.redwerks.org/ this tool] can help setting that up. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 05:46, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
:: Whatever we do decide, I've created <nowiki>{{xkcd}}</nowiki> and <nowiki>{{explain}}</nowiki> templates to create links to the xkcd site and other explanations here on this site; that should factor at least those sites (nice central administration) as well as helping us categorize pages that use them. Was thinking of also <nowiki>{{wiki}}</nowiki> for the same benefit, even if there's already a prefix built into mediawiki... the only drawback is the bias toward the en side... [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 10:31, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
:::I'm liking the idea of creating a Discuss the wiki page - I'll start one if someone doesn't/hasn't beat me to it and add it to the sidebar. I'd asked for better URLs at [[User talk:Jeff#Robots.txt]], though I didn't know what they were called. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 17:17, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::::I also like the idea of the {{tl|xkcd}} tags. On a related note, I've [[Special:Import|imported]] {{tl|tl}}. :-) <s> I also realize we don't have a secure server here, but I'd support the best practice of beginning URLs with protocol-relative links ( // instead of http:// or https:// ) anyway, especially since the xkcd website ''itself'' appears to be https-compatible.</s>Nevermind, it doesn't seem to be. So I guess it doesn't matter. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 22:40, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::: Maybe we can create a subpage of the community portal for the wiki discussion. What do you think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:32, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:::: Also one for editing coordination (see [[User:SurturZ/sandbox]] for instance), another for mediawiki assistance (requests to admins perhaps on the same page, or on a separate one). Any other ideas? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:41, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
Moved from [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]], may need to be broken out into new headers or sub-headers. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:12, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

Great job on creating the subpages! I think the subpages can be made more intuitive for newcomers, though. Here are my subbestions:
* merge "/Design" and "/Proposals" into '''"/Discuss the wiki"''' or "/Improve the wiki" or something to that effect.
* rename "/Technical" into '''"/Tecnical assistance"''' so it is clear that it should be used for one-off issues rather than coordination of wiki-wide changes (which should go in the section above)
* merge the "/Administrator's noticeboard" above? That would reinforce that adminship is nothing but a set of technical tools to assist the wiki
* New '''"/Editing coordination"''' subpage for organizing what to do, maintenance, keeping a TODO list for newcomers to tackle, etc -- essentially like WikiProjects work at Wikipedia.
--[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:35, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:As I see this, it would involve mostly just renaming pages. I don't particularly care what the names are, so I won't comment on that.
:*I'd like to keep /Administrator's noticeboard for the time being. The primary advantage of this is that administrators can watchlist this and things which need the tools are less likely to get lost in discussion. It can always be deprecated afterwards if it isn't being used enough.
:*I'd sort of seen /Design as doing what you're proposing for /Editing coordination, though I didn't explain it as well.
:--''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 18:43, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:: Ok, I get what you mean with the Admin page. I don't think this wiki is going to be that busy to warrant a separate page, though. But for now, let's at least simplify the name? "Admin requests", for instance :)
:: And yeah, Design isn't really a good name for content-related coordination. What I'm suggesting here is to have one page for meta (wiki-related) discussion, and another for content-related discussion. Does that make sense? And what name do you think would be good for the former rather than the current, too generic imo, "Proposals"? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:20, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:::"Discuss the wiki" sounds good to me, as does "Admin requests." Or whatever, I guess. ;-) I may not be online much for the next few days (or much this evening), so go ahead and change it how you think it should be, I guess. Having stable discussion pages sooner than later would be good. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 01:48, 6 August 2012 (EDT)

:::: Ok I changed the admin page name, and merged "design" and "proposals", but for now I left it named "Proposals". I'm not quite confident about the clarity of "Discuss the wiki"... I'll wait until others comment here. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:06, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

::::: I'm not seeing any further discussion and it's been a few days since the move, so I'm clearing the sitenotice. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 02:38, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

== Automatic Import ==

Hi

I created a draft for the comic pages. It's still work in progress, but I'd like to retrieve feedback.

Also, maybe we could autmatically import comics using the JSON data Randall gives us ([http://xkcd.com/614/info.0.json]). This way, we could also include transcripts. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:23, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
: Hm, I should add a link to my draft: [[User:SlashMe/Testpage]] ;-) --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 06:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

I updated the page, including links to the next/previous comic similar to [[Template:ComicHeader]]. I used comic 472, because it has a lot of metadata (link, news, HTML title, etc.). --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 07:32, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

Just to remind everyone, I'd be ready to import the comics, but I don't want to until I got more feedback. Please have a look at [[User:SlashMe/Testpage]] and tell me your opinion. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 06:02, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
: I think your test page looks great. I'm a big fan of it. Any way to fit the text in the text box rather than having it run all the way to the right? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:19, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:: I just made a change concerning line breaks, at least it works in Firefox and Chrome. Could somebody please test it in different versions of Internet Explorer?
:: If you agree, I would start uploading tomorrow. I'll send you a mail. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 18:31, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:38, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[Explain XKCD:Community_portal/Design#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:20, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== "Random comic?" ==

Not to clutter the sidebar, but what would you say to adding a "Random comic" right under "Random page", linking to [//dynamic.xkcd.com/random/comic/ //dynamic.xkcd.com/random/comic/] ? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 01:46, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:Naw, xkcd already has a random comic. I think we should have a ''random explanation''. ;-) All kidding aside, I was wondering: generating a random member of a category...? Has that improved since the early days when I tried to do something like that. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 03:19, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
::Hi. For how to do this, we could install the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Random_In_Category Random In Category] Mediawiki extension, which would allow us to use <nowiki>[[Special:RandomInCategory/Comics]]</nowiki> to point to any random explanation. {{User:Omega/sig}} 22:42, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
::: Or we could move the comics into a Comic namespace, and use Special:Random/comic (See for instance [[Special:Random/template]]). This doesn't require any server-side changes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:58, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

== Header template ==

Hi, I've created a template called [[Template:ComicHeader]], which might make things easier when creating comic pages (and also provide better consistency between the pages). I've used it on the [[Internal monologue]] page, to display the comic number and the date it was published. The template also adds the page to the [[:Category:Comics|Comics]] category.

You just need to add:
<pre>{{ComicHeader|1089|August 1, 2012}}</pre>
…to the start of the page (replacing the comic number and date).

I'll try to make the template look a bit nicer, but the great thing about templates of course, is that once they're updated, the changes are reflected on all the pages that include that template. --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 18:46, 1 August 2012 (EDT)

:By the way, I'm thinking of maybe programming something that would allow you to easily import the comic image and alt text from xkcd without having to upload the images manually and the like. You'd just have to host a single PHP file on your server and make a few changes to the MediaWiki configuration. Of course, you'd be able to see source code and everything to make sure I'm not trying to do something fishy. :-P Let me know what you think. :-) --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 18:54, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::Yirba - I like the idea. My email is explain@explainxkcd.com - send me what you put together and we can sort it out. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:37, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::Ditto on the Template. Up-vote. Any thought on harvesting the pre-wiki content from ExplainXKCD with some sort of a Python, Perl, or PHP script? (That sounds more like a 'bot than something that would have to be hosted, though.) [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 01:52, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::: I was thinking of putting it into a infobox, please [[#Idea|see above]]. I also intended to automatically extract data from xkcd, which would lack descriptions, but at least we would have data like title, image and transcripts. Also, there are some other data like links (e.g. 832), news (which are displayed in xkcd's header, e.g. 739) and titles which contain HTML (259 and 472). I also extracted all those data. When we agree on a page layout, I could begin programming a bot. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 06:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::Hmmm… an infobox may be a good idea. And a bot that imports data from xkcd might be handy. Anyway, here's something I programmed that would allow for access to the xkcd API from the wiki itself. Essentially, you'd put this xkcdinfo.php ([http://gist.github.com/3239432 source], [http://github.com/downloads/Yirba/yirba.github.com/xkcdinfo.php download]) file somewhere on the server (e.g. at http://www.explainxkcd.com/xkcdinfo.php) and [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Interwiki#Adding_a_new_website_for_interwiki_linking include it in MediaWiki's interwiki table] (ensuring iw_trans == 1):
<pre>INSERT INTO interwiki (iw_prefix, iw_url, iw_local, iw_trans) VALUES ('xkcdinfo', 'http://www.explainxkcd.com/xkcdinfo.php?input=$1', 0, 1);</pre>
::::After [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgEnableScaryTranscluding enabling scary transclusion] in LocalSettings.php, you'd then be able to send queries to the xkcd JSON API via this file. In other words, <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:32-title}}</nowiki></code> would make comic 32's title appear. <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:55-alt}}</nowiki></code> would make comic 55's image text appear. I've also set it so you could enter <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:100-embed}}</nowiki></code>, and it would make the comic 100 image appear on the wiki page. Feel free to use it however you want (if at all), and modify the code should you wish. (Hint: Using the number 0 for the comic number will query the most recent comic, so <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:0-num}}</nowiki></code> will return the current comic number. Also, adding "raw:" before "xkcdinfo:" might be more useful in some instances. E.g.: <code><nowiki>{{raw:xkcdinfo:555-title}}</nowiki></code>)--[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 14:50, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::: Nice idea, altough this would mean to load all data from xkcd whenever a page is <del>viewed</del><ins>edited</ins> (I think this is the way MediaWiki caches the data). This is a lot of traffic for little data. I'd say to include the metadata statically, but linking the external image seems a good thing to me. Again, it'd be great if you gave me feedback for [[User:SlashMe/Testpage|my idea]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::::Yes, the data would be loaded from xkcd for each edit. You can, however, substitute (subst) the template for data that is unlikely to change. And therefore the data would indeed be stored statically. I like the layout you've come up with. It could perhaps do with a bit of tweaking here and there, but the general idea is good. --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 17:16, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::::: What kind of tweaking do you mean? I know the code is a bit messy, if you have a better idea, please tell me (or do it yourself - hey, it's a wiki!). The CSS should be placed in an external file, but for now, it's ok. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 17:51, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

Looks like there is another/newer template called [[Template:Comic]] that includes prev/next buttons as well.
You add it with:
<pre>{{comic
| number = 1
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
| image = barrel_cropped_(1).jpg
| imagesize =
| alttext = Don't we all.
}}

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --~~~~
==Description==
xxxxxxxxxxx
</pre>
No need to include the alt text separately, as the template does it for you. It also includes the comic category, but only if the first 4 fields are filled out.
--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 18:47, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

: Yes, but that is not necessarily an advantage. My template only creates the infobox, so you are still able to create an introductory text or other sections, for special comics that need a more detailed description. I can also add categories if needed. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:02, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::I think it is a major advantage to make the thing easier to use and more consistant site-wide.

::As the creator of the new one, I'm obviously biased, but I created it because I think it's better. Not putting your work down, it was a great piece of code that I put to work in my template. But I think if there's need for pre-text of any kind (not sure there is, as the articles probably should all open with the comic itself as presented on XKCD), a pre-comment can be added into the template, but I'm not sure what that would be. Perhaps there would be a requirement for special circumstances like the comic a few weeks ago where there were a million iterations depending on locality, browser, etc. But that's the rarity. I think the new one simplifies it for users. They need only one template to post the comic, alt text title and nav buttons. What could be easier? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:08, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::: As the creator of the other one, I'm equally biased. What about a "main template", which then calls one or two other templates (e.g. one for the infobox, another for image and alt text? For most comics, this main template could be used, but if absolutely needed, it would still be possible to use the underlying templates with custom sections/text. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:15, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::::I just now saw your request for feedback on your new comic page with the sidebar. I honestly am not sure which format is better. I kind of like my format for the fact that it basically presents the comic as it was originally posted, but your infobox does provide some additional stuff like 3D link (not sure what "news" is, of where the "link" comes from but...) Perhaps we could integrate the two. I like that the comic is visble right away on my template, but on your page it's down below the first header. I don't think the comic itself needs an "image" heading. No disrespect, but I think your sidebar, esp. because of the "news" field is a bit chunky - too wide for most of its content.

::::I think we could easily add things like a "3d" link into {{tl|comic}} as part of the next/prev bar where a "3D" field in the template is non-blank. Similarly, original title could read something like (Originally titled: xxxxx) below the primary title in a smaller font. Other than the "link" and "news" fields (which again, I'm not sure what they are), I think that would inclde all the same info as your infobox into my template. Thoughts?

::::As to your other comment about compartmentalizing the template, I have nothing against that, but which parts of the template would you want to be able to use separately (and can you suggest an example where that might be necessary?) Subdividing the template can always be done later if it becomes needed; just trying to get an idea of what you have in mind by compartmentalizing it. Cheers [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:43, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:37, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

{{outdent|::::}}

''Suggestion:''

* I will start by uploading all images. This will take some time and has no points to discuss. (If it has, tell me.) At a later point, maybe we could link them directly from xkcd.com.
* For the comic pages: Let's say we'll use {{tl|Comic}}. I'll change the arguments of the template to be more like my {{tl|Infobox comic}}, see [[Template:Infobox comic#Arguments|documentation]]. I'll keep the ''alttext'' argument, but make ''image'' optional (file name should be guessed from the title). Do we really need ''imagesize''?
* {{tl|Comic}} would then call some further templates, passing the appropriate arguments. This way, we are able to use custom sections/text if needed for special comics (like [http://xkcd.com/1037/ Umwelt]) by using these templates instead of the all-in-one {{tl|Comic}}.
* Since we have one template doing all the work, we can easily change the page layout even after the import. (We should only keep track of the pages that don't use {{tl|Comic}}, using a hidden category)
* For consistency, I would move all existing pages out of the way and re-create them. The moved pages could be collected by adding them to a category like [[:Category:legacy pages]], so they should easily be found. Descriptions should be moved to the new pages, afterwards the legacy pages can be deleted.

This way, I can import all comics, but we would still be able to change the layout afterwards. My 2ct concerning page layout:
* <del>'''Use comic titles as page names.'''</del><ins>(See below)</ins> The title should be prominent, the number will be in the infobox.
* I'll remove ''Original title'', ''news'' and ''link'' from the infobox and move them to a section after the description. (For details, see [[Template:Infobox_comic#Documentation|here]])
* suggested layout:
<pre>
=====page title=====
+--------------------+ +---------+
| | | infobox |
| image | | text |
|(no section heading)| | |
| | | |
| | +---------+
+--------------------+
==alt==
text
==description==
text
==transcript==
text
==original title, news and link== (if available)
text
</pre>

Still open for opinions.--[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:13, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:It might make more sense to use the comic number as the page title, and then use [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgAllowDisplayTitle DISPLAYTITLE] to make the comic title appear in place of the number. Just putting that out as another possibility. --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 09:49, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
::Good point, I agree. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 09:54, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

If anyone wants to use it, I've written a bot [http://pastebin.com/5F877BHE] that can upload images, create redirect pages, and create comic pages. You can change the format it uses for the comic page if you have some knowledge of python. To use it, look at [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Pywikipediabot/Quick_Start_Guide]. --[[User:Cyanfish|Cyanfish]] ([[User talk:Cyanfish|talk]]) 10:56, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:Sorry, I was faster. I'm using [http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/mwclient/ mwclient], and I already uploaded all images. I could also create pages and redirects, but I'm waiting until we have a consent. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 11:02, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

::A few thoughts: if you start uploading images, but don't create the comic pages with them, a user going to create a new comic page isn't going to know whether or not the comic image has already been uploaded. This could be confusing. Hopefully the uploads are going to be named the same as the original images? (when I do upload, I actually just paste the URL in my "browse" box and upload directly from my browsers cache that way so it works out), but I just want to avoid duplicating images on the server as well as wasting time by trying to upload something that's already there.

::As to the page layout, I'm still of the view that the transcript should be in a collapsed frame so that it doesn't take up half the article. I don't honestly think that most people are coming to read the transcript. I could be wrong tho. Open to opinions on that. Otherwise, I do like transcript AFTER The explanation (also, the heading "explanation" vs. "description" as mentioned in another discussion in the portal. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:09, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

:::PS: We definately need imagesize. It defaults to full size, but I think we definately need the optional argument for large comics. Remembering that this is a wiki to explain the comics, there are many large comics that ought to be restricted to a smaller size for the page (they can be clicked to enlarge - the template automatically creates a "click to enlarge" link if imagesize is used). I have generally been using a 375 or 400px size for keeping larger comics managable, but sometimes it's a comic-dependant decision. Also, notwithstanding my comment on another thread, even though I agree that the xkcd commentary is actually "title text", just as a side note, I've just noticed that the transcripts for older comics actually do call it "alt text") [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:40, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
:::: As long as no one has any objections, this header looks awesome (with ImageSize as TheHYPO suggested), so feel free to work on the importation functionality. Let me know if you need anything from me in order to import from the Wordpress side of things. If we start talking importation, lets move that conversation under a different header. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:56, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

=== Date format ===

I suggest to enter the date as YYYY-MM-DD and using <nowiki>{{#dateformat: {{date}}}</nowiki> in {{tl|comic}}. This way, the date should be displayed using the personal preferences (see [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-datetime]]). Does anyone disagree? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:42, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

== Displaying Comics {{done|Closed}}==

For the home page, I think the comic and explanation should be displayed instead of a link to the comic.

For reasons unknown to me, I decided to create [[Template:Comicbox]] and [[Template:Comicbox2]]. Looks nice, as long as you use the correct one for the comic.

Go to [[User:Grep/comicbox]] and [[User:Grep/comicbox2]] for examples. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:Those're wonderful! And should probably be on the main page. If you wanted, we could probably incorporate them (and maybe a third?) into a single template with a "square/vertical or horizontal" switch. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 21:36, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::Also, you used "comicbox" for the class. Is that a class that's defined somewhere? (And if so, where?) --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 21:36, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
:::Good point. Removed. And merging them sounds wonderful. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
::::Maybe merging them into [[Template:comicbox]]? --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:::::I think classes are defined at [[MediaWiki:Common.css]], so if you really wanted to define the class.... And [[Template:Comicbox]] would probably be best. Did you want to merge them or should I take a look at it? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 22:25, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::ParserFunctions and any sort of non-XMLish markup is weird. I would rather you look at it. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:::::::Okay, I've moved your templates to {{tl|Comicbox square or vertical}} and {{tl|Comicbox horizontal}} so I can work on {{tl|Comicbox}} as the main one. It may take a while - I like to think of myself as a "[[wikipedia:Category:User template coder|master of all known wikimarkup]]," but I don't actually use those skills that often. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 23:08, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::::Thanks. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:::::::::I've made it at {{tl|Comicbox}}. This actually leaves {{tl|Comicbox square or vertical}} and {{tl|Comicbox horizontal}} unused, though I credited you (and them) in a comment at the top of the template. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:21, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::::::I think that the explanation should be on the right because it just looks weird as is... --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
{{outdent}} Sure. But right now they both look like they're on the bottom? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 20:02, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:{{done|Fixed}} --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

===Sans-serif typeface {{done|Closed}}===
::::::::I like these, too, but the roman typeface... how do folks feel about sticking with a sans-serif typeface throughout the site? [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 00:13, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:::::::::We should be able to change that wiki-wide through [[MediaWiki:Common.css]], I think. Unfortunately, I don't know enough CSS to do it. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:23, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:::::::::: I believe sans serif is already the default wiki-wide. Those specific instances were deliberately coded to use a serif font. It's just a matter of removing <code>font-family: 'Times New Roman';</code> from the template. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:01, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::::::: Oh, I'd missed that. I removed it. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 22:14, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:37, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== comic header ==

Jeff, further to your previous conversation on the comic header, I've significantly rewritten Yirba's template (thanks to Yirba for the hard work. His navigation bar was very useful) and I've created a new template of {{tl|comic}}. An example of the comic in use can be seen at [[T-shirts]]. I started a discussion on the main page discussion board, but I thought if I pointed it out to you and you like it, it can start going in the rotation for new comics.

I actually now see that Grep did a template up with intent (I think) to use for the main page. Had I known that when I started, I would have probably based my template off of his, because it looks nice, but either way, mine is intended for the actual articles. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:46, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:Again, may I link to <del>[[User talk:Jeff#Automatic Import|my request for feedback]]</del>? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:52, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[Explain XKCD:Community_portal/Design#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:17, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:37, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Bylines ==
In the migration from blog to wiki, I noticed a few things:
# Visitors still seem to assume there's a single, ''invisible other'' that provides the explanations; this might be a carryover from the blog days when Jeff was the author of that content, or it may be newcomers not familiar with the license-to-create a wiki offers. You see it in comments that call out corrections, without the corrections actually being made to the explanations. Usually a more savvy editor swings in, makes the fix, and chimes in on the comments.
# There's no visual cue on the page itself to disabuse a novice of that fact. Sure, wikiphiles will check the history; but aside from that the novice has is left in the dark, and certainly isn't led to the conclusion that they, too, can contribute to the explanation.
To that end, I was wondering: why not put a {{tl|byline}} on each explanation, and give credit where credit is due? I know Waldir wanted to "gamify" the wiki a bit. I don't know that I'd go ''that'' far, but putting bylines does kill a few birds by raising awareness of the democratic approach to explanations, and giving kudos to the contributor(s). I've prototyped it (and of course, it's subject to revision) but here's how it would work:
* '''<nowiki>{{byline|you}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|you}}
* '''<nowiki>{{byline|you|me}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|you|me}}
* '''<nowiki>{{byline|you|me|someone else}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|you|me|someone else}}
* More concretely, '''<nowiki>{{byline|Jeff|Waldir|IronyChef|Blaisepascal}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|Jeff|Waldir|IronyChef|Blaisepascal}}
(in general, the parameters are the usernames, up to about 5 or six contributors, for now.) Was thinking about having the content be automatically turned into wiki-links, but left that out while we think it over. Thotz? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:22, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
:: How would we indicate who is in the byline? The person who created the page? The person who edited the most characters? Would it be a combination of all the names? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:32, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
:::I have to say, it sounds contrary to the whole wiki premise. I agree with you that there does seem to be a bit of a learning curve here, but I don't know if "crediting" the explanations is the right solution. How much editing does one have to do to get credit on an article? You might get people who want to edit just to get credits, and credits over time could get relatively lengthy. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:41, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

== Template improvement suggestion ==

Can I suggest that we work on improving {{tl|ComicHeader}} - I wish I had time to do it myself and then edit all the comic pages, but I would suggest the best way might be to start a new template (perhaps design it a bit more like an infobox) and start converting the old pages over to new ones.

The feature I think should be added is that, where the template currently includes teh comic number and date, and creates the nav header, the template really ought to include the image name, and the alt text. In that way, the template can produce the entire part of the article that displays the comic and its alt text (and the alt text, as mentioned, could be more like a caption, instead of just looking like a generic section of the article - it's part of the comic, it shouldn't look like part of the article on this site (no offence, Jeff, but that's one thing I always didn't like about explain XKCD - the image text should be bold or underlined or italics or something to signify that it's part of the comic and not the explanation.

I'll see if I can work on a prototype. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 12:29, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:What does everyone thing of this as a better layout? [[Blown Apart]] [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 13:09, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::May I link to <del>[[User talk:Jeff#Automatic Import|my request for feedback]]</del>? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:52, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:44, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:17, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Transcripts ==

Do we need to add a whole section on "Transcript" for each comic? That could get very long for some comics, and basically pushes the explanations down further (which is what people generally come to explainxkcd for). If anything, perhaps the transcripts could be in a minimizable box like some navboxes do on wikipedia? I don't see a majority of users coming to read the transcripts... [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:15, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

: What about putting the transcripts at the bottom of the page?
: BTW: If you agree, this discussion should be moved to [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]], as [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] suggested. At least for new discussions. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:19, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::No problem there. Feel free to move it. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:29, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:::How about having it be collapsed, with the option to expand it (TOC-like)? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:25, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:47, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:18, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Adding a new comic ==

This is the process I use to add a new comic. YMMV... Feel free to update this as/if needed to provide some consistency...--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 19:22, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

I start by uploading the image using the name from [[XKCD]]'s page.

I create the new page using the comic number(not the name), e.g. "http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1"

I (currently) insert using the "Comic" template:
<pre>
{{comic
| number = 1
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
| image = barrel_cropped_(1).jpg
| imagesize =
| alttext = Don't we all.
}}
==Transcript==
This is the transcript from xkcd
==Description==
Wow what a cool comic!
</pre>

I "Show preview" to ensure the image shows up and everything looks good.

I "Save page".

I click the "move" link on the down-arrow drop-down menu to the right of "View history" (at top of page).

I rename the page from "1" to the page title from [[XKCD]].

This will automatically create a redirect from "1" to the correct page name without having to do it manually.
--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 19:22, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:Please, have a break here. When we agree on a page layout, I can do this automatically. I repeat, when we agree on the layout (which should also include the direction of the redirects) --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:25, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:47, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion concerning the layout is at [[Explain XKCD:Community_portal/Design#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:18, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== styling of xkcd links ==

I added code to the end of [[MediaWiki:Common.css]] to style links to the xkcd website as http://xkcd.com rather than the regular external link format, http://example.com. What do you guys think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 05:06, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:I like it generally. Is there a way to force it to not display on individual pages, though? I don't think we should have it at [[Explain XKCD:Copyrights]], {{tl|XKCD file}}, or {{tl|XKCD file derived}}, as they are more serious. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 16:27, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
::Sure. I've disabled it on those pages, feel free to add more as you see fit. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:22, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:::Thanks! --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 18:34, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:I like the idea of the graphic, too, but wonder if it could be muted a bit (medium gray vs black) so it recedes a bit into the background; the classic graphic is a very light blue for that reason, too. (Oh, and a minor quibble... overheard: "who is that short, bearded dude?" "Oh! That's megan?") ... I don't know how we could update it, and maybe it'll be less of an issue when muted... Thotz? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:16, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
::The image can be updated by uploading new versions of [[File:xkcd favicon.png]]. It doesn't need to be the xkcd.com favicon; in fact, it would be good if we could make it even smaller (e.g. just cueball's head, or simply "xkcd" in the typical handwritten font, etc). Making it dimmer also seems like a good idea, btw. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:38, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== 'Explanation' rather than 'Description' ==

Can I suggest we use the heading "Explanation" rather than "Description" on the comic pages, since that fits with the name of the wiki? --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 09:20, 5 August 2012 (EDT)
:Agreed. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:27, 5 August 2012 (EDT)
::Seconded [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:04, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== Allow external inline images ==

Hi. I'd like to propose that we set [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgAllowExternalImages $wgAllowExternalImages] to true '''or''' add <tt>xkcd.com</tt> and some image hosting sites (such as <tt>imgur.com</tt>) to [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgAllowExternalImagesFrom $wgAllowExternalImagesFrom]. If the former is set to true, external images will be allowed from any host, whereas if the former is kept as false but we add some sites to the latter (obviously adding xkcd's site itself seems to be the logical choice), then only images that are from whitelisted sites can appear as inline images. What this does is it allows external images to be displayed as an actual image, rather than just a link (note that sites not in the whitelist will still appear as just the link). Why? Because there's no way to display images without uploading them. Obviously some editors may wish to use images for non-wiki purposes, such as proposing alternative logos or for their userspace, in which case uploading the images to this site isn't entirely practical. Allowing externally hosted images to be displayed will alleviate that problem.

Yes, there is the risk of... less appropriate images being displayed, however, I consider that being a null argument, as editors could just as easily upload the image here and link it as an internal image. As well, using the whitelist alternative would limit the image to being posted from a trusted site, such as imgur. Finally, if worries about nude photos being posted is really a concern (seriously, what's stopping an editor from just uploading said image here? Nothing.), it's possible to only whitelist sites which don't permit nude images from being hosted on their site (such as <tt>imageshack.us</tt>), although I think that's a bit extreme (especially considering that imgur is hands down the most popular image host these days). {{User:Omega/sig}} 07:52, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

:I really don't see a compelling reason to have this. It's not about improper images or anything. (Note that we already have access to all images in [[commons:|Wikimedia Commons]], by the way, which has a large variety of images and other media, with the added benefit that we're sure they can be reused without licensing concerns). A specific whitelist could be interesting (e.g. we could hotlink the images from xkcd), but having the images here allows us to do neat things like categorizing them by topic, size, etc. Also, images like logo proposals, etc. do benefit from being uploaded here (for historical interest, for a guarantee that they won't be deleted wherever they're hosted, for better control regarding how they're displayed, etc.) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:27, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

== Latest comic handling ==

Currently the latest comic is handled automatically by the {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} template, which tests the existence of pages like 1092, 1093 (supposed to be redirects to the corresponding comics), to see which is the highest-number existing page, and consider it the latest comic.

That way we can have the latest comic automatically transcluded on the main page.

But we cannot have, with that system, an automatic "Edit" link (to edit the latest comic) on the main page, nor can we have automatically the comments associated with that latest comic. The former was {{diff|5587|changed to a "Go to this comic" link}}, and the latter was {{diff|4940|removed}}. I think both of them are really useful things to have on the main page.

I've been thinking a little bit about this, and in the end I suggest that we handle manually the latest comic :
* There would be a single {{tl|latest comic}} template, which would have to be updated manually to return the full title of the latest comic's page (such as "1092: Michael Phelps").
* Next to the "Latest comic" header, on the front page, would be appended a "[update]" link, to a page explaining that to insert the new latest comic in the wiki: one needs to 1/ create a page titled "<number>: <title>" and 2/ update the {{tl|latest comic}} template with the new title.
* The "Edit this explanation" link could be put back on the main page, using something like <code><nowiki>[{{fullurl:{{latest comic}}|action=edit}} '''Edit this explanation''']</nowiki></code>. And I firmly believe that link is important. ({{diff|5598|*this*}} for instance is exactly what I'm talking about)
* The comments to the latest comic could be appended under the latest comic's transclusion, with something like <code><nowiki>{{ {{TALKPAGENAME: {{latest comic}} }} }}</nowiki></code>. They could be in a collapsible area if they take too much space. Same here than about the edit link, I believe that's really important to impel/motivate readers to leave their comments as well.
* Finally, when only the number is needed (such as in the computation of the number of missing explanations), this could be done via another template (for instance {{tl|latest comic number}}), automatic this time, which would replace the current {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} by extracting the value out of {{tl|latest comic}} (with something like <code><nowiki>{{#explode:{{latest comic}}|:}}</nowiki></code>).

So, yes there would be a value to update manually, but that's not really much and if it's part of a process I don't think that would be a big drawback, and on the other hand I think it would be less error-prone than an automatic calculation, and allow more useful things. And make less use of redirects as well. Furthermore, the current {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}}, used quite a lot (in the sidebar, so in every page actually), makes heavy use of the <code><nowiki>{{#ifexist:...}}</nowiki></code> parser function, [[mw:Help:Extension:ParserFunctions##ifexist|qualified as "expensive"]], so even though it may not be a big deal it could be a better option to try to avoid that...

What do you think?

[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 16:53, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
:Quick interjection in the middle of this larger posting, but I've been playing around with a template that should radically simplify the exhaustive and expensive logic used by {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} by using date math. It's been simmering in my test kitchen, and I'm fairly sure it's robust enough to roll out... just one thing: it would be much more efficient if we had the Variables extension (ie, ADMIN REQUEST) else there would be a lot of duplicate recalculation of the date. Not terrible, but not as good as it could be. See {{tl|LatestComicOnDate}} and the associated talk page for the guts of it. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:14, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

:A few considerations:
:* We can instead add the edit link directly to the comic page. It could be generated by the {{tl|comic}} template, which already has to be provided with both the number and the title of the comic (in fact those could even be automatically extracted from the page title with some [[mw:Extension:StringFunctions|string parsing functions]] or {{w|Template:Str number/trim|clever}} {{w|Template:Remove first word|templates}}). This should solve the "edit this comic" link issue.
:* Actually, the discussion part was hidden from the main page on purpose (although for a different reason: it was transcluding the main page's own talk page instead). I am not sure it's a good idea to include it in the main page as it could clutter it, but I can understand the point of putting it there. I would suggest perhaps including it directly rather than inside the {{tl|comic discussion}} box, as that would create a box on a box layout that I don't think would look too good. Note that there is no problem with needing the pagename here, since we can transclude a redirect (the same way the actual comic page is transcluded using only the number, which is a redirect).
:* I did see that edit and was thinking that we could probably display a custom info message whenever someone attempts to edit main page, so they'll know they ''can'' edit the actual comic page. I'll add that to my todo list.
:* Mediawiki itself will tell us when a potentially expensive parser function is being used too much, by placing the corresponding page in [[:Category:Pages with too many expensive parser function calls]]. So we don't need to be concerned with {{w|premature optimization}} :)
:--[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:16, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

::The edit link can be displayed, specifically on the main page, by the {{tl|comic}} template, that is true; it just seems wrong to me however, it's not his job to do so...
::As for the comments, they cannot be displayed by the template (unless we put them before the explanation), so we still don't have a solution for them; and I still believe they would be very useful on the main page, very appealing for readers to come and comment as well.
::So, problem still not solved I would say... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 16:27, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

::: I don't see the problem with {{tl|comic}} displaying the edit link on the main page, especially since you consider using it to display the discussion as well (which, I agree, unfortunately isn't possible)
::: I added the discussion to the main page. It will depend on a redirect being created for the talk page as well every time a new comic is released, but it doesn't make it any harder. Compare:
:::# Create comic page at <nowiki>[[123: title]]</nowiki>
:::# Update <nowiki>{{latest comic}}</nowiki>
:::# Redirect <nowiki>[[123]] to [[123: title]]</nowiki> (it's necessary to allow people to get to the comic with only the number)
:::with:
:::# Create comic page at <nowiki>[[123: title]]</nowiki>
:::# Redirect <nowiki>[[123]] to [[123: title]]</nowiki>
:::# Redirect <nowiki>[[Talk:123]] to [[Talk:123: title]]</nowiki>
:::Therefore, I don't see a strong case for creating the <nowiki>{{latest comic}}</nowiki> template. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:31, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
:::
::::You're right, the two systems are equivalent in use; but then is there a strong case to keep the current one against using the one I suggested?
::::Currently we cannot get an "add a comment" link on the main page, and to put the "edit this explanation" banner below the explanation one has to put it on the comic page (and manually remove it once the comic is not the latest any more). And when there is no comments yet, the main page displays a weird red link (transclusion of the redirect page to a non-existant page) instead of displaying (for instance) a nice "''No comments yet''".
::::True, the {{tl|comic}} template could be used to, specifically on the main page, display something like "view page - edit - add a comment" on top-right, but that doesn't solve all these issues, and then the links wouldn't be at their ideal place. And one could argue that all the features I'm speaking about are not absolutely necessary, but I still think it would be better at least.
::::All in all, I can live with the current system, but I still believe a manually updated <nowiki>{{latest comic}}</nowiki> would allow, without cost, to set a better layout of content, navigation links and edit/comment links.
::::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 16:46, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
::::
:::*I am in agreement that the goal should be to have the ability to comment directly onto the main page for the current comic.
::::Can all pages be formatted to look like the main page (ie header with number of comics explained/remaining and the 3 paragraphs at the end describing the site).
::::If this could be done (I don't think it would clutter the site as these take up very little space even on the main page), then could we just redirect the main page to the comic with the highest number? The function of the main page would not change as a new user would still see all information currently available on the main page, but it would have the added benefit of sending visitors to the desired location (the fully functional current comic page).
::::[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 17:23, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

== How to reference strips? ==

I think we need to agree on a citation style for strips in plain prose. I.e. If the [[Black Hat]] article says "Black Hat first appears in ________", how are we filling that blank? In this case, the blank is [[29: Hitler]]. As I understand it, proper style for an "episode" name typically is quotes, so the stip is "Hitler". But there's still various options:

# "[[29: Hitler|Hitler]]" [quotes not linked]
# [[29: Hitler|"Hitler"]] [quotes linked]
# [[29: Hitler|Comic #29]]
# [[29: Hitler|#29]]
# [[29: Hitler]]
# "[[29: Hitler|Hitler]]" (29)
# "[[29: Hitler|Hitler]]" (#29)

etc.

Anyone have any opinions? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 21:38, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

: Option 5. above seems the simplest, yet readable and informative. At most I'd prepend a # sign, like so: #[[29: Hitler]]. Being a link should be enough to differentiate it from the rest of the text (without needing quote signs). Alternatively, #7 also may be an acceptable option, but we'd need a template to make sure the formatting is maintained in all such references... I don't think it's worth the extra complexity. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:54, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
:: Whatever we decide, let's encode it into the <nowiki>{{xkcd}}</nowiki> and/or <nowiki>{{explain}}</nowiki> templates, and just agree to use those templates. That allows central administration of the stylistic issues and gives editors a simple rule to follow. Minor tweaks to either would afford that flexibility. Right now, they generate the links {{xkcd|29}} and {{explain|29}} respectively, though the latter can be {{explain|29: Hitler}} without much fuss. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:58, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
::: I support modifying the <nowiki>{{explain}}</nowiki> template to be along the lines of proposal number five. {{User:Omega/sig}} 09:20, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
:::: Five. yes. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:15, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

== Sidebar icons ==

Hi all. I hope you'll forgive my enthusiasm but I went ahead and implemented an icon theme for the sidebar (as well as more spacing between the links, for extra breathing room). What do you guys think of it? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:45, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
:I like it, but I'm not sure where you added them. Was that on a MediaWiki: page or one of the .css pages? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 01:39, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
::Both :) [[Mediawiki:Common.css]] --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 09:07, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

== Cueball/Rob ==

I noticed someone edited the character template to add an article for "[[Rob]]". I thought this might have just been a vandal edit, but I googled 'xkcd Rob' and discovered that indeed, a Cueball chracter has been referenced as Rob in several strips. Is there a reason Cueball hasn't been designated officially "Rob" just as [[Megan]] has been designated Megan by being named in a few strips? Do we have reason to believe that other Cueballs are non-Rob characters? PS: this might not be the right place for this discussion, but I'm not sure if anyone is reading article discussion pages at this point yet, and I thought that the name of the primary character might be a notable issue of discussion [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:07, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
:: I'm unclear on this as well. Cueball was just a name made up (I think here on this site) for the main character of the comic. Are there separate characters for Cueball and Rob? I'm not sure. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
:::I know that "Cueball" has now been severely grandfathered in, but I think we have to consider moving [[Cueball]] over to [[Rob]] and basically considering the Cueball character to be "Rob", in the same way as Megan, unless it's clear that the character isn't Rob, since Cueball, as noted, is not an official title. I'm somewhat leaning in this direction.

:::I do see some leakage of the term "Cueball" into other sites via a google search including xkcd forums. In the alternatively, I would suggest mentioning in the Cueball article that he has been referred to as "Rod" in some comics, but due to his lack of distinguishing physical traits, it is not always clear if a comic is depicting Rod, or a different character. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]])
::::I have to agree with this. When I first heard about the page on "Rob", I was a bit skeptical, as I couldn't recall hearing the name before and the page was ridiculous at the time. However, after looking him up to try and verify the page, I found a number of "Cueball" characters that were referred to as "Rob", officially (and even an instance where the transcript referred to the character as "Rob" when the comic didn't mention a name). TL; DR: The character we've all called "Cueball" seems to be more properly known as "Rob". {{User:Omega/sig}} 22:46, 14 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::{{explain|285|Citation needed...}} I, for one, would oppose the migration away from Cueball.
:::::# {{w|xkcd|Wikipedia}} has been silent on the matter, giving no more credibility to the apellation than Cueball.
:::::# Transcripts in xkcd typically (granted, with a few exceptions) refer to the various stick figures as Person 1, etc. Frequently, there are several stick figures, all essentially the same generic stick-figure shape. Rob is a specific proper noun, and it would be silly to suggest that each stick figure is named Rob. Cueball, on the other hand, while filling the role of a proper noun, is still generic enough to suggest the any-man nature of the figures. It is descriptive more than nominative.
:::::# Local color. That's part of what distinguishes this site from others, and part of why I've been coming back. I for one would be sad to see that replaced with MacDonalds-like sameness. I ''might'' reconsider if RM's About page definitively said "his name is Rob"... but only reluctantly.
:::::So -1 on the proposition to migrate away from Cueball. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:55, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

::::::To respond to your points, #1, Wikipedia is not official or a primary source; it's a community edit encyclopedia like this one. If you'd like me to go over there and reference "Rob", then all of a sudden Wikipedia will say Rob. Wikipedia isn't the source of credibility for xkcd imo. #2 is interesting, and I take it as a fair point (I'm not suggesting that in every case we see a Cueball it is the same character) but my interest here is consistency. Megan appears in many comic strips where she is listed as "person 2" in the transcript, such as [[1084]]. Should she be given a generic name other than where she is named (Cuebelle?) Similarly for #3, Megan is not refernced on the xkcd About page; it's about consistency. I understand color and such, but to an extent, when you take something that's a blog and turn it into a wiki style pseudo-encyclopedia, one of the casualties sometimes is color. It became inappropriate to use phrases like "I think" in explanations just because of the way the articles are perceived. In the same way, consistency is something that I think is important when going to this style format. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:26, 15 August 2012 (UTC)
::::::::::Just want to insert here that I laughed at "Cubelle" above, but though I enjoyed it, I'd have to say the visual similarity to Cueball would likely cause confusion. Props for the suggestion, though.--[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 18:51, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::::* Agreed that Wikipedia is not official or primary, but it is ''de-facto'' (it's likely more linked-to than even xkcd.com is on this site, for some reason.) That standing gives it a level of authority no other site has except the source itself. And agreed, one could very easily go and add Rob, or Cueball, or some other designation to the character(s). But nobody to date has (or, if they have, it may very likely have been reverted, being subject to that evolutionary force Wikipedia in aggregate exerts on subjects there, on needing to be noteworthy.) So while not an absolute authority, it caries a gravitas that other than xkcd itself, no other site really posesses on the matter, and so far, it (the collective body of contributors) has not deemed it important to settle the matter.
:::::::* I'm also not altogether convinced that, in transmogrification from blog to wiki, it necessarily follows that we must become more Wiki''pedia''-like. The medium has afforded a democratization of information here, but not a requirement that information lose its local flavor to become some dessicated academic dissertation. "I think" is, in my opinion, as valid here as it always was, and mediawiki doesn't necessarily impose otherwise.
:::::::* As for consistency, it serves its purpose, but generally I'm not one to be ruled by hobgoblins.
:::::::Anyway, the foregoing being only my opinion, and having express it, I leave it at that. Other minds may differ. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 02:30, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
::::::::It seems to me that this discussion has moved away from Cueball/Rob, and perhaps is deserving of it's own section now. When this site was a blog, and not a wiki, there was a clear separation between Jeff's explanations in the main body of the post, and the comments below. For the most part, Jeff wrote in an "editorial voice", and I don't recall a lot of "I think", "In my opinion", etc in the main posting (there was an occasional "I don't get this, can anyone explain it?", but that's clearly different). I know, at least, I've tried to maintain that color here: in the main page, editorial voice; in the discussion section (included at the bottom of every page, usually), personal voice. I think that works well. In my opinion, I think that "I think" and "In my opinion" have no place where it's not clear who the speaker is. The main pages are group edited, and have no identified speaker, so I wouldn't put it there. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 02:53, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::::::I concur that Wikipedia has ''some'' gravitas over any other site, and there is a reason it has links here (it is easier to link to an existing encyclopedia article on {{w|quantum physics}} than to start from scratch explaining it here. But in the same way that this may soon be a "wikipedia" for all things xkcd, that still doesn't make explainxkcd official. It may be considered a more reliable source of information than some random blogger, but that doesn't make it an official source. Wikipedia, notably, doesn't call Cueball anything. If it called him Cueball, that would be one thing - the name would have pervaded culture outside this website; but Wikipedia takes no position; I don't see how we can take Wikipedia's failure to reference the character at all and use this as a rationale to make any decision on this site one way or another.
:::::::::I will respond to BlaisePascal's editorial voice comment in a new section [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:40, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

== Default color? ==

Frankly, I'm not even sure this is an issue on the wiki's end vs. the browser's default, but I've noticed this with other wiki-based software. With the default of Blue links and Purple visited links, I've been noticing a lot lately that the Purple visited links are not really standing out from the otherwise black text. Not sure why this is. Is anyone else noticing this? I'm having a hard time finding wikilinks in text that I've already visited. Perhaps it's just me. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:37, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

: As a color blind user of explainxkcd, I'd like to put in a vote to up the contrast between visited and not links on the wiki. It doesn't need to be much, but more than it is now would be infinitely helpful. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:21, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

::Has this gone anywhere? I still find it hard to see the visited links (they now simply look like the rest of the text). And the unvisited links are hard to focus on. I'm not sure I can explain it any better. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:25, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

== Comments ==

Please let me know where the comments are for the latest comic. If
I'm not the only one who can't find them, can there be a link next to the comic?

== Editorial Voice ==

:''This section is split off in response to a comment by [[user:Blaisepascal]] in the Cueball/Rob discussion above.
I concur with Blaisepascal on the editorial voice issue. "first person" has no place in a wiki, as there is no single editor to be "I". I have a recollection that when the wiki started, Jeff said something about how in moving to a wiki, he had attempted to edit most of the explanations that has been moved over to remove most of the first-person references, but he invited others to continue this where he missed them. I can't, however, find this reference anywhere anymore. Assuming I am not making this up in my own mind, it's Jeff's site, so I think his style wishes are paramount.

I agree that most of the personal references on explainxkcd are things like "let's see if I get this right" or "Did I miss something?" or general bloggish comments like sorry I'm late to post; but there are other posts such as [http://www.explainxkcd.com/2010/10/18/connected/ this one] in which part of Jeff's post was: "''This is another one of those xkcd's that I classify as "emo". [...] Since there is nothing to explain here, [...] I'll wait for the next comic that makes a joke about Lord of the Rings and wormholes or something''" when moved over here.

The wiki format changes the nature of the explanations. It makes them no longer one person's opinion on the meaning of a comic. It is now a wiki where members of the public will aim to have a complete and accurate explanation built from many editors' thoughts and corrections. I don't think the articles need have encyclopedic definity. I have no issue with phrases like "it appears" or "it may be" where something is ambiguous, but "I think" or "I did a Google search" are not wikipropriate. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:44, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

:For the most part I completely agree. But I think that the explanations should not be boring. Even without personal pronouns, many of them have a congenial tone, not an overbearing one.

:For example, when I brought over [[1030: Keyed]], I took out the personal pronouns, but I left in the comment "Oh Beret Guy, never change." I started coming to the site, in part, because of the tone. I think that that should be preserved despite the inherent non-oneness of the wiki. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:08, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

== Discussion comments link? ==

*Does anyone else think that the {{tl|comic discussion}} template should have an argument added for some way to display a link to the comments section of the original blog posts for older comics? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:48, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
**I'm not sure that it would always be clear what the comments are referring to since the explanation may differ from the original.-[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 21:21, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
***I hear you, and that's a valid point; but it seems a shame to just discard the upwards of a hundred comments that sometimes took place on the old blog. I guess it also matters whether [[User:Jeff]] intends to delete the blog version at some point given the wiki. If it is going to stay up, why not link to the archived comments? The original blog post would be viewable there as well, if there were any differences relevant to those comments. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:03, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
*I would, however, like something to be done about the issue of new users finding the discussion section from the explain wiki main page. A suggestion I saw recently on the old site by rewq^ suggesting changing 'go to this comic' to 'comments' would solve the problem. I think it could also be changed to 'go to comments' - [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 21:21, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

That's an inventive answer to an intesreting question

== LiveJournal content ==

I've noticed that people are putting content from Randall's LiveJournal account into comic articles here, which I think is good. But I'd like to make some style suggestions around that.

Let's look at {{explain|42}}. Now, until someone explicitly pointed it out, I had no idea xkcd started on a LiveJournal account, so comments like "Original quote" or "Original comment" or "Original title" were confusing to me. I had no idea the source of this information. Now that I know better, my suggestions are as follows:

# These shouldn't be listed as "trivia". This is official content. I would suggest perhaps this be included in a "Background" section with any other background info on the comic (e.g. for some recent comics, it might reference Randall's fiancée's health issues for relevant comics).
# This "Background" section contains official content and more official than the "Explanation". The Background section should therefore go first.
# The section should be written in prose, not point form. My sample replacement for the above article would be "this comic was originally posted on Randall's LiveJournal account with the comment "''No laughing, 'less you want some of this too! *hefts golf club menacingly*''". Randall listed his mood at the time as "sick". The comic was actually the Xth comic posted on the LiveJournal account, and was included out-of-order when it was numbered as part of ''xkcd''.
# I think [[LiveJournal]] should have a brief article about the original LJ account.
# I note that on other wiki's including, for example [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Family_(episode) Memory alpha (example)] and on Wikipedia, they often have boxes showing the 'previous'/'next' things on a list (prev/next songs to hit #1 on different music charts, or prev/next tv episodes produced vs. aired). Should we give thought to creating a short sub-list of the Order comics were actually posted on the Livejournal so you can prev/next through that list?

Thoughts? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 22:17, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

:I added most of the LJ related "Trivia" just to get it into the wiki. I think expanding it would be nice, but I'm a bit lazy :) I did add a new category for the LJ posts, so they should be easier to find. There are still a few that do not (that I can find) appear in LJ, so I left as "undated" - but added the undated category that someone else had created. I was also considering creating a list ordered by LJ posting order on the LJ category page (to be created) to at least preserve some of the nostalgia. Is there another pre-xkcd site besides LJ that posts might have appeared in? Or are these "undated" posts possibly others that were just lumped into the "early posts" on xkcd? --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 21:05, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

::There are three undated comics that I found (and I noted them on the "big board" of all comics at [[list of all comics]]. If no one disagrees, I will start moving sections when I have time and creating any new sections as "Background" rather than "Trivia" where the sections relate to the history or backstory of the comic itself. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:04, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
:::The three undated comics do not appear on LiveJournal, just on the xkcd.com site. Given that (a) all of the comics on LJ from before 2006-1-1 are dated 2006-1-1 on xkcd, (b) all the ones after are dated with the same dates as on LJ, and (c) the three undated comics appear in the middle of the pre-2006 comics on LJ, I suspect that [[Randall]] posted them to the xkcd site first, and as part of a batch of comics he posted to bootstrap the site. So it's entirely likely that the 2006-1-1 date is accurate. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 16:18, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

I added, in the "Trivia" section, a "thread" tying all the LJ comics together, in order. In doing so, I also added the half-dozen or so LJ comics not yet added. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 16:18, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

== Programmatically Accessing Comics ==

I think there should be a way for other websites to view* explanations, (discussions?), etc programmatically.

This could be used for the [http://explainxkcd.com front page], or a website wanting to show an explanation of a comic that is always up-to-date and correct, etc.

<nowiki>*</nowiki> I wrote view, but it could also be edit.

--[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

:This could be done with json responses to individual pages including the current explanation for that comic. Similar to how the xkcd json api works now. I don't know if that is feasible in php though. I'm currently on a RoR craze though, so maybe there's an easier and less over-engineered solution I don't know about. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:18, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
::A cheap way out would be to have PHP page access the SQL DB and yank the necessary text from there. This could be useful for a naitive mobile app. Also, this site needs a mobile version. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

== New Edit Explanation Image/Link (Introduced 9/22/12) ==

Some initial thoughts.
*Will this be a permanent part of each comic? I would not be in favor of each comic in the archives having this disclaimer/large repetitive image as part of the explanation. Instead, can this just be part of the most recent comic?
*The other issue I have is that main page now has one direct link to editing the explanation (the thing least done by users) and none to editing discussion/adding comments (the thing most done by users). I see that the talk page is now displayed on the main page, which I think is a good thing, but I hope that someone can also get the 'add a comment' link on the main page as well.
*In the end I feel there should be links for editing the explanation and adding comments/discussion on the main page and that these links should be proportional in size to their traffic by users (re the link for adding to the discussion should be equal to or larger than the link for the explanation).
--[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 14:26, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

:A few pointers about that:
:* I introduced the "edit explanation" image/link below the explanation I gave for today's comic, mainly because I felt what I had written ''was'' indeed incomplete (I was lacking an explanation for the "[has only one review]" part and for the title text). So in a way that was some sort of calling for help with the explanation. And once done I thought it was a good idea to have a highly visible "edit" link for the latest comic explanation on the main page (''"so that people seeing something they could add would feel invited to do so (wiki style). In my opinion this would be a good way to improve the quality of the user-generated explanations"'', as I said [[Talk:Main Page#Direct link to latest comic|here]]).
:* Later on, I added the "may be incorrect" notion in the banner, because I saw that people having different explanations only mentioned them in the comments, instead of editing my explanation (which after all could be wrong). So I fear there's some sort of "we don't touch what has been done" effect, where the first explanation given will be more likely to stick and not be corrected by readers who are not used to the idea that they can edit it (actually, if someone has a better explanation than the one I put, I'd be happy to see it corrected!).
:* That edit banner should not be a permanent part of each comic. My opinion is that it should stay on the latest comic's page (even when the explanation could be considered complete) until there is a new comic, in order to invite as much people as possible to share their explanation; and it should also, of course, be on the comic pages for which the explanation is considered incomplete, for instance [[51: Malaria|this]] (empty) or [[46: Secrets|that]] (partial only).
:* It would be nice indeed to have also, on the main page, a direct link to add a comment (exactly like the one on [[1098: Star Ratings|the comic page]]), but that is currently not feasible automatically. This is one of the reasons why I suggested an other way to handle the latest comic (see [[#Latest comic handling]] above), which I actually still think would be better, and in particular which would allow to do all that (including the edit banner) nicely automatically from the main page.
:[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 15:20, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

==Notice templates==
I would like to suggest a template for a notice saying "this page requires copy editing," and one saying "this page may be unclear in its meaning," or something of the sort for each. the comic posted on 8/22/12 could use both of these. (unsigned comment by [[User:Dave|Dave]] 19:11, 23 August 2012‎ )

:I agree. I discussed this matter with [[User:Blaisepascal]] in respect of his template {{tl|Incomplete}} on its talk page. I have updated that template to {{tl|Incomplete/beta1}} and created {{tl|ambox}} as a generic message box ''xkcd''-style where other message templates can be created and color coded like on wikipedia, such as the ones you suggest.

:Unfortunately, because of the image scaling issues, the ambox template displays two broken images at the moment which we agreed shouldn't replace the existing template until the images are unbroken. I'm not sure anyone is working on the image scaling problem, is one of the issues. In any event, I also don't see the point in creating other notice templates until the issue is fixed and we can use the standardized template. I'm really hoping someone is working on the image scaling problem... [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:36, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

:: I changed the template to use the {{tl|notice}} template that is already being used in several places. I'll delete {{tl|ambox}} as it's redundant, but the styling of {{tl|notice}} can be changed if such is desired. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:40, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

== Denoting comic "series" ==

There are several "series" of comics. Is there a better/prefered way of notating these? Currently I have been creating a "Category:Series Name", e.g. (not all of these exist yet)
* [Category:Comics featuring Barrel Boy](1-5) (Should this be just "Barrel Boy"?)
* [Category:Journal](1-5)
* [Category:The Race](1-5)
* [Category:My Hobby](random)
* [Category:1337](1-5)
* [Category:Choices](1-5)
* [Category:Parody Week](5 in this "series", but others fit the genre)
* [Category:Red Spiders](4 in this "genre", 2 explicitly numbered)
* [Category:Secretary](1-5)
* [Category:Five-Minute Comics](1-3)
* [Category: Guest Week](5 comics, but not exactly a "series").

I usually also create a REDIRECT of "Series Name" to "Category: Series Name"(breaks for "Journal", as it is also a comic title.
Should we have another meta-category for series comics? What about a [Series:Series Name] "category"? or does that break wiki? --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 23:33, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

== Categories for Proposals Page ==

Maybe just simply two categories, resolved and unresolved? --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

Or stickers that say Open/Closed. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

== Moving the Wiki {{done|Closed}}==

What if explainxkcd.com/wiki was move to explainxkcd.com and explainxkcd.com would be moved to explainxkcd.com/blog? --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

+1 (44)

-1 (0)

: That's my plan long term. That might make a lot of things like shortURL possible. Just have to get some time to get it sorted out. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:58, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
<hr />
Sorry if your votes don't appear immediately. I will have them update automatically soon. Hopefully. And if you clicked my signature wanting to +1 this page, sorry for the confusion. DanB and Lcarsos, your +1's have been added to the count. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:+1 from me. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 14:36, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
:+1 as well. I keep hitting the blog when I mean to go to the wiki. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 15:00, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

== Chart type comics ==

Some comics (circuit diagram, US states,eyes sights, among others) are in a characteristic chart format- where it is all based around a chart of some kind or the other. Should we have a separate template for them, for the type of comics?

And somebody should actually create all the pages in the required format without explanations, so that other users can fill on the explanation. I can give explanations, but need somebody to make the pages first

[[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 17:05, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

:All the images have been uploaded, and a template exists at [[User:Blaisepascal/newcomictemplate]] that can be copied/pasted into a new comic page that just needs to be filled in. [[User:Lcarsos]] has written a [[User:Lcarsos#Ruby_importer_script|Ruby importer script]] that will create an almost-ready-to-upload page for you. All you need to do is fill in the explanation, proof-read, and add useful Wiki links. You don't need special privileges to create new pages.
:Personally, I find comic pages devoid of explanation counter to the intent of this site, and I try not to create them. If I put up a page, I try to make sure it has an explanation. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 18:22, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

:I agree with Blaisepascal. If a comic does not have an explanation its page should not exist so that it is easy to tell how much work there is left to be done. If suddenly all the pages are created, but none of them have explanations, a passing user won't know that there is still work to be done, and potentially won't pitch in to help complete the site.
:As far as charts go, be sure to tag them with [[:Category:Charts]] and I like to change the transcript into a wiki table format. Of course, if the page doesn't have a transcript section then be sure you get the transcript from xkcd's json api (There is information about how to work it in [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Coordination#Issue dates]], as well as my [[User:Lcarsos#Ruby Importer scipt|Ruby script]] pulls in the transcript if it exists. You're still on your own to get the explanation from the blog (I'm working on that)).
:[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:57, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

== New Categories ==
(cut from Chart Type Comics section above, as seems new topic) [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 00:14, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Ok. Also, add a new section for proposing templates. We can have a very varied range of templates, like 'Comics with Black Hat', 'Comics with Raptor reference' etc... That will provide a useful ground for comparision of the most common themes [[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 16:44, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
:From context, I assume that by "templates", you mean "categories"? [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 18:00, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

:I think you'd benefit from taking a gander at [[:Category:Comics by featured characters]] and [[:Category:Comics by topic]]. I think we're still debating what to do about comics with actual people in them. But that will get you a good start. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:55, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

:: I'd be okay with creating a [[:Category:Comics featuring real people]] and including sub-categories for Cory Doctorow, the Firefly cast, RMS, Ron Paul, and other recurring real-life people.
:: But then, my general philosophy is more links, more pages, more explanation the better. One-shot fictional characters (like ponytail-Sarah in [[84: National Language]]) probably don't need their own category/page, though.[[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 02:06, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

:::I really like that idea. I too am of the more categories tribe, but I prefer them to be properly nested. I want to try my hand at creating categories let me see if I can do this. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 00:54, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

::::Okay, the beginnings are in place. Though I used [[:Category:Comics featuring real people]] as most comics that reference these people, in fact, feature them. I've also created a [[Playpen balls]] category under [[:Category:Comics by topic]] as it seems to me that it's referenced enough that it's necessary.

::::Question: Should we mirror Featured Characters by also having a page for each character and a Category:Real people, or will the Category pages be good enough?

::::The categories are going to get/are getting crowded with all the categories, is there a better way to represent them rather than a list? I'm thinking something that looks like [[:Template:navbox-characters]] except it needs to maintain the link on highlighted items, and it needs to be capable of multiple highlights. I think it would need sections for Featured Characters, Real people, Series (Barrel boy, Secretary, The Race), and Recurring Topics. What I mean by multiple highlights is, if they exist in that comic, i.e. if a comic features Black Hat, Cueball, Cory Doctorow, and Playpen balls, all of those should be highlighted.

::::[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 02:37, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

It looks like a good time to resurrect this topic. So, If you are going to categorize pages into a category that doesn't exist yet. MAKE SURE that you create the category page, don't just let it be a red link. That looks so sloppy. While on the subject of sloppy, Alphabetize by type the categories on the comic page. I go: Main characters, minor characters, real people, topics, series.

My personal requirements for making a category:
*For new topics
**For new topics, must be the central topic of ''at least'' two comics, with a few more tangentially related.
**It should be something that someone reads and goes "I wonder if there are more comics about this?" It is not simply creating a tag cloud for a post on a blog. That metaphor is gone. These are categories, like sections in an index to a book, or rather an ''encyclopedia''.
**A perfect example of this is [[User:Bpothier|Bpothier]]'s introduction of [[:Category:Comics with color]]. I've often wanted a list of all xkcds to date that have color on them. You'll know you've hit on something when another editor starts going through the pages and adding them to the new category.
*For new recurring characters
**They must recur. This seems obvious, but Adrian Lamo (for example, {{Wiktionary|AFAIK}}), only appears in [[1337: Part 3]]. This is a useless category if there are no other comics he appears in. It only goes to clutter up other, well populated categories.
*For other new categories
**You better have a damn solid case for why you have added a category that wasn't a sub-category of [[:Category:Comics by topic]] or [[:Category:Comic series]]. ''And if you do'', '''be polite''' and present it on the community portal so that the circling editors don't come in like brain-dead vultures to tear apart and re-parent your new category.

It is brain dead easy to create a page (spam bots do it all the time). It is much more complicated to get a page deleted by an admin once it has been created. You can tag it [[:Category:Pages to delete]], but non-spam pages marked this aren't often cleaned out. What I'm trying to say here is, be judicious in picking the names of pages you want to create. It's a pain to have to move Comics featuring Barrel Boy into a [[Barrel]] category.

Also, categorizing a page as something because of the explanation is not ok. These categories are here to group comics together, not as a general tag cloud for the wiki.

'''TL;DR:''' When creating a new category, create the goddamn category page (red links icky) and have ''at least'' 2 pages in the category. For big changes come here and ask first. [http://dontbeadickday.com/ Wil Wheaton says: "Don't be a dick!"]

Questions, comments, improvements, pies to the face accepted. Being-non-useful/criticism-with-intent-to-destroy is rude.

[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:28, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

:No, Lcarsos, don't hold back; please tell us what you really think! ;-) All kidding aside, these suggestions seem really pretty good. There may be some subjectivity in terms of what constitutes contributing to a tag cloud vs the categorization you mention here. But as you point out, that understanding is likely to evolve: if one creates a category that somebody else runs with it, that's a pretty good indicator. I'm glad this categorization has been going on as it has; were it not for my ''de facto'' role as ''Grim Spammer-Reaper'' I'd be in there helping sort and categorize 'em all, too. So huge thanks! -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:45, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

::Just to clarify, I assume what you mean by "''Alphabetize by type the categories on the comic page. I go: Main characters, minor characters, real people, topics, series.''" is that one should ''group'' categories by type, and then alphabetize within them? If that's the case, I don't see any major issue with that; that said, I tend to add categories by deemed 'importance', i.e. I would add comics featuring Cueball before comics featuring Black Hat or Beret Guy just because Cueball is the central character in the series. Similarly, I would also reorder so that "series" comes before topic, if not before characters as well. The first category a "My Hobby" comic comes into, in my mind, is the "My Hobby" category. Only then is it a comic that happens to feature Cueball, or happens to be on the topic of computers. That's my personal view of it. The only reason I would keep characters first is because it's the most common category type a comic will fall into. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:26, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

== Randall in Comics ==

In comic 541 (TED Talk), Randall uses a Cueball character to refer to himself. How should this be included in the Wiki? Cited: http://xkcd.com/541/ AWiseGuy (talk) 21:50, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

:I think, since he also seems to appear as himself in [[1057: Klout]] it would be appropriate to create a [[:Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]] and parent it to [[:Category:Comics featuring real people]]. I'll let you do that. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:51, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

== Characters appearing only by name. ==

I've noticed that in several comics, known and named characters appear by name only without any physical appearance. Off the top of my head, I can think of Miss Lenhart (who actually appears twice by name before making her first real appearance: http://xkcd.com/135/ and in http://xkcd.com/416/) and Rob in comic 1102. I think these should be included as appearances, or under some other related but separate category, because they do provide character development. Thoughts on this? [[User:AWiseGuy|AWiseGuy]] ([[User talk:AWiseGuy|talk]]) 19:51, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

:I consider references to be apperances. Anyone interested in reading all comics relating to that character or looking for a specific comic featuring that character might be remmebering one where it was a mention by name, not by apperance, and they should be included in the categories for ease of reference, IMO. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 20:13, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

== Also explain cartoons from the XKCD book? ==

Hi!
As many of you surely know, many comics from the main site were featured in the book xkcd: volume 0. Some of them where altered or had extra explanations. Moreover, there where quite a few riddles and new comics in the book, which should be explained here, too. The forums did a great job on solving the great big riddles which lead to the legendary "official" XKCD-meetup with Randall. --[[Special:Contributions/137.193.213.160|137.193.213.160]] 09:37, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
:Oops, for got to log in, this suggestion came from me: [[User:Gefrierbrand|Gefrierbrand]] ([[User talk:Gefrierbrand|talk]]) 09:48, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

== Just add 'explain' before the 'xkcd.com' ==

You know how you there are services like [http://www.youtuberepeat.com YouTube Repeat] which let you go to the corresponding part of their site by just adding `repeat` before the `.com` of the YouTube video URL?

Likewise, let us just add `explain` before the `xkcd.com` part in any comic URL and let it redirect us to the appropriate wiki post. For example: `explainxkcd.com/1000` would redirect to `http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1000`. I think since the site is based on PHP, it'd be very easy to just send a 301 Redirect header along.

This will be of immense comfort and will probably see me and others using ExplainXKCD.com a lot mre ! Happy reading :)

{{unsigned|YatharthROCK|15:17, 16 September 2012}}

Hi, joining the conversation: Could we perhaps also ask the original administrator of explainxkcd to redirect the address of his site here? It'll be easier to get here and it might generate more traffic as well. --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 01:48, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

:In a way, that's the plan... per [[#Moving the Wiki ✓ Closed|#Moving the Wiki]] above, the `/wiki` part would disappear, and with shortURL at the same time (mentioned there and at other places as well), the `index.php?title=` would disappear as well. Therefore, explainxkcd.com/1000 would get you the [[1000]] page, which itself redirects to the explanation of the comic ([[1000: 1000 Comics]]). So I guess the only issue is: when will this be done?... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:38, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
:: I'd LOVE this working. I've worked on this a bunch and only succeeded in bricking the site. If anyone has any advice, I'd love the help. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:04, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

:::I don't think that there is a wiki way to do this, as I've never set up mediawiki before (I should get around to it though). But from 10,000 feet it appears to me that all of the wiki software lives inside a /wiki/ directory on the server, and the blog lives in the root directory. Currently, all of mediawiki's pages are being generated by being passed GET variables, and all of WordPress' pages are being generated by its use of mod_rewrite (why the difference, I don't know. I've never set up mediawiki, and thus never had to try to get mod_rewrite working for it). This is a problem, because any url sent to the server such as explainxkcd.com/1000 is causing the server to look for a directory named 1000, and when it doesn't find it, it invokes mod_rewrite and passes 1000 to the index.php of the root directory as a search term, which activates WordPress which searches for any entries dated in the year 1000 (Wordpress treats the first "directory" as the year), naturally none exist so WordPress generates a 404 error.

:::While the blog exists, I think the only way to do this would be to write a .htaccess that conditionally reroutes directory misses to /wiki/ so something like explainxkcd.com/1000 would be sent to explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1000 but explainxkcd.com/2012/04 would still be sent to WordPress to find entries posted in April 2012.

:::As soon as we can get rid of the blog (which is not yet, because there are a lot of explanations still there that haven't been migrated over) the logic that has to be in the .htaccess becomes much simpler. Anything gets redirected to explainxkcd.com/wiki/. I say anything, and I mean anything because URI requests for anything under explainxkcd.com/wiki/ apache will find the /wiki/ directory and pass everything into there (mod_rewrite or as it currently is) and anything not matchin the /wiki/ directory can be 302'd into /wiki/ for the wiki to find it.

:::I hope that makes sense. If that's too long, let me sum up. '''TL;DR:''' Not very feasible until all explanations in the blog are in the wiki and we can get rid of WordPress.

:::--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:52, 13 November 2012 (UTC)
::: Yup - I certainly would be using htaccess file and that's the approach that has NOT worked in the past. It is possible it needs some tweaking so that it works for the wiki. I'm not sure. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:09, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Add explanations for what-if.xkcd.com ==
A new [http://what-if.xkcd.com sub-site] from Randall calls for new explanations.
This might not need quite as much explaining, but it is worthy of reference anyway.
--[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 16:01, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

:I think Randall actually does quite a good job of explaining everything in what-if. If we had a go at it, it would pretty much just be a page with a link to general and special relativity pages of wikipedia. Other than that, he provides links for almost everything he discusses. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:21, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

:But we may want to discuss his topics among ourselves. I am reading the lightning topic today, and wishing I could comment on it or add fragments of my own experience to it.[[User:Noni Mausa|Noni Mausa]] ([[User talk:Noni Mausa|talk]]) 11:32, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
:
::...then you have http://forums.xkcd.com, made exactly for that purpose; in particular: [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=94449 xkcd • View topic - What-if 0016: Lightning].
::Don't want to seem unfriendly here, I'm not trying to "get you out of here", it's just that if you want to ''discuss his topics'', ''comment on it or add fragments of your own experience to it'', then I believe that would be the best place for you to do so; and where you could find other people to share it, as well.
::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 17:38, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
:: Thanks, I will go have a look. I'm somewhat of a newbie, quod erat demonstrandum.[[User:Noni Mausa|Noni Mausa]] ([[User talk:Noni Mausa|talk]]) 02:37, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

== News Links ==
Certain pages have custom news links.
Many use the generic news link, which these days refers to what-if.xkcd.com.
Template "comic" should probably explcitly support and display custom news.
(An effort should be made at times to scan for updated news.)
--[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 16:01, 5 October 2012 (UTC)
: And, of course, there should be a category for anything with custom news. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 16:05, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

== New List requests ==

List of comics related to cancer -
(Umwelt, 818,828,836,925,931,933)

[Keep on adding new requests below this]
[[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 18:24, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
: Good suggestion. One observation... this is essentially a democratic institution, so feel free to put the catagory tags on each of these pages and get those editorial props due to you for recommending the category. I'm guessing <nowiki>[[Category:Cancer]]</nowiki> should be a good start. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 23:06, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

== Disambiguation ==

Ok, I think we need to start considering disambiguation pages.

Off the top of my head there's
*[[17: What If]] and [[what if?]]
*[[786: Exoplanets]] and [[1071: Exoplanets]]

If you search "what if" the redirect takes you to the [[17: What If]]. I've added a note to that page that links to [[what if?]].

[[Exoplanets]] (the title redirect) is an informal disambiguation page. But, neither comic links to the other one in case someone clicks links and gets to the wrong page.

In terms of notes on pages that there is a disambiguation page that they might be looking for, I think that the note should be made under the comic template so that people clicking the next/previous links don't have to move their cursor (I find nothing more infuriating than having a next/previous link move around as I'm browsing a website).

Anyone else? Thoughts? [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 15:42, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

== RSS Feed ==

We need a new RSS feed so people using news readers can easily be notified of new comics. {{unsigned|67.186.234.12}}

:First and foremost, a disambiguation: '''We are not xkcd'''. We are a group of people who love xkcd and sometimes a joke goes over our head, and we'd go into fits of OCD rage if we don't understand every joke in xkcd.

:If you want to read xkcd, subscribe to the RSS feed that [[Randall]] provides. [http://xkcd.com/rss.xml here's a link] A new xkcd is posted at midnight eastern (US East coast) of every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

:We are just here for the explanation, which is community based. It takes quite a few edits from many people before an explanation is really explained-to-death and every joke found and beaten with a club to extract maximum joke-explanation value. But there's usually a fairly substantial effort at an explanation by noon eastern. That's about the best we can offer you.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:19, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

== Comic Difficulty score ==

We should add a difficulty score to each page. Each XKCD comic could be awarded a score based on the number of people that have to visit explainxkcd.com on the day a comic is posted and a couple days after. Inspired by comic: http://www.xkcd.com/1137/

Jim

Hehe, that is a cool idea! --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:06, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Contributions and revert buttons ==

The main vandalism comes from IP adresses, and one IP may attack more than one page when it logs on. So its best to have a contributions link show up beside user page and talk page for every page history and signature; and wherever else it is used that way.

Also a quick way to deal with vandalism is to have two buttons on the show history page-
1. Revert this edit [undo] (for all, including IP users, not just normal users)
2. Revert to this edit (Just beside every edit on the edit history)

These two buttons (links, whatever u call them) will make it much more efficient for vandal-reverters to tackle them down.

[[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 20:08, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Oh and an easy template to keep tagging vandals, and vandalism affected articles, as well as a quick way to say that whatever we are doing is editing vandalism. I truly would not want to press any more than 4 buttons/clicks ideally on one page when I am trying to revert edits.

The tagging vandals and vandalism affected pages will help admins keep fast track of whos the worst vandal and block that range of IPs from editing (except to submit edit request to admins) and which are worst affected pages (to protect them) [[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 20:15, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Subsection for title text explanation ==

Hey! On trial I created subsections for some longer explanations of the title text on some pages, like this: [[804: Pumpkin Carving#Explanation]]. Do you think that is helpful? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:22, 23 November 2012 (UTC)
:Good idea. In some cases it might be the best choice. I just did that on [[1074: Moon Landing]] too :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:01, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

:Making a special sub-section for the title text only makes sense for large explanations. Explanations that are maybe only 2-3 scrappy paragraphs, and then an explanation of the title text, is not so dense that it is hard to find it. I like this as an idea, but I think that only the really large explanations should have the subsection. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:34, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

== Explain other webcomics too? ==

How about we explain other webcomics too, e.g. Penny Arcade? --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 02:36, 3 December 2012 (UTC)
:Good god, no. We've barely even finished xkcd. All these explanations pages still need a lick of polish, and there's still heaps of red links in the list of all comics page. Also, the wiki's called explainxkcd. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:38, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

== Whatever Happened to the Template? & Transcript Redirect ==

I've been using the template whenever I make a new page for an explanation, but I think it's been gone for a couple of weeks now. Does anyone think they could possibly resurrect it? I'm just here to explain, I'm really not a pro with the technical details, so please bear with me.

Also, I got to thinking: In the List of All Comics, there are redirects for the Number, the Title, and the Talk pages, but has anyone thought about making a redirect for the transcript? I'm pushing for transcript help in a bunch of different areas mostly because I think people have been filling it in themselves without going to the site.
--[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 02:07, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2012-12-18T02:06:48Z

Castriff: /* Whatever Happened to the Template? & Transcript Bar */

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2012-12-18T02:06:15Z

Castriff: /* Whatever Happened to the Template? & Transcript Redirect */ new section

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== Spampage Rampage ==
Hail fellow admins, Jeff, distinguished editors all,

We've just been through a second spike of spam, (the first being around the 1110 Click and Drag comic) so as your friendly Angel of Death to such spammery, I'd like to open the floor to discussion on strategies to deal with the issue.

Personally, I don't mind the role of grim reaper for these miscreants, but I'd also prefer that it doesn't grow in magnitude; of late, I find myself almost exclusively dealing with the matter, leaving little enough time to enjoy the site, let alone contributing to it. Anything we can do to keep things under control would be appreciated.

So far, the spam comes in these flavors:
* One-timers. New users that create their own user page, oddly alike (couldn't be a spam-bot, eh?) always linking to "their" website. By far the biggest percentage of time the scythe falls, it falls on these.
** Two-timers. A variant of above, except they create one or two additional pages, typically the user's talk page, or a page same as the username, but not in the user namespace. Here too, quickly dispatched across the Styx.
* IPersonators: IP users that create faux user (and other) pages. Second largest group, though this trend has been growing, especially during this recent onslaught.
** A particularly insidious variant: IPersonators creating or modifying a real users' page. I've been pretty careful, so far, to track down the author, and block ''them'' (as opposed to assuming author = user) but I can see how this flavor of spam risks accidental blocking of legit contributors, which would be doubleplusungood.
* Jibberish vandal: Somebody creating content that isn't spam, but just repeated ''asdf'' or ''ghjkl'' content. Treated as above, though I don't call this spam in the logs. My guess is that this is a spam-bot under development. Fairly infrequent, and addressed using techniques as for above.

There are a few other one-off types, too, which I won't bother elaborating here.

So, the open-ended question stands: What do we do?

# There has been a suggestion to block IP-only contributors (ie must log in) ... perhaps only on an as-needed basis.
# Another thought would be to (by some as-yet unspecified means) prevent the creation, or cause the timely deletion, of user pages by other than said user.)
# Restricting external links (by a similarly as-yet-unspecified means) either to a specified approved white-list, or by a specified set of contributors (must have made more than n edits, for example.)
# Other thoughts? Let the discussion unfold...

No solution is likely to be perfect; this is a matter of raising the bar to where whatever processed meat can crest over it can be most easily managed... all without being so draconian that we compromise the appeal of the site.

All said, I have no problems with the grim reaper enterprise, but would like to spend more time in the [[User:IronyChef/TestKitchen|kitchen]], and less in the [[Special:Log/block|dumpster]].

A little postscript to put the issue into perspective: the ''top four contributors'', (as per Active Users as I write this) are as follows:
* Lcarsos [169 edits in the last 30 days]
* Davidy22 [282 edits in the last 30 days]
* Bpothier [298 edits in the last 30 days]
* IronyChef [433 edits in the last 30 days]
I can tell you that of my four-hundred plus edits, only about a dozen have not been spam related. Lcarsos and Davidy22 are two ace spam-seeking deputies, so a large part of their edits involve tagging pages with the spam template, not (as I'm sure they'd prefer) actually chiming in on matters xkcd. The rest of the field: not even close in terms of edit magnitude. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:30, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

:I was going to suggest a range block, but the IP addresses com from everywhere. The only pattern I can see is in the 83.<25 range. We could also change the captcha to cut into the bots for a little while. Another suggestion would be to create every explanation page, then mark the unfinished ones with the <nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> template, if that exists in this wiki. Then we can block anonymous page creation without having to worry about stopping anonymous users from creating new explanations. We'll have to make a few modifications to the site, to instruct users on how to find pages in need of explanations, but it'll kill all the userpage and self-help spambots. We can figure out how to deal with vandalism later - I would recommend implementing wikipedia's cluebot to automagically roll back page clearing and the like. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 23:16, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

:Also, we can semi-protect important pages like categories and templates. Chances are, anonymous users aren't familiar enough with wikis to be handling those anyways, and wiki veteran anonymous users will probably make an account. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 09:30, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

... ''Madame la Guillotine'' has been busy, dealing with no less than four dozen spammified pages and their attendant contributors in the last hour, to address a third spike in spam. Our hyper-contributing editors have been helping identify these malefactors, so the process has been fairly straight-forward on my part, but it's awfully quiet here....

The top five contributors, as of this writing, are:
* Divad27182 [133 edits in the last 30 days]
* Davidy22 [202 edits in the last 30 days]
* Lcarsos [207 edits in the last 30 days]
* Bpothier [267 edits in the last 30 days]
* IronyChef [537 edits in the last 30 days]

Number six is comes in at less than half of Divad's, and the curve decays precipitiously from there... so this is becoming a call to arms for admins to convene and discuss, ''or'' Jeff to anoint other, more active contributors, admin status.

Thoughts?

-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 06:02, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

:Would it be possible to volunteer to be another admin to move some of the load off of IronyChef? It feels slightly cruel and unusual for him to be the only active admin, and thus ad-hoc in charge of keeping the engines running. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:16, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

::Another admin is definitely needed, given the volume of spam. It'd be nice if we could [[Special:UnusedTemplates|clean]] [[Special:UnusedFiles|out]] the attic too. Shall we hold a vote? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 06:41, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

::I only have sporadic time to do edits, so I'd likely not be an ideal choice if there can be only 1 more... --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 07:19, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

::: This is yet again great. I'm researching SPAM prevention tools in use on other wikis. Let me know if you have something you think will work. Also, Lcarsos, you are up. Best new admin I can think of. I'm not afraid to add other admins if some (including myself) are less active. Other candidates can be submitted here. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:53, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

::::I'm immensely honored that you trust me that much. Thank you, I'll work hard to better the wiki. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:00, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Redirect main-page of explainxkcd.com ==

I mentioned this on the old site, but I guess this is a better place. The first page most people will get to is still the main explainxkcd.com page. With no more updates there it looks at first glance like a dead place, and when I out of habit go there, I still get an instinctive feeling that the site is dead because the first place I am send is a dead place. PLEASE redirect the main-page to this wiki, since this is the place that is still alive. [[User:Carewolf|Carewolf]] ([[User talk:Carewolf|talk]]) 14:40, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
: Good idea. Will work on that soon. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:49, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Tagline ==

I haven't created [[MediaWiki:Tagline]] yet, but we need to think about what to put there. That's the familiar "From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." over at Wikipedia - it appears right under the title of each page. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 10:39, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
 Moved from [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]] --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:09, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:I think it's pretty obvious we should keep the "It's cause you're dumb." :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:20, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:: Well, since there haven't been any objections, I went ahead and added it: [[Mediawiki:Tagline]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:46, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

== Separate discussion page(s) ==

I think we should create a separate Discuss the wiki page, so that each discussion can go under its own header. I'd suggest setting up a todo list where people can help out. I'd start with a suggestion:
: We should be using [[mw:Manual:Short URL|cleaner urls]]. Maybe [http://shorturls.redwerks.org/ this tool] can help setting that up. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 05:46, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
:: Whatever we do decide, I've created <nowiki>{{xkcd}}</nowiki> and <nowiki>{{explain}}</nowiki> templates to create links to the xkcd site and other explanations here on this site; that should factor at least those sites (nice central administration) as well as helping us categorize pages that use them. Was thinking of also <nowiki>{{wiki}}</nowiki> for the same benefit, even if there's already a prefix built into mediawiki... the only drawback is the bias toward the en side... [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 10:31, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
:::I'm liking the idea of creating a Discuss the wiki page - I'll start one if someone doesn't/hasn't beat me to it and add it to the sidebar. I'd asked for better URLs at [[User talk:Jeff#Robots.txt]], though I didn't know what they were called. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 17:17, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::::I also like the idea of the {{tl|xkcd}} tags. On a related note, I've [[Special:Import|imported]] {{tl|tl}}. :-) <s> I also realize we don't have a secure server here, but I'd support the best practice of beginning URLs with protocol-relative links ( // instead of http:// or https:// ) anyway, especially since the xkcd website ''itself'' appears to be https-compatible.</s>Nevermind, it doesn't seem to be. So I guess it doesn't matter. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 22:40, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::: Maybe we can create a subpage of the community portal for the wiki discussion. What do you think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:32, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:::: Also one for editing coordination (see [[User:SurturZ/sandbox]] for instance), another for mediawiki assistance (requests to admins perhaps on the same page, or on a separate one). Any other ideas? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:41, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
Moved from [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]], may need to be broken out into new headers or sub-headers. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:12, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

Great job on creating the subpages! I think the subpages can be made more intuitive for newcomers, though. Here are my subbestions:
* merge "/Design" and "/Proposals" into '''"/Discuss the wiki"''' or "/Improve the wiki" or something to that effect.
* rename "/Technical" into '''"/Tecnical assistance"''' so it is clear that it should be used for one-off issues rather than coordination of wiki-wide changes (which should go in the section above)
* merge the "/Administrator's noticeboard" above? That would reinforce that adminship is nothing but a set of technical tools to assist the wiki
* New '''"/Editing coordination"''' subpage for organizing what to do, maintenance, keeping a TODO list for newcomers to tackle, etc -- essentially like WikiProjects work at Wikipedia.
--[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:35, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:As I see this, it would involve mostly just renaming pages. I don't particularly care what the names are, so I won't comment on that.
:*I'd like to keep /Administrator's noticeboard for the time being. The primary advantage of this is that administrators can watchlist this and things which need the tools are less likely to get lost in discussion. It can always be deprecated afterwards if it isn't being used enough.
:*I'd sort of seen /Design as doing what you're proposing for /Editing coordination, though I didn't explain it as well.
:--''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 18:43, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:: Ok, I get what you mean with the Admin page. I don't think this wiki is going to be that busy to warrant a separate page, though. But for now, let's at least simplify the name? "Admin requests", for instance :)
:: And yeah, Design isn't really a good name for content-related coordination. What I'm suggesting here is to have one page for meta (wiki-related) discussion, and another for content-related discussion. Does that make sense? And what name do you think would be good for the former rather than the current, too generic imo, "Proposals"? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:20, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:::"Discuss the wiki" sounds good to me, as does "Admin requests." Or whatever, I guess. ;-) I may not be online much for the next few days (or much this evening), so go ahead and change it how you think it should be, I guess. Having stable discussion pages sooner than later would be good. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 01:48, 6 August 2012 (EDT)

:::: Ok I changed the admin page name, and merged "design" and "proposals", but for now I left it named "Proposals". I'm not quite confident about the clarity of "Discuss the wiki"... I'll wait until others comment here. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:06, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

::::: I'm not seeing any further discussion and it's been a few days since the move, so I'm clearing the sitenotice. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 02:38, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

== Automatic Import ==

Hi

I created a draft for the comic pages. It's still work in progress, but I'd like to retrieve feedback.

Also, maybe we could autmatically import comics using the JSON data Randall gives us ([http://xkcd.com/614/info.0.json]). This way, we could also include transcripts. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:23, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
: Hm, I should add a link to my draft: [[User:SlashMe/Testpage]] ;-) --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 06:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

I updated the page, including links to the next/previous comic similar to [[Template:ComicHeader]]. I used comic 472, because it has a lot of metadata (link, news, HTML title, etc.). --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 07:32, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

Just to remind everyone, I'd be ready to import the comics, but I don't want to until I got more feedback. Please have a look at [[User:SlashMe/Testpage]] and tell me your opinion. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 06:02, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
: I think your test page looks great. I'm a big fan of it. Any way to fit the text in the text box rather than having it run all the way to the right? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:19, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:: I just made a change concerning line breaks, at least it works in Firefox and Chrome. Could somebody please test it in different versions of Internet Explorer?
:: If you agree, I would start uploading tomorrow. I'll send you a mail. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 18:31, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:38, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[Explain XKCD:Community_portal/Design#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:20, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== "Random comic?" ==

Not to clutter the sidebar, but what would you say to adding a "Random comic" right under "Random page", linking to [//dynamic.xkcd.com/random/comic/ //dynamic.xkcd.com/random/comic/] ? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 01:46, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:Naw, xkcd already has a random comic. I think we should have a ''random explanation''. ;-) All kidding aside, I was wondering: generating a random member of a category...? Has that improved since the early days when I tried to do something like that. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 03:19, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
::Hi. For how to do this, we could install the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Random_In_Category Random In Category] Mediawiki extension, which would allow us to use <nowiki>[[Special:RandomInCategory/Comics]]</nowiki> to point to any random explanation. {{User:Omega/sig}} 22:42, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
::: Or we could move the comics into a Comic namespace, and use Special:Random/comic (See for instance [[Special:Random/template]]). This doesn't require any server-side changes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:58, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

== Header template ==

Hi, I've created a template called [[Template:ComicHeader]], which might make things easier when creating comic pages (and also provide better consistency between the pages). I've used it on the [[Internal monologue]] page, to display the comic number and the date it was published. The template also adds the page to the [[:Category:Comics|Comics]] category.

You just need to add:
<pre>{{ComicHeader|1089|August 1, 2012}}</pre>
…to the start of the page (replacing the comic number and date).

I'll try to make the template look a bit nicer, but the great thing about templates of course, is that once they're updated, the changes are reflected on all the pages that include that template. --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 18:46, 1 August 2012 (EDT)

:By the way, I'm thinking of maybe programming something that would allow you to easily import the comic image and alt text from xkcd without having to upload the images manually and the like. You'd just have to host a single PHP file on your server and make a few changes to the MediaWiki configuration. Of course, you'd be able to see source code and everything to make sure I'm not trying to do something fishy. :-P Let me know what you think. :-) --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 18:54, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::Yirba - I like the idea. My email is explain@explainxkcd.com - send me what you put together and we can sort it out. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:37, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::Ditto on the Template. Up-vote. Any thought on harvesting the pre-wiki content from ExplainXKCD with some sort of a Python, Perl, or PHP script? (That sounds more like a 'bot than something that would have to be hosted, though.) [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 01:52, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::: I was thinking of putting it into a infobox, please [[#Idea|see above]]. I also intended to automatically extract data from xkcd, which would lack descriptions, but at least we would have data like title, image and transcripts. Also, there are some other data like links (e.g. 832), news (which are displayed in xkcd's header, e.g. 739) and titles which contain HTML (259 and 472). I also extracted all those data. When we agree on a page layout, I could begin programming a bot. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 06:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::Hmmm… an infobox may be a good idea. And a bot that imports data from xkcd might be handy. Anyway, here's something I programmed that would allow for access to the xkcd API from the wiki itself. Essentially, you'd put this xkcdinfo.php ([http://gist.github.com/3239432 source], [http://github.com/downloads/Yirba/yirba.github.com/xkcdinfo.php download]) file somewhere on the server (e.g. at http://www.explainxkcd.com/xkcdinfo.php) and [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Interwiki#Adding_a_new_website_for_interwiki_linking include it in MediaWiki's interwiki table] (ensuring iw_trans == 1):
<pre>INSERT INTO interwiki (iw_prefix, iw_url, iw_local, iw_trans) VALUES ('xkcdinfo', 'http://www.explainxkcd.com/xkcdinfo.php?input=$1', 0, 1);</pre>
::::After [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgEnableScaryTranscluding enabling scary transclusion] in LocalSettings.php, you'd then be able to send queries to the xkcd JSON API via this file. In other words, <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:32-title}}</nowiki></code> would make comic 32's title appear. <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:55-alt}}</nowiki></code> would make comic 55's image text appear. I've also set it so you could enter <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:100-embed}}</nowiki></code>, and it would make the comic 100 image appear on the wiki page. Feel free to use it however you want (if at all), and modify the code should you wish. (Hint: Using the number 0 for the comic number will query the most recent comic, so <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:0-num}}</nowiki></code> will return the current comic number. Also, adding "raw:" before "xkcdinfo:" might be more useful in some instances. E.g.: <code><nowiki>{{raw:xkcdinfo:555-title}}</nowiki></code>)--[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 14:50, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::: Nice idea, altough this would mean to load all data from xkcd whenever a page is <del>viewed</del><ins>edited</ins> (I think this is the way MediaWiki caches the data). This is a lot of traffic for little data. I'd say to include the metadata statically, but linking the external image seems a good thing to me. Again, it'd be great if you gave me feedback for [[User:SlashMe/Testpage|my idea]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::::Yes, the data would be loaded from xkcd for each edit. You can, however, substitute (subst) the template for data that is unlikely to change. And therefore the data would indeed be stored statically. I like the layout you've come up with. It could perhaps do with a bit of tweaking here and there, but the general idea is good. --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 17:16, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::::: What kind of tweaking do you mean? I know the code is a bit messy, if you have a better idea, please tell me (or do it yourself - hey, it's a wiki!). The CSS should be placed in an external file, but for now, it's ok. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 17:51, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

Looks like there is another/newer template called [[Template:Comic]] that includes prev/next buttons as well.
You add it with:
<pre>{{comic
| number = 1
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
| image = barrel_cropped_(1).jpg
| imagesize =
| alttext = Don't we all.
}}

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --~~~~
==Description==
xxxxxxxxxxx
</pre>
No need to include the alt text separately, as the template does it for you. It also includes the comic category, but only if the first 4 fields are filled out.
--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 18:47, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

: Yes, but that is not necessarily an advantage. My template only creates the infobox, so you are still able to create an introductory text or other sections, for special comics that need a more detailed description. I can also add categories if needed. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:02, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::I think it is a major advantage to make the thing easier to use and more consistant site-wide.

::As the creator of the new one, I'm obviously biased, but I created it because I think it's better. Not putting your work down, it was a great piece of code that I put to work in my template. But I think if there's need for pre-text of any kind (not sure there is, as the articles probably should all open with the comic itself as presented on XKCD), a pre-comment can be added into the template, but I'm not sure what that would be. Perhaps there would be a requirement for special circumstances like the comic a few weeks ago where there were a million iterations depending on locality, browser, etc. But that's the rarity. I think the new one simplifies it for users. They need only one template to post the comic, alt text title and nav buttons. What could be easier? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:08, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::: As the creator of the other one, I'm equally biased. What about a "main template", which then calls one or two other templates (e.g. one for the infobox, another for image and alt text? For most comics, this main template could be used, but if absolutely needed, it would still be possible to use the underlying templates with custom sections/text. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:15, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::::I just now saw your request for feedback on your new comic page with the sidebar. I honestly am not sure which format is better. I kind of like my format for the fact that it basically presents the comic as it was originally posted, but your infobox does provide some additional stuff like 3D link (not sure what "news" is, of where the "link" comes from but...) Perhaps we could integrate the two. I like that the comic is visble right away on my template, but on your page it's down below the first header. I don't think the comic itself needs an "image" heading. No disrespect, but I think your sidebar, esp. because of the "news" field is a bit chunky - too wide for most of its content.

::::I think we could easily add things like a "3d" link into {{tl|comic}} as part of the next/prev bar where a "3D" field in the template is non-blank. Similarly, original title could read something like (Originally titled: xxxxx) below the primary title in a smaller font. Other than the "link" and "news" fields (which again, I'm not sure what they are), I think that would inclde all the same info as your infobox into my template. Thoughts?

::::As to your other comment about compartmentalizing the template, I have nothing against that, but which parts of the template would you want to be able to use separately (and can you suggest an example where that might be necessary?) Subdividing the template can always be done later if it becomes needed; just trying to get an idea of what you have in mind by compartmentalizing it. Cheers [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:43, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:37, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

{{outdent|::::}}

''Suggestion:''

* I will start by uploading all images. This will take some time and has no points to discuss. (If it has, tell me.) At a later point, maybe we could link them directly from xkcd.com.
* For the comic pages: Let's say we'll use {{tl|Comic}}. I'll change the arguments of the template to be more like my {{tl|Infobox comic}}, see [[Template:Infobox comic#Arguments|documentation]]. I'll keep the ''alttext'' argument, but make ''image'' optional (file name should be guessed from the title). Do we really need ''imagesize''?
* {{tl|Comic}} would then call some further templates, passing the appropriate arguments. This way, we are able to use custom sections/text if needed for special comics (like [http://xkcd.com/1037/ Umwelt]) by using these templates instead of the all-in-one {{tl|Comic}}.
* Since we have one template doing all the work, we can easily change the page layout even after the import. (We should only keep track of the pages that don't use {{tl|Comic}}, using a hidden category)
* For consistency, I would move all existing pages out of the way and re-create them. The moved pages could be collected by adding them to a category like [[:Category:legacy pages]], so they should easily be found. Descriptions should be moved to the new pages, afterwards the legacy pages can be deleted.

This way, I can import all comics, but we would still be able to change the layout afterwards. My 2ct concerning page layout:
* <del>'''Use comic titles as page names.'''</del><ins>(See below)</ins> The title should be prominent, the number will be in the infobox.
* I'll remove ''Original title'', ''news'' and ''link'' from the infobox and move them to a section after the description. (For details, see [[Template:Infobox_comic#Documentation|here]])
* suggested layout:
<pre>
=====page title=====
+--------------------+ +---------+
| | | infobox |
| image | | text |
|(no section heading)| | |
| | | |
| | +---------+
+--------------------+
==alt==
text
==description==
text
==transcript==
text
==original title, news and link== (if available)
text
</pre>

Still open for opinions.--[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:13, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:It might make more sense to use the comic number as the page title, and then use [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgAllowDisplayTitle DISPLAYTITLE] to make the comic title appear in place of the number. Just putting that out as another possibility. --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 09:49, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
::Good point, I agree. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 09:54, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

If anyone wants to use it, I've written a bot [http://pastebin.com/5F877BHE] that can upload images, create redirect pages, and create comic pages. You can change the format it uses for the comic page if you have some knowledge of python. To use it, look at [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Pywikipediabot/Quick_Start_Guide]. --[[User:Cyanfish|Cyanfish]] ([[User talk:Cyanfish|talk]]) 10:56, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:Sorry, I was faster. I'm using [http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/mwclient/ mwclient], and I already uploaded all images. I could also create pages and redirects, but I'm waiting until we have a consent. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 11:02, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

::A few thoughts: if you start uploading images, but don't create the comic pages with them, a user going to create a new comic page isn't going to know whether or not the comic image has already been uploaded. This could be confusing. Hopefully the uploads are going to be named the same as the original images? (when I do upload, I actually just paste the URL in my "browse" box and upload directly from my browsers cache that way so it works out), but I just want to avoid duplicating images on the server as well as wasting time by trying to upload something that's already there.

::As to the page layout, I'm still of the view that the transcript should be in a collapsed frame so that it doesn't take up half the article. I don't honestly think that most people are coming to read the transcript. I could be wrong tho. Open to opinions on that. Otherwise, I do like transcript AFTER The explanation (also, the heading "explanation" vs. "description" as mentioned in another discussion in the portal. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:09, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

:::PS: We definately need imagesize. It defaults to full size, but I think we definately need the optional argument for large comics. Remembering that this is a wiki to explain the comics, there are many large comics that ought to be restricted to a smaller size for the page (they can be clicked to enlarge - the template automatically creates a "click to enlarge" link if imagesize is used). I have generally been using a 375 or 400px size for keeping larger comics managable, but sometimes it's a comic-dependant decision. Also, notwithstanding my comment on another thread, even though I agree that the xkcd commentary is actually "title text", just as a side note, I've just noticed that the transcripts for older comics actually do call it "alt text") [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:40, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
:::: As long as no one has any objections, this header looks awesome (with ImageSize as TheHYPO suggested), so feel free to work on the importation functionality. Let me know if you need anything from me in order to import from the Wordpress side of things. If we start talking importation, lets move that conversation under a different header. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:56, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

=== Date format ===

I suggest to enter the date as YYYY-MM-DD and using <nowiki>{{#dateformat: {{date}}}</nowiki> in {{tl|comic}}. This way, the date should be displayed using the personal preferences (see [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-datetime]]). Does anyone disagree? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:42, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

== Displaying Comics {{done|Closed}}==

For the home page, I think the comic and explanation should be displayed instead of a link to the comic.

For reasons unknown to me, I decided to create [[Template:Comicbox]] and [[Template:Comicbox2]]. Looks nice, as long as you use the correct one for the comic.

Go to [[User:Grep/comicbox]] and [[User:Grep/comicbox2]] for examples. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:Those're wonderful! And should probably be on the main page. If you wanted, we could probably incorporate them (and maybe a third?) into a single template with a "square/vertical or horizontal" switch. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 21:36, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::Also, you used "comicbox" for the class. Is that a class that's defined somewhere? (And if so, where?) --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 21:36, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
:::Good point. Removed. And merging them sounds wonderful. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
::::Maybe merging them into [[Template:comicbox]]? --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:::::I think classes are defined at [[MediaWiki:Common.css]], so if you really wanted to define the class.... And [[Template:Comicbox]] would probably be best. Did you want to merge them or should I take a look at it? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 22:25, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::ParserFunctions and any sort of non-XMLish markup is weird. I would rather you look at it. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:::::::Okay, I've moved your templates to {{tl|Comicbox square or vertical}} and {{tl|Comicbox horizontal}} so I can work on {{tl|Comicbox}} as the main one. It may take a while - I like to think of myself as a "[[wikipedia:Category:User template coder|master of all known wikimarkup]]," but I don't actually use those skills that often. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 23:08, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::::Thanks. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:::::::::I've made it at {{tl|Comicbox}}. This actually leaves {{tl|Comicbox square or vertical}} and {{tl|Comicbox horizontal}} unused, though I credited you (and them) in a comment at the top of the template. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:21, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::::::I think that the explanation should be on the right because it just looks weird as is... --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
{{outdent}} Sure. But right now they both look like they're on the bottom? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 20:02, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:{{done|Fixed}} --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

===Sans-serif typeface {{done|Closed}}===
::::::::I like these, too, but the roman typeface... how do folks feel about sticking with a sans-serif typeface throughout the site? [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 00:13, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:::::::::We should be able to change that wiki-wide through [[MediaWiki:Common.css]], I think. Unfortunately, I don't know enough CSS to do it. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:23, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:::::::::: I believe sans serif is already the default wiki-wide. Those specific instances were deliberately coded to use a serif font. It's just a matter of removing <code>font-family: 'Times New Roman';</code> from the template. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:01, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::::::: Oh, I'd missed that. I removed it. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 22:14, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:37, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== comic header ==

Jeff, further to your previous conversation on the comic header, I've significantly rewritten Yirba's template (thanks to Yirba for the hard work. His navigation bar was very useful) and I've created a new template of {{tl|comic}}. An example of the comic in use can be seen at [[T-shirts]]. I started a discussion on the main page discussion board, but I thought if I pointed it out to you and you like it, it can start going in the rotation for new comics.

I actually now see that Grep did a template up with intent (I think) to use for the main page. Had I known that when I started, I would have probably based my template off of his, because it looks nice, but either way, mine is intended for the actual articles. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:46, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:Again, may I link to <del>[[User talk:Jeff#Automatic Import|my request for feedback]]</del>? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:52, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[Explain XKCD:Community_portal/Design#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:17, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:37, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Bylines ==
In the migration from blog to wiki, I noticed a few things:
# Visitors still seem to assume there's a single, ''invisible other'' that provides the explanations; this might be a carryover from the blog days when Jeff was the author of that content, or it may be newcomers not familiar with the license-to-create a wiki offers. You see it in comments that call out corrections, without the corrections actually being made to the explanations. Usually a more savvy editor swings in, makes the fix, and chimes in on the comments.
# There's no visual cue on the page itself to disabuse a novice of that fact. Sure, wikiphiles will check the history; but aside from that the novice has is left in the dark, and certainly isn't led to the conclusion that they, too, can contribute to the explanation.
To that end, I was wondering: why not put a {{tl|byline}} on each explanation, and give credit where credit is due? I know Waldir wanted to "gamify" the wiki a bit. I don't know that I'd go ''that'' far, but putting bylines does kill a few birds by raising awareness of the democratic approach to explanations, and giving kudos to the contributor(s). I've prototyped it (and of course, it's subject to revision) but here's how it would work:
* '''<nowiki>{{byline|you}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|you}}
* '''<nowiki>{{byline|you|me}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|you|me}}
* '''<nowiki>{{byline|you|me|someone else}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|you|me|someone else}}
* More concretely, '''<nowiki>{{byline|Jeff|Waldir|IronyChef|Blaisepascal}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|Jeff|Waldir|IronyChef|Blaisepascal}}
(in general, the parameters are the usernames, up to about 5 or six contributors, for now.) Was thinking about having the content be automatically turned into wiki-links, but left that out while we think it over. Thotz? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:22, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
:: How would we indicate who is in the byline? The person who created the page? The person who edited the most characters? Would it be a combination of all the names? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:32, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
:::I have to say, it sounds contrary to the whole wiki premise. I agree with you that there does seem to be a bit of a learning curve here, but I don't know if "crediting" the explanations is the right solution. How much editing does one have to do to get credit on an article? You might get people who want to edit just to get credits, and credits over time could get relatively lengthy. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:41, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

== Template improvement suggestion ==

Can I suggest that we work on improving {{tl|ComicHeader}} - I wish I had time to do it myself and then edit all the comic pages, but I would suggest the best way might be to start a new template (perhaps design it a bit more like an infobox) and start converting the old pages over to new ones.

The feature I think should be added is that, where the template currently includes teh comic number and date, and creates the nav header, the template really ought to include the image name, and the alt text. In that way, the template can produce the entire part of the article that displays the comic and its alt text (and the alt text, as mentioned, could be more like a caption, instead of just looking like a generic section of the article - it's part of the comic, it shouldn't look like part of the article on this site (no offence, Jeff, but that's one thing I always didn't like about explain XKCD - the image text should be bold or underlined or italics or something to signify that it's part of the comic and not the explanation.

I'll see if I can work on a prototype. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 12:29, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:What does everyone thing of this as a better layout? [[Blown Apart]] [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 13:09, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::May I link to <del>[[User talk:Jeff#Automatic Import|my request for feedback]]</del>? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:52, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:44, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:17, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Transcripts ==

Do we need to add a whole section on "Transcript" for each comic? That could get very long for some comics, and basically pushes the explanations down further (which is what people generally come to explainxkcd for). If anything, perhaps the transcripts could be in a minimizable box like some navboxes do on wikipedia? I don't see a majority of users coming to read the transcripts... [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:15, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

: What about putting the transcripts at the bottom of the page?
: BTW: If you agree, this discussion should be moved to [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]], as [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] suggested. At least for new discussions. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:19, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::No problem there. Feel free to move it. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:29, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:::How about having it be collapsed, with the option to expand it (TOC-like)? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:25, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:47, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:18, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Adding a new comic ==

This is the process I use to add a new comic. YMMV... Feel free to update this as/if needed to provide some consistency...--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 19:22, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

I start by uploading the image using the name from [[XKCD]]'s page.

I create the new page using the comic number(not the name), e.g. "http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1"

I (currently) insert using the "Comic" template:
<pre>
{{comic
| number = 1
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
| image = barrel_cropped_(1).jpg
| imagesize =
| alttext = Don't we all.
}}
==Transcript==
This is the transcript from xkcd
==Description==
Wow what a cool comic!
</pre>

I "Show preview" to ensure the image shows up and everything looks good.

I "Save page".

I click the "move" link on the down-arrow drop-down menu to the right of "View history" (at top of page).

I rename the page from "1" to the page title from [[XKCD]].

This will automatically create a redirect from "1" to the correct page name without having to do it manually.
--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 19:22, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:Please, have a break here. When we agree on a page layout, I can do this automatically. I repeat, when we agree on the layout (which should also include the direction of the redirects) --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:25, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:47, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion concerning the layout is at [[Explain XKCD:Community_portal/Design#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:18, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== styling of xkcd links ==

I added code to the end of [[MediaWiki:Common.css]] to style links to the xkcd website as http://xkcd.com rather than the regular external link format, http://example.com. What do you guys think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 05:06, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:I like it generally. Is there a way to force it to not display on individual pages, though? I don't think we should have it at [[Explain XKCD:Copyrights]], {{tl|XKCD file}}, or {{tl|XKCD file derived}}, as they are more serious. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 16:27, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
::Sure. I've disabled it on those pages, feel free to add more as you see fit. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:22, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:::Thanks! --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 18:34, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:I like the idea of the graphic, too, but wonder if it could be muted a bit (medium gray vs black) so it recedes a bit into the background; the classic graphic is a very light blue for that reason, too. (Oh, and a minor quibble... overheard: "who is that short, bearded dude?" "Oh! That's megan?") ... I don't know how we could update it, and maybe it'll be less of an issue when muted... Thotz? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:16, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
::The image can be updated by uploading new versions of [[File:xkcd favicon.png]]. It doesn't need to be the xkcd.com favicon; in fact, it would be good if we could make it even smaller (e.g. just cueball's head, or simply "xkcd" in the typical handwritten font, etc). Making it dimmer also seems like a good idea, btw. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:38, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== 'Explanation' rather than 'Description' ==

Can I suggest we use the heading "Explanation" rather than "Description" on the comic pages, since that fits with the name of the wiki? --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 09:20, 5 August 2012 (EDT)
:Agreed. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:27, 5 August 2012 (EDT)
::Seconded [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:04, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== Allow external inline images ==

Hi. I'd like to propose that we set [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgAllowExternalImages $wgAllowExternalImages] to true '''or''' add <tt>xkcd.com</tt> and some image hosting sites (such as <tt>imgur.com</tt>) to [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgAllowExternalImagesFrom $wgAllowExternalImagesFrom]. If the former is set to true, external images will be allowed from any host, whereas if the former is kept as false but we add some sites to the latter (obviously adding xkcd's site itself seems to be the logical choice), then only images that are from whitelisted sites can appear as inline images. What this does is it allows external images to be displayed as an actual image, rather than just a link (note that sites not in the whitelist will still appear as just the link). Why? Because there's no way to display images without uploading them. Obviously some editors may wish to use images for non-wiki purposes, such as proposing alternative logos or for their userspace, in which case uploading the images to this site isn't entirely practical. Allowing externally hosted images to be displayed will alleviate that problem.

Yes, there is the risk of... less appropriate images being displayed, however, I consider that being a null argument, as editors could just as easily upload the image here and link it as an internal image. As well, using the whitelist alternative would limit the image to being posted from a trusted site, such as imgur. Finally, if worries about nude photos being posted is really a concern (seriously, what's stopping an editor from just uploading said image here? Nothing.), it's possible to only whitelist sites which don't permit nude images from being hosted on their site (such as <tt>imageshack.us</tt>), although I think that's a bit extreme (especially considering that imgur is hands down the most popular image host these days). {{User:Omega/sig}} 07:52, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

:I really don't see a compelling reason to have this. It's not about improper images or anything. (Note that we already have access to all images in [[commons:|Wikimedia Commons]], by the way, which has a large variety of images and other media, with the added benefit that we're sure they can be reused without licensing concerns). A specific whitelist could be interesting (e.g. we could hotlink the images from xkcd), but having the images here allows us to do neat things like categorizing them by topic, size, etc. Also, images like logo proposals, etc. do benefit from being uploaded here (for historical interest, for a guarantee that they won't be deleted wherever they're hosted, for better control regarding how they're displayed, etc.) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:27, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

== Latest comic handling ==

Currently the latest comic is handled automatically by the {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} template, which tests the existence of pages like 1092, 1093 (supposed to be redirects to the corresponding comics), to see which is the highest-number existing page, and consider it the latest comic.

That way we can have the latest comic automatically transcluded on the main page.

But we cannot have, with that system, an automatic "Edit" link (to edit the latest comic) on the main page, nor can we have automatically the comments associated with that latest comic. The former was {{diff|5587|changed to a "Go to this comic" link}}, and the latter was {{diff|4940|removed}}. I think both of them are really useful things to have on the main page.

I've been thinking a little bit about this, and in the end I suggest that we handle manually the latest comic :
* There would be a single {{tl|latest comic}} template, which would have to be updated manually to return the full title of the latest comic's page (such as "1092: Michael Phelps").
* Next to the "Latest comic" header, on the front page, would be appended a "[update]" link, to a page explaining that to insert the new latest comic in the wiki: one needs to 1/ create a page titled "<number>: <title>" and 2/ update the {{tl|latest comic}} template with the new title.
* The "Edit this explanation" link could be put back on the main page, using something like <code><nowiki>[{{fullurl:{{latest comic}}|action=edit}} '''Edit this explanation''']</nowiki></code>. And I firmly believe that link is important. ({{diff|5598|*this*}} for instance is exactly what I'm talking about)
* The comments to the latest comic could be appended under the latest comic's transclusion, with something like <code><nowiki>{{ {{TALKPAGENAME: {{latest comic}} }} }}</nowiki></code>. They could be in a collapsible area if they take too much space. Same here than about the edit link, I believe that's really important to impel/motivate readers to leave their comments as well.
* Finally, when only the number is needed (such as in the computation of the number of missing explanations), this could be done via another template (for instance {{tl|latest comic number}}), automatic this time, which would replace the current {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} by extracting the value out of {{tl|latest comic}} (with something like <code><nowiki>{{#explode:{{latest comic}}|:}}</nowiki></code>).

So, yes there would be a value to update manually, but that's not really much and if it's part of a process I don't think that would be a big drawback, and on the other hand I think it would be less error-prone than an automatic calculation, and allow more useful things. And make less use of redirects as well. Furthermore, the current {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}}, used quite a lot (in the sidebar, so in every page actually), makes heavy use of the <code><nowiki>{{#ifexist:...}}</nowiki></code> parser function, [[mw:Help:Extension:ParserFunctions##ifexist|qualified as "expensive"]], so even though it may not be a big deal it could be a better option to try to avoid that...

What do you think?

[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 16:53, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
:Quick interjection in the middle of this larger posting, but I've been playing around with a template that should radically simplify the exhaustive and expensive logic used by {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} by using date math. It's been simmering in my test kitchen, and I'm fairly sure it's robust enough to roll out... just one thing: it would be much more efficient if we had the Variables extension (ie, ADMIN REQUEST) else there would be a lot of duplicate recalculation of the date. Not terrible, but not as good as it could be. See {{tl|LatestComicOnDate}} and the associated talk page for the guts of it. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:14, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

:A few considerations:
:* We can instead add the edit link directly to the comic page. It could be generated by the {{tl|comic}} template, which already has to be provided with both the number and the title of the comic (in fact those could even be automatically extracted from the page title with some [[mw:Extension:StringFunctions|string parsing functions]] or {{w|Template:Str number/trim|clever}} {{w|Template:Remove first word|templates}}). This should solve the "edit this comic" link issue.
:* Actually, the discussion part was hidden from the main page on purpose (although for a different reason: it was transcluding the main page's own talk page instead). I am not sure it's a good idea to include it in the main page as it could clutter it, but I can understand the point of putting it there. I would suggest perhaps including it directly rather than inside the {{tl|comic discussion}} box, as that would create a box on a box layout that I don't think would look too good. Note that there is no problem with needing the pagename here, since we can transclude a redirect (the same way the actual comic page is transcluded using only the number, which is a redirect).
:* I did see that edit and was thinking that we could probably display a custom info message whenever someone attempts to edit main page, so they'll know they ''can'' edit the actual comic page. I'll add that to my todo list.
:* Mediawiki itself will tell us when a potentially expensive parser function is being used too much, by placing the corresponding page in [[:Category:Pages with too many expensive parser function calls]]. So we don't need to be concerned with {{w|premature optimization}} :)
:--[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:16, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

::The edit link can be displayed, specifically on the main page, by the {{tl|comic}} template, that is true; it just seems wrong to me however, it's not his job to do so...
::As for the comments, they cannot be displayed by the template (unless we put them before the explanation), so we still don't have a solution for them; and I still believe they would be very useful on the main page, very appealing for readers to come and comment as well.
::So, problem still not solved I would say... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 16:27, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

::: I don't see the problem with {{tl|comic}} displaying the edit link on the main page, especially since you consider using it to display the discussion as well (which, I agree, unfortunately isn't possible)
::: I added the discussion to the main page. It will depend on a redirect being created for the talk page as well every time a new comic is released, but it doesn't make it any harder. Compare:
:::# Create comic page at <nowiki>[[123: title]]</nowiki>
:::# Update <nowiki>{{latest comic}}</nowiki>
:::# Redirect <nowiki>[[123]] to [[123: title]]</nowiki> (it's necessary to allow people to get to the comic with only the number)
:::with:
:::# Create comic page at <nowiki>[[123: title]]</nowiki>
:::# Redirect <nowiki>[[123]] to [[123: title]]</nowiki>
:::# Redirect <nowiki>[[Talk:123]] to [[Talk:123: title]]</nowiki>
:::Therefore, I don't see a strong case for creating the <nowiki>{{latest comic}}</nowiki> template. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:31, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
:::
::::You're right, the two systems are equivalent in use; but then is there a strong case to keep the current one against using the one I suggested?
::::Currently we cannot get an "add a comment" link on the main page, and to put the "edit this explanation" banner below the explanation one has to put it on the comic page (and manually remove it once the comic is not the latest any more). And when there is no comments yet, the main page displays a weird red link (transclusion of the redirect page to a non-existant page) instead of displaying (for instance) a nice "''No comments yet''".
::::True, the {{tl|comic}} template could be used to, specifically on the main page, display something like "view page - edit - add a comment" on top-right, but that doesn't solve all these issues, and then the links wouldn't be at their ideal place. And one could argue that all the features I'm speaking about are not absolutely necessary, but I still think it would be better at least.
::::All in all, I can live with the current system, but I still believe a manually updated <nowiki>{{latest comic}}</nowiki> would allow, without cost, to set a better layout of content, navigation links and edit/comment links.
::::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 16:46, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
::::
:::*I am in agreement that the goal should be to have the ability to comment directly onto the main page for the current comic.
::::Can all pages be formatted to look like the main page (ie header with number of comics explained/remaining and the 3 paragraphs at the end describing the site).
::::If this could be done (I don't think it would clutter the site as these take up very little space even on the main page), then could we just redirect the main page to the comic with the highest number? The function of the main page would not change as a new user would still see all information currently available on the main page, but it would have the added benefit of sending visitors to the desired location (the fully functional current comic page).
::::[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 17:23, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

== How to reference strips? ==

I think we need to agree on a citation style for strips in plain prose. I.e. If the [[Black Hat]] article says "Black Hat first appears in ________", how are we filling that blank? In this case, the blank is [[29: Hitler]]. As I understand it, proper style for an "episode" name typically is quotes, so the stip is "Hitler". But there's still various options:

# "[[29: Hitler|Hitler]]" [quotes not linked]
# [[29: Hitler|"Hitler"]] [quotes linked]
# [[29: Hitler|Comic #29]]
# [[29: Hitler|#29]]
# [[29: Hitler]]
# "[[29: Hitler|Hitler]]" (29)
# "[[29: Hitler|Hitler]]" (#29)

etc.

Anyone have any opinions? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 21:38, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

: Option 5. above seems the simplest, yet readable and informative. At most I'd prepend a # sign, like so: #[[29: Hitler]]. Being a link should be enough to differentiate it from the rest of the text (without needing quote signs). Alternatively, #7 also may be an acceptable option, but we'd need a template to make sure the formatting is maintained in all such references... I don't think it's worth the extra complexity. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:54, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
:: Whatever we decide, let's encode it into the <nowiki>{{xkcd}}</nowiki> and/or <nowiki>{{explain}}</nowiki> templates, and just agree to use those templates. That allows central administration of the stylistic issues and gives editors a simple rule to follow. Minor tweaks to either would afford that flexibility. Right now, they generate the links {{xkcd|29}} and {{explain|29}} respectively, though the latter can be {{explain|29: Hitler}} without much fuss. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:58, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
::: I support modifying the <nowiki>{{explain}}</nowiki> template to be along the lines of proposal number five. {{User:Omega/sig}} 09:20, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
:::: Five. yes. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:15, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

== Sidebar icons ==

Hi all. I hope you'll forgive my enthusiasm but I went ahead and implemented an icon theme for the sidebar (as well as more spacing between the links, for extra breathing room). What do you guys think of it? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:45, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
:I like it, but I'm not sure where you added them. Was that on a MediaWiki: page or one of the .css pages? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 01:39, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
::Both :) [[Mediawiki:Common.css]] --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 09:07, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

== Cueball/Rob ==

I noticed someone edited the character template to add an article for "[[Rob]]". I thought this might have just been a vandal edit, but I googled 'xkcd Rob' and discovered that indeed, a Cueball chracter has been referenced as Rob in several strips. Is there a reason Cueball hasn't been designated officially "Rob" just as [[Megan]] has been designated Megan by being named in a few strips? Do we have reason to believe that other Cueballs are non-Rob characters? PS: this might not be the right place for this discussion, but I'm not sure if anyone is reading article discussion pages at this point yet, and I thought that the name of the primary character might be a notable issue of discussion [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:07, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
:: I'm unclear on this as well. Cueball was just a name made up (I think here on this site) for the main character of the comic. Are there separate characters for Cueball and Rob? I'm not sure. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
:::I know that "Cueball" has now been severely grandfathered in, but I think we have to consider moving [[Cueball]] over to [[Rob]] and basically considering the Cueball character to be "Rob", in the same way as Megan, unless it's clear that the character isn't Rob, since Cueball, as noted, is not an official title. I'm somewhat leaning in this direction.

:::I do see some leakage of the term "Cueball" into other sites via a google search including xkcd forums. In the alternatively, I would suggest mentioning in the Cueball article that he has been referred to as "Rod" in some comics, but due to his lack of distinguishing physical traits, it is not always clear if a comic is depicting Rod, or a different character. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]])
::::I have to agree with this. When I first heard about the page on "Rob", I was a bit skeptical, as I couldn't recall hearing the name before and the page was ridiculous at the time. However, after looking him up to try and verify the page, I found a number of "Cueball" characters that were referred to as "Rob", officially (and even an instance where the transcript referred to the character as "Rob" when the comic didn't mention a name). TL; DR: The character we've all called "Cueball" seems to be more properly known as "Rob". {{User:Omega/sig}} 22:46, 14 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::{{explain|285|Citation needed...}} I, for one, would oppose the migration away from Cueball.
:::::# {{w|xkcd|Wikipedia}} has been silent on the matter, giving no more credibility to the apellation than Cueball.
:::::# Transcripts in xkcd typically (granted, with a few exceptions) refer to the various stick figures as Person 1, etc. Frequently, there are several stick figures, all essentially the same generic stick-figure shape. Rob is a specific proper noun, and it would be silly to suggest that each stick figure is named Rob. Cueball, on the other hand, while filling the role of a proper noun, is still generic enough to suggest the any-man nature of the figures. It is descriptive more than nominative.
:::::# Local color. That's part of what distinguishes this site from others, and part of why I've been coming back. I for one would be sad to see that replaced with MacDonalds-like sameness. I ''might'' reconsider if RM's About page definitively said "his name is Rob"... but only reluctantly.
:::::So -1 on the proposition to migrate away from Cueball. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:55, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

::::::To respond to your points, #1, Wikipedia is not official or a primary source; it's a community edit encyclopedia like this one. If you'd like me to go over there and reference "Rob", then all of a sudden Wikipedia will say Rob. Wikipedia isn't the source of credibility for xkcd imo. #2 is interesting, and I take it as a fair point (I'm not suggesting that in every case we see a Cueball it is the same character) but my interest here is consistency. Megan appears in many comic strips where she is listed as "person 2" in the transcript, such as [[1084]]. Should she be given a generic name other than where she is named (Cuebelle?) Similarly for #3, Megan is not refernced on the xkcd About page; it's about consistency. I understand color and such, but to an extent, when you take something that's a blog and turn it into a wiki style pseudo-encyclopedia, one of the casualties sometimes is color. It became inappropriate to use phrases like "I think" in explanations just because of the way the articles are perceived. In the same way, consistency is something that I think is important when going to this style format. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:26, 15 August 2012 (UTC)
::::::::::Just want to insert here that I laughed at "Cubelle" above, but though I enjoyed it, I'd have to say the visual similarity to Cueball would likely cause confusion. Props for the suggestion, though.--[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 18:51, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::::* Agreed that Wikipedia is not official or primary, but it is ''de-facto'' (it's likely more linked-to than even xkcd.com is on this site, for some reason.) That standing gives it a level of authority no other site has except the source itself. And agreed, one could very easily go and add Rob, or Cueball, or some other designation to the character(s). But nobody to date has (or, if they have, it may very likely have been reverted, being subject to that evolutionary force Wikipedia in aggregate exerts on subjects there, on needing to be noteworthy.) So while not an absolute authority, it caries a gravitas that other than xkcd itself, no other site really posesses on the matter, and so far, it (the collective body of contributors) has not deemed it important to settle the matter.
:::::::* I'm also not altogether convinced that, in transmogrification from blog to wiki, it necessarily follows that we must become more Wiki''pedia''-like. The medium has afforded a democratization of information here, but not a requirement that information lose its local flavor to become some dessicated academic dissertation. "I think" is, in my opinion, as valid here as it always was, and mediawiki doesn't necessarily impose otherwise.
:::::::* As for consistency, it serves its purpose, but generally I'm not one to be ruled by hobgoblins.
:::::::Anyway, the foregoing being only my opinion, and having express it, I leave it at that. Other minds may differ. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 02:30, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
::::::::It seems to me that this discussion has moved away from Cueball/Rob, and perhaps is deserving of it's own section now. When this site was a blog, and not a wiki, there was a clear separation between Jeff's explanations in the main body of the post, and the comments below. For the most part, Jeff wrote in an "editorial voice", and I don't recall a lot of "I think", "In my opinion", etc in the main posting (there was an occasional "I don't get this, can anyone explain it?", but that's clearly different). I know, at least, I've tried to maintain that color here: in the main page, editorial voice; in the discussion section (included at the bottom of every page, usually), personal voice. I think that works well. In my opinion, I think that "I think" and "In my opinion" have no place where it's not clear who the speaker is. The main pages are group edited, and have no identified speaker, so I wouldn't put it there. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 02:53, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::::::I concur that Wikipedia has ''some'' gravitas over any other site, and there is a reason it has links here (it is easier to link to an existing encyclopedia article on {{w|quantum physics}} than to start from scratch explaining it here. But in the same way that this may soon be a "wikipedia" for all things xkcd, that still doesn't make explainxkcd official. It may be considered a more reliable source of information than some random blogger, but that doesn't make it an official source. Wikipedia, notably, doesn't call Cueball anything. If it called him Cueball, that would be one thing - the name would have pervaded culture outside this website; but Wikipedia takes no position; I don't see how we can take Wikipedia's failure to reference the character at all and use this as a rationale to make any decision on this site one way or another.
:::::::::I will respond to BlaisePascal's editorial voice comment in a new section [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:40, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

== Default color? ==

Frankly, I'm not even sure this is an issue on the wiki's end vs. the browser's default, but I've noticed this with other wiki-based software. With the default of Blue links and Purple visited links, I've been noticing a lot lately that the Purple visited links are not really standing out from the otherwise black text. Not sure why this is. Is anyone else noticing this? I'm having a hard time finding wikilinks in text that I've already visited. Perhaps it's just me. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:37, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

: As a color blind user of explainxkcd, I'd like to put in a vote to up the contrast between visited and not links on the wiki. It doesn't need to be much, but more than it is now would be infinitely helpful. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:21, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

::Has this gone anywhere? I still find it hard to see the visited links (they now simply look like the rest of the text). And the unvisited links are hard to focus on. I'm not sure I can explain it any better. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:25, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

== Comments ==

Please let me know where the comments are for the latest comic. If
I'm not the only one who can't find them, can there be a link next to the comic?

== Editorial Voice ==

:''This section is split off in response to a comment by [[user:Blaisepascal]] in the Cueball/Rob discussion above.
I concur with Blaisepascal on the editorial voice issue. "first person" has no place in a wiki, as there is no single editor to be "I". I have a recollection that when the wiki started, Jeff said something about how in moving to a wiki, he had attempted to edit most of the explanations that has been moved over to remove most of the first-person references, but he invited others to continue this where he missed them. I can't, however, find this reference anywhere anymore. Assuming I am not making this up in my own mind, it's Jeff's site, so I think his style wishes are paramount.

I agree that most of the personal references on explainxkcd are things like "let's see if I get this right" or "Did I miss something?" or general bloggish comments like sorry I'm late to post; but there are other posts such as [http://www.explainxkcd.com/2010/10/18/connected/ this one] in which part of Jeff's post was: "''This is another one of those xkcd's that I classify as "emo". [...] Since there is nothing to explain here, [...] I'll wait for the next comic that makes a joke about Lord of the Rings and wormholes or something''" when moved over here.

The wiki format changes the nature of the explanations. It makes them no longer one person's opinion on the meaning of a comic. It is now a wiki where members of the public will aim to have a complete and accurate explanation built from many editors' thoughts and corrections. I don't think the articles need have encyclopedic definity. I have no issue with phrases like "it appears" or "it may be" where something is ambiguous, but "I think" or "I did a Google search" are not wikipropriate. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:44, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

:For the most part I completely agree. But I think that the explanations should not be boring. Even without personal pronouns, many of them have a congenial tone, not an overbearing one.

:For example, when I brought over [[1030: Keyed]], I took out the personal pronouns, but I left in the comment "Oh Beret Guy, never change." I started coming to the site, in part, because of the tone. I think that that should be preserved despite the inherent non-oneness of the wiki. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:08, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

== Discussion comments link? ==

*Does anyone else think that the {{tl|comic discussion}} template should have an argument added for some way to display a link to the comments section of the original blog posts for older comics? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:48, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
**I'm not sure that it would always be clear what the comments are referring to since the explanation may differ from the original.-[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 21:21, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
***I hear you, and that's a valid point; but it seems a shame to just discard the upwards of a hundred comments that sometimes took place on the old blog. I guess it also matters whether [[User:Jeff]] intends to delete the blog version at some point given the wiki. If it is going to stay up, why not link to the archived comments? The original blog post would be viewable there as well, if there were any differences relevant to those comments. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:03, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
*I would, however, like something to be done about the issue of new users finding the discussion section from the explain wiki main page. A suggestion I saw recently on the old site by rewq^ suggesting changing 'go to this comic' to 'comments' would solve the problem. I think it could also be changed to 'go to comments' - [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 21:21, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

That's an inventive answer to an intesreting question

== LiveJournal content ==

I've noticed that people are putting content from Randall's LiveJournal account into comic articles here, which I think is good. But I'd like to make some style suggestions around that.

Let's look at {{explain|42}}. Now, until someone explicitly pointed it out, I had no idea xkcd started on a LiveJournal account, so comments like "Original quote" or "Original comment" or "Original title" were confusing to me. I had no idea the source of this information. Now that I know better, my suggestions are as follows:

# These shouldn't be listed as "trivia". This is official content. I would suggest perhaps this be included in a "Background" section with any other background info on the comic (e.g. for some recent comics, it might reference Randall's fiancée's health issues for relevant comics).
# This "Background" section contains official content and more official than the "Explanation". The Background section should therefore go first.
# The section should be written in prose, not point form. My sample replacement for the above article would be "this comic was originally posted on Randall's LiveJournal account with the comment "''No laughing, 'less you want some of this too! *hefts golf club menacingly*''". Randall listed his mood at the time as "sick". The comic was actually the Xth comic posted on the LiveJournal account, and was included out-of-order when it was numbered as part of ''xkcd''.
# I think [[LiveJournal]] should have a brief article about the original LJ account.
# I note that on other wiki's including, for example [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Family_(episode) Memory alpha (example)] and on Wikipedia, they often have boxes showing the 'previous'/'next' things on a list (prev/next songs to hit #1 on different music charts, or prev/next tv episodes produced vs. aired). Should we give thought to creating a short sub-list of the Order comics were actually posted on the Livejournal so you can prev/next through that list?

Thoughts? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 22:17, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

:I added most of the LJ related "Trivia" just to get it into the wiki. I think expanding it would be nice, but I'm a bit lazy :) I did add a new category for the LJ posts, so they should be easier to find. There are still a few that do not (that I can find) appear in LJ, so I left as "undated" - but added the undated category that someone else had created. I was also considering creating a list ordered by LJ posting order on the LJ category page (to be created) to at least preserve some of the nostalgia. Is there another pre-xkcd site besides LJ that posts might have appeared in? Or are these "undated" posts possibly others that were just lumped into the "early posts" on xkcd? --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 21:05, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

::There are three undated comics that I found (and I noted them on the "big board" of all comics at [[list of all comics]]. If no one disagrees, I will start moving sections when I have time and creating any new sections as "Background" rather than "Trivia" where the sections relate to the history or backstory of the comic itself. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:04, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
:::The three undated comics do not appear on LiveJournal, just on the xkcd.com site. Given that (a) all of the comics on LJ from before 2006-1-1 are dated 2006-1-1 on xkcd, (b) all the ones after are dated with the same dates as on LJ, and (c) the three undated comics appear in the middle of the pre-2006 comics on LJ, I suspect that [[Randall]] posted them to the xkcd site first, and as part of a batch of comics he posted to bootstrap the site. So it's entirely likely that the 2006-1-1 date is accurate. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 16:18, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

I added, in the "Trivia" section, a "thread" tying all the LJ comics together, in order. In doing so, I also added the half-dozen or so LJ comics not yet added. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 16:18, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

== Programmatically Accessing Comics ==

I think there should be a way for other websites to view* explanations, (discussions?), etc programmatically.

This could be used for the [http://explainxkcd.com front page], or a website wanting to show an explanation of a comic that is always up-to-date and correct, etc.

<nowiki>*</nowiki> I wrote view, but it could also be edit.

--[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

:This could be done with json responses to individual pages including the current explanation for that comic. Similar to how the xkcd json api works now. I don't know if that is feasible in php though. I'm currently on a RoR craze though, so maybe there's an easier and less over-engineered solution I don't know about. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:18, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
::A cheap way out would be to have PHP page access the SQL DB and yank the necessary text from there. This could be useful for a naitive mobile app. Also, this site needs a mobile version. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

== New Edit Explanation Image/Link (Introduced 9/22/12) ==

Some initial thoughts.
*Will this be a permanent part of each comic? I would not be in favor of each comic in the archives having this disclaimer/large repetitive image as part of the explanation. Instead, can this just be part of the most recent comic?
*The other issue I have is that main page now has one direct link to editing the explanation (the thing least done by users) and none to editing discussion/adding comments (the thing most done by users). I see that the talk page is now displayed on the main page, which I think is a good thing, but I hope that someone can also get the 'add a comment' link on the main page as well.
*In the end I feel there should be links for editing the explanation and adding comments/discussion on the main page and that these links should be proportional in size to their traffic by users (re the link for adding to the discussion should be equal to or larger than the link for the explanation).
--[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 14:26, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

:A few pointers about that:
:* I introduced the "edit explanation" image/link below the explanation I gave for today's comic, mainly because I felt what I had written ''was'' indeed incomplete (I was lacking an explanation for the "[has only one review]" part and for the title text). So in a way that was some sort of calling for help with the explanation. And once done I thought it was a good idea to have a highly visible "edit" link for the latest comic explanation on the main page (''"so that people seeing something they could add would feel invited to do so (wiki style). In my opinion this would be a good way to improve the quality of the user-generated explanations"'', as I said [[Talk:Main Page#Direct link to latest comic|here]]).
:* Later on, I added the "may be incorrect" notion in the banner, because I saw that people having different explanations only mentioned them in the comments, instead of editing my explanation (which after all could be wrong). So I fear there's some sort of "we don't touch what has been done" effect, where the first explanation given will be more likely to stick and not be corrected by readers who are not used to the idea that they can edit it (actually, if someone has a better explanation than the one I put, I'd be happy to see it corrected!).
:* That edit banner should not be a permanent part of each comic. My opinion is that it should stay on the latest comic's page (even when the explanation could be considered complete) until there is a new comic, in order to invite as much people as possible to share their explanation; and it should also, of course, be on the comic pages for which the explanation is considered incomplete, for instance [[51: Malaria|this]] (empty) or [[46: Secrets|that]] (partial only).
:* It would be nice indeed to have also, on the main page, a direct link to add a comment (exactly like the one on [[1098: Star Ratings|the comic page]]), but that is currently not feasible automatically. This is one of the reasons why I suggested an other way to handle the latest comic (see [[#Latest comic handling]] above), which I actually still think would be better, and in particular which would allow to do all that (including the edit banner) nicely automatically from the main page.
:[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 15:20, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

==Notice templates==
I would like to suggest a template for a notice saying "this page requires copy editing," and one saying "this page may be unclear in its meaning," or something of the sort for each. the comic posted on 8/22/12 could use both of these. (unsigned comment by [[User:Dave|Dave]] 19:11, 23 August 2012‎ )

:I agree. I discussed this matter with [[User:Blaisepascal]] in respect of his template {{tl|Incomplete}} on its talk page. I have updated that template to {{tl|Incomplete/beta1}} and created {{tl|ambox}} as a generic message box ''xkcd''-style where other message templates can be created and color coded like on wikipedia, such as the ones you suggest.

:Unfortunately, because of the image scaling issues, the ambox template displays two broken images at the moment which we agreed shouldn't replace the existing template until the images are unbroken. I'm not sure anyone is working on the image scaling problem, is one of the issues. In any event, I also don't see the point in creating other notice templates until the issue is fixed and we can use the standardized template. I'm really hoping someone is working on the image scaling problem... [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:36, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

:: I changed the template to use the {{tl|notice}} template that is already being used in several places. I'll delete {{tl|ambox}} as it's redundant, but the styling of {{tl|notice}} can be changed if such is desired. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:40, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

== Denoting comic "series" ==

There are several "series" of comics. Is there a better/prefered way of notating these? Currently I have been creating a "Category:Series Name", e.g. (not all of these exist yet)
* [Category:Comics featuring Barrel Boy](1-5) (Should this be just "Barrel Boy"?)
* [Category:Journal](1-5)
* [Category:The Race](1-5)
* [Category:My Hobby](random)
* [Category:1337](1-5)
* [Category:Choices](1-5)
* [Category:Parody Week](5 in this "series", but others fit the genre)
* [Category:Red Spiders](4 in this "genre", 2 explicitly numbered)
* [Category:Secretary](1-5)
* [Category:Five-Minute Comics](1-3)
* [Category: Guest Week](5 comics, but not exactly a "series").

I usually also create a REDIRECT of "Series Name" to "Category: Series Name"(breaks for "Journal", as it is also a comic title.
Should we have another meta-category for series comics? What about a [Series:Series Name] "category"? or does that break wiki? --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 23:33, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

== Categories for Proposals Page ==

Maybe just simply two categories, resolved and unresolved? --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

Or stickers that say Open/Closed. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

== Moving the Wiki {{done|Closed}}==

What if explainxkcd.com/wiki was move to explainxkcd.com and explainxkcd.com would be moved to explainxkcd.com/blog? --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

+1 (44)

-1 (0)

: That's my plan long term. That might make a lot of things like shortURL possible. Just have to get some time to get it sorted out. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:58, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
<hr />
Sorry if your votes don't appear immediately. I will have them update automatically soon. Hopefully. And if you clicked my signature wanting to +1 this page, sorry for the confusion. DanB and Lcarsos, your +1's have been added to the count. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:+1 from me. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 14:36, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
:+1 as well. I keep hitting the blog when I mean to go to the wiki. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 15:00, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

== Chart type comics ==

Some comics (circuit diagram, US states,eyes sights, among others) are in a characteristic chart format- where it is all based around a chart of some kind or the other. Should we have a separate template for them, for the type of comics?

And somebody should actually create all the pages in the required format without explanations, so that other users can fill on the explanation. I can give explanations, but need somebody to make the pages first

[[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 17:05, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

:All the images have been uploaded, and a template exists at [[User:Blaisepascal/newcomictemplate]] that can be copied/pasted into a new comic page that just needs to be filled in. [[User:Lcarsos]] has written a [[User:Lcarsos#Ruby_importer_script|Ruby importer script]] that will create an almost-ready-to-upload page for you. All you need to do is fill in the explanation, proof-read, and add useful Wiki links. You don't need special privileges to create new pages.
:Personally, I find comic pages devoid of explanation counter to the intent of this site, and I try not to create them. If I put up a page, I try to make sure it has an explanation. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 18:22, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

:I agree with Blaisepascal. If a comic does not have an explanation its page should not exist so that it is easy to tell how much work there is left to be done. If suddenly all the pages are created, but none of them have explanations, a passing user won't know that there is still work to be done, and potentially won't pitch in to help complete the site.
:As far as charts go, be sure to tag them with [[:Category:Charts]] and I like to change the transcript into a wiki table format. Of course, if the page doesn't have a transcript section then be sure you get the transcript from xkcd's json api (There is information about how to work it in [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Coordination#Issue dates]], as well as my [[User:Lcarsos#Ruby Importer scipt|Ruby script]] pulls in the transcript if it exists. You're still on your own to get the explanation from the blog (I'm working on that)).
:[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:57, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

== New Categories ==
(cut from Chart Type Comics section above, as seems new topic) [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 00:14, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Ok. Also, add a new section for proposing templates. We can have a very varied range of templates, like 'Comics with Black Hat', 'Comics with Raptor reference' etc... That will provide a useful ground for comparision of the most common themes [[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 16:44, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
:From context, I assume that by "templates", you mean "categories"? [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 18:00, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

:I think you'd benefit from taking a gander at [[:Category:Comics by featured characters]] and [[:Category:Comics by topic]]. I think we're still debating what to do about comics with actual people in them. But that will get you a good start. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:55, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

:: I'd be okay with creating a [[:Category:Comics featuring real people]] and including sub-categories for Cory Doctorow, the Firefly cast, RMS, Ron Paul, and other recurring real-life people.
:: But then, my general philosophy is more links, more pages, more explanation the better. One-shot fictional characters (like ponytail-Sarah in [[84: National Language]]) probably don't need their own category/page, though.[[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 02:06, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

:::I really like that idea. I too am of the more categories tribe, but I prefer them to be properly nested. I want to try my hand at creating categories let me see if I can do this. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 00:54, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

::::Okay, the beginnings are in place. Though I used [[:Category:Comics featuring real people]] as most comics that reference these people, in fact, feature them. I've also created a [[Playpen balls]] category under [[:Category:Comics by topic]] as it seems to me that it's referenced enough that it's necessary.

::::Question: Should we mirror Featured Characters by also having a page for each character and a Category:Real people, or will the Category pages be good enough?

::::The categories are going to get/are getting crowded with all the categories, is there a better way to represent them rather than a list? I'm thinking something that looks like [[:Template:navbox-characters]] except it needs to maintain the link on highlighted items, and it needs to be capable of multiple highlights. I think it would need sections for Featured Characters, Real people, Series (Barrel boy, Secretary, The Race), and Recurring Topics. What I mean by multiple highlights is, if they exist in that comic, i.e. if a comic features Black Hat, Cueball, Cory Doctorow, and Playpen balls, all of those should be highlighted.

::::[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 02:37, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

It looks like a good time to resurrect this topic. So, If you are going to categorize pages into a category that doesn't exist yet. MAKE SURE that you create the category page, don't just let it be a red link. That looks so sloppy. While on the subject of sloppy, Alphabetize by type the categories on the comic page. I go: Main characters, minor characters, real people, topics, series.

My personal requirements for making a category:
*For new topics
**For new topics, must be the central topic of ''at least'' two comics, with a few more tangentially related.
**It should be something that someone reads and goes "I wonder if there are more comics about this?" It is not simply creating a tag cloud for a post on a blog. That metaphor is gone. These are categories, like sections in an index to a book, or rather an ''encyclopedia''.
**A perfect example of this is [[User:Bpothier|Bpothier]]'s introduction of [[:Category:Comics with color]]. I've often wanted a list of all xkcds to date that have color on them. You'll know you've hit on something when another editor starts going through the pages and adding them to the new category.
*For new recurring characters
**They must recur. This seems obvious, but Adrian Lamo (for example, {{Wiktionary|AFAIK}}), only appears in [[1337: Part 3]]. This is a useless category if there are no other comics he appears in. It only goes to clutter up other, well populated categories.
*For other new categories
**You better have a damn solid case for why you have added a category that wasn't a sub-category of [[:Category:Comics by topic]] or [[:Category:Comic series]]. ''And if you do'', '''be polite''' and present it on the community portal so that the circling editors don't come in like brain-dead vultures to tear apart and re-parent your new category.

It is brain dead easy to create a page (spam bots do it all the time). It is much more complicated to get a page deleted by an admin once it has been created. You can tag it [[:Category:Pages to delete]], but non-spam pages marked this aren't often cleaned out. What I'm trying to say here is, be judicious in picking the names of pages you want to create. It's a pain to have to move Comics featuring Barrel Boy into a [[Barrel]] category.

Also, categorizing a page as something because of the explanation is not ok. These categories are here to group comics together, not as a general tag cloud for the wiki.

'''TL;DR:''' When creating a new category, create the goddamn category page (red links icky) and have ''at least'' 2 pages in the category. For big changes come here and ask first. [http://dontbeadickday.com/ Wil Wheaton says: "Don't be a dick!"]

Questions, comments, improvements, pies to the face accepted. Being-non-useful/criticism-with-intent-to-destroy is rude.

[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:28, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

:No, Lcarsos, don't hold back; please tell us what you really think! ;-) All kidding aside, these suggestions seem really pretty good. There may be some subjectivity in terms of what constitutes contributing to a tag cloud vs the categorization you mention here. But as you point out, that understanding is likely to evolve: if one creates a category that somebody else runs with it, that's a pretty good indicator. I'm glad this categorization has been going on as it has; were it not for my ''de facto'' role as ''Grim Spammer-Reaper'' I'd be in there helping sort and categorize 'em all, too. So huge thanks! -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:45, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

::Just to clarify, I assume what you mean by "''Alphabetize by type the categories on the comic page. I go: Main characters, minor characters, real people, topics, series.''" is that one should ''group'' categories by type, and then alphabetize within them? If that's the case, I don't see any major issue with that; that said, I tend to add categories by deemed 'importance', i.e. I would add comics featuring Cueball before comics featuring Black Hat or Beret Guy just because Cueball is the central character in the series. Similarly, I would also reorder so that "series" comes before topic, if not before characters as well. The first category a "My Hobby" comic comes into, in my mind, is the "My Hobby" category. Only then is it a comic that happens to feature Cueball, or happens to be on the topic of computers. That's my personal view of it. The only reason I would keep characters first is because it's the most common category type a comic will fall into. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:26, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

== Randall in Comics ==

In comic 541 (TED Talk), Randall uses a Cueball character to refer to himself. How should this be included in the Wiki? Cited: http://xkcd.com/541/ AWiseGuy (talk) 21:50, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

:I think, since he also seems to appear as himself in [[1057: Klout]] it would be appropriate to create a [[:Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]] and parent it to [[:Category:Comics featuring real people]]. I'll let you do that. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:51, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

== Characters appearing only by name. ==

I've noticed that in several comics, known and named characters appear by name only without any physical appearance. Off the top of my head, I can think of Miss Lenhart (who actually appears twice by name before making her first real appearance: http://xkcd.com/135/ and in http://xkcd.com/416/) and Rob in comic 1102. I think these should be included as appearances, or under some other related but separate category, because they do provide character development. Thoughts on this? [[User:AWiseGuy|AWiseGuy]] ([[User talk:AWiseGuy|talk]]) 19:51, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

:I consider references to be apperances. Anyone interested in reading all comics relating to that character or looking for a specific comic featuring that character might be remmebering one where it was a mention by name, not by apperance, and they should be included in the categories for ease of reference, IMO. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 20:13, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

== Also explain cartoons from the XKCD book? ==

Hi!
As many of you surely know, many comics from the main site were featured in the book xkcd: volume 0. Some of them where altered or had extra explanations. Moreover, there where quite a few riddles and new comics in the book, which should be explained here, too. The forums did a great job on solving the great big riddles which lead to the legendary "official" XKCD-meetup with Randall. --[[Special:Contributions/137.193.213.160|137.193.213.160]] 09:37, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
:Oops, for got to log in, this suggestion came from me: [[User:Gefrierbrand|Gefrierbrand]] ([[User talk:Gefrierbrand|talk]]) 09:48, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

== Just add 'explain' before the 'xkcd.com' ==

You know how you there are services like [http://www.youtuberepeat.com YouTube Repeat] which let you go to the corresponding part of their site by just adding `repeat` before the `.com` of the YouTube video URL?

Likewise, let us just add `explain` before the `xkcd.com` part in any comic URL and let it redirect us to the appropriate wiki post. For example: `explainxkcd.com/1000` would redirect to `http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1000`. I think since the site is based on PHP, it'd be very easy to just send a 301 Redirect header along.

This will be of immense comfort and will probably see me and others using ExplainXKCD.com a lot mre ! Happy reading :)

{{unsigned|YatharthROCK|15:17, 16 September 2012}}

Hi, joining the conversation: Could we perhaps also ask the original administrator of explainxkcd to redirect the address of his site here? It'll be easier to get here and it might generate more traffic as well. --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 01:48, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

:In a way, that's the plan... per [[#Moving the Wiki ✓ Closed|#Moving the Wiki]] above, the `/wiki` part would disappear, and with shortURL at the same time (mentioned there and at other places as well), the `index.php?title=` would disappear as well. Therefore, explainxkcd.com/1000 would get you the [[1000]] page, which itself redirects to the explanation of the comic ([[1000: 1000 Comics]]). So I guess the only issue is: when will this be done?... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:38, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
:: I'd LOVE this working. I've worked on this a bunch and only succeeded in bricking the site. If anyone has any advice, I'd love the help. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:04, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

:::I don't think that there is a wiki way to do this, as I've never set up mediawiki before (I should get around to it though). But from 10,000 feet it appears to me that all of the wiki software lives inside a /wiki/ directory on the server, and the blog lives in the root directory. Currently, all of mediawiki's pages are being generated by being passed GET variables, and all of WordPress' pages are being generated by its use of mod_rewrite (why the difference, I don't know. I've never set up mediawiki, and thus never had to try to get mod_rewrite working for it). This is a problem, because any url sent to the server such as explainxkcd.com/1000 is causing the server to look for a directory named 1000, and when it doesn't find it, it invokes mod_rewrite and passes 1000 to the index.php of the root directory as a search term, which activates WordPress which searches for any entries dated in the year 1000 (Wordpress treats the first "directory" as the year), naturally none exist so WordPress generates a 404 error.

:::While the blog exists, I think the only way to do this would be to write a .htaccess that conditionally reroutes directory misses to /wiki/ so something like explainxkcd.com/1000 would be sent to explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1000 but explainxkcd.com/2012/04 would still be sent to WordPress to find entries posted in April 2012.

:::As soon as we can get rid of the blog (which is not yet, because there are a lot of explanations still there that haven't been migrated over) the logic that has to be in the .htaccess becomes much simpler. Anything gets redirected to explainxkcd.com/wiki/. I say anything, and I mean anything because URI requests for anything under explainxkcd.com/wiki/ apache will find the /wiki/ directory and pass everything into there (mod_rewrite or as it currently is) and anything not matchin the /wiki/ directory can be 302'd into /wiki/ for the wiki to find it.

:::I hope that makes sense. If that's too long, let me sum up. '''TL;DR:''' Not very feasible until all explanations in the blog are in the wiki and we can get rid of WordPress.

:::--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:52, 13 November 2012 (UTC)
::: Yup - I certainly would be using htaccess file and that's the approach that has NOT worked in the past. It is possible it needs some tweaking so that it works for the wiki. I'm not sure. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:09, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Add explanations for what-if.xkcd.com ==
A new [http://what-if.xkcd.com sub-site] from Randall calls for new explanations.
This might not need quite as much explaining, but it is worthy of reference anyway.
--[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 16:01, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

:I think Randall actually does quite a good job of explaining everything in what-if. If we had a go at it, it would pretty much just be a page with a link to general and special relativity pages of wikipedia. Other than that, he provides links for almost everything he discusses. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:21, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

:But we may want to discuss his topics among ourselves. I am reading the lightning topic today, and wishing I could comment on it or add fragments of my own experience to it.[[User:Noni Mausa|Noni Mausa]] ([[User talk:Noni Mausa|talk]]) 11:32, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
:
::...then you have http://forums.xkcd.com, made exactly for that purpose; in particular: [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=94449 xkcd • View topic - What-if 0016: Lightning].
::Don't want to seem unfriendly here, I'm not trying to "get you out of here", it's just that if you want to ''discuss his topics'', ''comment on it or add fragments of your own experience to it'', then I believe that would be the best place for you to do so; and where you could find other people to share it, as well.
::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 17:38, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
:: Thanks, I will go have a look. I'm somewhat of a newbie, quod erat demonstrandum.[[User:Noni Mausa|Noni Mausa]] ([[User talk:Noni Mausa|talk]]) 02:37, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

== News Links ==
Certain pages have custom news links.
Many use the generic news link, which these days refers to what-if.xkcd.com.
Template "comic" should probably explcitly support and display custom news.
(An effort should be made at times to scan for updated news.)
--[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 16:01, 5 October 2012 (UTC)
: And, of course, there should be a category for anything with custom news. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 16:05, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

== New List requests ==

List of comics related to cancer -
(Umwelt, 818,828,836,925,931,933)

[Keep on adding new requests below this]
[[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 18:24, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
: Good suggestion. One observation... this is essentially a democratic institution, so feel free to put the catagory tags on each of these pages and get those editorial props due to you for recommending the category. I'm guessing <nowiki>[[Category:Cancer]]</nowiki> should be a good start. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 23:06, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

== Disambiguation ==

Ok, I think we need to start considering disambiguation pages.

Off the top of my head there's
*[[17: What If]] and [[what if?]]
*[[786: Exoplanets]] and [[1071: Exoplanets]]

If you search "what if" the redirect takes you to the [[17: What If]]. I've added a note to that page that links to [[what if?]].

[[Exoplanets]] (the title redirect) is an informal disambiguation page. But, neither comic links to the other one in case someone clicks links and gets to the wrong page.

In terms of notes on pages that there is a disambiguation page that they might be looking for, I think that the note should be made under the comic template so that people clicking the next/previous links don't have to move their cursor (I find nothing more infuriating than having a next/previous link move around as I'm browsing a website).

Anyone else? Thoughts? [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 15:42, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

== RSS Feed ==

We need a new RSS feed so people using news readers can easily be notified of new comics. {{unsigned|67.186.234.12}}

:First and foremost, a disambiguation: '''We are not xkcd'''. We are a group of people who love xkcd and sometimes a joke goes over our head, and we'd go into fits of OCD rage if we don't understand every joke in xkcd.

:If you want to read xkcd, subscribe to the RSS feed that [[Randall]] provides. [http://xkcd.com/rss.xml here's a link] A new xkcd is posted at midnight eastern (US East coast) of every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

:We are just here for the explanation, which is community based. It takes quite a few edits from many people before an explanation is really explained-to-death and every joke found and beaten with a club to extract maximum joke-explanation value. But there's usually a fairly substantial effort at an explanation by noon eastern. That's about the best we can offer you.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:19, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

== Comic Difficulty score ==

We should add a difficulty score to each page. Each XKCD comic could be awarded a score based on the number of people that have to visit explainxkcd.com on the day a comic is posted and a couple days after. Inspired by comic: http://www.xkcd.com/1137/

Jim

Hehe, that is a cool idea! --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:06, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Contributions and revert buttons ==

The main vandalism comes from IP adresses, and one IP may attack more than one page when it logs on. So its best to have a contributions link show up beside user page and talk page for every page history and signature; and wherever else it is used that way.

Also a quick way to deal with vandalism is to have two buttons on the show history page-
1. Revert this edit [undo] (for all, including IP users, not just normal users)
2. Revert to this edit (Just beside every edit on the edit history)

These two buttons (links, whatever u call them) will make it much more efficient for vandal-reverters to tackle them down.

[[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 20:08, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Oh and an easy template to keep tagging vandals, and vandalism affected articles, as well as a quick way to say that whatever we are doing is editing vandalism. I truly would not want to press any more than 4 buttons/clicks ideally on one page when I am trying to revert edits.

The tagging vandals and vandalism affected pages will help admins keep fast track of whos the worst vandal and block that range of IPs from editing (except to submit edit request to admins) and which are worst affected pages (to protect them) [[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 20:15, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Subsection for title text explanation ==

Hey! On trial I created subsections for some longer explanations of the title text on some pages, like this: [[804: Pumpkin Carving#Explanation]]. Do you think that is helpful? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:22, 23 November 2012 (UTC)
:Good idea. In some cases it might be the best choice. I just did that on [[1074: Moon Landing]] too :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:01, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

:Making a special sub-section for the title text only makes sense for large explanations. Explanations that are maybe only 2-3 scrappy paragraphs, and then an explanation of the title text, is not so dense that it is hard to find it. I like this as an idea, but I think that only the really large explanations should have the subsection. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:34, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

== Explain other webcomics too? ==

How about we explain other webcomics too, e.g. Penny Arcade? --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 02:36, 3 December 2012 (UTC)
:Good god, no. We've barely even finished xkcd. All these explanations pages still need a lick of polish, and there's still heaps of red links in the list of all comics page. Also, the wiki's called explainxkcd. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:38, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

== Whatever Happened to the Template? & Transcript Bar ==

I've been using the template whenever I make a new page for an explanation, but I think it's been gone for a couple of weeks now. Does anyone think they could possibly resurrect it? I'm just here to explain, I'm really not a pro with the technical details, so please bear with me.

Also, I got to thinking: In the List of All Comics, there are redirects for the Number, the Title, and the Talk pages, but has anyone thought about making a redirect for the transcript? I'm pushing for transcript help in a bunch of different areas mostly because I think people have been filling it in themselves without going to the site.

== Whatever Happened to the Template? & Transcript Redirect ==

I've been using the template whenever I make a new page for an explanation, but I think it's been gone for a couple of weeks now. Does anyone think they could possibly resurrect it? I'm just here to explain, I'm really not a pro with the technical details, so please bear with me.

Also, I got to thinking: In the List of All Comics, there are redirects for the Number, the Title, and the Talk pages, but has anyone thought about making a redirect for the transcript? I'm pushing for transcript help in a bunch of different areas mostly because I think people have been filling it in themselves without going to the site.

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2012-12-18T02:05:56Z

Castriff: /* Whatever Happened to the Template? & Transcript Bar */ new section

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== Spampage Rampage ==
Hail fellow admins, Jeff, distinguished editors all,

We've just been through a second spike of spam, (the first being around the 1110 Click and Drag comic) so as your friendly Angel of Death to such spammery, I'd like to open the floor to discussion on strategies to deal with the issue.

Personally, I don't mind the role of grim reaper for these miscreants, but I'd also prefer that it doesn't grow in magnitude; of late, I find myself almost exclusively dealing with the matter, leaving little enough time to enjoy the site, let alone contributing to it. Anything we can do to keep things under control would be appreciated.

So far, the spam comes in these flavors:
* One-timers. New users that create their own user page, oddly alike (couldn't be a spam-bot, eh?) always linking to "their" website. By far the biggest percentage of time the scythe falls, it falls on these.
** Two-timers. A variant of above, except they create one or two additional pages, typically the user's talk page, or a page same as the username, but not in the user namespace. Here too, quickly dispatched across the Styx.
* IPersonators: IP users that create faux user (and other) pages. Second largest group, though this trend has been growing, especially during this recent onslaught.
** A particularly insidious variant: IPersonators creating or modifying a real users' page. I've been pretty careful, so far, to track down the author, and block ''them'' (as opposed to assuming author = user) but I can see how this flavor of spam risks accidental blocking of legit contributors, which would be doubleplusungood.
* Jibberish vandal: Somebody creating content that isn't spam, but just repeated ''asdf'' or ''ghjkl'' content. Treated as above, though I don't call this spam in the logs. My guess is that this is a spam-bot under development. Fairly infrequent, and addressed using techniques as for above.

There are a few other one-off types, too, which I won't bother elaborating here.

So, the open-ended question stands: What do we do?

# There has been a suggestion to block IP-only contributors (ie must log in) ... perhaps only on an as-needed basis.
# Another thought would be to (by some as-yet unspecified means) prevent the creation, or cause the timely deletion, of user pages by other than said user.)
# Restricting external links (by a similarly as-yet-unspecified means) either to a specified approved white-list, or by a specified set of contributors (must have made more than n edits, for example.)
# Other thoughts? Let the discussion unfold...

No solution is likely to be perfect; this is a matter of raising the bar to where whatever processed meat can crest over it can be most easily managed... all without being so draconian that we compromise the appeal of the site.

All said, I have no problems with the grim reaper enterprise, but would like to spend more time in the [[User:IronyChef/TestKitchen|kitchen]], and less in the [[Special:Log/block|dumpster]].

A little postscript to put the issue into perspective: the ''top four contributors'', (as per Active Users as I write this) are as follows:
* Lcarsos [169 edits in the last 30 days]
* Davidy22 [282 edits in the last 30 days]
* Bpothier [298 edits in the last 30 days]
* IronyChef [433 edits in the last 30 days]
I can tell you that of my four-hundred plus edits, only about a dozen have not been spam related. Lcarsos and Davidy22 are two ace spam-seeking deputies, so a large part of their edits involve tagging pages with the spam template, not (as I'm sure they'd prefer) actually chiming in on matters xkcd. The rest of the field: not even close in terms of edit magnitude. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:30, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

:I was going to suggest a range block, but the IP addresses com from everywhere. The only pattern I can see is in the 83.<25 range. We could also change the captcha to cut into the bots for a little while. Another suggestion would be to create every explanation page, then mark the unfinished ones with the <nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> template, if that exists in this wiki. Then we can block anonymous page creation without having to worry about stopping anonymous users from creating new explanations. We'll have to make a few modifications to the site, to instruct users on how to find pages in need of explanations, but it'll kill all the userpage and self-help spambots. We can figure out how to deal with vandalism later - I would recommend implementing wikipedia's cluebot to automagically roll back page clearing and the like. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 23:16, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

:Also, we can semi-protect important pages like categories and templates. Chances are, anonymous users aren't familiar enough with wikis to be handling those anyways, and wiki veteran anonymous users will probably make an account. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 09:30, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

... ''Madame la Guillotine'' has been busy, dealing with no less than four dozen spammified pages and their attendant contributors in the last hour, to address a third spike in spam. Our hyper-contributing editors have been helping identify these malefactors, so the process has been fairly straight-forward on my part, but it's awfully quiet here....

The top five contributors, as of this writing, are:
* Divad27182 [133 edits in the last 30 days]
* Davidy22 [202 edits in the last 30 days]
* Lcarsos [207 edits in the last 30 days]
* Bpothier [267 edits in the last 30 days]
* IronyChef [537 edits in the last 30 days]

Number six is comes in at less than half of Divad's, and the curve decays precipitiously from there... so this is becoming a call to arms for admins to convene and discuss, ''or'' Jeff to anoint other, more active contributors, admin status.

Thoughts?

-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 06:02, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

:Would it be possible to volunteer to be another admin to move some of the load off of IronyChef? It feels slightly cruel and unusual for him to be the only active admin, and thus ad-hoc in charge of keeping the engines running. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:16, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

::Another admin is definitely needed, given the volume of spam. It'd be nice if we could [[Special:UnusedTemplates|clean]] [[Special:UnusedFiles|out]] the attic too. Shall we hold a vote? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 06:41, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

::I only have sporadic time to do edits, so I'd likely not be an ideal choice if there can be only 1 more... --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 07:19, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

::: This is yet again great. I'm researching SPAM prevention tools in use on other wikis. Let me know if you have something you think will work. Also, Lcarsos, you are up. Best new admin I can think of. I'm not afraid to add other admins if some (including myself) are less active. Other candidates can be submitted here. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:53, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

::::I'm immensely honored that you trust me that much. Thank you, I'll work hard to better the wiki. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:00, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Redirect main-page of explainxkcd.com ==

I mentioned this on the old site, but I guess this is a better place. The first page most people will get to is still the main explainxkcd.com page. With no more updates there it looks at first glance like a dead place, and when I out of habit go there, I still get an instinctive feeling that the site is dead because the first place I am send is a dead place. PLEASE redirect the main-page to this wiki, since this is the place that is still alive. [[User:Carewolf|Carewolf]] ([[User talk:Carewolf|talk]]) 14:40, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
: Good idea. Will work on that soon. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:49, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Tagline ==

I haven't created [[MediaWiki:Tagline]] yet, but we need to think about what to put there. That's the familiar "From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." over at Wikipedia - it appears right under the title of each page. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 10:39, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
 Moved from [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]] --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:09, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:I think it's pretty obvious we should keep the "It's cause you're dumb." :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:20, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:: Well, since there haven't been any objections, I went ahead and added it: [[Mediawiki:Tagline]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:46, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

== Separate discussion page(s) ==

I think we should create a separate Discuss the wiki page, so that each discussion can go under its own header. I'd suggest setting up a todo list where people can help out. I'd start with a suggestion:
: We should be using [[mw:Manual:Short URL|cleaner urls]]. Maybe [http://shorturls.redwerks.org/ this tool] can help setting that up. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 05:46, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
:: Whatever we do decide, I've created <nowiki>{{xkcd}}</nowiki> and <nowiki>{{explain}}</nowiki> templates to create links to the xkcd site and other explanations here on this site; that should factor at least those sites (nice central administration) as well as helping us categorize pages that use them. Was thinking of also <nowiki>{{wiki}}</nowiki> for the same benefit, even if there's already a prefix built into mediawiki... the only drawback is the bias toward the en side... [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 10:31, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
:::I'm liking the idea of creating a Discuss the wiki page - I'll start one if someone doesn't/hasn't beat me to it and add it to the sidebar. I'd asked for better URLs at [[User talk:Jeff#Robots.txt]], though I didn't know what they were called. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 17:17, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::::I also like the idea of the {{tl|xkcd}} tags. On a related note, I've [[Special:Import|imported]] {{tl|tl}}. :-) <s> I also realize we don't have a secure server here, but I'd support the best practice of beginning URLs with protocol-relative links ( // instead of http:// or https:// ) anyway, especially since the xkcd website ''itself'' appears to be https-compatible.</s>Nevermind, it doesn't seem to be. So I guess it doesn't matter. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 22:40, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::: Maybe we can create a subpage of the community portal for the wiki discussion. What do you think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:32, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:::: Also one for editing coordination (see [[User:SurturZ/sandbox]] for instance), another for mediawiki assistance (requests to admins perhaps on the same page, or on a separate one). Any other ideas? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:41, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
Moved from [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]], may need to be broken out into new headers or sub-headers. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:12, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

Great job on creating the subpages! I think the subpages can be made more intuitive for newcomers, though. Here are my subbestions:
* merge "/Design" and "/Proposals" into '''"/Discuss the wiki"''' or "/Improve the wiki" or something to that effect.
* rename "/Technical" into '''"/Tecnical assistance"''' so it is clear that it should be used for one-off issues rather than coordination of wiki-wide changes (which should go in the section above)
* merge the "/Administrator's noticeboard" above? That would reinforce that adminship is nothing but a set of technical tools to assist the wiki
* New '''"/Editing coordination"''' subpage for organizing what to do, maintenance, keeping a TODO list for newcomers to tackle, etc -- essentially like WikiProjects work at Wikipedia.
--[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:35, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:As I see this, it would involve mostly just renaming pages. I don't particularly care what the names are, so I won't comment on that.
:*I'd like to keep /Administrator's noticeboard for the time being. The primary advantage of this is that administrators can watchlist this and things which need the tools are less likely to get lost in discussion. It can always be deprecated afterwards if it isn't being used enough.
:*I'd sort of seen /Design as doing what you're proposing for /Editing coordination, though I didn't explain it as well.
:--''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 18:43, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:: Ok, I get what you mean with the Admin page. I don't think this wiki is going to be that busy to warrant a separate page, though. But for now, let's at least simplify the name? "Admin requests", for instance :)
:: And yeah, Design isn't really a good name for content-related coordination. What I'm suggesting here is to have one page for meta (wiki-related) discussion, and another for content-related discussion. Does that make sense? And what name do you think would be good for the former rather than the current, too generic imo, "Proposals"? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:20, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:::"Discuss the wiki" sounds good to me, as does "Admin requests." Or whatever, I guess. ;-) I may not be online much for the next few days (or much this evening), so go ahead and change it how you think it should be, I guess. Having stable discussion pages sooner than later would be good. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 01:48, 6 August 2012 (EDT)

:::: Ok I changed the admin page name, and merged "design" and "proposals", but for now I left it named "Proposals". I'm not quite confident about the clarity of "Discuss the wiki"... I'll wait until others comment here. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:06, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

::::: I'm not seeing any further discussion and it's been a few days since the move, so I'm clearing the sitenotice. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 02:38, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

== Automatic Import ==

Hi

I created a draft for the comic pages. It's still work in progress, but I'd like to retrieve feedback.

Also, maybe we could autmatically import comics using the JSON data Randall gives us ([http://xkcd.com/614/info.0.json]). This way, we could also include transcripts. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:23, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
: Hm, I should add a link to my draft: [[User:SlashMe/Testpage]] ;-) --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 06:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

I updated the page, including links to the next/previous comic similar to [[Template:ComicHeader]]. I used comic 472, because it has a lot of metadata (link, news, HTML title, etc.). --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 07:32, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

Just to remind everyone, I'd be ready to import the comics, but I don't want to until I got more feedback. Please have a look at [[User:SlashMe/Testpage]] and tell me your opinion. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 06:02, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
: I think your test page looks great. I'm a big fan of it. Any way to fit the text in the text box rather than having it run all the way to the right? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:19, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:: I just made a change concerning line breaks, at least it works in Firefox and Chrome. Could somebody please test it in different versions of Internet Explorer?
:: If you agree, I would start uploading tomorrow. I'll send you a mail. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 18:31, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:38, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[Explain XKCD:Community_portal/Design#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:20, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== "Random comic?" ==

Not to clutter the sidebar, but what would you say to adding a "Random comic" right under "Random page", linking to [//dynamic.xkcd.com/random/comic/ //dynamic.xkcd.com/random/comic/] ? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 01:46, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:Naw, xkcd already has a random comic. I think we should have a ''random explanation''. ;-) All kidding aside, I was wondering: generating a random member of a category...? Has that improved since the early days when I tried to do something like that. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 03:19, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
::Hi. For how to do this, we could install the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Random_In_Category Random In Category] Mediawiki extension, which would allow us to use <nowiki>[[Special:RandomInCategory/Comics]]</nowiki> to point to any random explanation. {{User:Omega/sig}} 22:42, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
::: Or we could move the comics into a Comic namespace, and use Special:Random/comic (See for instance [[Special:Random/template]]). This doesn't require any server-side changes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:58, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

== Header template ==

Hi, I've created a template called [[Template:ComicHeader]], which might make things easier when creating comic pages (and also provide better consistency between the pages). I've used it on the [[Internal monologue]] page, to display the comic number and the date it was published. The template also adds the page to the [[:Category:Comics|Comics]] category.

You just need to add:
<pre>{{ComicHeader|1089|August 1, 2012}}</pre>
…to the start of the page (replacing the comic number and date).

I'll try to make the template look a bit nicer, but the great thing about templates of course, is that once they're updated, the changes are reflected on all the pages that include that template. --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 18:46, 1 August 2012 (EDT)

:By the way, I'm thinking of maybe programming something that would allow you to easily import the comic image and alt text from xkcd without having to upload the images manually and the like. You'd just have to host a single PHP file on your server and make a few changes to the MediaWiki configuration. Of course, you'd be able to see source code and everything to make sure I'm not trying to do something fishy. :-P Let me know what you think. :-) --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 18:54, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::Yirba - I like the idea. My email is explain@explainxkcd.com - send me what you put together and we can sort it out. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:37, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::Ditto on the Template. Up-vote. Any thought on harvesting the pre-wiki content from ExplainXKCD with some sort of a Python, Perl, or PHP script? (That sounds more like a 'bot than something that would have to be hosted, though.) [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 01:52, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::: I was thinking of putting it into a infobox, please [[#Idea|see above]]. I also intended to automatically extract data from xkcd, which would lack descriptions, but at least we would have data like title, image and transcripts. Also, there are some other data like links (e.g. 832), news (which are displayed in xkcd's header, e.g. 739) and titles which contain HTML (259 and 472). I also extracted all those data. When we agree on a page layout, I could begin programming a bot. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 06:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::Hmmm… an infobox may be a good idea. And a bot that imports data from xkcd might be handy. Anyway, here's something I programmed that would allow for access to the xkcd API from the wiki itself. Essentially, you'd put this xkcdinfo.php ([http://gist.github.com/3239432 source], [http://github.com/downloads/Yirba/yirba.github.com/xkcdinfo.php download]) file somewhere on the server (e.g. at http://www.explainxkcd.com/xkcdinfo.php) and [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Interwiki#Adding_a_new_website_for_interwiki_linking include it in MediaWiki's interwiki table] (ensuring iw_trans == 1):
<pre>INSERT INTO interwiki (iw_prefix, iw_url, iw_local, iw_trans) VALUES ('xkcdinfo', 'http://www.explainxkcd.com/xkcdinfo.php?input=$1', 0, 1);</pre>
::::After [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgEnableScaryTranscluding enabling scary transclusion] in LocalSettings.php, you'd then be able to send queries to the xkcd JSON API via this file. In other words, <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:32-title}}</nowiki></code> would make comic 32's title appear. <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:55-alt}}</nowiki></code> would make comic 55's image text appear. I've also set it so you could enter <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:100-embed}}</nowiki></code>, and it would make the comic 100 image appear on the wiki page. Feel free to use it however you want (if at all), and modify the code should you wish. (Hint: Using the number 0 for the comic number will query the most recent comic, so <code><nowiki>{{xkcdinfo:0-num}}</nowiki></code> will return the current comic number. Also, adding "raw:" before "xkcdinfo:" might be more useful in some instances. E.g.: <code><nowiki>{{raw:xkcdinfo:555-title}}</nowiki></code>)--[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 14:50, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::: Nice idea, altough this would mean to load all data from xkcd whenever a page is <del>viewed</del><ins>edited</ins> (I think this is the way MediaWiki caches the data). This is a lot of traffic for little data. I'd say to include the metadata statically, but linking the external image seems a good thing to me. Again, it'd be great if you gave me feedback for [[User:SlashMe/Testpage|my idea]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::::Yes, the data would be loaded from xkcd for each edit. You can, however, substitute (subst) the template for data that is unlikely to change. And therefore the data would indeed be stored statically. I like the layout you've come up with. It could perhaps do with a bit of tweaking here and there, but the general idea is good. --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 17:16, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

::::::: What kind of tweaking do you mean? I know the code is a bit messy, if you have a better idea, please tell me (or do it yourself - hey, it's a wiki!). The CSS should be placed in an external file, but for now, it's ok. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 17:51, 2 August 2012 (EDT)

Looks like there is another/newer template called [[Template:Comic]] that includes prev/next buttons as well.
You add it with:
<pre>{{comic
| number = 1
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
| image = barrel_cropped_(1).jpg
| imagesize =
| alttext = Don't we all.
}}

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --~~~~
==Description==
xxxxxxxxxxx
</pre>
No need to include the alt text separately, as the template does it for you. It also includes the comic category, but only if the first 4 fields are filled out.
--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 18:47, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

: Yes, but that is not necessarily an advantage. My template only creates the infobox, so you are still able to create an introductory text or other sections, for special comics that need a more detailed description. I can also add categories if needed. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:02, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::I think it is a major advantage to make the thing easier to use and more consistant site-wide.

::As the creator of the new one, I'm obviously biased, but I created it because I think it's better. Not putting your work down, it was a great piece of code that I put to work in my template. But I think if there's need for pre-text of any kind (not sure there is, as the articles probably should all open with the comic itself as presented on XKCD), a pre-comment can be added into the template, but I'm not sure what that would be. Perhaps there would be a requirement for special circumstances like the comic a few weeks ago where there were a million iterations depending on locality, browser, etc. But that's the rarity. I think the new one simplifies it for users. They need only one template to post the comic, alt text title and nav buttons. What could be easier? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:08, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::: As the creator of the other one, I'm equally biased. What about a "main template", which then calls one or two other templates (e.g. one for the infobox, another for image and alt text? For most comics, this main template could be used, but if absolutely needed, it would still be possible to use the underlying templates with custom sections/text. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:15, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::::I just now saw your request for feedback on your new comic page with the sidebar. I honestly am not sure which format is better. I kind of like my format for the fact that it basically presents the comic as it was originally posted, but your infobox does provide some additional stuff like 3D link (not sure what "news" is, of where the "link" comes from but...) Perhaps we could integrate the two. I like that the comic is visble right away on my template, but on your page it's down below the first header. I don't think the comic itself needs an "image" heading. No disrespect, but I think your sidebar, esp. because of the "news" field is a bit chunky - too wide for most of its content.

::::I think we could easily add things like a "3d" link into {{tl|comic}} as part of the next/prev bar where a "3D" field in the template is non-blank. Similarly, original title could read something like (Originally titled: xxxxx) below the primary title in a smaller font. Other than the "link" and "news" fields (which again, I'm not sure what they are), I think that would inclde all the same info as your infobox into my template. Thoughts?

::::As to your other comment about compartmentalizing the template, I have nothing against that, but which parts of the template would you want to be able to use separately (and can you suggest an example where that might be necessary?) Subdividing the template can always be done later if it becomes needed; just trying to get an idea of what you have in mind by compartmentalizing it. Cheers [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:43, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:37, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

{{outdent|::::}}

''Suggestion:''

* I will start by uploading all images. This will take some time and has no points to discuss. (If it has, tell me.) At a later point, maybe we could link them directly from xkcd.com.
* For the comic pages: Let's say we'll use {{tl|Comic}}. I'll change the arguments of the template to be more like my {{tl|Infobox comic}}, see [[Template:Infobox comic#Arguments|documentation]]. I'll keep the ''alttext'' argument, but make ''image'' optional (file name should be guessed from the title). Do we really need ''imagesize''?
* {{tl|Comic}} would then call some further templates, passing the appropriate arguments. This way, we are able to use custom sections/text if needed for special comics (like [http://xkcd.com/1037/ Umwelt]) by using these templates instead of the all-in-one {{tl|Comic}}.
* Since we have one template doing all the work, we can easily change the page layout even after the import. (We should only keep track of the pages that don't use {{tl|Comic}}, using a hidden category)
* For consistency, I would move all existing pages out of the way and re-create them. The moved pages could be collected by adding them to a category like [[:Category:legacy pages]], so they should easily be found. Descriptions should be moved to the new pages, afterwards the legacy pages can be deleted.

This way, I can import all comics, but we would still be able to change the layout afterwards. My 2ct concerning page layout:
* <del>'''Use comic titles as page names.'''</del><ins>(See below)</ins> The title should be prominent, the number will be in the infobox.
* I'll remove ''Original title'', ''news'' and ''link'' from the infobox and move them to a section after the description. (For details, see [[Template:Infobox_comic#Documentation|here]])
* suggested layout:
<pre>
=====page title=====
+--------------------+ +---------+
| | | infobox |
| image | | text |
|(no section heading)| | |
| | | |
| | +---------+
+--------------------+
==alt==
text
==description==
text
==transcript==
text
==original title, news and link== (if available)
text
</pre>

Still open for opinions.--[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:13, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

:It might make more sense to use the comic number as the page title, and then use [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgAllowDisplayTitle DISPLAYTITLE] to make the comic title appear in place of the number. Just putting that out as another possibility. --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 09:49, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
::Good point, I agree. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 09:54, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

If anyone wants to use it, I've written a bot [http://pastebin.com/5F877BHE] that can upload images, create redirect pages, and create comic pages. You can change the format it uses for the comic page if you have some knowledge of python. To use it, look at [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Pywikipediabot/Quick_Start_Guide]. --[[User:Cyanfish|Cyanfish]] ([[User talk:Cyanfish|talk]]) 10:56, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:Sorry, I was faster. I'm using [http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/mwclient/ mwclient], and I already uploaded all images. I could also create pages and redirects, but I'm waiting until we have a consent. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 11:02, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

::A few thoughts: if you start uploading images, but don't create the comic pages with them, a user going to create a new comic page isn't going to know whether or not the comic image has already been uploaded. This could be confusing. Hopefully the uploads are going to be named the same as the original images? (when I do upload, I actually just paste the URL in my "browse" box and upload directly from my browsers cache that way so it works out), but I just want to avoid duplicating images on the server as well as wasting time by trying to upload something that's already there.

::As to the page layout, I'm still of the view that the transcript should be in a collapsed frame so that it doesn't take up half the article. I don't honestly think that most people are coming to read the transcript. I could be wrong tho. Open to opinions on that. Otherwise, I do like transcript AFTER The explanation (also, the heading "explanation" vs. "description" as mentioned in another discussion in the portal. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:09, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

:::PS: We definately need imagesize. It defaults to full size, but I think we definately need the optional argument for large comics. Remembering that this is a wiki to explain the comics, there are many large comics that ought to be restricted to a smaller size for the page (they can be clicked to enlarge - the template automatically creates a "click to enlarge" link if imagesize is used). I have generally been using a 375 or 400px size for keeping larger comics managable, but sometimes it's a comic-dependant decision. Also, notwithstanding my comment on another thread, even though I agree that the xkcd commentary is actually "title text", just as a side note, I've just noticed that the transcripts for older comics actually do call it "alt text") [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:40, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
:::: As long as no one has any objections, this header looks awesome (with ImageSize as TheHYPO suggested), so feel free to work on the importation functionality. Let me know if you need anything from me in order to import from the Wordpress side of things. If we start talking importation, lets move that conversation under a different header. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:56, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

=== Date format ===

I suggest to enter the date as YYYY-MM-DD and using <nowiki>{{#dateformat: {{date}}}</nowiki> in {{tl|comic}}. This way, the date should be displayed using the personal preferences (see [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-datetime]]). Does anyone disagree? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:42, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

== Displaying Comics {{done|Closed}}==

For the home page, I think the comic and explanation should be displayed instead of a link to the comic.

For reasons unknown to me, I decided to create [[Template:Comicbox]] and [[Template:Comicbox2]]. Looks nice, as long as you use the correct one for the comic.

Go to [[User:Grep/comicbox]] and [[User:Grep/comicbox2]] for examples. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:Those're wonderful! And should probably be on the main page. If you wanted, we could probably incorporate them (and maybe a third?) into a single template with a "square/vertical or horizontal" switch. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 21:36, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::Also, you used "comicbox" for the class. Is that a class that's defined somewhere? (And if so, where?) --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 21:36, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
:::Good point. Removed. And merging them sounds wonderful. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
::::Maybe merging them into [[Template:comicbox]]? --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:::::I think classes are defined at [[MediaWiki:Common.css]], so if you really wanted to define the class.... And [[Template:Comicbox]] would probably be best. Did you want to merge them or should I take a look at it? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 22:25, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::ParserFunctions and any sort of non-XMLish markup is weird. I would rather you look at it. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:::::::Okay, I've moved your templates to {{tl|Comicbox square or vertical}} and {{tl|Comicbox horizontal}} so I can work on {{tl|Comicbox}} as the main one. It may take a while - I like to think of myself as a "[[wikipedia:Category:User template coder|master of all known wikimarkup]]," but I don't actually use those skills that often. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 23:08, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::::Thanks. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:::::::::I've made it at {{tl|Comicbox}}. This actually leaves {{tl|Comicbox square or vertical}} and {{tl|Comicbox horizontal}} unused, though I credited you (and them) in a comment at the top of the template. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:21, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::::::I think that the explanation should be on the right because it just looks weird as is... --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
{{outdent}} Sure. But right now they both look like they're on the bottom? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 20:02, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:{{done|Fixed}} --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

===Sans-serif typeface {{done|Closed}}===
::::::::I like these, too, but the roman typeface... how do folks feel about sticking with a sans-serif typeface throughout the site? [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 00:13, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:::::::::We should be able to change that wiki-wide through [[MediaWiki:Common.css]], I think. Unfortunately, I don't know enough CSS to do it. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:23, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:::::::::: I believe sans serif is already the default wiki-wide. Those specific instances were deliberately coded to use a serif font. It's just a matter of removing <code>font-family: 'Times New Roman';</code> from the template. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:01, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
::::::::::: Oh, I'd missed that. I removed it. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 22:14, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:37, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== comic header ==

Jeff, further to your previous conversation on the comic header, I've significantly rewritten Yirba's template (thanks to Yirba for the hard work. His navigation bar was very useful) and I've created a new template of {{tl|comic}}. An example of the comic in use can be seen at [[T-shirts]]. I started a discussion on the main page discussion board, but I thought if I pointed it out to you and you like it, it can start going in the rotation for new comics.

I actually now see that Grep did a template up with intent (I think) to use for the main page. Had I known that when I started, I would have probably based my template off of his, because it looks nice, but either way, mine is intended for the actual articles. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:46, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:Again, may I link to <del>[[User talk:Jeff#Automatic Import|my request for feedback]]</del>? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:52, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[Explain XKCD:Community_portal/Design#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:17, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:37, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Bylines ==
In the migration from blog to wiki, I noticed a few things:
# Visitors still seem to assume there's a single, ''invisible other'' that provides the explanations; this might be a carryover from the blog days when Jeff was the author of that content, or it may be newcomers not familiar with the license-to-create a wiki offers. You see it in comments that call out corrections, without the corrections actually being made to the explanations. Usually a more savvy editor swings in, makes the fix, and chimes in on the comments.
# There's no visual cue on the page itself to disabuse a novice of that fact. Sure, wikiphiles will check the history; but aside from that the novice has is left in the dark, and certainly isn't led to the conclusion that they, too, can contribute to the explanation.
To that end, I was wondering: why not put a {{tl|byline}} on each explanation, and give credit where credit is due? I know Waldir wanted to "gamify" the wiki a bit. I don't know that I'd go ''that'' far, but putting bylines does kill a few birds by raising awareness of the democratic approach to explanations, and giving kudos to the contributor(s). I've prototyped it (and of course, it's subject to revision) but here's how it would work:
* '''<nowiki>{{byline|you}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|you}}
* '''<nowiki>{{byline|you|me}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|you|me}}
* '''<nowiki>{{byline|you|me|someone else}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|you|me|someone else}}
* More concretely, '''<nowiki>{{byline|Jeff|Waldir|IronyChef|Blaisepascal}}</nowiki>''' produces {{byline|Jeff|Waldir|IronyChef|Blaisepascal}}
(in general, the parameters are the usernames, up to about 5 or six contributors, for now.) Was thinking about having the content be automatically turned into wiki-links, but left that out while we think it over. Thotz? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:22, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
:: How would we indicate who is in the byline? The person who created the page? The person who edited the most characters? Would it be a combination of all the names? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:32, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
:::I have to say, it sounds contrary to the whole wiki premise. I agree with you that there does seem to be a bit of a learning curve here, but I don't know if "crediting" the explanations is the right solution. How much editing does one have to do to get credit on an article? You might get people who want to edit just to get credits, and credits over time could get relatively lengthy. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:41, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

== Template improvement suggestion ==

Can I suggest that we work on improving {{tl|ComicHeader}} - I wish I had time to do it myself and then edit all the comic pages, but I would suggest the best way might be to start a new template (perhaps design it a bit more like an infobox) and start converting the old pages over to new ones.

The feature I think should be added is that, where the template currently includes teh comic number and date, and creates the nav header, the template really ought to include the image name, and the alt text. In that way, the template can produce the entire part of the article that displays the comic and its alt text (and the alt text, as mentioned, could be more like a caption, instead of just looking like a generic section of the article - it's part of the comic, it shouldn't look like part of the article on this site (no offence, Jeff, but that's one thing I always didn't like about explain XKCD - the image text should be bold or underlined or italics or something to signify that it's part of the comic and not the explanation.

I'll see if I can work on a prototype. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 12:29, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:What does everyone thing of this as a better layout? [[Blown Apart]] [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 13:09, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::May I link to <del>[[User talk:Jeff#Automatic Import|my request for feedback]]</del>? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:52, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:44, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:17, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Transcripts ==

Do we need to add a whole section on "Transcript" for each comic? That could get very long for some comics, and basically pushes the explanations down further (which is what people generally come to explainxkcd for). If anything, perhaps the transcripts could be in a minimizable box like some navboxes do on wikipedia? I don't see a majority of users coming to read the transcripts... [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:15, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

: What about putting the transcripts at the bottom of the page?
: BTW: If you agree, this discussion should be moved to [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]], as [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] suggested. At least for new discussions. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:19, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

::No problem there. Feel free to move it. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:29, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:::How about having it be collapsed, with the option to expand it (TOC-like)? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:25, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:47, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion is now at [[#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:18, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Adding a new comic ==

This is the process I use to add a new comic. YMMV... Feel free to update this as/if needed to provide some consistency...--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 19:22, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

I start by uploading the image using the name from [[XKCD]]'s page.

I create the new page using the comic number(not the name), e.g. "http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1"

I (currently) insert using the "Comic" template:
<pre>
{{comic
| number = 1
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
| image = barrel_cropped_(1).jpg
| imagesize =
| alttext = Don't we all.
}}
==Transcript==
This is the transcript from xkcd
==Description==
Wow what a cool comic!
</pre>

I "Show preview" to ensure the image shows up and everything looks good.

I "Save page".

I click the "move" link on the down-arrow drop-down menu to the right of "View history" (at top of page).

I rename the page from "1" to the page title from [[XKCD]].

This will automatically create a redirect from "1" to the correct page name without having to do it manually.
--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 19:22, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

:Please, have a break here. When we agree on a page layout, I can do this automatically. I repeat, when we agree on the layout (which should also include the direction of the redirects) --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:25, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:47, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

The discussion concerning the layout is at [[Explain XKCD:Community_portal/Design#Header template]]. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 04:18, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== styling of xkcd links ==

I added code to the end of [[MediaWiki:Common.css]] to style links to the xkcd website as http://xkcd.com rather than the regular external link format, http://example.com. What do you guys think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 05:06, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:I like it generally. Is there a way to force it to not display on individual pages, though? I don't think we should have it at [[Explain XKCD:Copyrights]], {{tl|XKCD file}}, or {{tl|XKCD file derived}}, as they are more serious. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 16:27, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
::Sure. I've disabled it on those pages, feel free to add more as you see fit. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:22, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:::Thanks! --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 18:34, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:I like the idea of the graphic, too, but wonder if it could be muted a bit (medium gray vs black) so it recedes a bit into the background; the classic graphic is a very light blue for that reason, too. (Oh, and a minor quibble... overheard: "who is that short, bearded dude?" "Oh! That's megan?") ... I don't know how we could update it, and maybe it'll be less of an issue when muted... Thotz? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:16, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
::The image can be updated by uploading new versions of [[File:xkcd favicon.png]]. It doesn't need to be the xkcd.com favicon; in fact, it would be good if we could make it even smaller (e.g. just cueball's head, or simply "xkcd" in the typical handwritten font, etc). Making it dimmer also seems like a good idea, btw. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:38, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== 'Explanation' rather than 'Description' ==

Can I suggest we use the heading "Explanation" rather than "Description" on the comic pages, since that fits with the name of the wiki? --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 09:20, 5 August 2012 (EDT)
:Agreed. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:27, 5 August 2012 (EDT)
::Seconded [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:04, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== Allow external inline images ==

Hi. I'd like to propose that we set [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgAllowExternalImages $wgAllowExternalImages] to true '''or''' add <tt>xkcd.com</tt> and some image hosting sites (such as <tt>imgur.com</tt>) to [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgAllowExternalImagesFrom $wgAllowExternalImagesFrom]. If the former is set to true, external images will be allowed from any host, whereas if the former is kept as false but we add some sites to the latter (obviously adding xkcd's site itself seems to be the logical choice), then only images that are from whitelisted sites can appear as inline images. What this does is it allows external images to be displayed as an actual image, rather than just a link (note that sites not in the whitelist will still appear as just the link). Why? Because there's no way to display images without uploading them. Obviously some editors may wish to use images for non-wiki purposes, such as proposing alternative logos or for their userspace, in which case uploading the images to this site isn't entirely practical. Allowing externally hosted images to be displayed will alleviate that problem.

Yes, there is the risk of... less appropriate images being displayed, however, I consider that being a null argument, as editors could just as easily upload the image here and link it as an internal image. As well, using the whitelist alternative would limit the image to being posted from a trusted site, such as imgur. Finally, if worries about nude photos being posted is really a concern (seriously, what's stopping an editor from just uploading said image here? Nothing.), it's possible to only whitelist sites which don't permit nude images from being hosted on their site (such as <tt>imageshack.us</tt>), although I think that's a bit extreme (especially considering that imgur is hands down the most popular image host these days). {{User:Omega/sig}} 07:52, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

:I really don't see a compelling reason to have this. It's not about improper images or anything. (Note that we already have access to all images in [[commons:|Wikimedia Commons]], by the way, which has a large variety of images and other media, with the added benefit that we're sure they can be reused without licensing concerns). A specific whitelist could be interesting (e.g. we could hotlink the images from xkcd), but having the images here allows us to do neat things like categorizing them by topic, size, etc. Also, images like logo proposals, etc. do benefit from being uploaded here (for historical interest, for a guarantee that they won't be deleted wherever they're hosted, for better control regarding how they're displayed, etc.) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:27, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

== Latest comic handling ==

Currently the latest comic is handled automatically by the {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} template, which tests the existence of pages like 1092, 1093 (supposed to be redirects to the corresponding comics), to see which is the highest-number existing page, and consider it the latest comic.

That way we can have the latest comic automatically transcluded on the main page.

But we cannot have, with that system, an automatic "Edit" link (to edit the latest comic) on the main page, nor can we have automatically the comments associated with that latest comic. The former was {{diff|5587|changed to a "Go to this comic" link}}, and the latter was {{diff|4940|removed}}. I think both of them are really useful things to have on the main page.

I've been thinking a little bit about this, and in the end I suggest that we handle manually the latest comic :
* There would be a single {{tl|latest comic}} template, which would have to be updated manually to return the full title of the latest comic's page (such as "1092: Michael Phelps").
* Next to the "Latest comic" header, on the front page, would be appended a "[update]" link, to a page explaining that to insert the new latest comic in the wiki: one needs to 1/ create a page titled "<number>: <title>" and 2/ update the {{tl|latest comic}} template with the new title.
* The "Edit this explanation" link could be put back on the main page, using something like <code><nowiki>[{{fullurl:{{latest comic}}|action=edit}} '''Edit this explanation''']</nowiki></code>. And I firmly believe that link is important. ({{diff|5598|*this*}} for instance is exactly what I'm talking about)
* The comments to the latest comic could be appended under the latest comic's transclusion, with something like <code><nowiki>{{ {{TALKPAGENAME: {{latest comic}} }} }}</nowiki></code>. They could be in a collapsible area if they take too much space. Same here than about the edit link, I believe that's really important to impel/motivate readers to leave their comments as well.
* Finally, when only the number is needed (such as in the computation of the number of missing explanations), this could be done via another template (for instance {{tl|latest comic number}}), automatic this time, which would replace the current {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} by extracting the value out of {{tl|latest comic}} (with something like <code><nowiki>{{#explode:{{latest comic}}|:}}</nowiki></code>).

So, yes there would be a value to update manually, but that's not really much and if it's part of a process I don't think that would be a big drawback, and on the other hand I think it would be less error-prone than an automatic calculation, and allow more useful things. And make less use of redirects as well. Furthermore, the current {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}}, used quite a lot (in the sidebar, so in every page actually), makes heavy use of the <code><nowiki>{{#ifexist:...}}</nowiki></code> parser function, [[mw:Help:Extension:ParserFunctions##ifexist|qualified as "expensive"]], so even though it may not be a big deal it could be a better option to try to avoid that...

What do you think?

[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 16:53, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
:Quick interjection in the middle of this larger posting, but I've been playing around with a template that should radically simplify the exhaustive and expensive logic used by {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} by using date math. It's been simmering in my test kitchen, and I'm fairly sure it's robust enough to roll out... just one thing: it would be much more efficient if we had the Variables extension (ie, ADMIN REQUEST) else there would be a lot of duplicate recalculation of the date. Not terrible, but not as good as it could be. See {{tl|LatestComicOnDate}} and the associated talk page for the guts of it. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:14, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

:A few considerations:
:* We can instead add the edit link directly to the comic page. It could be generated by the {{tl|comic}} template, which already has to be provided with both the number and the title of the comic (in fact those could even be automatically extracted from the page title with some [[mw:Extension:StringFunctions|string parsing functions]] or {{w|Template:Str number/trim|clever}} {{w|Template:Remove first word|templates}}). This should solve the "edit this comic" link issue.
:* Actually, the discussion part was hidden from the main page on purpose (although for a different reason: it was transcluding the main page's own talk page instead). I am not sure it's a good idea to include it in the main page as it could clutter it, but I can understand the point of putting it there. I would suggest perhaps including it directly rather than inside the {{tl|comic discussion}} box, as that would create a box on a box layout that I don't think would look too good. Note that there is no problem with needing the pagename here, since we can transclude a redirect (the same way the actual comic page is transcluded using only the number, which is a redirect).
:* I did see that edit and was thinking that we could probably display a custom info message whenever someone attempts to edit main page, so they'll know they ''can'' edit the actual comic page. I'll add that to my todo list.
:* Mediawiki itself will tell us when a potentially expensive parser function is being used too much, by placing the corresponding page in [[:Category:Pages with too many expensive parser function calls]]. So we don't need to be concerned with {{w|premature optimization}} :)
:--[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:16, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

::The edit link can be displayed, specifically on the main page, by the {{tl|comic}} template, that is true; it just seems wrong to me however, it's not his job to do so...
::As for the comments, they cannot be displayed by the template (unless we put them before the explanation), so we still don't have a solution for them; and I still believe they would be very useful on the main page, very appealing for readers to come and comment as well.
::So, problem still not solved I would say... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 16:27, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

::: I don't see the problem with {{tl|comic}} displaying the edit link on the main page, especially since you consider using it to display the discussion as well (which, I agree, unfortunately isn't possible)
::: I added the discussion to the main page. It will depend on a redirect being created for the talk page as well every time a new comic is released, but it doesn't make it any harder. Compare:
:::# Create comic page at <nowiki>[[123: title]]</nowiki>
:::# Update <nowiki>{{latest comic}}</nowiki>
:::# Redirect <nowiki>[[123]] to [[123: title]]</nowiki> (it's necessary to allow people to get to the comic with only the number)
:::with:
:::# Create comic page at <nowiki>[[123: title]]</nowiki>
:::# Redirect <nowiki>[[123]] to [[123: title]]</nowiki>
:::# Redirect <nowiki>[[Talk:123]] to [[Talk:123: title]]</nowiki>
:::Therefore, I don't see a strong case for creating the <nowiki>{{latest comic}}</nowiki> template. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:31, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
:::
::::You're right, the two systems are equivalent in use; but then is there a strong case to keep the current one against using the one I suggested?
::::Currently we cannot get an "add a comment" link on the main page, and to put the "edit this explanation" banner below the explanation one has to put it on the comic page (and manually remove it once the comic is not the latest any more). And when there is no comments yet, the main page displays a weird red link (transclusion of the redirect page to a non-existant page) instead of displaying (for instance) a nice "''No comments yet''".
::::True, the {{tl|comic}} template could be used to, specifically on the main page, display something like "view page - edit - add a comment" on top-right, but that doesn't solve all these issues, and then the links wouldn't be at their ideal place. And one could argue that all the features I'm speaking about are not absolutely necessary, but I still think it would be better at least.
::::All in all, I can live with the current system, but I still believe a manually updated <nowiki>{{latest comic}}</nowiki> would allow, without cost, to set a better layout of content, navigation links and edit/comment links.
::::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 16:46, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
::::
:::*I am in agreement that the goal should be to have the ability to comment directly onto the main page for the current comic.
::::Can all pages be formatted to look like the main page (ie header with number of comics explained/remaining and the 3 paragraphs at the end describing the site).
::::If this could be done (I don't think it would clutter the site as these take up very little space even on the main page), then could we just redirect the main page to the comic with the highest number? The function of the main page would not change as a new user would still see all information currently available on the main page, but it would have the added benefit of sending visitors to the desired location (the fully functional current comic page).
::::[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 17:23, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

== How to reference strips? ==

I think we need to agree on a citation style for strips in plain prose. I.e. If the [[Black Hat]] article says "Black Hat first appears in ________", how are we filling that blank? In this case, the blank is [[29: Hitler]]. As I understand it, proper style for an "episode" name typically is quotes, so the stip is "Hitler". But there's still various options:

# "[[29: Hitler|Hitler]]" [quotes not linked]
# [[29: Hitler|"Hitler"]] [quotes linked]
# [[29: Hitler|Comic #29]]
# [[29: Hitler|#29]]
# [[29: Hitler]]
# "[[29: Hitler|Hitler]]" (29)
# "[[29: Hitler|Hitler]]" (#29)

etc.

Anyone have any opinions? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 21:38, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

: Option 5. above seems the simplest, yet readable and informative. At most I'd prepend a # sign, like so: #[[29: Hitler]]. Being a link should be enough to differentiate it from the rest of the text (without needing quote signs). Alternatively, #7 also may be an acceptable option, but we'd need a template to make sure the formatting is maintained in all such references... I don't think it's worth the extra complexity. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:54, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
:: Whatever we decide, let's encode it into the <nowiki>{{xkcd}}</nowiki> and/or <nowiki>{{explain}}</nowiki> templates, and just agree to use those templates. That allows central administration of the stylistic issues and gives editors a simple rule to follow. Minor tweaks to either would afford that flexibility. Right now, they generate the links {{xkcd|29}} and {{explain|29}} respectively, though the latter can be {{explain|29: Hitler}} without much fuss. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:58, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
::: I support modifying the <nowiki>{{explain}}</nowiki> template to be along the lines of proposal number five. {{User:Omega/sig}} 09:20, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
:::: Five. yes. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:15, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

== Sidebar icons ==

Hi all. I hope you'll forgive my enthusiasm but I went ahead and implemented an icon theme for the sidebar (as well as more spacing between the links, for extra breathing room). What do you guys think of it? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:45, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
:I like it, but I'm not sure where you added them. Was that on a MediaWiki: page or one of the .css pages? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 01:39, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
::Both :) [[Mediawiki:Common.css]] --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 09:07, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

== Cueball/Rob ==

I noticed someone edited the character template to add an article for "[[Rob]]". I thought this might have just been a vandal edit, but I googled 'xkcd Rob' and discovered that indeed, a Cueball chracter has been referenced as Rob in several strips. Is there a reason Cueball hasn't been designated officially "Rob" just as [[Megan]] has been designated Megan by being named in a few strips? Do we have reason to believe that other Cueballs are non-Rob characters? PS: this might not be the right place for this discussion, but I'm not sure if anyone is reading article discussion pages at this point yet, and I thought that the name of the primary character might be a notable issue of discussion [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:07, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
:: I'm unclear on this as well. Cueball was just a name made up (I think here on this site) for the main character of the comic. Are there separate characters for Cueball and Rob? I'm not sure. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
:::I know that "Cueball" has now been severely grandfathered in, but I think we have to consider moving [[Cueball]] over to [[Rob]] and basically considering the Cueball character to be "Rob", in the same way as Megan, unless it's clear that the character isn't Rob, since Cueball, as noted, is not an official title. I'm somewhat leaning in this direction.

:::I do see some leakage of the term "Cueball" into other sites via a google search including xkcd forums. In the alternatively, I would suggest mentioning in the Cueball article that he has been referred to as "Rod" in some comics, but due to his lack of distinguishing physical traits, it is not always clear if a comic is depicting Rod, or a different character. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]])
::::I have to agree with this. When I first heard about the page on "Rob", I was a bit skeptical, as I couldn't recall hearing the name before and the page was ridiculous at the time. However, after looking him up to try and verify the page, I found a number of "Cueball" characters that were referred to as "Rob", officially (and even an instance where the transcript referred to the character as "Rob" when the comic didn't mention a name). TL; DR: The character we've all called "Cueball" seems to be more properly known as "Rob". {{User:Omega/sig}} 22:46, 14 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::{{explain|285|Citation needed...}} I, for one, would oppose the migration away from Cueball.
:::::# {{w|xkcd|Wikipedia}} has been silent on the matter, giving no more credibility to the apellation than Cueball.
:::::# Transcripts in xkcd typically (granted, with a few exceptions) refer to the various stick figures as Person 1, etc. Frequently, there are several stick figures, all essentially the same generic stick-figure shape. Rob is a specific proper noun, and it would be silly to suggest that each stick figure is named Rob. Cueball, on the other hand, while filling the role of a proper noun, is still generic enough to suggest the any-man nature of the figures. It is descriptive more than nominative.
:::::# Local color. That's part of what distinguishes this site from others, and part of why I've been coming back. I for one would be sad to see that replaced with MacDonalds-like sameness. I ''might'' reconsider if RM's About page definitively said "his name is Rob"... but only reluctantly.
:::::So -1 on the proposition to migrate away from Cueball. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 04:55, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

::::::To respond to your points, #1, Wikipedia is not official or a primary source; it's a community edit encyclopedia like this one. If you'd like me to go over there and reference "Rob", then all of a sudden Wikipedia will say Rob. Wikipedia isn't the source of credibility for xkcd imo. #2 is interesting, and I take it as a fair point (I'm not suggesting that in every case we see a Cueball it is the same character) but my interest here is consistency. Megan appears in many comic strips where she is listed as "person 2" in the transcript, such as [[1084]]. Should she be given a generic name other than where she is named (Cuebelle?) Similarly for #3, Megan is not refernced on the xkcd About page; it's about consistency. I understand color and such, but to an extent, when you take something that's a blog and turn it into a wiki style pseudo-encyclopedia, one of the casualties sometimes is color. It became inappropriate to use phrases like "I think" in explanations just because of the way the articles are perceived. In the same way, consistency is something that I think is important when going to this style format. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:26, 15 August 2012 (UTC)
::::::::::Just want to insert here that I laughed at "Cubelle" above, but though I enjoyed it, I'd have to say the visual similarity to Cueball would likely cause confusion. Props for the suggestion, though.--[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 18:51, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::::* Agreed that Wikipedia is not official or primary, but it is ''de-facto'' (it's likely more linked-to than even xkcd.com is on this site, for some reason.) That standing gives it a level of authority no other site has except the source itself. And agreed, one could very easily go and add Rob, or Cueball, or some other designation to the character(s). But nobody to date has (or, if they have, it may very likely have been reverted, being subject to that evolutionary force Wikipedia in aggregate exerts on subjects there, on needing to be noteworthy.) So while not an absolute authority, it caries a gravitas that other than xkcd itself, no other site really posesses on the matter, and so far, it (the collective body of contributors) has not deemed it important to settle the matter.
:::::::* I'm also not altogether convinced that, in transmogrification from blog to wiki, it necessarily follows that we must become more Wiki''pedia''-like. The medium has afforded a democratization of information here, but not a requirement that information lose its local flavor to become some dessicated academic dissertation. "I think" is, in my opinion, as valid here as it always was, and mediawiki doesn't necessarily impose otherwise.
:::::::* As for consistency, it serves its purpose, but generally I'm not one to be ruled by hobgoblins.
:::::::Anyway, the foregoing being only my opinion, and having express it, I leave it at that. Other minds may differ. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 02:30, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
::::::::It seems to me that this discussion has moved away from Cueball/Rob, and perhaps is deserving of it's own section now. When this site was a blog, and not a wiki, there was a clear separation between Jeff's explanations in the main body of the post, and the comments below. For the most part, Jeff wrote in an "editorial voice", and I don't recall a lot of "I think", "In my opinion", etc in the main posting (there was an occasional "I don't get this, can anyone explain it?", but that's clearly different). I know, at least, I've tried to maintain that color here: in the main page, editorial voice; in the discussion section (included at the bottom of every page, usually), personal voice. I think that works well. In my opinion, I think that "I think" and "In my opinion" have no place where it's not clear who the speaker is. The main pages are group edited, and have no identified speaker, so I wouldn't put it there. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 02:53, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::::::I concur that Wikipedia has ''some'' gravitas over any other site, and there is a reason it has links here (it is easier to link to an existing encyclopedia article on {{w|quantum physics}} than to start from scratch explaining it here. But in the same way that this may soon be a "wikipedia" for all things xkcd, that still doesn't make explainxkcd official. It may be considered a more reliable source of information than some random blogger, but that doesn't make it an official source. Wikipedia, notably, doesn't call Cueball anything. If it called him Cueball, that would be one thing - the name would have pervaded culture outside this website; but Wikipedia takes no position; I don't see how we can take Wikipedia's failure to reference the character at all and use this as a rationale to make any decision on this site one way or another.
:::::::::I will respond to BlaisePascal's editorial voice comment in a new section [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:40, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

== Default color? ==

Frankly, I'm not even sure this is an issue on the wiki's end vs. the browser's default, but I've noticed this with other wiki-based software. With the default of Blue links and Purple visited links, I've been noticing a lot lately that the Purple visited links are not really standing out from the otherwise black text. Not sure why this is. Is anyone else noticing this? I'm having a hard time finding wikilinks in text that I've already visited. Perhaps it's just me. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:37, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

: As a color blind user of explainxkcd, I'd like to put in a vote to up the contrast between visited and not links on the wiki. It doesn't need to be much, but more than it is now would be infinitely helpful. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:21, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

::Has this gone anywhere? I still find it hard to see the visited links (they now simply look like the rest of the text). And the unvisited links are hard to focus on. I'm not sure I can explain it any better. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:25, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

== Comments ==

Please let me know where the comments are for the latest comic. If
I'm not the only one who can't find them, can there be a link next to the comic?

== Editorial Voice ==

:''This section is split off in response to a comment by [[user:Blaisepascal]] in the Cueball/Rob discussion above.
I concur with Blaisepascal on the editorial voice issue. "first person" has no place in a wiki, as there is no single editor to be "I". I have a recollection that when the wiki started, Jeff said something about how in moving to a wiki, he had attempted to edit most of the explanations that has been moved over to remove most of the first-person references, but he invited others to continue this where he missed them. I can't, however, find this reference anywhere anymore. Assuming I am not making this up in my own mind, it's Jeff's site, so I think his style wishes are paramount.

I agree that most of the personal references on explainxkcd are things like "let's see if I get this right" or "Did I miss something?" or general bloggish comments like sorry I'm late to post; but there are other posts such as [http://www.explainxkcd.com/2010/10/18/connected/ this one] in which part of Jeff's post was: "''This is another one of those xkcd's that I classify as "emo". [...] Since there is nothing to explain here, [...] I'll wait for the next comic that makes a joke about Lord of the Rings and wormholes or something''" when moved over here.

The wiki format changes the nature of the explanations. It makes them no longer one person's opinion on the meaning of a comic. It is now a wiki where members of the public will aim to have a complete and accurate explanation built from many editors' thoughts and corrections. I don't think the articles need have encyclopedic definity. I have no issue with phrases like "it appears" or "it may be" where something is ambiguous, but "I think" or "I did a Google search" are not wikipropriate. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:44, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

:For the most part I completely agree. But I think that the explanations should not be boring. Even without personal pronouns, many of them have a congenial tone, not an overbearing one.

:For example, when I brought over [[1030: Keyed]], I took out the personal pronouns, but I left in the comment "Oh Beret Guy, never change." I started coming to the site, in part, because of the tone. I think that that should be preserved despite the inherent non-oneness of the wiki. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:08, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

== Discussion comments link? ==

*Does anyone else think that the {{tl|comic discussion}} template should have an argument added for some way to display a link to the comments section of the original blog posts for older comics? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:48, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
**I'm not sure that it would always be clear what the comments are referring to since the explanation may differ from the original.-[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 21:21, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
***I hear you, and that's a valid point; but it seems a shame to just discard the upwards of a hundred comments that sometimes took place on the old blog. I guess it also matters whether [[User:Jeff]] intends to delete the blog version at some point given the wiki. If it is going to stay up, why not link to the archived comments? The original blog post would be viewable there as well, if there were any differences relevant to those comments. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:03, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
*I would, however, like something to be done about the issue of new users finding the discussion section from the explain wiki main page. A suggestion I saw recently on the old site by rewq^ suggesting changing 'go to this comic' to 'comments' would solve the problem. I think it could also be changed to 'go to comments' - [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 21:21, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

That's an inventive answer to an intesreting question

== LiveJournal content ==

I've noticed that people are putting content from Randall's LiveJournal account into comic articles here, which I think is good. But I'd like to make some style suggestions around that.

Let's look at {{explain|42}}. Now, until someone explicitly pointed it out, I had no idea xkcd started on a LiveJournal account, so comments like "Original quote" or "Original comment" or "Original title" were confusing to me. I had no idea the source of this information. Now that I know better, my suggestions are as follows:

# These shouldn't be listed as "trivia". This is official content. I would suggest perhaps this be included in a "Background" section with any other background info on the comic (e.g. for some recent comics, it might reference Randall's fiancée's health issues for relevant comics).
# This "Background" section contains official content and more official than the "Explanation". The Background section should therefore go first.
# The section should be written in prose, not point form. My sample replacement for the above article would be "this comic was originally posted on Randall's LiveJournal account with the comment "''No laughing, 'less you want some of this too! *hefts golf club menacingly*''". Randall listed his mood at the time as "sick". The comic was actually the Xth comic posted on the LiveJournal account, and was included out-of-order when it was numbered as part of ''xkcd''.
# I think [[LiveJournal]] should have a brief article about the original LJ account.
# I note that on other wiki's including, for example [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Family_(episode) Memory alpha (example)] and on Wikipedia, they often have boxes showing the 'previous'/'next' things on a list (prev/next songs to hit #1 on different music charts, or prev/next tv episodes produced vs. aired). Should we give thought to creating a short sub-list of the Order comics were actually posted on the Livejournal so you can prev/next through that list?

Thoughts? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 22:17, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

:I added most of the LJ related "Trivia" just to get it into the wiki. I think expanding it would be nice, but I'm a bit lazy :) I did add a new category for the LJ posts, so they should be easier to find. There are still a few that do not (that I can find) appear in LJ, so I left as "undated" - but added the undated category that someone else had created. I was also considering creating a list ordered by LJ posting order on the LJ category page (to be created) to at least preserve some of the nostalgia. Is there another pre-xkcd site besides LJ that posts might have appeared in? Or are these "undated" posts possibly others that were just lumped into the "early posts" on xkcd? --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 21:05, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

::There are three undated comics that I found (and I noted them on the "big board" of all comics at [[list of all comics]]. If no one disagrees, I will start moving sections when I have time and creating any new sections as "Background" rather than "Trivia" where the sections relate to the history or backstory of the comic itself. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:04, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
:::The three undated comics do not appear on LiveJournal, just on the xkcd.com site. Given that (a) all of the comics on LJ from before 2006-1-1 are dated 2006-1-1 on xkcd, (b) all the ones after are dated with the same dates as on LJ, and (c) the three undated comics appear in the middle of the pre-2006 comics on LJ, I suspect that [[Randall]] posted them to the xkcd site first, and as part of a batch of comics he posted to bootstrap the site. So it's entirely likely that the 2006-1-1 date is accurate. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 16:18, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

I added, in the "Trivia" section, a "thread" tying all the LJ comics together, in order. In doing so, I also added the half-dozen or so LJ comics not yet added. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 16:18, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

== Programmatically Accessing Comics ==

I think there should be a way for other websites to view* explanations, (discussions?), etc programmatically.

This could be used for the [http://explainxkcd.com front page], or a website wanting to show an explanation of a comic that is always up-to-date and correct, etc.

<nowiki>*</nowiki> I wrote view, but it could also be edit.

--[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

:This could be done with json responses to individual pages including the current explanation for that comic. Similar to how the xkcd json api works now. I don't know if that is feasible in php though. I'm currently on a RoR craze though, so maybe there's an easier and less over-engineered solution I don't know about. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:18, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
::A cheap way out would be to have PHP page access the SQL DB and yank the necessary text from there. This could be useful for a naitive mobile app. Also, this site needs a mobile version. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

== New Edit Explanation Image/Link (Introduced 9/22/12) ==

Some initial thoughts.
*Will this be a permanent part of each comic? I would not be in favor of each comic in the archives having this disclaimer/large repetitive image as part of the explanation. Instead, can this just be part of the most recent comic?
*The other issue I have is that main page now has one direct link to editing the explanation (the thing least done by users) and none to editing discussion/adding comments (the thing most done by users). I see that the talk page is now displayed on the main page, which I think is a good thing, but I hope that someone can also get the 'add a comment' link on the main page as well.
*In the end I feel there should be links for editing the explanation and adding comments/discussion on the main page and that these links should be proportional in size to their traffic by users (re the link for adding to the discussion should be equal to or larger than the link for the explanation).
--[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 14:26, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

:A few pointers about that:
:* I introduced the "edit explanation" image/link below the explanation I gave for today's comic, mainly because I felt what I had written ''was'' indeed incomplete (I was lacking an explanation for the "[has only one review]" part and for the title text). So in a way that was some sort of calling for help with the explanation. And once done I thought it was a good idea to have a highly visible "edit" link for the latest comic explanation on the main page (''"so that people seeing something they could add would feel invited to do so (wiki style). In my opinion this would be a good way to improve the quality of the user-generated explanations"'', as I said [[Talk:Main Page#Direct link to latest comic|here]]).
:* Later on, I added the "may be incorrect" notion in the banner, because I saw that people having different explanations only mentioned them in the comments, instead of editing my explanation (which after all could be wrong). So I fear there's some sort of "we don't touch what has been done" effect, where the first explanation given will be more likely to stick and not be corrected by readers who are not used to the idea that they can edit it (actually, if someone has a better explanation than the one I put, I'd be happy to see it corrected!).
:* That edit banner should not be a permanent part of each comic. My opinion is that it should stay on the latest comic's page (even when the explanation could be considered complete) until there is a new comic, in order to invite as much people as possible to share their explanation; and it should also, of course, be on the comic pages for which the explanation is considered incomplete, for instance [[51: Malaria|this]] (empty) or [[46: Secrets|that]] (partial only).
:* It would be nice indeed to have also, on the main page, a direct link to add a comment (exactly like the one on [[1098: Star Ratings|the comic page]]), but that is currently not feasible automatically. This is one of the reasons why I suggested an other way to handle the latest comic (see [[#Latest comic handling]] above), which I actually still think would be better, and in particular which would allow to do all that (including the edit banner) nicely automatically from the main page.
:[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 15:20, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

==Notice templates==
I would like to suggest a template for a notice saying "this page requires copy editing," and one saying "this page may be unclear in its meaning," or something of the sort for each. the comic posted on 8/22/12 could use both of these. (unsigned comment by [[User:Dave|Dave]] 19:11, 23 August 2012‎ )

:I agree. I discussed this matter with [[User:Blaisepascal]] in respect of his template {{tl|Incomplete}} on its talk page. I have updated that template to {{tl|Incomplete/beta1}} and created {{tl|ambox}} as a generic message box ''xkcd''-style where other message templates can be created and color coded like on wikipedia, such as the ones you suggest.

:Unfortunately, because of the image scaling issues, the ambox template displays two broken images at the moment which we agreed shouldn't replace the existing template until the images are unbroken. I'm not sure anyone is working on the image scaling problem, is one of the issues. In any event, I also don't see the point in creating other notice templates until the issue is fixed and we can use the standardized template. I'm really hoping someone is working on the image scaling problem... [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:36, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

:: I changed the template to use the {{tl|notice}} template that is already being used in several places. I'll delete {{tl|ambox}} as it's redundant, but the styling of {{tl|notice}} can be changed if such is desired. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:40, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

== Denoting comic "series" ==

There are several "series" of comics. Is there a better/prefered way of notating these? Currently I have been creating a "Category:Series Name", e.g. (not all of these exist yet)
* [Category:Comics featuring Barrel Boy](1-5) (Should this be just "Barrel Boy"?)
* [Category:Journal](1-5)
* [Category:The Race](1-5)
* [Category:My Hobby](random)
* [Category:1337](1-5)
* [Category:Choices](1-5)
* [Category:Parody Week](5 in this "series", but others fit the genre)
* [Category:Red Spiders](4 in this "genre", 2 explicitly numbered)
* [Category:Secretary](1-5)
* [Category:Five-Minute Comics](1-3)
* [Category: Guest Week](5 comics, but not exactly a "series").

I usually also create a REDIRECT of "Series Name" to "Category: Series Name"(breaks for "Journal", as it is also a comic title.
Should we have another meta-category for series comics? What about a [Series:Series Name] "category"? or does that break wiki? --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 23:33, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

== Categories for Proposals Page ==

Maybe just simply two categories, resolved and unresolved? --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

Or stickers that say Open/Closed. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

== Moving the Wiki {{done|Closed}}==

What if explainxkcd.com/wiki was move to explainxkcd.com and explainxkcd.com would be moved to explainxkcd.com/blog? --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]

+1 (44)

-1 (0)

: That's my plan long term. That might make a lot of things like shortURL possible. Just have to get some time to get it sorted out. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:58, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
<hr />
Sorry if your votes don't appear immediately. I will have them update automatically soon. Hopefully. And if you clicked my signature wanting to +1 this page, sorry for the confusion. DanB and Lcarsos, your +1's have been added to the count. --[[User:Grep|grep]]:[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=p&f=ex_grep applaud]:[http://arthurmigdal.com/vote/vote.php?a=c&f=ex_grep smite]
:+1 from me. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 14:36, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
:+1 as well. I keep hitting the blog when I mean to go to the wiki. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 15:00, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

== Chart type comics ==

Some comics (circuit diagram, US states,eyes sights, among others) are in a characteristic chart format- where it is all based around a chart of some kind or the other. Should we have a separate template for them, for the type of comics?

And somebody should actually create all the pages in the required format without explanations, so that other users can fill on the explanation. I can give explanations, but need somebody to make the pages first

[[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 17:05, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

:All the images have been uploaded, and a template exists at [[User:Blaisepascal/newcomictemplate]] that can be copied/pasted into a new comic page that just needs to be filled in. [[User:Lcarsos]] has written a [[User:Lcarsos#Ruby_importer_script|Ruby importer script]] that will create an almost-ready-to-upload page for you. All you need to do is fill in the explanation, proof-read, and add useful Wiki links. You don't need special privileges to create new pages.
:Personally, I find comic pages devoid of explanation counter to the intent of this site, and I try not to create them. If I put up a page, I try to make sure it has an explanation. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 18:22, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

:I agree with Blaisepascal. If a comic does not have an explanation its page should not exist so that it is easy to tell how much work there is left to be done. If suddenly all the pages are created, but none of them have explanations, a passing user won't know that there is still work to be done, and potentially won't pitch in to help complete the site.
:As far as charts go, be sure to tag them with [[:Category:Charts]] and I like to change the transcript into a wiki table format. Of course, if the page doesn't have a transcript section then be sure you get the transcript from xkcd's json api (There is information about how to work it in [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Coordination#Issue dates]], as well as my [[User:Lcarsos#Ruby Importer scipt|Ruby script]] pulls in the transcript if it exists. You're still on your own to get the explanation from the blog (I'm working on that)).
:[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:57, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

== New Categories ==
(cut from Chart Type Comics section above, as seems new topic) [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 00:14, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Ok. Also, add a new section for proposing templates. We can have a very varied range of templates, like 'Comics with Black Hat', 'Comics with Raptor reference' etc... That will provide a useful ground for comparision of the most common themes [[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 16:44, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
:From context, I assume that by "templates", you mean "categories"? [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 18:00, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

:I think you'd benefit from taking a gander at [[:Category:Comics by featured characters]] and [[:Category:Comics by topic]]. I think we're still debating what to do about comics with actual people in them. But that will get you a good start. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:55, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

:: I'd be okay with creating a [[:Category:Comics featuring real people]] and including sub-categories for Cory Doctorow, the Firefly cast, RMS, Ron Paul, and other recurring real-life people.
:: But then, my general philosophy is more links, more pages, more explanation the better. One-shot fictional characters (like ponytail-Sarah in [[84: National Language]]) probably don't need their own category/page, though.[[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 02:06, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

:::I really like that idea. I too am of the more categories tribe, but I prefer them to be properly nested. I want to try my hand at creating categories let me see if I can do this. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 00:54, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

::::Okay, the beginnings are in place. Though I used [[:Category:Comics featuring real people]] as most comics that reference these people, in fact, feature them. I've also created a [[Playpen balls]] category under [[:Category:Comics by topic]] as it seems to me that it's referenced enough that it's necessary.

::::Question: Should we mirror Featured Characters by also having a page for each character and a Category:Real people, or will the Category pages be good enough?

::::The categories are going to get/are getting crowded with all the categories, is there a better way to represent them rather than a list? I'm thinking something that looks like [[:Template:navbox-characters]] except it needs to maintain the link on highlighted items, and it needs to be capable of multiple highlights. I think it would need sections for Featured Characters, Real people, Series (Barrel boy, Secretary, The Race), and Recurring Topics. What I mean by multiple highlights is, if they exist in that comic, i.e. if a comic features Black Hat, Cueball, Cory Doctorow, and Playpen balls, all of those should be highlighted.

::::[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 02:37, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

It looks like a good time to resurrect this topic. So, If you are going to categorize pages into a category that doesn't exist yet. MAKE SURE that you create the category page, don't just let it be a red link. That looks so sloppy. While on the subject of sloppy, Alphabetize by type the categories on the comic page. I go: Main characters, minor characters, real people, topics, series.

My personal requirements for making a category:
*For new topics
**For new topics, must be the central topic of ''at least'' two comics, with a few more tangentially related.
**It should be something that someone reads and goes "I wonder if there are more comics about this?" It is not simply creating a tag cloud for a post on a blog. That metaphor is gone. These are categories, like sections in an index to a book, or rather an ''encyclopedia''.
**A perfect example of this is [[User:Bpothier|Bpothier]]'s introduction of [[:Category:Comics with color]]. I've often wanted a list of all xkcds to date that have color on them. You'll know you've hit on something when another editor starts going through the pages and adding them to the new category.
*For new recurring characters
**They must recur. This seems obvious, but Adrian Lamo (for example, {{Wiktionary|AFAIK}}), only appears in [[1337: Part 3]]. This is a useless category if there are no other comics he appears in. It only goes to clutter up other, well populated categories.
*For other new categories
**You better have a damn solid case for why you have added a category that wasn't a sub-category of [[:Category:Comics by topic]] or [[:Category:Comic series]]. ''And if you do'', '''be polite''' and present it on the community portal so that the circling editors don't come in like brain-dead vultures to tear apart and re-parent your new category.

It is brain dead easy to create a page (spam bots do it all the time). It is much more complicated to get a page deleted by an admin once it has been created. You can tag it [[:Category:Pages to delete]], but non-spam pages marked this aren't often cleaned out. What I'm trying to say here is, be judicious in picking the names of pages you want to create. It's a pain to have to move Comics featuring Barrel Boy into a [[Barrel]] category.

Also, categorizing a page as something because of the explanation is not ok. These categories are here to group comics together, not as a general tag cloud for the wiki.

'''TL;DR:''' When creating a new category, create the goddamn category page (red links icky) and have ''at least'' 2 pages in the category. For big changes come here and ask first. [http://dontbeadickday.com/ Wil Wheaton says: "Don't be a dick!"]

Questions, comments, improvements, pies to the face accepted. Being-non-useful/criticism-with-intent-to-destroy is rude.

[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:28, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

:No, Lcarsos, don't hold back; please tell us what you really think! ;-) All kidding aside, these suggestions seem really pretty good. There may be some subjectivity in terms of what constitutes contributing to a tag cloud vs the categorization you mention here. But as you point out, that understanding is likely to evolve: if one creates a category that somebody else runs with it, that's a pretty good indicator. I'm glad this categorization has been going on as it has; were it not for my ''de facto'' role as ''Grim Spammer-Reaper'' I'd be in there helping sort and categorize 'em all, too. So huge thanks! -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:45, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

::Just to clarify, I assume what you mean by "''Alphabetize by type the categories on the comic page. I go: Main characters, minor characters, real people, topics, series.''" is that one should ''group'' categories by type, and then alphabetize within them? If that's the case, I don't see any major issue with that; that said, I tend to add categories by deemed 'importance', i.e. I would add comics featuring Cueball before comics featuring Black Hat or Beret Guy just because Cueball is the central character in the series. Similarly, I would also reorder so that "series" comes before topic, if not before characters as well. The first category a "My Hobby" comic comes into, in my mind, is the "My Hobby" category. Only then is it a comic that happens to feature Cueball, or happens to be on the topic of computers. That's my personal view of it. The only reason I would keep characters first is because it's the most common category type a comic will fall into. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:26, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

== Randall in Comics ==

In comic 541 (TED Talk), Randall uses a Cueball character to refer to himself. How should this be included in the Wiki? Cited: http://xkcd.com/541/ AWiseGuy (talk) 21:50, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

:I think, since he also seems to appear as himself in [[1057: Klout]] it would be appropriate to create a [[:Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]] and parent it to [[:Category:Comics featuring real people]]. I'll let you do that. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:51, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

== Characters appearing only by name. ==

I've noticed that in several comics, known and named characters appear by name only without any physical appearance. Off the top of my head, I can think of Miss Lenhart (who actually appears twice by name before making her first real appearance: http://xkcd.com/135/ and in http://xkcd.com/416/) and Rob in comic 1102. I think these should be included as appearances, or under some other related but separate category, because they do provide character development. Thoughts on this? [[User:AWiseGuy|AWiseGuy]] ([[User talk:AWiseGuy|talk]]) 19:51, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

:I consider references to be apperances. Anyone interested in reading all comics relating to that character or looking for a specific comic featuring that character might be remmebering one where it was a mention by name, not by apperance, and they should be included in the categories for ease of reference, IMO. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 20:13, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

== Also explain cartoons from the XKCD book? ==

Hi!
As many of you surely know, many comics from the main site were featured in the book xkcd: volume 0. Some of them where altered or had extra explanations. Moreover, there where quite a few riddles and new comics in the book, which should be explained here, too. The forums did a great job on solving the great big riddles which lead to the legendary "official" XKCD-meetup with Randall. --[[Special:Contributions/137.193.213.160|137.193.213.160]] 09:37, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
:Oops, for got to log in, this suggestion came from me: [[User:Gefrierbrand|Gefrierbrand]] ([[User talk:Gefrierbrand|talk]]) 09:48, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

== Just add 'explain' before the 'xkcd.com' ==

You know how you there are services like [http://www.youtuberepeat.com YouTube Repeat] which let you go to the corresponding part of their site by just adding `repeat` before the `.com` of the YouTube video URL?

Likewise, let us just add `explain` before the `xkcd.com` part in any comic URL and let it redirect us to the appropriate wiki post. For example: `explainxkcd.com/1000` would redirect to `http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1000`. I think since the site is based on PHP, it'd be very easy to just send a 301 Redirect header along.

This will be of immense comfort and will probably see me and others using ExplainXKCD.com a lot mre ! Happy reading :)

{{unsigned|YatharthROCK|15:17, 16 September 2012}}

Hi, joining the conversation: Could we perhaps also ask the original administrator of explainxkcd to redirect the address of his site here? It'll be easier to get here and it might generate more traffic as well. --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 01:48, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

:In a way, that's the plan... per [[#Moving the Wiki ✓ Closed|#Moving the Wiki]] above, the `/wiki` part would disappear, and with shortURL at the same time (mentioned there and at other places as well), the `index.php?title=` would disappear as well. Therefore, explainxkcd.com/1000 would get you the [[1000]] page, which itself redirects to the explanation of the comic ([[1000: 1000 Comics]]). So I guess the only issue is: when will this be done?... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:38, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
:: I'd LOVE this working. I've worked on this a bunch and only succeeded in bricking the site. If anyone has any advice, I'd love the help. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:04, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

:::I don't think that there is a wiki way to do this, as I've never set up mediawiki before (I should get around to it though). But from 10,000 feet it appears to me that all of the wiki software lives inside a /wiki/ directory on the server, and the blog lives in the root directory. Currently, all of mediawiki's pages are being generated by being passed GET variables, and all of WordPress' pages are being generated by its use of mod_rewrite (why the difference, I don't know. I've never set up mediawiki, and thus never had to try to get mod_rewrite working for it). This is a problem, because any url sent to the server such as explainxkcd.com/1000 is causing the server to look for a directory named 1000, and when it doesn't find it, it invokes mod_rewrite and passes 1000 to the index.php of the root directory as a search term, which activates WordPress which searches for any entries dated in the year 1000 (Wordpress treats the first "directory" as the year), naturally none exist so WordPress generates a 404 error.

:::While the blog exists, I think the only way to do this would be to write a .htaccess that conditionally reroutes directory misses to /wiki/ so something like explainxkcd.com/1000 would be sent to explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1000 but explainxkcd.com/2012/04 would still be sent to WordPress to find entries posted in April 2012.

:::As soon as we can get rid of the blog (which is not yet, because there are a lot of explanations still there that haven't been migrated over) the logic that has to be in the .htaccess becomes much simpler. Anything gets redirected to explainxkcd.com/wiki/. I say anything, and I mean anything because URI requests for anything under explainxkcd.com/wiki/ apache will find the /wiki/ directory and pass everything into there (mod_rewrite or as it currently is) and anything not matchin the /wiki/ directory can be 302'd into /wiki/ for the wiki to find it.

:::I hope that makes sense. If that's too long, let me sum up. '''TL;DR:''' Not very feasible until all explanations in the blog are in the wiki and we can get rid of WordPress.

:::--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:52, 13 November 2012 (UTC)
::: Yup - I certainly would be using htaccess file and that's the approach that has NOT worked in the past. It is possible it needs some tweaking so that it works for the wiki. I'm not sure. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:09, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Add explanations for what-if.xkcd.com ==
A new [http://what-if.xkcd.com sub-site] from Randall calls for new explanations.
This might not need quite as much explaining, but it is worthy of reference anyway.
--[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 16:01, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

:I think Randall actually does quite a good job of explaining everything in what-if. If we had a go at it, it would pretty much just be a page with a link to general and special relativity pages of wikipedia. Other than that, he provides links for almost everything he discusses. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:21, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

:But we may want to discuss his topics among ourselves. I am reading the lightning topic today, and wishing I could comment on it or add fragments of my own experience to it.[[User:Noni Mausa|Noni Mausa]] ([[User talk:Noni Mausa|talk]]) 11:32, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
:
::...then you have http://forums.xkcd.com, made exactly for that purpose; in particular: [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=94449 xkcd • View topic - What-if 0016: Lightning].
::Don't want to seem unfriendly here, I'm not trying to "get you out of here", it's just that if you want to ''discuss his topics'', ''comment on it or add fragments of your own experience to it'', then I believe that would be the best place for you to do so; and where you could find other people to share it, as well.
::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 17:38, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
:: Thanks, I will go have a look. I'm somewhat of a newbie, quod erat demonstrandum.[[User:Noni Mausa|Noni Mausa]] ([[User talk:Noni Mausa|talk]]) 02:37, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

== News Links ==
Certain pages have custom news links.
Many use the generic news link, which these days refers to what-if.xkcd.com.
Template "comic" should probably explcitly support and display custom news.
(An effort should be made at times to scan for updated news.)
--[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 16:01, 5 October 2012 (UTC)
: And, of course, there should be a category for anything with custom news. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 16:05, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

== New List requests ==

List of comics related to cancer -
(Umwelt, 818,828,836,925,931,933)

[Keep on adding new requests below this]
[[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 18:24, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
: Good suggestion. One observation... this is essentially a democratic institution, so feel free to put the catagory tags on each of these pages and get those editorial props due to you for recommending the category. I'm guessing <nowiki>[[Category:Cancer]]</nowiki> should be a good start. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 23:06, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

== Disambiguation ==

Ok, I think we need to start considering disambiguation pages.

Off the top of my head there's
*[[17: What If]] and [[what if?]]
*[[786: Exoplanets]] and [[1071: Exoplanets]]

If you search "what if" the redirect takes you to the [[17: What If]]. I've added a note to that page that links to [[what if?]].

[[Exoplanets]] (the title redirect) is an informal disambiguation page. But, neither comic links to the other one in case someone clicks links and gets to the wrong page.

In terms of notes on pages that there is a disambiguation page that they might be looking for, I think that the note should be made under the comic template so that people clicking the next/previous links don't have to move their cursor (I find nothing more infuriating than having a next/previous link move around as I'm browsing a website).

Anyone else? Thoughts? [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 15:42, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

== RSS Feed ==

We need a new RSS feed so people using news readers can easily be notified of new comics. {{unsigned|67.186.234.12}}

:First and foremost, a disambiguation: '''We are not xkcd'''. We are a group of people who love xkcd and sometimes a joke goes over our head, and we'd go into fits of OCD rage if we don't understand every joke in xkcd.

:If you want to read xkcd, subscribe to the RSS feed that [[Randall]] provides. [http://xkcd.com/rss.xml here's a link] A new xkcd is posted at midnight eastern (US East coast) of every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

:We are just here for the explanation, which is community based. It takes quite a few edits from many people before an explanation is really explained-to-death and every joke found and beaten with a club to extract maximum joke-explanation value. But there's usually a fairly substantial effort at an explanation by noon eastern. That's about the best we can offer you.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:19, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

== Comic Difficulty score ==

We should add a difficulty score to each page. Each XKCD comic could be awarded a score based on the number of people that have to visit explainxkcd.com on the day a comic is posted and a couple days after. Inspired by comic: http://www.xkcd.com/1137/

Jim

Hehe, that is a cool idea! --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:06, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Contributions and revert buttons ==

The main vandalism comes from IP adresses, and one IP may attack more than one page when it logs on. So its best to have a contributions link show up beside user page and talk page for every page history and signature; and wherever else it is used that way.

Also a quick way to deal with vandalism is to have two buttons on the show history page-
1. Revert this edit [undo] (for all, including IP users, not just normal users)
2. Revert to this edit (Just beside every edit on the edit history)

These two buttons (links, whatever u call them) will make it much more efficient for vandal-reverters to tackle them down.

[[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 20:08, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Oh and an easy template to keep tagging vandals, and vandalism affected articles, as well as a quick way to say that whatever we are doing is editing vandalism. I truly would not want to press any more than 4 buttons/clicks ideally on one page when I am trying to revert edits.

The tagging vandals and vandalism affected pages will help admins keep fast track of whos the worst vandal and block that range of IPs from editing (except to submit edit request to admins) and which are worst affected pages (to protect them) [[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 20:15, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Subsection for title text explanation ==

Hey! On trial I created subsections for some longer explanations of the title text on some pages, like this: [[804: Pumpkin Carving#Explanation]]. Do you think that is helpful? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:22, 23 November 2012 (UTC)
:Good idea. In some cases it might be the best choice. I just did that on [[1074: Moon Landing]] too :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:01, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

:Making a special sub-section for the title text only makes sense for large explanations. Explanations that are maybe only 2-3 scrappy paragraphs, and then an explanation of the title text, is not so dense that it is hard to find it. I like this as an idea, but I think that only the really large explanations should have the subsection. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:34, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

== Explain other webcomics too? ==

How about we explain other webcomics too, e.g. Penny Arcade? --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 02:36, 3 December 2012 (UTC)
:Good god, no. We've barely even finished xkcd. All these explanations pages still need a lick of polish, and there's still heaps of red links in the list of all comics page. Also, the wiki's called explainxkcd. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:38, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

== Whatever Happened to the Template? & Transcript Bar ==

I've been using the template whenever I make a new page for an explanation, but I think it's been gone for a couple of weeks now. Does anyone think they could possibly resurrect it? I'm just here to explain, I'm really not a pro with the technical details, so please bear with me.

Also, I got to thinking: In the List of All Comics, there are redirects for the Number, the Title, and the Talk pages, but has anyone thought about making a redirect for the transcript? I'm pushing for transcript help in a bunch of different areas mostly because I think people have been filling it in themselves without going to the site.

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2012-12-18T01:48:19Z

Castriff: /* Just add 'explain' before the 'xkcd.com' */

User talk:Castriff

2012-12-17T17:45:15Z

Castriff: /* Please don't */

==Please don't==
Please do not create explanation pages without filling it out. If you intend to go in later and fill it in, ''wait until later'' to create the page. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:32, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

:Look, I was going to do it, alright? I had to go to class and left the edit page open. --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 01:10, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

::I'm still unsure how that ends up creating a blank page. Did you submit, then intend to fill it out, but realize it was time for class? Or, did you have the edit page open and a roommate thought it would be funny to touch your computer? If the commit summary had said something about you coming back to finish it, I probably wouldn't have jumped down your throat about it (as much, I'd still wonder why you submitted a page). It's just that us editors get twitchy about unfinished pages because there are too many anonymous people that come by, start something and never show up to finish it, so we begrudgingly have to finish it. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:46, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

:::I'm pretty new to the wiki scene, so I apologise for any problems you guys have on my account. I won't leave them undone like that again. What's a commit summary? --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:13, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

::::That box underneath the edit box. It's labeled "summary", sorry, I called it commit, because I've been thinking it was named after a source code version control thing called commit summary, or commit message. Anyway, it's the one line text field above the minor edit check box. Whatever message you put in that box shows up on the [[Special:RecentChanges|Recent Changes]] page, which is helpful to others to know what was changed on the page without having to go in and check the edit history. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:38, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

:::::Thanks!--[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 01:41, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Please do not blank talk pages without leaving a good comment as to why. Talk pages should be a complete archive of every discussion, that way someone can always refer back to it. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 03:28, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

:I considered it to be more useful as an actual explanation than a discussion. There is one particular user who opens talk pages without anything to particularly "discuss." I added his discussion under the explanation before blanking it out.[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 11:42, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

::Ah, I see, now that I go through the history. Regardless, don't remove content from talk pages, you con strike them through with <code><nowiki><del>deleted</del></nowiki></code> <del>deleted</del>, but again you should leave a comment letting people know why you're making a change especially when it's such a big visual change. We don't have very many rules specific to here, but in general Wikipedia's rules seem to work well, so {{w|Wikipedia:GOODFAITH|per Wikipedia, always Assume Good Faith}}. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:12, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
:::Okay, thank you! --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 17:45, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

User talk:Castriff

2012-12-17T11:42:35Z

Castriff: /* Please don't */

453: Upcoming Hurricanes

2012-12-16T20:37:42Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 453
| date = July 23, 2008
| title = Upcoming Hurricanes
| image = upcoming_hurricanes.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = I'd like to see more damage assessments for hurricanes hitting New York and flooding Manhattan -- something like the 1938 Long Island Express, but aimed a bit more to the west. It's just a matter of time.
}}

==Explanation==
It must be hurricane season! This comic gives some ideas on upcoming hurricane paths. Lets look at each path.

Hurricane Illinois-Has-It-Too-Easy: They really do. This smart hurricane, while actually impossible, comes from Canada to strike little old Chicago before heading back to Canada.

Hurricane Where-The-Hell-Is-Bermuda: Nice little irony here, normally people get lost once they get to the triangle and never come back. This poor hurricane can't even get there to get lost.

Hurricane Screw-It-Let's-Just-Trash-Florida-Again: Why you would want to live in Florida during hurricane season is beyond me. Sticking out from the rest of the US, Florida is in a nice spot to get hurricanes from the East, South, and West. And with the state not being very high or wide, it is common for a hurricane to run over Florida, lose some strength, then rebuild in the Gulf of Mexico, only to do a U-turn and strike again.

Hurricane Freud: You just need to know that Sigmund Freud had a thing about sex, and let's just leave it at that.

Hurricane Red and Blue: Playing a game of Light Cycles from {{w|Tron}}, Hurricane Blue lost -- it crashed into the lightwall of Hurricane Red.

Hurricane Cos(x): Just following the simple math function, Hurricane Cos(x) just oscillates between 1°N and 1°S. This, while cool, is impossible as near the equator the Coriolis effect is way too weak to cause rotation. In fact, there has never been a hurricane within 5° of the equator due to the Coriolis force being too weak, and the Coriolis force is what causes the hurricane to rotate.

The title text refers to a 1938 Category 5 Hurricane that caused $41.1 billion in damage in current money. Had it been further west it could have caused more damage as the right side of a hurricane is stronger and more destructive than the left side as the winds on the right side push water inland.

==Transcript==
:[An unlabeled map shows the region roughly between central Canada and northern Brazil. Dotted lines indicating hurricane paths cover the map, all red except where noted.
:Hurricane Illinois-Has-It-Too-Easy comes from somewhere to the northwest, goes through Illinois, and then back to the northwest.
:Hurricane Where-the-Hell-Is-Bermuda enters from the east side of the map, wanders around the Atlantic in a scribble, goes north for a while, and then peters out.
:Hurricane Screw-It-Let's-Just-Trash-Florida-Again comes from the east, starts to curve to the north, and then turns sharply to head straight for Florida and zigzag through it.
:Hurricane Freud starts in the Gulf of Mexico, draws a set of balls to Florida's cock, and then comes on land and stops.
:Hurricane Red and Hurricane Blue (which is a blue line) are playing a game of Tron, zipping in straight lines and right angles around Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba. Red successfully cuts off Blue and then dies shortly thereafter.
:Hurricane cos(x) forms a graph of cos(x) along the bottom edge of the map.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Hurricanes]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1061: EST

2012-12-16T20:33:41Z

Castriff:

{{Incomplete}}
{{comic
| number = 1061
| date = May 28, 2012
| title = EST
| image = est.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = The month names are the same, except that the fourth month only has the name 'April' in even-numbered years, and is otherwise unnamed.
}}

==Explanation==
The year 1958 is relevant because January 1, 1958 is the epoch (time zero) in International Atomic Time (TAI), which is part of the basis for Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). (The main difference is that TAI doesn’t have leap seconds).

"24 hours 4 minutes" because the period of rotation of the Earth is 24 hours MINUS four minutes.

EST = Eastern Standard Time (USA) or England Standard Time (UK); there's no easy way to disambiguate this since it is a common time zone for English speakers in the USA and UK.

"Run clocks backward" a possible reference to the leap second.

"0.9144" because 1 yard = 0.9144 meters

"triple 4 hours after every full moon" = add on an additional 12 hours every full moon, to make the time between full moons exactly 30 "days" (in real life it's 29.5 days).

The one obvious reference is to Narnian time, which is a reference to the fictitious world of Narnia in CS Lewis's The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. In Narnia, time passes much more quickly than in the real world. You could be in Narnia for several days and only a few minutes would have passed in the real world.

==Transcript==
:XKCD Presents
:'''EARTH STANDARD TIME'''
:(EST)
:A Universal Calendar for a Universal Planet
:EST is...
:Simple * Clearly Defined * Unambiguous
:Free of Historical Baggage * Compatible with Old Units
:Precisely Synced with the Solar Cycle * Free of Leap Years
:Intermittently Amenable to Date Math

:UNITS
:Second: 1 S.I. Second
:Minute: 60 seconds
:Hour: 60 minutes
:Day: 1444 minutes (24 hours 4 minutes)

:Month: 30 Days
:Year: 12 months

:RULES
:For 4 hours after every full moon, run clocks backward.
:The non-prime-numbered minutes of the first full non-reversed hour after a solstice or equinox happen twice.

:[Epoch]
:00:00:00 EST, January 1, 1970 = 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970 (Julian calendar)
:[Time Zones]
:The two EST time zones are
:''EST'' and ''EST (United Kingdom)''. These are the same except that the UK second is 0.944 standard seconds.

:Daylight saving: Countries may enter DST, but no time may pass there.
:Narnian Time: Synchronized.
:Year Zero: EST ''does'' have a year 0. (However, there is no 1958.)

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

Talk:1061: EST

2012-12-16T20:33:00Z

Castriff: Blanked the page

758: Raptor Fences

2012-12-16T20:31:39Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 758
| date = June 25, 2010
| title = Raptor Fences
| image = raptor_fences.png
| titletext = If at least one person has a nightmare about being swarmed by hundreds of mouse-sized dromaeosaurids, my work will have been done.
}}

==Explanation==
In the film ''[[Wikipedia:Jurassic_Park_(film)|Jurassic Park]],'' the protagonists are hunted by carnivorous dinosaurs (including [[Wikipedia:Velociraptors|velociraptors]]).

[[Wikipedia:Primordial_dwarfism|Primordial Dwarfism]] is an extreme form of drawfism that can manifest in all stages of life, including fetal. The disease is caused by a genetic mutation inherited from both parents.

The caption suggests that the fear of being hunted by dinosaurs can be reduced by genetically engineering them to be many, many times smaller than they should be.

==Transcript==
[A man checks a computer terminal, another man is running off in the opposite direction.]

Man 1: The raptor fences are down. They're loose. 
Man 2: I'll get a broom and dustpan.

Caption: Jurassic Park got a lot less scary when the researchers discovered they could ativate the gene for extreme dwarfism.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Movies and Television]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]

Talk:832: Tic-Tac-Toe

2012-12-16T19:47:48Z

Castriff: Blanked the page

832: Tic-Tac-Toe

2012-12-16T19:47:34Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 832
| date = December 10, 2010
| title = Tic-Tac-Toe
| image = Tic_tac_toe.png
| titletext = The only winning move is to play, perfectly, waiting for your opponent to make a mistake.
}}

==Explanation==
Each map shows every possible combination of moves which will result in that side winning. It assumes that X moves first, which is why the map for O has more possible move combinations and, therefore, more subdivisions. The title text is a reference to the 1984 movie WarGames. In that movie, the AI concludes that the only way to win at Tic-Tac-Toe is not to play (since perfect strategy always produces a tie.)

==Transcript==
:(The comic comprises two large square maps, each divided into nine sections, some of which are further subdivided in the same way. The subdivisions continue down for up to five levels, and the lower map has more tiny diagrams than the upper. The smallest divisions at every scale are completed tic-tac-toe games.)

:[Explanatory text:]
:Complete map of optimal Tic-Tac-Toe moves

:Your move is given by the position of the largest red symbol on the grid. When your opponent picks a move, zoom in on the region of the grid where they went. :Repeat.

:Map for X:
:(The first square map)

:Map for O:
:(The second square map)

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Logic]]

832: Tic-Tac-Toe

2012-12-16T19:47:17Z

Castriff:

{{comic
| number = 832
| date = December 10, 2010
| title = Tic-Tac-Toe
| image = Tic_tac_toe.png
| titletext = The only winning move is to play, perfectly, waiting for your opponent to make a mistake.
}}

==Explanation==
Each map shows every possible combination of moves which will result in that side winning. It assumes that X moves first, which is why the map for O has more possible move combinations and, therefore, more subdivisions. The title text is a reference to the 1984 movie WarGames. In that movie, the AI concludes that the only way to win at Tic-Tac-Toe is not to play (since perfect strategy always produces a tie)

==Transcript==
:(The comic comprises two large square maps, each divided into nine sections, some of which are further subdivided in the same way. The subdivisions continue down for up to five levels, and the lower map has more tiny diagrams than the upper. The smallest divisions at every scale are completed tic-tac-toe games.)

:[Explanatory text:]
:Complete map of optimal Tic-Tac-Toe moves

:Your move is given by the position of the largest red symbol on the grid. When your opponent picks a move, zoom in on the region of the grid where they went. :Repeat.

:Map for X:
:(The first square map)

:Map for O:
:(The second square map)

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Logic]]

User talk:75.103.23.206

2012-12-16T19:45:28Z

Castriff: Created page with "Please do not create talk pages unless you have a question or disagree with the explanation. Additional explanations that you have should be added under the explanations alrea..."

Please do not create talk pages unless you have a question or disagree with the explanation. Additional explanations that you have should be added under the explanations already there. [[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:45, 16 December 2012 (UTC)

821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3

2012-12-16T19:23:58Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 821
| date = November 19, 2010
| title = Five-Minute Comics: Part 3
| image = five_minute_comics_part_3.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Resulting in The Little Rock 9x + C.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third and final "five-minute comics" post Randall made during November 2010. The introduction to the comic explains everything you need to know about the circumstances behind it, so let's get started!

* {{w|Pearl Harbor}} is a US Navy base that was {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked}} in 1941 by Japanese airplanes, which prompted the US to join World War II. Of the attacks, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is claimed to have said "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" (although this claim is disputed, as the quote first appeared in the 1970 film ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' and isn't substantiated by any sources that would have heard him say it).
:The attacks were made on ''December'' 7, 1941, not November 7. Thus, Randall is correct in depicting a Navy base going about its usual business.

* {{w|Breastfeeding in public}} is a touchy subject in parts of the world. In the US, it is considered by some to be inconsiderate to others who would prefer not to see such a display. Of course, women breastfeeding in public are generally feeding their infants, not other adults. The situation presented in the comic is an absurd exaggeration of the debate.

* "s" is the command in {{w|sed}} to perform a pattern search-and-replace; the syntax has also been adopted by other text-processing utilities, including {{w|Perl}} (a favorite subject of xkcd), and has entered into the geek lexicon as something that could appear in general conversation. The specific command "s/I think that/I saw a study once that said/g" means "Find all occurrences of the phrase 'I think that', and replace it with the phrase 'I saw a study once that said'." This will, indeed, improve the persuasiveness of an article, as the existence of scientific evidence will make people more likely to believe what's said, while most people won't even think to actually look up the study in question.

* Arson is the crime of intentionally setting fire to a structure. {{w|Billy Joel}} will no doubt claim {{w|We Didn't Start the Fire|he didn't start the fire}}.

* Coca-Cola is a fizzy cola-flavored soft drink, commonly abbreviated as "coke." {{w|Pop Rocks}} are a candy that contain tiny bubbles of gas, so that as the sugary candy dissolves on your tongue, it creates a popping sensation. For a long time, it was claimed that drinking the two together would cause one's stomach to explode; this was finally put to rest as some people (the Mythbusters in particular) started actually trying it, and discovered that nothing happened.
:Randall, of course, just thinks outside the box.

* After ''{{w|Brown v. Board of Education}}'' ruled that schools could not segregate based on race, nine African American students from Little Rock, Arkansas enrolled in the previously-segregated Little Rock Central High School. The school board could not officially deny them attendance, but members of the community (and, after Arkansas governor Orval Faubus intervened, the Arkansas National Guard) formed a blockade to physically prevent them from entering the school building. The governor claimed this was within his power even after ''Brown v. Board'', because the students were enrolled without issue, they were just physically blocked from entering the school building. After determining that the right to enroll in a school does, implicitly, include the right to actually attend classes there, president Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division to accompany the students and force the National Guard to stand down, thus integrating the school. This incident became known as the {{w|Little Rock Nine}}.
:However, {{w|Integral|integration}} also has a meaning in mathematics. This is indicated in the comic with the soldiers lifting up a giant integral sign to place beside the school, in order to (mathematically) integrate it. Normally, an integral only makes sense on functions; however, since this is the Little Rock ''Nine'', if we take the integral of the constant function ''f''(''x'') = 9, we do, in fact, get 9''x'' + ''C'', as stated in the title text.

* Cell phones with advanced computing capabilities (typically at least requiring fully-featured Internet browsing, multimedia capabilities, and the ability to run software applications) are called "smartphones." Most cell phones also have a "vibrate" function that allows someone in a public situation to receive calls without alerting others; the phone will discreetly vibrate rather than activate a ringtone, thus privately notifying the owner that a call is incoming. A semi-common problem with this feature is that a vibrating phone on a table that has a slight slope will slowly (or, if the slope is bad enough, rather quickly) slide down the slope, possibly falling off the table and breaking. If our smartphones ever decided to kill us, this would possibly be their only method of attack.
**Randall later covered this in his [[what if?]] blog.[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what%20if%20xkcd&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&ved=0CEQQjBAwBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwhat-if.xkcd.com%2F5%2F&ei=LB7OUM7QM4Te8ATbpYDwDA&usg=AFQjCNHkhpseKApl5llNSc_8tNJXS0qMLQ&sig2=XWOFsPMZZu7PotfnG12DdA&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.eWU]

* The Three Little Pigs is a children's fairy tale about three pigs who build their houses out of, respectively, straw, sticks, and bricks. A wolf comes along and eats the pigs living in the straw and stick houses, but he can't knock down the brick house, because his only method for breaking them down is to blow on them until the material falls to pieces. The lesson is somewhat confused and seems to be "Don't build your house in such a way that a semi-strong wind can blow it down," which is sound advice but somewhat bizarre for a children's story.
:The 119 Little Pigs seems to be a variant where the pigs build their houses out of the 119 chemical elements. The 38th little pig builds his house out of {{w|strontium}}, which is, of course, the 38th element on the Periodic Table. One wonders what happened to the pigs who are stuck making their houses out of elements that are gaseous or liquid at room temperature, or those whose houses would react with the air and/or undergo nuclear decay.
:Although given the water content in exhaled breath, it's {{w|Alkali metal#Reaction with water (alkali metal hydroxides)|easy to see}} how the wolf would huff, puff, and blow down the houses made of {{w|lithium}}, {{w|sodium}}, {{w|potassium}}, {{w|rubidium}}, {{w|caesium}}, and {{w|francium}}.

* "Fastest gun in the West" is a boast commonly made in Western movies, where it is used to mean that a person is the fastest at drawing his gun in a duel (or, alternatively, can fire his gun the fastest). It doesn't actually describe the gun itself, and certainly doesn't describe how fast the gun can gallop across the land.

* "It's what separates the ''men'' from the ''boys''" is a phrase used to describe "macho" activities that, apparently, only "real men" will participate/do well in; all the other men haven't grown up yet, and are thus "boys." {{w|Centrifuge}}s are used to rapidly separate a material from the liquid it's dissolved in, so apparently they can also be used to separate men from boys.

* Narnia is the mythical land in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''. In the books, time passes differently in Narnia, such that one can spend many years in Narnia and come out to find that almost no time at all has passed on Earth (and, conversely, during a short trip back to Earth, hundreds of years could pass in Narnia). Lucy is taking advantage of this by putting a computer in Narnia to perform extremely fast computation. {{w|Folding@home}} and {{w|SETI@home}} are distributed computing projects that aim to solve extremely large computational problems by pooling together computer resources of thousands of home computers who volunteer for the project; Folding@home looks at how proteins are folded, which has applications in medical science, and SETI@home analyzes EM waves from space, looking for signs extraterrestrial intelligent life amongst the cosmic background noise. Running through all of that data in a few hours would be quite an accomplishment indeed, although, as Peter points out, the idea has many problems:
** The book was written in 1957 and it occurs even earlier than that, long predating personal computers, so Lucy shouldn't even have one.
** Even if it occurs in an alternate universe where the PC was invented before 1957, the storage that would be needed to store the entire Folding@home and SETI@home databases would be far beyond her means, since the characters in the book are foster kids who don't have any money.
** Even if she somehow pulled that much storage space together, the time needed for one computer to run through those databases is on the order of millenia. A computer would not continuously run for that long without careful treatment, which Narnia is not equipped for.
** Even if we handwave around that issue (''"Aslan, use your power to keep all dust away from this computer for the next ten thousand years, please"''), the wall socket powering the computer is on the Earth side. Mains power outlets in the UK provide alternating current with an amplitude of 230 volts and a frequency of 50 hertz. The 50hz part is what's important here: all devices designed to work with UK mains power expect a 50hz sine wave. The time difference between Earth and Narnia would substantially elongate the sine wave in a method similar to the Doppler effect, which would probably prevent the computer from functioning at all.

* ''{{w|The Honeymooners}}'' is a classic American sitcom. The show stars Ralph and Alice Kramden, and Ralph frequently makes empty threats of the form "One of these days, Alice...," followed by a combination of onomatopoeia. For example: "One of these days, Alice... BANG! ZOOM! Straight to the moon!" (Alice inevitably replies "Ahhh, shut up.")
:Here, Randall takes the pattern to a ridiculous and not-at-all threatening place.

==Transcript==
Because of a family illness, instead of regular comics, this week I'll be sharing some strips that I drew as part of a game I played with friends. Each comic had to be written and drawn in five minutes.

-- Randall

====Comic #1====
:Pearl Harbor. November 7th, 1941.
:[There is a beach, with some ships floating in a crescent shaped harbor.]

:[The same bay, again.]

:[The boats continue to move about the harbor.]

:[The boats do their thing. A title explains.]
:(We're going to be here a while, since the attack wasn't until December.)

====Comic #2====
:[Cueball is sitting on a bus, Megan in front of him.]
:I know it's natural and all, but I really wish women on the bus wouldn't try to breastfeed me.
:Woman: C'mon, have some milk. Right here.
:Me: I'm ''reading''.

====Comic #3====
:s/I think that/I saw a study once that said that/g
:Instant persuasiveness multiplier!

====Comic #4====
:[A newspaper front page. Billy Joel is between two policemen.]
:Times
:Billy Joel Arrested for Arson

====Comic #5====
:[One person has a cord leaving their mouth, the other is holding a handset on the end of it to their ear.]
:Handset: Hee hee hee... *giggle*
:I hear that if you drink coke and eat pop rocks, you vomit up a corded telephone handset on which you hear creepy little girls giggling.

====Comic #6====
:[Three soldiers are holding a large integral sign, while a fourth points a gun at the Little Rock High School.]
:1957: Eisenhower orders the military to integrate Little Rock High School.

====Comic #7====
:[A smartphone is vibrating across a table, towards a person.]
:The smartphones got ''too'' smart... and developed a taste... for BLOOD!
:Fortunately, the only way they could move was by turning on their vibrate while on a sloped table.

====Comic #8====
:[Cueball is reading to his child.]
:Cueball: And the wolf went to see the 38th little pig, who had built his house out of strontium.
:Cueball: And the wolf was all, "Ok, what is ''with'' this shit?"
:The 119 Little Pigs

====Comic #9====
:[Cueball is holding up a gun.]
:Cueball: Fastest gun in the west!

:[The gun is galloping across the desert.]
:''gallop gallop''

:[There is a podium, with a gun in each position.]
:Winner!

====Comic #10====
:[A picture of a centrifuge dominates the panel.]
:Centrifuges: They're what separate the men from the boys.

====Comic #11====
:[A computer monitor is plugged in, and cables run into a wardrobe.]
:Lucy: Time passes differently in Narnia, so by putting the CPU and storage for my machine there, I was able to run through the Folding@Home and Seti@Home databases in about an hour.
:Peter: There are _so_ many problems with that.

====Comic #12====
:[Someone is talking to Alice.]
:Person: One of these days, Alice... Wham, zoom, sploosh, fwoom, splash, gurlle, wheeeee, fwoosh, aren't waterslides fun?!

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Five-minute comics]]

821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3

2012-12-16T19:23:24Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 821
| date = November 19, 2010
| title = Five-Minute Comics: Part 3
| image = five_minute_comics_part_3.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Resulting in The Little Rock 9x + C.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third and final "five-minute comics" post Randall made during November 2010. The introduction to the comic explains everything you need to know about the circumstances behind it, so let's get started!

* {{w|Pearl Harbor}} is a US Navy base that was {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked}} in 1941 by Japanese airplanes, which prompted the US to join World War II. Of the attacks, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is claimed to have said "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" (although this claim is disputed, as the quote first appeared in the 1970 film ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' and isn't substantiated by any sources that would have heard him say it).
:The attacks were made on ''December'' 7, 1941, not November 7. Thus, Randall is correct in depicting a Navy base going about its usual business.

* {{w|Breastfeeding in public}} is a touchy subject in parts of the world. In the US, it is considered by some to be inconsiderate to others who would prefer not to see such a display. Of course, women breastfeeding in public are generally feeding their infants, not other adults. The situation presented in the comic is an absurd exaggeration of the debate.

* "s" is the command in {{w|sed}} to perform a pattern search-and-replace; the syntax has also been adopted by other text-processing utilities, including {{w|Perl}} (a favorite subject of xkcd), and has entered into the geek lexicon as something that could appear in general conversation. The specific command "s/I think that/I saw a study once that said/g" means "Find all occurrences of the phrase 'I think that', and replace it with the phrase 'I saw a study once that said'." This will, indeed, improve the persuasiveness of an article, as the existence of scientific evidence will make people more likely to believe what's said, while most people won't even think to actually look up the study in question.

* Arson is the crime of intentionally setting fire to a structure. {{w|Billy Joel}} will no doubt claim {{w|We Didn't Start the Fire|he didn't start the fire}}.

* Coca-Cola is a fizzy cola-flavored soft drink, commonly abbreviated as "coke." {{w|Pop Rocks}} are a candy that contain tiny bubbles of gas, so that as the sugary candy dissolves on your tongue, it creates a popping sensation. For a long time, it was claimed that drinking the two together would cause one's stomach to explode; this was finally put to rest as some people (the Mythbusters in particular) started actually trying it, and discovered that nothing happened.
:Randall, of course, just thinks outside the box.

* After ''{{w|Brown v. Board of Education}}'' ruled that schools could not segregate based on race, nine African American students from Little Rock, Arkansas enrolled in the previously-segregated Little Rock Central High School. The school board could not officially deny them attendance, but members of the community (and, after Arkansas governor Orval Faubus intervened, the Arkansas National Guard) formed a blockade to physically prevent them from entering the school building. The governor claimed this was within his power even after ''Brown v. Board'', because the students were enrolled without issue, they were just physically blocked from entering the school building. After determining that the right to enroll in a school does, implicitly, include the right to actually attend classes there, president Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division to accompany the students and force the National Guard to stand down, thus integrating the school. This incident became known as the {{w|Little Rock Nine}}.
:However, {{w|Integral|integration}} also has a meaning in mathematics. This is indicated in the comic with the soldiers lifting up a giant integral sign to place beside the school, in order to (mathematically) integrate it. Normally, an integral only makes sense on functions; however, since this is the Little Rock ''Nine'', if we take the integral of the constant function ''f''(''x'') = 9, we do, in fact, get 9''x'' + ''C'', as stated in the title text.

* Cell phones with advanced computing capabilities (typically at least requiring fully-featured Internet browsing, multimedia capabilities, and the ability to run software applications) are called "smartphones." Most cell phones also have a "vibrate" function that allows someone in a public situation to receive calls without alerting others; the phone will discreetly vibrate rather than activate a ringtone, thus privately notifying the owner that a call is incoming. A semi-common problem with this feature is that a vibrating phone on a table that has a slight slope will slowly (or, if the slope is bad enough, rather quickly) slide down the slope, possibly falling off the table and breaking. If our smartphones ever decided to kill us, this would possibly be their only method of attack.
:*Randall later covered this in his [[what if?]] blog.[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what%20if%20xkcd&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&ved=0CEQQjBAwBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwhat-if.xkcd.com%2F5%2F&ei=LB7OUM7QM4Te8ATbpYDwDA&usg=AFQjCNHkhpseKApl5llNSc_8tNJXS0qMLQ&sig2=XWOFsPMZZu7PotfnG12DdA&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.eWU]

* The Three Little Pigs is a children's fairy tale about three pigs who build their houses out of, respectively, straw, sticks, and bricks. A wolf comes along and eats the pigs living in the straw and stick houses, but he can't knock down the brick house, because his only method for breaking them down is to blow on them until the material falls to pieces. The lesson is somewhat confused and seems to be "Don't build your house in such a way that a semi-strong wind can blow it down," which is sound advice but somewhat bizarre for a children's story.
:The 119 Little Pigs seems to be a variant where the pigs build their houses out of the 119 chemical elements. The 38th little pig builds his house out of {{w|strontium}}, which is, of course, the 38th element on the Periodic Table. One wonders what happened to the pigs who are stuck making their houses out of elements that are gaseous or liquid at room temperature, or those whose houses would react with the air and/or undergo nuclear decay.
:Although given the water content in exhaled breath, it's {{w|Alkali metal#Reaction with water (alkali metal hydroxides)|easy to see}} how the wolf would huff, puff, and blow down the houses made of {{w|lithium}}, {{w|sodium}}, {{w|potassium}}, {{w|rubidium}}, {{w|caesium}}, and {{w|francium}}.

* "Fastest gun in the West" is a boast commonly made in Western movies, where it is used to mean that a person is the fastest at drawing his gun in a duel (or, alternatively, can fire his gun the fastest). It doesn't actually describe the gun itself, and certainly doesn't describe how fast the gun can gallop across the land.

* "It's what separates the ''men'' from the ''boys''" is a phrase used to describe "macho" activities that, apparently, only "real men" will participate/do well in; all the other men haven't grown up yet, and are thus "boys." {{w|Centrifuge}}s are used to rapidly separate a material from the liquid it's dissolved in, so apparently they can also be used to separate men from boys.

* Narnia is the mythical land in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''. In the books, time passes differently in Narnia, such that one can spend many years in Narnia and come out to find that almost no time at all has passed on Earth (and, conversely, during a short trip back to Earth, hundreds of years could pass in Narnia). Lucy is taking advantage of this by putting a computer in Narnia to perform extremely fast computation. {{w|Folding@home}} and {{w|SETI@home}} are distributed computing projects that aim to solve extremely large computational problems by pooling together computer resources of thousands of home computers who volunteer for the project; Folding@home looks at how proteins are folded, which has applications in medical science, and SETI@home analyzes EM waves from space, looking for signs extraterrestrial intelligent life amongst the cosmic background noise. Running through all of that data in a few hours would be quite an accomplishment indeed, although, as Peter points out, the idea has many problems:
** The book was written in 1957 and it occurs even earlier than that, long predating personal computers, so Lucy shouldn't even have one.
** Even if it occurs in an alternate universe where the PC was invented before 1957, the storage that would be needed to store the entire Folding@home and SETI@home databases would be far beyond her means, since the characters in the book are foster kids who don't have any money.
** Even if she somehow pulled that much storage space together, the time needed for one computer to run through those databases is on the order of millenia. A computer would not continuously run for that long without careful treatment, which Narnia is not equipped for.
** Even if we handwave around that issue (''"Aslan, use your power to keep all dust away from this computer for the next ten thousand years, please"''), the wall socket powering the computer is on the Earth side. Mains power outlets in the UK provide alternating current with an amplitude of 230 volts and a frequency of 50 hertz. The 50hz part is what's important here: all devices designed to work with UK mains power expect a 50hz sine wave. The time difference between Earth and Narnia would substantially elongate the sine wave in a method similar to the Doppler effect, which would probably prevent the computer from functioning at all.

* ''{{w|The Honeymooners}}'' is a classic American sitcom. The show stars Ralph and Alice Kramden, and Ralph frequently makes empty threats of the form "One of these days, Alice...," followed by a combination of onomatopoeia. For example: "One of these days, Alice... BANG! ZOOM! Straight to the moon!" (Alice inevitably replies "Ahhh, shut up.")
:Here, Randall takes the pattern to a ridiculous and not-at-all threatening place.

==Transcript==
Because of a family illness, instead of regular comics, this week I'll be sharing some strips that I drew as part of a game I played with friends. Each comic had to be written and drawn in five minutes.

-- Randall

====Comic #1====
:Pearl Harbor. November 7th, 1941.
:[There is a beach, with some ships floating in a crescent shaped harbor.]

:[The same bay, again.]

:[The boats continue to move about the harbor.]

:[The boats do their thing. A title explains.]
:(We're going to be here a while, since the attack wasn't until December.)

====Comic #2====
:[Cueball is sitting on a bus, Megan in front of him.]
:I know it's natural and all, but I really wish women on the bus wouldn't try to breastfeed me.
:Woman: C'mon, have some milk. Right here.
:Me: I'm ''reading''.

====Comic #3====
:s/I think that/I saw a study once that said that/g
:Instant persuasiveness multiplier!

====Comic #4====
:[A newspaper front page. Billy Joel is between two policemen.]
:Times
:Billy Joel Arrested for Arson

====Comic #5====
:[One person has a cord leaving their mouth, the other is holding a handset on the end of it to their ear.]
:Handset: Hee hee hee... *giggle*
:I hear that if you drink coke and eat pop rocks, you vomit up a corded telephone handset on which you hear creepy little girls giggling.

====Comic #6====
:[Three soldiers are holding a large integral sign, while a fourth points a gun at the Little Rock High School.]
:1957: Eisenhower orders the military to integrate Little Rock High School.

====Comic #7====
:[A smartphone is vibrating across a table, towards a person.]
:The smartphones got ''too'' smart... and developed a taste... for BLOOD!
:Fortunately, the only way they could move was by turning on their vibrate while on a sloped table.

====Comic #8====
:[Cueball is reading to his child.]
:Cueball: And the wolf went to see the 38th little pig, who had built his house out of strontium.
:Cueball: And the wolf was all, "Ok, what is ''with'' this shit?"
:The 119 Little Pigs

====Comic #9====
:[Cueball is holding up a gun.]
:Cueball: Fastest gun in the west!

:[The gun is galloping across the desert.]
:''gallop gallop''

:[There is a podium, with a gun in each position.]
:Winner!

====Comic #10====
:[A picture of a centrifuge dominates the panel.]
:Centrifuges: They're what separate the men from the boys.

====Comic #11====
:[A computer monitor is plugged in, and cables run into a wardrobe.]
:Lucy: Time passes differently in Narnia, so by putting the CPU and storage for my machine there, I was able to run through the Folding@Home and Seti@Home databases in about an hour.
:Peter: There are _so_ many problems with that.

====Comic #12====
:[Someone is talking to Alice.]
:Person: One of these days, Alice... Wham, zoom, sploosh, fwoom, splash, gurlle, wheeeee, fwoosh, aren't waterslides fun?!

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Five-minute comics]]

821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3

2012-12-16T19:22:38Z

Castriff:

{{comic
| number = 821
| date = November 19, 2010
| title = Five-Minute Comics: Part 3
| image = five_minute_comics_part_3.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Resulting in The Little Rock 9x + C.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third and final "five-minute comics" post Randall made during November 2010. The introduction to the comic explains everything you need to know about the circumstances behind it, so let's get started!

* {{w|Pearl Harbor}} is a US Navy base that was {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked}} in 1941 by Japanese airplanes, which prompted the US to join World War II. Of the attacks, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is claimed to have said "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" (although this claim is disputed, as the quote first appeared in the 1970 film ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' and isn't substantiated by any sources that would have heard him say it).
:The attacks were made on ''December'' 7, 1941, not November 7. Thus, Randall is correct in depicting a Navy base going about its usual business.

* {{w|Breastfeeding in public}} is a touchy subject in parts of the world. In the US, it is considered by some to be inconsiderate to others who would prefer not to see such a display. Of course, women breastfeeding in public are generally feeding their infants, not other adults. The situation presented in the comic is an absurd exaggeration of the debate.

* "s" is the command in {{w|sed}} to perform a pattern search-and-replace; the syntax has also been adopted by other text-processing utilities, including {{w|Perl}} (a favorite subject of xkcd), and has entered into the geek lexicon as something that could appear in general conversation. The specific command "s/I think that/I saw a study once that said/g" means "Find all occurrences of the phrase 'I think that', and replace it with the phrase 'I saw a study once that said'." This will, indeed, improve the persuasiveness of an article, as the existence of scientific evidence will make people more likely to believe what's said, while most people won't even think to actually look up the study in question.

* Arson is the crime of intentionally setting fire to a structure. {{w|Billy Joel}} will no doubt claim {{w|We Didn't Start the Fire|he didn't start the fire}}.

* Coca-Cola is a fizzy cola-flavored soft drink, commonly abbreviated as "coke." {{w|Pop Rocks}} are a candy that contain tiny bubbles of gas, so that as the sugary candy dissolves on your tongue, it creates a popping sensation. For a long time, it was claimed that drinking the two together would cause one's stomach to explode; this was finally put to rest as some people (the Mythbusters in particular) started actually trying it, and discovered that nothing happened.
:Randall, of course, just thinks outside the box.

* After ''{{w|Brown v. Board of Education}}'' ruled that schools could not segregate based on race, nine African American students from Little Rock, Arkansas enrolled in the previously-segregated Little Rock Central High School. The school board could not officially deny them attendance, but members of the community (and, after Arkansas governor Orval Faubus intervened, the Arkansas National Guard) formed a blockade to physically prevent them from entering the school building. The governor claimed this was within his power even after ''Brown v. Board'', because the students were enrolled without issue, they were just physically blocked from entering the school building. After determining that the right to enroll in a school does, implicitly, include the right to actually attend classes there, president Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division to accompany the students and force the National Guard to stand down, thus integrating the school. This incident became known as the {{w|Little Rock Nine}}.
:However, {{w|Integral|integration}} also has a meaning in mathematics. This is indicated in the comic with the soldiers lifting up a giant integral sign to place beside the school, in order to (mathematically) integrate it. Normally, an integral only makes sense on functions; however, since this is the Little Rock ''Nine'', if we take the integral of the constant function ''f''(''x'') = 9, we do, in fact, get 9''x'' + ''C'', as stated in the title text.

* Cell phones with advanced computing capabilities (typically at least requiring fully-featured Internet browsing, multimedia capabilities, and the ability to run software applications) are called "smartphones." Most cell phones also have a "vibrate" function that allows someone in a public situation to receive calls without alerting others; the phone will discreetly vibrate rather than activate a ringtone, thus privately notifying the owner that a call is incoming. A semi-common problem with this feature is that a vibrating phone on a table that has a slight slope will slowly (or, if the slope is bad enough, rather quickly) slide down the slope, possibly falling off the table and breaking. If our smartphones ever decided to kill us, this would possibly be their only method of attack.
*Randall later covered this in his [[what if?]] blog.[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what%20if%20xkcd&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&ved=0CEQQjBAwBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwhat-if.xkcd.com%2F5%2F&ei=LB7OUM7QM4Te8ATbpYDwDA&usg=AFQjCNHkhpseKApl5llNSc_8tNJXS0qMLQ&sig2=XWOFsPMZZu7PotfnG12DdA&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.eWU]

* The Three Little Pigs is a children's fairy tale about three pigs who build their houses out of, respectively, straw, sticks, and bricks. A wolf comes along and eats the pigs living in the straw and stick houses, but he can't knock down the brick house, because his only method for breaking them down is to blow on them until the material falls to pieces. The lesson is somewhat confused and seems to be "Don't build your house in such a way that a semi-strong wind can blow it down," which is sound advice but somewhat bizarre for a children's story.
:The 119 Little Pigs seems to be a variant where the pigs build their houses out of the 119 chemical elements. The 38th little pig builds his house out of {{w|strontium}}, which is, of course, the 38th element on the Periodic Table. One wonders what happened to the pigs who are stuck making their houses out of elements that are gaseous or liquid at room temperature, or those whose houses would react with the air and/or undergo nuclear decay.
:Although given the water content in exhaled breath, it's {{w|Alkali metal#Reaction with water (alkali metal hydroxides)|easy to see}} how the wolf would huff, puff, and blow down the houses made of {{w|lithium}}, {{w|sodium}}, {{w|potassium}}, {{w|rubidium}}, {{w|caesium}}, and {{w|francium}}.

* "Fastest gun in the West" is a boast commonly made in Western movies, where it is used to mean that a person is the fastest at drawing his gun in a duel (or, alternatively, can fire his gun the fastest). It doesn't actually describe the gun itself, and certainly doesn't describe how fast the gun can gallop across the land.

* "It's what separates the ''men'' from the ''boys''" is a phrase used to describe "macho" activities that, apparently, only "real men" will participate/do well in; all the other men haven't grown up yet, and are thus "boys." {{w|Centrifuge}}s are used to rapidly separate a material from the liquid it's dissolved in, so apparently they can also be used to separate men from boys.

* Narnia is the mythical land in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''. In the books, time passes differently in Narnia, such that one can spend many years in Narnia and come out to find that almost no time at all has passed on Earth (and, conversely, during a short trip back to Earth, hundreds of years could pass in Narnia). Lucy is taking advantage of this by putting a computer in Narnia to perform extremely fast computation. {{w|Folding@home}} and {{w|SETI@home}} are distributed computing projects that aim to solve extremely large computational problems by pooling together computer resources of thousands of home computers who volunteer for the project; Folding@home looks at how proteins are folded, which has applications in medical science, and SETI@home analyzes EM waves from space, looking for signs extraterrestrial intelligent life amongst the cosmic background noise. Running through all of that data in a few hours would be quite an accomplishment indeed, although, as Peter points out, the idea has many problems:
** The book was written in 1957 and it occurs even earlier than that, long predating personal computers, so Lucy shouldn't even have one.
** Even if it occurs in an alternate universe where the PC was invented before 1957, the storage that would be needed to store the entire Folding@home and SETI@home databases would be far beyond her means, since the characters in the book are foster kids who don't have any money.
** Even if she somehow pulled that much storage space together, the time needed for one computer to run through those databases is on the order of millenia. A computer would not continuously run for that long without careful treatment, which Narnia is not equipped for.
** Even if we handwave around that issue (''"Aslan, use your power to keep all dust away from this computer for the next ten thousand years, please"''), the wall socket powering the computer is on the Earth side. Mains power outlets in the UK provide alternating current with an amplitude of 230 volts and a frequency of 50 hertz. The 50hz part is what's important here: all devices designed to work with UK mains power expect a 50hz sine wave. The time difference between Earth and Narnia would substantially elongate the sine wave in a method similar to the Doppler effect, which would probably prevent the computer from functioning at all.

* ''{{w|The Honeymooners}}'' is a classic American sitcom. The show stars Ralph and Alice Kramden, and Ralph frequently makes empty threats of the form "One of these days, Alice...," followed by a combination of onomatopoeia. For example: "One of these days, Alice... BANG! ZOOM! Straight to the moon!" (Alice inevitably replies "Ahhh, shut up.")
:Here, Randall takes the pattern to a ridiculous and not-at-all threatening place.

==Transcript==
Because of a family illness, instead of regular comics, this week I'll be sharing some strips that I drew as part of a game I played with friends. Each comic had to be written and drawn in five minutes.

-- Randall

====Comic #1====
:Pearl Harbor. November 7th, 1941.
:[There is a beach, with some ships floating in a crescent shaped harbor.]

:[The same bay, again.]

:[The boats continue to move about the harbor.]

:[The boats do their thing. A title explains.]
:(We're going to be here a while, since the attack wasn't until December.)

====Comic #2====
:[Cueball is sitting on a bus, Megan in front of him.]
:I know it's natural and all, but I really wish women on the bus wouldn't try to breastfeed me.
:Woman: C'mon, have some milk. Right here.
:Me: I'm ''reading''.

====Comic #3====
:s/I think that/I saw a study once that said that/g
:Instant persuasiveness multiplier!

====Comic #4====
:[A newspaper front page. Billy Joel is between two policemen.]
:Times
:Billy Joel Arrested for Arson

====Comic #5====
:[One person has a cord leaving their mouth, the other is holding a handset on the end of it to their ear.]
:Handset: Hee hee hee... *giggle*
:I hear that if you drink coke and eat pop rocks, you vomit up a corded telephone handset on which you hear creepy little girls giggling.

====Comic #6====
:[Three soldiers are holding a large integral sign, while a fourth points a gun at the Little Rock High School.]
:1957: Eisenhower orders the military to integrate Little Rock High School.

====Comic #7====
:[A smartphone is vibrating across a table, towards a person.]
:The smartphones got ''too'' smart... and developed a taste... for BLOOD!
:Fortunately, the only way they could move was by turning on their vibrate while on a sloped table.

====Comic #8====
:[Cueball is reading to his child.]
:Cueball: And the wolf went to see the 38th little pig, who had built his house out of strontium.
:Cueball: And the wolf was all, "Ok, what is ''with'' this shit?"
:The 119 Little Pigs

====Comic #9====
:[Cueball is holding up a gun.]
:Cueball: Fastest gun in the west!

:[The gun is galloping across the desert.]
:''gallop gallop''

:[There is a podium, with a gun in each position.]
:Winner!

====Comic #10====
:[A picture of a centrifuge dominates the panel.]
:Centrifuges: They're what separate the men from the boys.

====Comic #11====
:[A computer monitor is plugged in, and cables run into a wardrobe.]
:Lucy: Time passes differently in Narnia, so by putting the CPU and storage for my machine there, I was able to run through the Folding@Home and Seti@Home databases in about an hour.
:Peter: There are _so_ many problems with that.

====Comic #12====
:[Someone is talking to Alice.]
:Person: One of these days, Alice... Wham, zoom, sploosh, fwoom, splash, gurlle, wheeeee, fwoosh, aren't waterslides fun?!

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Five-minute comics]]

821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3

2012-12-16T19:21:07Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 821
| date = November 19, 2010
| title = Five-Minute Comics: Part 3
| image = five_minute_comics_part_3.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Resulting in The Little Rock 9x + C.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third and final "five-minute comics" post Randall made during November 2010. The introduction to the comic explains everything you need to know about the circumstances behind it, so let's get started!

* {{w|Pearl Harbor}} is a US Navy base that was {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked}} in 1941 by Japanese airplanes, which prompted the US to join World War II. Of the attacks, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is claimed to have said "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" (although this claim is disputed, as the quote first appeared in the 1970 film ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' and isn't substantiated by any sources that would have heard him say it).
:The attacks were made on ''December'' 7, 1941, not November 7. Thus, Randall is correct in depicting a Navy base going about its usual business.

* {{w|Breastfeeding in public}} is a touchy subject in parts of the world. In the US, it is considered by some to be inconsiderate to others who would prefer not to see such a display. Of course, women breastfeeding in public are generally feeding their infants, not other adults. The situation presented in the comic is an absurd exaggeration of the debate.

* "s" is the command in {{w|sed}} to perform a pattern search-and-replace; the syntax has also been adopted by other text-processing utilities, including {{w|Perl}} (a favorite subject of xkcd), and has entered into the geek lexicon as something that could appear in general conversation. The specific command "s/I think that/I saw a study once that said/g" means "Find all occurrences of the phrase 'I think that', and replace it with the phrase 'I saw a study once that said'." This will, indeed, improve the persuasiveness of an article, as the existence of scientific evidence will make people more likely to believe what's said, while most people won't even think to actually look up the study in question.

* Arson is the crime of intentionally setting fire to a structure. {{w|Billy Joel}} will no doubt claim {{w|We Didn't Start the Fire|he didn't start the fire}}.

* Coca-Cola is a fizzy cola-flavored soft drink, commonly abbreviated as "coke." {{w|Pop Rocks}} are a candy that contain tiny bubbles of gas, so that as the sugary candy dissolves on your tongue, it creates a popping sensation. For a long time, it was claimed that drinking the two together would cause one's stomach to explode; this was finally put to rest as some people (the Mythbusters in particular) started actually trying it, and discovered that nothing happened.
:Randall, of course, just thinks outside the box.

* After ''{{w|Brown v. Board of Education}}'' ruled that schools could not segregate based on race, nine African American students from Little Rock, Arkansas enrolled in the previously-segregated Little Rock Central High School. The school board could not officially deny them attendance, but members of the community (and, after Arkansas governor Orval Faubus intervened, the Arkansas National Guard) formed a blockade to physically prevent them from entering the school building. The governor claimed this was within his power even after ''Brown v. Board'', because the students were enrolled without issue, they were just physically blocked from entering the school building. After determining that the right to enroll in a school does, implicitly, include the right to actually attend classes there, president Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division to accompany the students and force the National Guard to stand down, thus integrating the school. This incident became known as the {{w|Little Rock Nine}}.
:However, {{w|Integral|integration}} also has a meaning in mathematics. This is indicated in the comic with the soldiers lifting up a giant integral sign to place beside the school, in order to (mathematically) integrate it. Normally, an integral only makes sense on functions; however, since this is the Little Rock ''Nine'', if we take the integral of the constant function ''f''(''x'') = 9, we do, in fact, get 9''x'' + ''C'', as stated in the title text.

* Cell phones with advanced computing capabilities (typically at least requiring fully-featured Internet browsing, multimedia capabilities, and the ability to run software applications) are called "smartphones." Most cell phones also have a "vibrate" function that allows someone in a public situation to receive calls without alerting others; the phone will discreetly vibrate rather than activate a ringtone, thus privately notifying the owner that a call is incoming. A semi-common problem with this feature is that a vibrating phone on a table that has a slight slope will slowly (or, if the slope is bad enough, rather quickly) slide down the slope, possibly falling off the table and breaking. If our smartphones ever decided to kill us, this would possibly be their only method of attack.
*Randall later covered this in his [[What If?]] blog.[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what%20if%20xkcd&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&ved=0CEQQjBAwBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwhat-if.xkcd.com%2F5%2F&ei=LB7OUM7QM4Te8ATbpYDwDA&usg=AFQjCNHkhpseKApl5llNSc_8tNJXS0qMLQ&sig2=XWOFsPMZZu7PotfnG12DdA&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.eWU]

* The Three Little Pigs is a children's fairy tale about three pigs who build their houses out of, respectively, straw, sticks, and bricks. A wolf comes along and eats the pigs living in the straw and stick houses, but he can't knock down the brick house, because his only method for breaking them down is to blow on them until the material falls to pieces. The lesson is somewhat confused and seems to be "Don't build your house in such a way that a semi-strong wind can blow it down," which is sound advice but somewhat bizarre for a children's story.
:The 119 Little Pigs seems to be a variant where the pigs build their houses out of the 119 chemical elements. The 38th little pig builds his house out of {{w|strontium}}, which is, of course, the 38th element on the Periodic Table. One wonders what happened to the pigs who are stuck making their houses out of elements that are gaseous or liquid at room temperature, or those whose houses would react with the air and/or undergo nuclear decay.
:Although given the water content in exhaled breath, it's {{w|Alkali metal#Reaction with water (alkali metal hydroxides)|easy to see}} how the wolf would huff, puff, and blow down the houses made of {{w|lithium}}, {{w|sodium}}, {{w|potassium}}, {{w|rubidium}}, {{w|caesium}}, and {{w|francium}}.

* "Fastest gun in the West" is a boast commonly made in Western movies, where it is used to mean that a person is the fastest at drawing his gun in a duel (or, alternatively, can fire his gun the fastest). It doesn't actually describe the gun itself, and certainly doesn't describe how fast the gun can gallop across the land.

* "It's what separates the ''men'' from the ''boys''" is a phrase used to describe "macho" activities that, apparently, only "real men" will participate/do well in; all the other men haven't grown up yet, and are thus "boys." {{w|Centrifuge}}s are used to rapidly separate a material from the liquid it's dissolved in, so apparently they can also be used to separate men from boys.

* Narnia is the mythical land in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''. In the books, time passes differently in Narnia, such that one can spend many years in Narnia and come out to find that almost no time at all has passed on Earth (and, conversely, during a short trip back to Earth, hundreds of years could pass in Narnia). Lucy is taking advantage of this by putting a computer in Narnia to perform extremely fast computation. {{w|Folding@home}} and {{w|SETI@home}} are distributed computing projects that aim to solve extremely large computational problems by pooling together computer resources of thousands of home computers who volunteer for the project; Folding@home looks at how proteins are folded, which has applications in medical science, and SETI@home analyzes EM waves from space, looking for signs extraterrestrial intelligent life amongst the cosmic background noise. Running through all of that data in a few hours would be quite an accomplishment indeed, although, as Peter points out, the idea has many problems:
** The book was written in 1957 and it occurs even earlier than that, long predating personal computers, so Lucy shouldn't even have one.
** Even if it occurs in an alternate universe where the PC was invented before 1957, the storage that would be needed to store the entire Folding@home and SETI@home databases would be far beyond her means, since the characters in the book are foster kids who don't have any money.
** Even if she somehow pulled that much storage space together, the time needed for one computer to run through those databases is on the order of millenia. A computer would not continuously run for that long without careful treatment, which Narnia is not equipped for.
** Even if we handwave around that issue (''"Aslan, use your power to keep all dust away from this computer for the next ten thousand years, please"''), the wall socket powering the computer is on the Earth side. Mains power outlets in the UK provide alternating current with an amplitude of 230 volts and a frequency of 50 hertz. The 50hz part is what's important here: all devices designed to work with UK mains power expect a 50hz sine wave. The time difference between Earth and Narnia would substantially elongate the sine wave in a method similar to the Doppler effect, which would probably prevent the computer from functioning at all.

* ''{{w|The Honeymooners}}'' is a classic American sitcom. The show stars Ralph and Alice Kramden, and Ralph frequently makes empty threats of the form "One of these days, Alice...," followed by a combination of onomatopoeia. For example: "One of these days, Alice... BANG! ZOOM! Straight to the moon!" (Alice inevitably replies "Ahhh, shut up.")
:Here, Randall takes the pattern to a ridiculous and not-at-all threatening place.

==Transcript==
Because of a family illness, instead of regular comics, this week I'll be sharing some strips that I drew as part of a game I played with friends. Each comic had to be written and drawn in five minutes.

-- Randall

====Comic #1====
:Pearl Harbor. November 7th, 1941.
:[There is a beach, with some ships floating in a crescent shaped harbor.]

:[The same bay, again.]

:[The boats continue to move about the harbor.]

:[The boats do their thing. A title explains.]
:(We're going to be here a while, since the attack wasn't until December.)

====Comic #2====
:[Cueball is sitting on a bus, Megan in front of him.]
:I know it's natural and all, but I really wish women on the bus wouldn't try to breastfeed me.
:Woman: C'mon, have some milk. Right here.
:Me: I'm ''reading''.

====Comic #3====
:s/I think that/I saw a study once that said that/g
:Instant persuasiveness multiplier!

====Comic #4====
:[A newspaper front page. Billy Joel is between two policemen.]
:Times
:Billy Joel Arrested for Arson

====Comic #5====
:[One person has a cord leaving their mouth, the other is holding a handset on the end of it to their ear.]
:Handset: Hee hee hee... *giggle*
:I hear that if you drink coke and eat pop rocks, you vomit up a corded telephone handset on which you hear creepy little girls giggling.

====Comic #6====
:[Three soldiers are holding a large integral sign, while a fourth points a gun at the Little Rock High School.]
:1957: Eisenhower orders the military to integrate Little Rock High School.

====Comic #7====
:[A smartphone is vibrating across a table, towards a person.]
:The smartphones got ''too'' smart... and developed a taste... for BLOOD!
:Fortunately, the only way they could move was by turning on their vibrate while on a sloped table.

====Comic #8====
:[Cueball is reading to his child.]
:Cueball: And the wolf went to see the 38th little pig, who had built his house out of strontium.
:Cueball: And the wolf was all, "Ok, what is ''with'' this shit?"
:The 119 Little Pigs

====Comic #9====
:[Cueball is holding up a gun.]
:Cueball: Fastest gun in the west!

:[The gun is galloping across the desert.]
:''gallop gallop''

:[There is a podium, with a gun in each position.]
:Winner!

====Comic #10====
:[A picture of a centrifuge dominates the panel.]
:Centrifuges: They're what separate the men from the boys.

====Comic #11====
:[A computer monitor is plugged in, and cables run into a wardrobe.]
:Lucy: Time passes differently in Narnia, so by putting the CPU and storage for my machine there, I was able to run through the Folding@Home and Seti@Home databases in about an hour.
:Peter: There are _so_ many problems with that.

====Comic #12====
:[Someone is talking to Alice.]
:Person: One of these days, Alice... Wham, zoom, sploosh, fwoom, splash, gurlle, wheeeee, fwoosh, aren't waterslides fun?!

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Five-minute comics]]

821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3

2012-12-16T19:19:49Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 821
| date = November 19, 2010
| title = Five-Minute Comics: Part 3
| image = five_minute_comics_part_3.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Resulting in The Little Rock 9x + C.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third and final "five-minute comics" post Randall made during November 2010. The introduction to the comic explains everything you need to know about the circumstances behind it, so let's get started!

* {{w|Pearl Harbor}} is a US Navy base that was {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked}} in 1941 by Japanese airplanes, which prompted the US to join World War II. Of the attacks, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is claimed to have said "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" (although this claim is disputed, as the quote first appeared in the 1970 film ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' and isn't substantiated by any sources that would have heard him say it).
:The attacks were made on ''December'' 7, 1941, not November 7. Thus, Randall is correct in depicting a Navy base going about its usual business.

* {{w|Breastfeeding in public}} is a touchy subject in parts of the world. In the US, it is considered by some to be inconsiderate to others who would prefer not to see such a display. Of course, women breastfeeding in public are generally feeding their infants, not other adults. The situation presented in the comic is an absurd exaggeration of the debate.

* "s" is the command in {{w|sed}} to perform a pattern search-and-replace; the syntax has also been adopted by other text-processing utilities, including {{w|Perl}} (a favorite subject of xkcd), and has entered into the geek lexicon as something that could appear in general conversation. The specific command "s/I think that/I saw a study once that said/g" means "Find all occurrences of the phrase 'I think that', and replace it with the phrase 'I saw a study once that said'." This will, indeed, improve the persuasiveness of an article, as the existence of scientific evidence will make people more likely to believe what's said, while most people won't even think to actually look up the study in question.

* Arson is the crime of intentionally setting fire to a structure. {{w|Billy Joel}} will no doubt claim {{w|We Didn't Start the Fire|he didn't start the fire}}.

* Coca-Cola is a fizzy cola-flavored soft drink, commonly abbreviated as "coke." {{w|Pop Rocks}} are a candy that contain tiny bubbles of gas, so that as the sugary candy dissolves on your tongue, it creates a popping sensation. For a long time, it was claimed that drinking the two together would cause one's stomach to explode; this was finally put to rest as some people (the Mythbusters in particular) started actually trying it, and discovered that nothing happened.
:Randall, of course, just thinks outside the box.

* After ''{{w|Brown v. Board of Education}}'' ruled that schools could not segregate based on race, nine African American students from Little Rock, Arkansas enrolled in the previously-segregated Little Rock Central High School. The school board could not officially deny them attendance, but members of the community (and, after Arkansas governor Orval Faubus intervened, the Arkansas National Guard) formed a blockade to physically prevent them from entering the school building. The governor claimed this was within his power even after ''Brown v. Board'', because the students were enrolled without issue, they were just physically blocked from entering the school building. After determining that the right to enroll in a school does, implicitly, include the right to actually attend classes there, president Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division to accompany the students and force the National Guard to stand down, thus integrating the school. This incident became known as the {{w|Little Rock Nine}}.
:However, {{w|Integral|integration}} also has a meaning in mathematics. This is indicated in the comic with the soldiers lifting up a giant integral sign to place beside the school, in order to (mathematically) integrate it. Normally, an integral only makes sense on functions; however, since this is the Little Rock ''Nine'', if we take the integral of the constant function ''f''(''x'') = 9, we do, in fact, get 9''x'' + ''C'', as stated in the title text.

* Cell phones with advanced computing capabilities (typically at least requiring fully-featured Internet browsing, multimedia capabilities, and the ability to run software applications) are called "smartphones." Most cell phones also have a "vibrate" function that allows someone in a public situation to receive calls without alerting others; the phone will discreetly vibrate rather than activate a ringtone, thus privately notifying the owner that a call is incoming. A semi-common problem with this feature is that a vibrating phone on a table that has a slight slope will slowly (or, if the slope is bad enough, rather quickly) slide down the slope, possibly falling off the table and breaking. If our smartphones ever decided to kill us, this would possibly be their only method of attack.
*Randall later covered this in his [[What-if]] blog.[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what%20if%20xkcd&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&ved=0CEQQjBAwBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwhat-if.xkcd.com%2F5%2F&ei=LB7OUM7QM4Te8ATbpYDwDA&usg=AFQjCNHkhpseKApl5llNSc_8tNJXS0qMLQ&sig2=XWOFsPMZZu7PotfnG12DdA&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.eWU]

* The Three Little Pigs is a children's fairy tale about three pigs who build their houses out of, respectively, straw, sticks, and bricks. A wolf comes along and eats the pigs living in the straw and stick houses, but he can't knock down the brick house, because his only method for breaking them down is to blow on them until the material falls to pieces. The lesson is somewhat confused and seems to be "Don't build your house in such a way that a semi-strong wind can blow it down," which is sound advice but somewhat bizarre for a children's story.
:The 119 Little Pigs seems to be a variant where the pigs build their houses out of the 119 chemical elements. The 38th little pig builds his house out of {{w|strontium}}, which is, of course, the 38th element on the Periodic Table. One wonders what happened to the pigs who are stuck making their houses out of elements that are gaseous or liquid at room temperature, or those whose houses would react with the air and/or undergo nuclear decay.
:Although given the water content in exhaled breath, it's {{w|Alkali metal#Reaction with water (alkali metal hydroxides)|easy to see}} how the wolf would huff, puff, and blow down the houses made of {{w|lithium}}, {{w|sodium}}, {{w|potassium}}, {{w|rubidium}}, {{w|caesium}}, and {{w|francium}}.

* "Fastest gun in the West" is a boast commonly made in Western movies, where it is used to mean that a person is the fastest at drawing his gun in a duel (or, alternatively, can fire his gun the fastest). It doesn't actually describe the gun itself, and certainly doesn't describe how fast the gun can gallop across the land.

* "It's what separates the ''men'' from the ''boys''" is a phrase used to describe "macho" activities that, apparently, only "real men" will participate/do well in; all the other men haven't grown up yet, and are thus "boys." {{w|Centrifuge}}s are used to rapidly separate a material from the liquid it's dissolved in, so apparently they can also be used to separate men from boys.

* Narnia is the mythical land in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''. In the books, time passes differently in Narnia, such that one can spend many years in Narnia and come out to find that almost no time at all has passed on Earth (and, conversely, during a short trip back to Earth, hundreds of years could pass in Narnia). Lucy is taking advantage of this by putting a computer in Narnia to perform extremely fast computation. {{w|Folding@home}} and {{w|SETI@home}} are distributed computing projects that aim to solve extremely large computational problems by pooling together computer resources of thousands of home computers who volunteer for the project; Folding@home looks at how proteins are folded, which has applications in medical science, and SETI@home analyzes EM waves from space, looking for signs extraterrestrial intelligent life amongst the cosmic background noise. Running through all of that data in a few hours would be quite an accomplishment indeed, although, as Peter points out, the idea has many problems:
** The book was written in 1957 and it occurs even earlier than that, long predating personal computers, so Lucy shouldn't even have one.
** Even if it occurs in an alternate universe where the PC was invented before 1957, the storage that would be needed to store the entire Folding@home and SETI@home databases would be far beyond her means, since the characters in the book are foster kids who don't have any money.
** Even if she somehow pulled that much storage space together, the time needed for one computer to run through those databases is on the order of millenia. A computer would not continuously run for that long without careful treatment, which Narnia is not equipped for.
** Even if we handwave around that issue (''"Aslan, use your power to keep all dust away from this computer for the next ten thousand years, please"''), the wall socket powering the computer is on the Earth side. Mains power outlets in the UK provide alternating current with an amplitude of 230 volts and a frequency of 50 hertz. The 50hz part is what's important here: all devices designed to work with UK mains power expect a 50hz sine wave. The time difference between Earth and Narnia would substantially elongate the sine wave in a method similar to the Doppler effect, which would probably prevent the computer from functioning at all.

* ''{{w|The Honeymooners}}'' is a classic American sitcom. The show stars Ralph and Alice Kramden, and Ralph frequently makes empty threats of the form "One of these days, Alice...," followed by a combination of onomatopoeia. For example: "One of these days, Alice... BANG! ZOOM! Straight to the moon!" (Alice inevitably replies "Ahhh, shut up.")
:Here, Randall takes the pattern to a ridiculous and not-at-all threatening place.

==Transcript==
Because of a family illness, instead of regular comics, this week I'll be sharing some strips that I drew as part of a game I played with friends. Each comic had to be written and drawn in five minutes.

-- Randall

====Comic #1====
:Pearl Harbor. November 7th, 1941.
:[There is a beach, with some ships floating in a crescent shaped harbor.]

:[The same bay, again.]

:[The boats continue to move about the harbor.]

:[The boats do their thing. A title explains.]
:(We're going to be here a while, since the attack wasn't until December.)

====Comic #2====
:[Cueball is sitting on a bus, Megan in front of him.]
:I know it's natural and all, but I really wish women on the bus wouldn't try to breastfeed me.
:Woman: C'mon, have some milk. Right here.
:Me: I'm ''reading''.

====Comic #3====
:s/I think that/I saw a study once that said that/g
:Instant persuasiveness multiplier!

====Comic #4====
:[A newspaper front page. Billy Joel is between two policemen.]
:Times
:Billy Joel Arrested for Arson

====Comic #5====
:[One person has a cord leaving their mouth, the other is holding a handset on the end of it to their ear.]
:Handset: Hee hee hee... *giggle*
:I hear that if you drink coke and eat pop rocks, you vomit up a corded telephone handset on which you hear creepy little girls giggling.

====Comic #6====
:[Three soldiers are holding a large integral sign, while a fourth points a gun at the Little Rock High School.]
:1957: Eisenhower orders the military to integrate Little Rock High School.

====Comic #7====
:[A smartphone is vibrating across a table, towards a person.]
:The smartphones got ''too'' smart... and developed a taste... for BLOOD!
:Fortunately, the only way they could move was by turning on their vibrate while on a sloped table.

====Comic #8====
:[Cueball is reading to his child.]
:Cueball: And the wolf went to see the 38th little pig, who had built his house out of strontium.
:Cueball: And the wolf was all, "Ok, what is ''with'' this shit?"
:The 119 Little Pigs

====Comic #9====
:[Cueball is holding up a gun.]
:Cueball: Fastest gun in the west!

:[The gun is galloping across the desert.]
:''gallop gallop''

:[There is a podium, with a gun in each position.]
:Winner!

====Comic #10====
:[A picture of a centrifuge dominates the panel.]
:Centrifuges: They're what separate the men from the boys.

====Comic #11====
:[A computer monitor is plugged in, and cables run into a wardrobe.]
:Lucy: Time passes differently in Narnia, so by putting the CPU and storage for my machine there, I was able to run through the Folding@Home and Seti@Home databases in about an hour.
:Peter: There are _so_ many problems with that.

====Comic #12====
:[Someone is talking to Alice.]
:Person: One of these days, Alice... Wham, zoom, sploosh, fwoom, splash, gurlle, wheeeee, fwoosh, aren't waterslides fun?!

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Five-minute comics]]

770: All the Girls

2012-12-16T17:44:13Z

Castriff:

{{Incomplete}}
{{comic
| number = 770
| date = July 23, 2010
| title = All the Girls
| image = all_the_girls.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = You know that I'll never leave you. Not as long as she's with someone.
}}

==Explanation==
A young couple ([[Cueball]] and [[Megan]]) is in love. In the first panel, Cueball says he's lucky to have Megan, a perfectly fine thing to say to someone when you're in love. In the second panel, Cueball tells Megan he loves her most out of all the girls in the world, which is again a perfectly fine thing to say when you're in love. Trouble sets in, however, in the third panel, where Cueball offers his qualifying statement, that he loves Megan the most of the subset of girls who also love Cueball back.

Now, on it's surface it would appear that Cueball is making a hollow statement, in that the subset of girls who love him back must be smaller than the set of all the girls in the world, and we assume, because we are nerds, that that subset is probably only a few girls in size. To be optimistic, though, presume that Cueball, due to his smooth head and sentimental heart, is loved by nearly all the girls in the world, and so his sentiment is still very sweet.

The title text, however, crushes any optimism one might have in the situation. Written in Cueball's voice, we have another compliment/qualifier pair. Cueball assures Megan that he'll never leave her—so long as she's with someone. Cueball clearly has an unrequited love for another, and so really is being as shitty as we all thought he was originally. The world can be a cruel place.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing together.]
:Cueball: I'm so lucky to have you.

:Cueball: I love you most out of all the girls in all the world

:[They embrace.]
:Cueball: who love me back.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]

935: Missed Connections

2012-12-14T19:53:01Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 935
| date = August 8, 2011
| title = Missed Connections
| image = missed_connections.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = The Street View van isn't going to find out anything Google won't already know from reading my email.
}}

==Explanation==
Missed Connections is a page on Craigslist in which people who saw each other briefly and want to reconnect attempt to find each other again. If I was to hazard a guess, I would imagine it works .0001% of the time. In the case of missed connections, one person describes themselves "Me" and describes the other person "You" in order that the second person would recognize themself and try to reconnect.

The first one is a goofy joke as far as I can tell, although there have been many {{w|Wienermobile #Mishaps and other incedents| Wienermobile incidents}} in the past.

Oddly enough, the second entry could possibly be a reference to [http://fairlyoddparents.wikia.com/wiki/Wishing_Well this] episode of {{w|The Fairly OddParents}}.

The third one is a reference to networking. UDP stands for User Datagram Protcol. UDP packets don't use handshaking to verify they have contacted the correct host, so they can get lost or confused. The Cisco router location is just a reference to a block of IP addresses. Cisco is a company that makes networking equipment. This is a play on a missed connection for someone who was lost and asked for directions.

The fourth one seems to be a joke as well. For those outside of the US (or those inside as well), Nancy Pelosi is a member of the US House of Representatives. The (D-CA) is a common notation for politicians which notates party (D for Democrat) and state (CA for California).

The fifth seems to be a reference to Randall's upcoming nuptials?

The sixth is a reference to how the Google Street view van was not only recording photos of the street in 360 degrees, it was also collecting data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. The comic takes this to the next level, that the Google Street View van also scans what we have in our pockets and does a retinal scan. In this case, the social security number referenced is [http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html the most used SSN of all time.]

The last suggested the Babe Ruth, the American baseball slugger of 1914-1935 is actually a Time Lord. Time Lord is a reference to the popular sci-fi series "Doctor Who" in which The Doctor, who is a Time Lord, uses a TARDIS, which is a time travel machine.

==Transcript==
:[The page is set up like the missed connections area of Craigslist, with a list of messages from an individual to a person they weren't able to communicate with at the time.]
:Personals > Missed Connections

:You: Clinging to hood of your stolen wienermobile, trying to reach into engine to unstick throttle
:Me: Screaming, diving out of the way

:You: Vaguely human silhouette
:Me: At bottom of wishing well with harpoon gun

:You: Confused UDP packet
:Me: Cisco router in 45.170/16 block

:You: Baddest fuckin' Juggalo at Violent J's party
:Me: Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca)

:You: Getting married to me
:Me: Also getting married, but distracted by my phone

:You: Cute boy on corner of 4th & Main, 5'11, 169lbs, social security number 078-05-1120, pockets contained $2.09 in change, keys, and a condom. Retinal scan attached
:Me: Driving street view van

:You: George Herman "Babe" Ruth
:Me: Fellow Time Lord. Saw your tardis on third moon of

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]

702: Snow Tracking

2012-12-14T19:48:49Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 702
| date = February 15, 2010
| title = Snow Tracking
| image = snow_tracking.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = I suppose thats more accurately a hare dryer.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a guide to recognizing various animals by their footprints. However, the comic typically detours into strange, ridiculous or pop-culture-referencing footprints.

"Moose and squirrel" is a reference to the cartoon ''{{w|Rocky and Bullwinkle}}''. Rocky and Bullwinkle were a flying squirrel and a moose, respectively, and were frequently referred to as "moose and squirrel" by the show's antagonist Boris Badenov.

[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/longcat Longcat] is a internet {{w|meme}} from pictures of cats all stretched out that make them look very tall (or long).

Mouse riding Bicycle is a reference to {{w|Ralph S. Mouse}}, a series of novels by {{w|Beverly Cleary}}.

The title text is a pun on the Rabbit with a hair dryer frame.

{{w|Legolas}} is a reference to the character by the same name in the {{w|Lord of the Rings}} trilogy of books and movies. Legolas, as an elf, was able to walk on top of snow, while the other races in his party were forced to trudge through it.

The "Knight" panel is a {{w|chess}} reference, as the tracks move just like the knight piece in chess.

The two "Kid with" frames are a reference to the comic strip {{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}. In it, Calvin would crawl in a cardboard box to do various things. When upside down, he pretended the box was a "transmogrifier" and could turn him into something else, in this case his tiger Hobbes, whereas when on its side, the box was a duplicator and could produce multiple clones of Calvin.

{{w|Prius}} is a reference to current events in which Toyota Prius's pedals have allegedly malfunctioned causing accidents. [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/business/global/04prius.html]

The final frame is the {{w|Higgs Boson}} which is an {{w|elementary particle}} which has recently been detected in the {{w|Large Hadron Collider}}.

{{Incomplete}}

==Transcript==
:BACKYARD SNOW TRACKING GUIDE

:((Each panel contains an overhead view of tracks through the snow, with a caption indicating the apparent source))

:[Standard paw prints through the snow]
:CAT

:[Large split-toe tracks and smaller rodent tracks]
:MOOSE AND SQUIRREL

:[Cat prints, but with more space between the pairs of prints]
:LONGCAT

:[Two similar careening tire tracks]
:MOUSE RIDING BICYCLE

:[Longer rodent tracks, with a large melted ring surrounding a point in the middle of the frame.]
:RABBIT STOPPING TO USE HAIR DRYER

:[No visible tracks]
:LEGOLAS

:[Single deep holes with cratering]
:BOBCAT ON POGO STICK

:[Round prints that suddenly turn to the right halfway into frame]
:KNIGHT

:[Human footprints up to a square melting pattern, turning into animal prints]
:KID WITH TRANSMOGRIFIER

:[Human footprints up to a rectangular melted area, which are then doubled to another rectangular area, which are then doubled again up to another rectangular area, which are then doubled...]
:KID WITH DUPLICATOR

:[Right curve on a road, with tire tracks careening out of frame]
:Out of Frame Garden Owner: MY VEGETABLE GARDEN!
:PRIUS

:[A series of spiraling and outwardly traveling lines extend from a point in the middle of the frame.]
:HIGGS BOSON

{{comic discussion}}

837: Coupon Code

2012-12-14T19:41:00Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 837
| date = December 22, 2010
| title = Coupon Code
| image = coupon_code.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = This also guarantees he won't be one of the ones to get a bobcat.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is sitting at a computer finishing an online order. As he places his order, he inputs a (presumable) shot in the psychological dark in the comment field, saying that he observed the person who will process the order steal something from a dying woman's house. After he clicks checkout, the coupon code discounts the sale the full $80.02, presumably meaning the person who processed this order did just so.

The title text references a running gag as [[325|bobcats are occasionally sent by mail]] in various comics (or are alluded to have being sent). It may be that Cueball actually knew [[Black Hat]] did this

==Transcript==
:[The panel shows an online shopping form.]
:Shipping: $14.08
:Total: $80.02
:If you have a coupon code, enter it here:
:[An empty form.]
:Check out
:
:A person is looking at their computer.
:
:[The empty form is now filled in - the rest of the panel shows the same page.]
:Form: In 1987 you quietly took something from the house of a dying woman. You thought nobody knew -- you were wrong.
:
:[The person is sitting at their computer.]
:<<Click>>
:
:[The form is updated.]
:Shipping: $14.08
:Total: $80.02
:----------------
:Discount
:Applied: -$80.02
:Final price: $0.00
:Thank you
:- Your order has been placed -

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Internet]]

51: Malaria

2012-12-14T19:24:55Z

Castriff:

{{comic
| number = 51
| date = January 21, 2006
| title = Malaria
| image = malaria.jpg
| titletext = The malaria party was David's idea.
| imagesize =
}}

==Explanation==
According to Wikipedia: "{{w|Malaria}} is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by protists (a type of microorganism) of the genus Plasmodium. It begins with a bite from an infected female mosquito, which introduces the protists via its saliva into the circulatory system, and ultimately to the liver where they mature and reproduce. The disease causes symptoms that typically include fever and headache, which in severe cases can progress to coma or death."

It plays on the idea of a {{w|Pox party}} which adults bring their children to in order to deliberately exposed to a virus to promote immunity. This is commonly done for childhood diseases like measles and chicken pox. Some of these illnesses are more serious for adults than children. It seems unlikely that you would risk contracting malaria as a way of gaining immunity against it, and unlikely to be much fun either.

==Transcript==
:[People wearing party hats, a discarded balloon to the side]
:We had a malaria party, but it turned out not to be very much fun.

==Trivia==
* This is the forty-ninth comic posted to livejournal. The previous comic was [[54: Science]], the next is [[52: Secret Worlds]].

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]]

820: Five-Minute Comics: Part 2

2012-12-14T19:11:01Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 820
| date = November 17, 2010
| title = Five-Minute Comics: Part 2
| image = five_minute_comics_part_2.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Dear Wiccan readers: I understand modern Wiccans are not usually all about the curses and hexes. But Darth Vader was recently converted from Episcopalianism and he's still figuring it all out.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the second of three "five-minute comics" posts Randall made during November 2010. The introduction to the comic explains everything you need to know about the circumstances behind it, so let's get started!

* The first comic pokes fun at improbable conspiracy theories. A ninja attempts to assassinate a man, but is thwarted as the man jumps on the diving board from which the ninja hangs; the ninja loses his grip and falls in the water. However, the man is subsequently shot by a sniper situated on the {{w|Dealey Plaza#Grassy knoll|grassy knoll}}, a location famous among conspiracy theorists who believe it to be the location of an unknown accomplice in the {{w|assassination of John F. Kennedy}}.
:It turns out that, somehow, this will all lead up to a theory that perfectly explains the {{w|September 11 attacks}}.

* When a woman described as having a "glow" about them, it's usually just a vague sentiment of attractiveness, specifically during pregnancy, which very suddenly reaches its conclusion as a baby is unceremoniously plopped into the world.
:It is very improbable that a woman would be that far into her pregnancy without being aware of it.

* "Cogito ergo sum" is the original Latin formulation of the philosophical declaration "I think, therefore I am." "Cogito ergo cogito," by contrast, means "I think, therefore I think." This statement, while true, is also a tautology, which is why Cueball describes it as "playing it safe."

* The comic on the far right seems to just be a joke on horror movie tropes and the phrase "buckets of blood." 

* To bail out of a plane means to escape the plane, usually via the cockpit's eject mechanism. To bail out a boat means to manually drain water coming onto the ship with buckets. The pilots here have confused the two, although if a plane was somehow taking on a large amount of water, bailing out that water would be a reasonable course of action.

* Sometimes, TV shows will tell true stories while playing up the drama angle for ratings purposes. In these cases, they will often air a notice similar to "The following program is a dramatization of real events" before the show, to indicate that the story they're about to tell is true, albeit not as a literally accurate retelling of events. But how do your dramatize the utterly mundane - say, making a sandwich? The answer is screaming. Senseless, inexplicable screaming.

* {{w|Black light}}s are a kind of lamp that filters out sub-purple light. This means that the only light it gives off is a small amount of purple light, plus plenty of ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light is invisible to humans, but it is noticeable in a few ways; it hurts the eyes, which is why it's hard to focus on things under a black light; it causes sunburns, although the amount given off by a black light is far too insignificant to do this in a realistic time; and it causes a phosphorescent reaction in some bacteria, which is why it causes dust and some food stains to glow in the dark (which is why the robes look dirty). As such, a "blacklightsaber" would, indeed, be a bad idea.

* Most judicial systems have a {{w|jury}}, a panel of impartial laymen that, primarily, determines the guilt or innocence of a suspected criminal. "Ladies and gentlemen" is a formal way of addressing a crowd, and so Cueball addresses the jury as "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury."
:However, it turns out the jury consists only of women, so the "gentlemen" part is not needed. This poses a problem to Cueball's defense, which apparently relied on somewhat sexist tactics. (This, sadly, is not too uncommon in real life.)

* The commander's first line is a line from ''{{w|Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope}}''. In the original film, the commander was cut off by Darth Vader using the Force to strangle him, delivering the rebuttal "I find your lack of faith disturbing."
:Instead of belief in the Force as in the movie, the "ancient religion" referred to here is actually {{w|Wicca}}, a modern pagan religion with two deities that is most notable for practicing magic. So, naturally, Darth Vader puts a hex on the commander's family.
:The title-text notes that modern Wiccans don't really practice the whole "putting hexes on people" thing, which is true. Episcopalianism probably refers to the {{w|Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church of the United States}}, which was founded during the American Revolution to replace the Church of England in the colonies.

==Transcript==
Because of a family illness, instead of regular comics, this week I'll be sharing some strips that I drew as part of a game I played with friends. Each comic had to be written and drawn in five minutes.

-- Randall

====Comic #1====
:[A ninja is hiding under a diving board as a man runs along it.]

:[The man jumps on the end of the board and hits the ninja in the head, knocking him into the pool.]

:[The ninja floats in the water. A bullet passes through the man's head.]
:''thwipp''

:[The man is lying bleeding on the diving board, the ninja is still unconscious on the pool.]

:[A sniper is at the top of a hill. The sign in front of the hill says "Grassy Knoll".]

:[Someone is pointing at the diagram of the previous panel.]
:Off-panel voice: Wait, so what does this have to do with 9/11, again?
:Cueball: I said I'm getting there!

====Comic #2====
:[Cueball is studying Megan.]
:Cueball: You look different.

:Cueball: You have this... ''glow'' about you.

:[They stare in silence.]

:[A baby falls out of Megan.]
:''plop''

====Comic #3====
:Megan: Cogito ergo cogito.
:Off-panel voice: Playing it safe, huh?

====Comic #4====
:[Two ghosts are standing in front of Megan at a door, each carrying a bag. They are children dressed up.]
:Children: Trick or treat!

:[Megan doesn't move.]

:Child: Um hi. Why are you just standing there?
:Other Child: Candy?

:[Another silent panel as the children stare up at Megan.]

:[The second child looks in their bag.]
:Other Child: Oh God, my bag of candy.

:Other Child: It's filling with blood.
:Child: We should go.

====Comic #5====
:[A jet is flying across the panel.]
:Pilot: Bail out! Bail out! Bail out!

:[The pilot and copilot have buckets, and are bailing water out of the cockpit.]

====Comic #6====
:The following is a dramatization of real events.

:[Cueball is at a counter, with several jars.]
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAAA I'm making a sandwich! AAAAAAAAAA!

====Comic #7====
:[Two people are carrying lightsabers and wearing robes.]
:Cueball: Oh God. My eyes won't focus right! And your robe looks... really dirty!

:My blacklightsaber was not a success.

====Comic #8====
:[Cueball is standing.]
:Cueball: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury.
:Off-screen voice: It seems we happen to be all ladies, actually.
:Cueball: ... in that case, this defense is going to appear _extremely_ ill-advised.

====Comic #9====
:[Darth Vader is sitting between two people, at a table.]
:Cueball: Your sad devotion to that ancient religion hasn't hleped you conjur up the stolen data tapes, or given you --
:Darth Vader: Hey. Wicca is a legitimate belief system!

:[Darth Vader is drawing a pentagram on the table.]
:Cueball: What are you --
:Darth Vader: Putting a hex on your family.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Five-minute comics]]

1073: Weekend

2012-12-14T00:16:26Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1073
| date = June 25, 2012
| title = Weekend
| image = Weekend.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Of the two Garfields, you wouldn't think the cat would turn out to be the more compelling presidential speechwriter, but there you go.
}}

==Explanation==
I can't find any confirmation that any of these words are references to something from former {{w|James Garfield|US President James Garfield}} or {{w|Garfield|Garfield the cartoon cat.}}[http://garfield.com] However, Garfield the cartoon cat has a bunch of different images emphasizing the greatness of the weekend and bemoaning the existence of the first day of the work week, Monday.

And of course, the comic was posted on a Monday, so the comic is timed to emphasize that.

And of course, in the first image, there is a reference to the Lover Boy song "[http://youtu.be/0-lH2nhC_R4 Everybodys Workin For the Weekend]". "We are all working for the weekend" is a reference to the title and lyrics in the Lover Boy song which indicate that "Everybody's working for the weekend."

==Transcript==
:[A man stands at a podium before a very large crowd.]
:Man: We all hate Mondays. We're all working for the weekend. But our chains exist only in our minds.

:[A shot of the man from the podium upwards, from a 34 angle. He raises one hand in explanation.]
:Man: Calendars are just social consensus. Nature doesn't know the day of the week.

:[Closer still, looking straight ahead.]
:Man: My friends-- we can make today Saturday.

:[Extreme close-up, negative colors.]
:Man: We can make it Saturday forever.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Psychology]]

1073: Weekend

2012-12-14T00:15:23Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1073
| date = June 25, 2012
| title = Weekend
| image = Weekend.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Of the two Garfields, you wouldn't think the cat would turn out to be the more compelling presidential speechwriter, but there you go.
}}

==Explanation==
I can't find any confirmation that any of these words are references to something from former {{w|James Garfield|US President James Garfield}} or {{w|Garfield|Garfield the cartoon cat.}} However, Garfield the cartoon cat has a bunch of different images emphasizing the greatness of the weekend and bemoaning the existence of the first day of the work week, Monday.

And of course, the comic was posted on a Monday, so the comic is timed to emphasize that.

And of course, in the first image, there is a reference to the Lover Boy song "[http://youtu.be/0-lH2nhC_R4 Everybodys Workin For the Weekend]". "We are all working for the weekend" is a reference to the title and lyrics in the Lover Boy song which indicate that "Everybody's working for the weekend."

==Transcript==
:[A man stands at a podium before a very large crowd.]
:Man: We all hate Mondays. We're all working for the weekend. But our chains exist only in our minds.

:[A shot of the man from the podium upwards, from a 34 angle. He raises one hand in explanation.]
:Man: Calendars are just social consensus. Nature doesn't know the day of the week.

:[Closer still, looking straight ahead.]
:Man: My friends-- we can make today Saturday.

:[Extreme close-up, negative colors.]
:Man: We can make it Saturday forever.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Psychology]]

1073: Weekend

2012-12-14T00:13:51Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1073
| date = June 25, 2012
| title = Weekend
| image = Weekend.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Of the two Garfields, you wouldn't think the cat would turn out to be the more compelling presidential speechwriter, but there you go.
}}

==Explanation==
I can't find any confirmation that any of these words are references to something from former US President {{w|James Garfield}} or {{w|Garfield}} the cartoon cat. However, Garfield the cartoon cat has a bunch of different images emphasizing the greatness of the weekend and bemoaning the existence of the first day of the work week, Monday.

And of course, the comic was posted on a Monday, so the comic is timed to emphasize that.

And of course, in the first image, there is a reference to the Lover Boy song "[http://youtu.be/0-lH2nhC_R4 Everybodys Workin For the Weekend]". "We are all working for the weekend" is a reference to the title and lyrics in the Lover Boy song which indicate that "Everybody's working for the weekend."

==Transcript==
:[A man stands at a podium before a very large crowd.]
:Man: We all hate Mondays. We're all working for the weekend. But our chains exist only in our minds.

:[A shot of the man from the podium upwards, from a 34 angle. He raises one hand in explanation.]
:Man: Calendars are just social consensus. Nature doesn't know the day of the week.

:[Closer still, looking straight ahead.]
:Man: My friends-- we can make today Saturday.

:[Extreme close-up, negative colors.]
:Man: We can make it Saturday forever.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Psychology]]

899: Number Line

2012-12-12T02:23:11Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 899
| date = May 16, 2011
| title = Number Line
| image = number line.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = The Wikipedia page "{{w|List of Numbers}}" opens with "This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it."
}}

==Explanation==
*Negative numbers are just wanna be positive numbers or a some joke of that nature.

*'''0.99'''.... is {{w|0.999...|provably equal to 1}} because there is no number between 0.99.... and 1. ([http://www.exploringbinary.com/binary-converter/ Binary 0.0000000000000000000000000001 = 0.0000000037252902984619140625])

*The {{w|Golden ratio}} is the length to width of rectangles that are most pleasing to the eye. The number which is about 1.61803, is the numeric value is called "phi", named for the Greek sculptor Phidias. The {{w|Parthenon}} is a perfect rectangle in size. The number of spirals on the head of [http://www.popmath.org.uk/rpamaths/rpampages/sunflower.html Sunflowers] are also said to exhibit the Golden mean/ratio.

*Forbidden Region and Unexplored are both map jokes.

*{{w|e (mathematical constant)|e}}(Euler's number) is 2.71828... and π(pi) is 3.14159265...

*2.9299372 is a President's Day reference because it is the average of e and pi just as the American President's Day is always observed on the 3rd Monday of February (between {{w|George Washington}} and {{w|Abraham Lincoln}}'s birthdays). (For non-US residents, those were the 1st and 16th Presidents of the USA.)

*{{w|Gird}} Could be a reference to [http://www.strangehorizons.com/2000/20001120/secret_number.shtml Bleem] - a fictional integer between 3 and 4, also see [http://icarly.wikia.com/wiki/Derf iCarly's Derf] - a fictional integer between 5 and 6; and [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bleen George Carlin's Bleen] - a fictional integer between 6 and 7.

*Site of the Battle of 4.108 is not a reference to anything I think it is another map joke.

*You do see often on TV and in the media that "It has been 7 years..." or "In the last 7 years..." etc.

*8 is not the largest even prime. 2 is. I'm sure this is like the 0.99... entry above, Randall is trying to start internet battles over the subject. Here are all the prime numbers on the chart above: 2, 3, 5, 7

*The last entry seems to be a reference to {{w|Discrete Math}}, which rarely deals with numbers higher than 9. Randall again is trying to incite a internet flame war with Mathematicians who study other forms of math.

==Transcript==
:(( number line ranging from -1 to 10 ))
:(( arrow pointing left, towards negative numbers )) Negative "imitator" numbers (do not use)
:(( line right before the number one )) 0.99... (acutally 0.0000000372 less than 1)
:(( line at the golden ratio )) Φ - Parthenon; sunflowers; golden ratio; wait, come back, I have facts!
:(( line at a region between two and 2.2 )) forbidden region
:(( line at Euler's number )) e
:(( line a bit before 3 )) 2.9299372 (e and pi, observed)
:(( line at π )) π
:(( line at 3.5 with a ribbon as the numeral )) Gird - accepted as canon by orthodox mathematicians
:(( line a bit after 4 )) site of battle of 4.108
:(( blob between 4.5 and 6.5 labeled unexplored ))
:(( line at seven )) Number indicating a factoid is made up ("every 7 years...", "science says there are 7...", etc)
:(( line at eight )) Largest even prime
:(( line at 8.75 )) If you encounter a number higher than this, you"re not doing real math

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

488: Steal This Comic

2012-12-12T01:46:23Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 488
| date = October 13, 2008
| title = Steal This Comic
| image = steal_this_comic.png
| titletext = I spent more time trying to get an audible.com audiobook playing than it took to listen to the book. I have lost every other piece of DRM-locked music that I ever paid for.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|DRM}}, that is, "Digital Rights Management," is a recent (to this day) anti-piracy mechanism that is used to prevent unapproved or unintended use of the program. An example would be a requirement to play the game while online (where the servers can validate the game), or again, allowing only a limited amount of installs. The problem is that there are ways that DRM can be restrictive even upon legal situations. (To derivate from the aforementioned examples, someone may simply want to play the game in an area where there is no Internet connection, or again, someone may had exceeded the amount of allowed installs due to installation problems or hardware malfunctions requiring the purchase of new hardware.) In the situation placed in the above comic, one can not, say, transfer the audiobook or song from an iPod to a Blackberry phone, even if the song was only to share between family, or again, to have a backup. For this reason, DRM has gotten another (rather-accurate) name: [http://www.defectivebydesign.org/ "Digital Restrictions Management."]

Here, [[Black Hat]] proposes two paths:
::If you pirate the audio (that is, download them through other sites), you would not only be breaking the law (more specifically, copyright laws), but neither the publisher nor the performer nor the composer get any money from your gain. However, not only you would have gotten the audio for free (or at least at a substantial discount, since you may have to pay a third-party site for access to the pirated audio), but all DRM would have been broken or simply not present (since defeating the DRM is required to acquire the audio in the first place), so you can use the songs in whatever way you would like.

::If you buy the DRM-locked audio, you would be complying with the law, plus the publisher, performer, and composer would get money for their work. However, suppose that your computer got lost, broken or stolen. Or again, you could be switching to an operating system or upgrade to a new computer that does not support iTunes. In this case, you would not be able to access your collection due to the new hardware/software. If you try to recover your collection by breaking the DRM, you would be violating the law, albeit a different one, even if the reason you want to break the DRM is to recover the collection for which you paid, thus therefore legally own.

Since both situations have you end up being a criminal, Black Hat proposes taking the pirate path, which leaves you with a collection of dependable audio for (almost?) free.

Of course, there are at least a couple of alternatives to the situations that Black Hat proposes.

::You can simply re-buy the DRM-locked audio when unfortunate things do happen. That way, you would always be complying with the law. However, not only you would be required to pay multiple times for the same audio you legally own, but there is no guarantee that the audio you want is available the next time you need to make the purchase. In fact, [http://www.naturalnews.com/026675_Amazon_DRM_Big_Brother.html there is always the possibility of the service that provided you with the audio in the first place withdrawing the item you legally bought.]

::You can simply avoid buying the audio, but, if you are inclined towards audio plus there is no other legal way to buy the song, this would not be a pleasant solution (especially if you really like the song).

In light of this, [[Randall]] proposes a 5th option: demanding DRM-free files.

The title is a reference both to Black Hat's suggestion to pirate the audio and the [http://web.archive.org/web/20080913131048/http://www.piracyisacrime.com/ "Piracy is a Crime"] ad campaign, as well as a 1970 pro-anarchy book called ''{{w|Steal This Book}}''. There is some underlying humour: since xkcd [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ is under a Creative Commons license], you can not "steal" the comic, since Randall specifically allowed the comic to be shared.

A note on the site says that [http://www.amazon.com| Amazon] sells DRM-free music files.

==Transcript==
:Black Hat: Thinking of buying from audible.com or iTunes?
:Black Hat: Remember, if you pirate something, it's yours for life. You can take it anywhere and it will always work.
:[There is a flowchart whose paths are (You're a Criminal)<-Pirate<-(Buy or Pirate)->Buy->(Things Change)->(You Try to Recover Your Collection)->(You're a Criminal)]
:Black Hat: But if you buy DRM-locked media, and you ever switch operating systems or new technology comes along, your collection could be lost.
:Black Hat: And if you try to keep it, you'll be a criminal (DMCA 1201).
:Black Hat: So remember: if you want a collection you can count on, PIRATE IT.
:Black Hat: Hey, you'll be a criminal either way.
:(If you don't like this, demand DRM-free files)

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category: Comics featuring Black Hat]]

488: Steal This Comic

2012-12-12T01:45:26Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 488
| date = October 13, 2008
| title = Steal This Comic
| image = steal_this_comic.png
| titletext = I spent more time trying to get an audible.com audiobook playing than it took to listen to the book. I have lost every other piece of DRM-locked music that I ever paid for.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|DRM}}, that is, "Digital Rights Management," is a recent (to this day) anti-piracy mechanism that is used to prevent unapproved or unintended use of the program. An example would be a requirement to play the game while online (where the servers can validate the game), or again, allowing only a limited amount of installs. The problem is that there are ways that DRM can be restrictive even upon legal situations. (To derivate from the aforementioned examples, someone may simply want to play the game in an area where there is no Internet connection, or again, someone may had exceeded the amount of allowed installs due to installation problems or hardware malfunctions requiring the purchase of new hardware.) In the situation placed in the above comic, one can not, say, transfer the audiobook or song from an iPod to a Blackberry phone, even if the song was only to share between family, or again, to have a backup. For this reason, DRM has gotten another (rather-accurate) name: [http://www.defectivebydesign.org/ "Digital Restrictions Management."]

Here, [[Black Hat]] proposes two paths:
::If you pirate the audio (that is, download them through other sites), you would not only be breaking the law (more specifically, copyright laws), but neither the publisher nor the performer nor the composer get any money from your gain. However, not only you would have gotten the audio for free (or at least at a substantial discount, since you may have to pay a third-party site for access to the pirated audio), but all DRM would have been broken or simply not present (since defeating the DRM is required to acquire the audio in the first place), so you can use the songs in whatever way you would like.

::If you buy the DRM-locked audio, you would be complying with the law, plus the publisher, performer, and composer would get money for their work. However, suppose that your computer got lost, broken or stolen. Or again, you could be switching to an operating system or upgrade to a new computer that does not support iTunes. In this case, you would not be able to access your collection due to the new hardware/software. If you try to recover your collection by breaking the DRM, you would be violating the law, albeit a different one, even if the reason you want to break the DRM is to recover the collection for which you paid, thus therefore legally own.

Since both situations have you end up being a criminal, Black Hat proposes taking the pirate path, which leaves you with a collection of dependable audio for (almost?) free.

Of course, there are at least a couple of alternatives to the situations that Black Hat proposes.

::You can simply re-buy the DRM-locked audio when unfortunate things do happen. That way, you would always be complying with the law. However, not only you would be required to pay multiple times for the same audio you legally own, but there is no guarantee that the audio you want is available the next time you need to make the purchase. In fact, [http://www.naturalnews.com/026675_Amazon_DRM_Big_Brother.html there is always the possibility of the service that provided you with the audio in the first place withdrawing the item you legally bought.]

::You can simply avoid buying the audio, but, if you are inclined towards audio plus there is no other legal way to buy the song, this would not be a pleasant solution (especially if you really like the song).

In light of this, [[Randall]] proposes a 5th option: demanding DRM-free files.

The title is a reference both to Black Hat's suggestion to pirate the audio and the [http://web.archive.org/web/20080913131048/http://www.piracyisacrime.com/ "Piracy is a Crime"] ad campaign, as well as a 1970 pro-anarchy book called ''{{w|Steal This Book}}''. There is some underlying humour: since xkcd [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ is under a Creative Commons license], you can not "steal" the comic, since Randall specifically allowed the comic to be shared.

A note on the site says that [Amazon.com| Amazon] sells DRM-free music files.

==Transcript==
:Black Hat: Thinking of buying from audible.com or iTunes?
:Black Hat: Remember, if you pirate something, it's yours for life. You can take it anywhere and it will always work.
:[There is a flowchart whose paths are (You're a Criminal)<-Pirate<-(Buy or Pirate)->Buy->(Things Change)->(You Try to Recover Your Collection)->(You're a Criminal)]
:Black Hat: But if you buy DRM-locked media, and you ever switch operating systems or new technology comes along, your collection could be lost.
:Black Hat: And if you try to keep it, you'll be a criminal (DMCA 1201).
:Black Hat: So remember: if you want a collection you can count on, PIRATE IT.
:Black Hat: Hey, you'll be a criminal either way.
:(If you don't like this, demand DRM-free files)

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category: Comics featuring Black Hat]]

1063: Kill Hitler

2012-12-11T21:02:14Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1063
| date = June 1, 2012
| title = Kill Hitler
| image = kill_hitler.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Revised directive: It is forbidden for you to interfere with human history until you've at least taken a class on it.
}}

== Explanation ==
In this comic, which I believe Randall created just to put in "BRB, Killing Hitler", [[Black Hat]] creates a one use time machine. [[Cueball]] selects the most common suggestion for Time Machine usage "Killing Hitler". Black Hat finally relents and goes to kill Hitler, however, he goes to the year 1945, when Hitler is already in his bunker. Hitler has already committed his atrocities and the war was already turning against him. Later in 1945, he reportedly died by suicide in that very same bunker. The joke in here being that Black Hat didn't save any lives or prevent the Holocaust or a global war by killing him in 1945 because he went back in time too late. He needed to go earlier, before his rise to power, like 1932. This is also the point of the image text, which states that you cannot travel back in time unless you know what you will occur.

== Transcript ==
:[Black Hat and Cueball stand in front of a double door, which bears the label 'TIME door'. Black Hat has his hands on his hips.]
:Black Hat: I finished my time machine, but it's one-use only.
:Cueball: You gotta kill Hitler.

:[Close-up of Black Hat, one hand palm upward.]
:Black Hat: You are you so obsessed with this Hitler guy? We have all of time we could explore!

:[Close-up of Cueball with both hands palm upward.]
:Cueball: He's evil incarnate! He murdered millions and sparked global war! Everyone agrees -- if you get a time machine, you kill Hitler.

:[Black Hat enters the now open Time door as the other man looks on..]
:Black Hat: Fine, fine, I get it! Calm down. - BRB, killing Hitler.

:[Black Hat returns and shuts the door, the other man has outstretched arms.]
:Black Hat: There. Done. Are you happy?
:Cueball: Thank you.
:Black Hat: He was in some kind of bunker. 1945 was loud!

:Cueball: NO!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

[[Category:Hitler]]

1055: Kickstarter

2012-12-11T20:56:49Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1055
| date = May 14, 2012
| title = Kickstarter
| image = Kickstarter.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = If you pledge more than $50 you'll get on the VIP list and have first dibs on a slot on ANY of the pledge levels in the actual campaign.
}}

==Explanation==
If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, it is (in their own words) a platform for funding creative projects in which anyone can give money at any level of funding starting usually as low as $10. Funding at different levels gets you different perks, e.g. If the Kickstarter is for a book, a large donation makes you eligible for a signed copy.

In this comic, [[Black Hat]] is attempting to game the system by raising money to work on the perfect Kickstarter pitch. He appears to have gained no money, but has only started the scheme that day. The irony of the image text is that you do not need to be on any VIP list to have dibs on the pledge levels. Anyone can give any amount of money. That is the goal of Kickstarter and it has been wildly successful.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

804: Pumpkin Carving

2012-12-11T20:50:08Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 804
| date = October 11, 2010
| title = Pumpkin Carving
| image = pumpkin_carving.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = The Banach-Tarski theorem was actually first developed by King Solomon, but his gruesome attempts to apply it set back set theory for centuries.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the American custom of carving pumpkins to set out on porches and front steps for the American holiday of {{w|Halloween}}, which occurs on October 31st. The pumpkin has the inside emptied out and a face or design carved in the side. Then a light in placed inside (usually a candle). These are called "{{w|Jack-o'-lantern|Jack-O'-Lantern}}s". The Jack-O'-Lantern in the 3rd frame is the typical and standard design for a carved pumpkin.

[[Beret Guy]], naturally, stays oddly on-topic by carving a pumpkin in his pumpkin. This is a reference to the [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/xzibit-yo-dawg| Yo Dawg meme].

In the 2nd frame, [[Black Hat]] is putting {{w|Nitroglycerin}} (an explosive) into his carved pumpkin in the hopes that someone will attempt to smash it and it will explode. Black Hat references chest pains because Nitroglycerin is used to open blood vessels to quickly improve blood flow when someone has chest pains.

In the 3rd frame, [[Megan]] is our typical emotional xkcd comic character. She is projecting herself onto the jack-o'-lantern as she tries to distract herself with holiday traditions that won't work to distract her.

In the 4th frame, is the first to reference the {{w|Banach-Tarski}} theorem, which states that if you carve up a 3-dimensional ball, in this case a pumpkin, to a finite number of pieces, you can then reassemble the pieces into two different balls - identical to the original. The Banach-Tarski theorem is also called a paradox for obvious reasons. The person off-screen in that frame references the {{w|Axiom of choice}} which is a mathematical axiom that says that given a set of buckets or bins (each that contain one or more object(s)) it is possible to select exactly one object from each bucket. The Banach-Tarski rests on several axioms which are fairly well respected, but also requires the Axiom of Choice to work correctly. So a person who does not believe in the Axiom of Choice would not have been able to do what [[Cueball]] managed to do.

===Title text===
The title text says that {{w|Solomon|King Solomon}} developed the Banach-Tarski theorem first. This is a reference to the story of two women being brought before him. Both were arguing that a particular child was their own. Solomon said that the solution was to cut the child in half and give each woman one of the halves. One of the two women said that the other should have the baby whole. Solomon then knew she was the true mother, and gave her the child. The joke is that Solomon, may not have intended to kill the child, but knowing that two whole children could be made from the one, intended give a baby to each woman, and the Banach-Tarski paradox states that it should be possible.

==Transcript==
[Beret guy stands next to a pumpkin with a picture of a pumpkin carved into it]

Interlocutor: So what did you-

Beret Guy: I carved a pumpkin!

Interlocutor: ...

[Black hat guy stands next to a pumpkin and a box labeled "Nitro-glycerin. Do not shake."]

Interlocutor: Taking on teen vandals, I see.

Hat Guy: Heavens, No. My pumpkin simply has chest pains. In fact, I'll leave a note warning them not to smash it.

[Long-haired stick figure stands next to a jack-o' lantern]

Hair Figure: My pumpkin's name is Harold. He just realized that all the time he used to spend daydreaming, he now spends worrying. He'll try to distract himself later with holiday traditions, but it won't work.

[Generic stick figure stands next to two pumpkins and a knife]

Stick Figure: I carved and carved, and the next thing I knew I had two pumpkins.

Interlocutor: I told you not to take the axiom of choice.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

[[Category:Axiom of Choice]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Set theory]]

804: Pumpkin Carving

2012-12-11T20:49:52Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 804
| date = October 11, 2010
| title = Pumpkin Carving
| image = pumpkin_carving.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = The Banach-Tarski theorem was actually first developed by King Solomon, but his gruesome attempts to apply it set back set theory for centuries.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the American custom of carving pumpkins to set out on porches and front steps for the American holiday of {{w|Halloween}}, which occurs on October 31st. The pumpkin has the inside emptied out and a face or design carved in the side. Then a light in placed inside (usually a candle). These are called "{{w|Jack-o'-lantern|Jack-O'-Lantern}}s". The Jack-O'-Lantern in the 3rd frame is the typical and standard design for a carved pumpkin.

[[Beret Guy]], naturally, stays oddly on-topic by carving a pumpkin in his pumpkin. This is a reference to the [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/xzibit-yo-dawg|Yo Dawg meme].

In the 2nd frame, [[Black Hat]] is putting {{w|Nitroglycerin}} (an explosive) into his carved pumpkin in the hopes that someone will attempt to smash it and it will explode. Black Hat references chest pains because Nitroglycerin is used to open blood vessels to quickly improve blood flow when someone has chest pains.

In the 3rd frame, [[Megan]] is our typical emotional xkcd comic character. She is projecting herself onto the jack-o'-lantern as she tries to distract herself with holiday traditions that won't work to distract her.

In the 4th frame, is the first to reference the {{w|Banach-Tarski}} theorem, which states that if you carve up a 3-dimensional ball, in this case a pumpkin, to a finite number of pieces, you can then reassemble the pieces into two different balls - identical to the original. The Banach-Tarski theorem is also called a paradox for obvious reasons. The person off-screen in that frame references the {{w|Axiom of choice}} which is a mathematical axiom that says that given a set of buckets or bins (each that contain one or more object(s)) it is possible to select exactly one object from each bucket. The Banach-Tarski rests on several axioms which are fairly well respected, but also requires the Axiom of Choice to work correctly. So a person who does not believe in the Axiom of Choice would not have been able to do what [[Cueball]] managed to do.

===Title text===
The title text says that {{w|Solomon|King Solomon}} developed the Banach-Tarski theorem first. This is a reference to the story of two women being brought before him. Both were arguing that a particular child was their own. Solomon said that the solution was to cut the child in half and give each woman one of the halves. One of the two women said that the other should have the baby whole. Solomon then knew she was the true mother, and gave her the child. The joke is that Solomon, may not have intended to kill the child, but knowing that two whole children could be made from the one, intended give a baby to each woman, and the Banach-Tarski paradox states that it should be possible.

==Transcript==
[Beret guy stands next to a pumpkin with a picture of a pumpkin carved into it]

Interlocutor: So what did you-

Beret Guy: I carved a pumpkin!

Interlocutor: ...

[Black hat guy stands next to a pumpkin and a box labeled "Nitro-glycerin. Do not shake."]

Interlocutor: Taking on teen vandals, I see.

Hat Guy: Heavens, No. My pumpkin simply has chest pains. In fact, I'll leave a note warning them not to smash it.

[Long-haired stick figure stands next to a jack-o' lantern]

Hair Figure: My pumpkin's name is Harold. He just realized that all the time he used to spend daydreaming, he now spends worrying. He'll try to distract himself later with holiday traditions, but it won't work.

[Generic stick figure stands next to two pumpkins and a knife]

Stick Figure: I carved and carved, and the next thing I knew I had two pumpkins.

Interlocutor: I told you not to take the axiom of choice.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

[[Category:Axiom of Choice]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Set theory]]

803: Airfoil

2012-12-11T20:47:41Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 803
| date = October 8, 2010
| title = Airfoil
| image = airfoil.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = This is a fun explanation to prepare your kids for; it's common and totally wrong. Good lines include "why does the air have to travel on both sides at the same time?" and "I saw the Wright brothers plane and those wings were curved the same on the top and bottom!"
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is about the common teaching that an {{w|airfoil}} works because the air on top of the wing must travel faster to keep up with the air flowing across the bottom of the wing. They then will say that because the air on top of the wing is traveling faster it creates an area of lower pressure above the wing and it therefore goes up because the higher pressure below the wing pushes it up more than the low pressure above the wing is pushing it down. This is how many people think an airfoil works but it is not right. The next panel is a student asking why planes can fly upside down if that is true and the teacher thinks about it.

Then there are three different routes to take, the right one, the wrong one and the very wrong one. In the right one, the teacher realizes that perhaps the model is wrong and that the reason for why and airfoil works that she is teaching is wrong. She is curious about it and decides to study further. In the wrong panel, the teacher avoids the question and says that it's complicated, out of embarassment. In the very wrong panel, not only does the teacher avoid answering the question, she attempts to distract them by telling the kids that Santa Claus isn't real and that Santa Claus is really their parents, which would distress them to a point where they completely forget the question. It is cruel and unusual punishment for pointing out the teacher's ignorance.

The title text includes ways to debunk the reason for airfoils working that is taught. It points out that it is absurd to believe the air has to get across the airfoil's two sides in the same amount of time and also points out that the Wright brothers plane's wings were curved the same amount on both sides of the airfoil and therefore it wouldn't even have a difference in the distance the air needs to travel to get across the wing.

==Transcript==
:>Handling a student who challenges your expertise with an insightful question:
:[There's a picture of the cross section of an airfoil, with an arrow above and below, pointing from right to left. Layered on top of these arrows, pointing up and down at the cross section, are a larger arrow below and a smaller arrow above.]
:(This panel just contains text, and has a speech curlique hanging towards the person in the next panel.)
:Teacher: So, kids, the air above the wing travels a longer distance, so it has to go faster to keep up. Faster air exerts less pressure, so :the wing is lifted upward.

:Student: But then why can planes fly upside down?

:(The teacher is standing, pondering the question. Three arrows point out of this panel, leading to each of the next three panels which are :arranged vertically.)

:(This is a label at the top of the panel, not a character speaking.)
:Right:
:(This is the character speaking.)
:Teacher: Wow, good question! Maybe this picture is simplified -- or wrong! We should learn more.

:Wrong:
:Teacher: It's... complicated.
:Teacher: And we need to move on.

:Very wrong:
:Teacher: Santa Claus is your parents.

{{comic discussion}}

803: Airfoil

2012-12-11T20:45:56Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 803
| date = October 8, 2010
| title = Airfoil
| image = airfoil.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = This is a fun explanation to prepare your kids for; it's common and totally wrong. Good lines include "why does the air have to travel on both sides at the same time?" and "I saw the Wright brothers plane and those wings were curved the same on the top and bottom!"
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is about the common teaching that an {{w|airfoil}} works because the air on top of the wing must travel faster to keep up with the air flowing across the bottom of the wing. They then will say that because the air on top of the wing is traveling faster it creates an area of lower pressure above the wing and it therefore goes up because the higher pressure below the wing pushes it up more than the low pressure above the wing is pushing it down. This is how many people think an airfoil works but it is not right. The next panel is a student asking why planes can fly upside down if that is true and the teacher thinks about it. Then there are three different routes to take, the right one, the wrong one and the very wrong one. In the right one, the teacher realizes that perhaps the model is wrong and that the reason for why and airfoil works that she is teaching is wrong. In the wrong panel, the teacher avoids the question and says that it's complicated. In the very wrong panel, not only does the teacher avoid answering the question she attempts to distract them by telling the kids that Santa Claus isn't real and that Santa Claus is really their parents, which would distress them to a point where they completely forget the question. It is cruel and unusual punishment for pointing out the teacher's ignorance.

The title text includes ways to debunk the reason for airfoils working that is taught. It points out that it is absurd to believe the air has to get across the airfoil's two sides in the same amount of time and also points out that the Wright brothers plane's wings were curved the same amount on both sides of the airfoil and therefore it wouldn't even have a difference in the distance the air needs to travel to get across the wing.

==Transcript==
:>Handling a student who challenges your expertise with an insightful question:
:[There's a picture of the cross section of an airfoil, with an arrow above and below, pointing from right to left. Layered on top of these arrows, pointing up and down at the cross section, are a larger arrow below and a smaller arrow above.]
:(This panel just contains text, and has a speech curlique hanging towards the person in the next panel.)
:Teacher: So, kids, the air above the wing travels a longer distance, so it has to go faster to keep up. Faster air exerts less pressure, so :the wing is lifted upward.

:Student: But then why can planes fly upside down?

:(The teacher is standing, pondering the question. Three arrows point out of this panel, leading to each of the next three panels which are :arranged vertically.)

:(This is a label at the top of the panel, not a character speaking.)
:Right:
:(This is the character speaking.)
:Teacher: Wow, good question! Maybe this picture is simplified -- or wrong! We should learn more.

:Wrong:
:Teacher: It's... complicated.
:Teacher: And we need to move on.

:Very wrong:
:Teacher: Santa Claus is your parents.

{{comic discussion}}

84: National Language

2012-12-11T14:24:47Z

Castriff: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 84
| date = April 23, 2006
| title = National Language
| image = national_language.jpg
| imagesize =
| titletext = She's pretty sharp when provoked.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is about the concept of {{w|nativism}}, which is the view that those who are native to a place should have more rights than immigrants. A frequently expressed view in the US (and in other countries) is that immigrants should learn English, which is the primary language in the United States; usually this comes in response to frustration in dealing with an immigrant who does not speak English or does not speak it well. This can sometimes be frustrating in cases where the person who does not speak or understand English well is working in a service position and you have difficulty communicating with them.

In the comic one character is arrogantly arguing the nativist position. However, the woman next to him interrupts him and says a phrase in the {{w|Cherokee}} language,("Hello, my name is Sarah") which is an Iroquoian language used by the Cherokee Native American people. Although Cherokee seems to be a relatively {{w|Cherokee#Origins|young culture}}, it is much more native to America than any European culture. Some Indian cultures reach back millennia.

The woman is therefore effectively suggesting a "what's good for the goose is good for the gander" argument that if the Europeans did not have to learn the Native language, why should current immigrants learn English? She is basically pointing out that even the English speakers are immigrants who did not learn the native language. Or perhaps she is suggesting the old adage: Those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it, and that immigrants will one day take over the US and English speakers will be displaced like the natives were.

==Transcript==
This happened to my friend:

[Men and women are standing in a row]

Man: English should be the national language. These immigrants should have to learn English when they come here.

Woman: Yeah

Man: When you go to live somewhere, you learn the language they speak there. English is the language of the land.

Other Woman: Excuse me, but osio Sarah dawado.

Man: What the hell was that?

Other Woman: Cherokee.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Language]]

Talk:1141: Two Years

2012-12-11T14:10:57Z

Castriff:

Can we get a Cancer series tag on some of these comics? There have been a lot of them, after all. --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 14:10, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

There are no words to convey how awesome you guys are. Thank you.

Also, great Portal reference.

[[Special:Contributions/81.32.87.159|81.32.87.159]] 07:30, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

Flip cancer. Lost my mother-in-law to it and now my dad is undergoing chemo for stage IV lung cancer.
:Seconded. This strip hits close to home, even years after the fact. And given that of my parents and grandparents only one grandmother was not yet diagnosed with any type of cancer, both frequentist and Bayesian statisticians probably agree I should be cautious myself. [[Special:Contributions/46.142.57.253|46.142.57.253]] 20:01, 30 November 2012 (UTC) madd

Did anyone else think the second to last panel was a couple who were sitting close to ground zero of a nuclear bomb? It took several glances to finally see a tree instead of a mushroom cloud. [[User:Sayno2quat|Sayno2quat]] ([[User talk:Sayno2quat|talk]]) 15:35, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

:When I first saw that panel from my peripheral vision, I also thought it was a mushroom cloud.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 17:46, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

:Now that you mention it - on my monitor, before scrolling, I only swa the upper half of what looked indeed like a mushroom cloud. [[Special:Contributions/46.142.57.253|46.142.57.253]] 19:45, 30 November 2012 (UTC) madd

: Agreed; the mushroom cloud was my first impression, too. And I hazard the guess that it was intentional: it's an apt metaphor of how your world seems to explode... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:02, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

The language of referring to Randall's girlfriend as "wife" before they were married is awkward.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 17:47, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

:Ok, "partner" is slightly less awkward, but I think using "Cueball/Megan" instead of "Randall/Randall's partner" would be most consistent.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 21:17, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

:: +1 on '''s/Randall/Cueball/g''' (and '''s/(girlfriend|partner|wife)/Megan/gi''') with an explanation that the comic very likely depicts real-world events in Randall's and (real-world) Megan's life. Though it might be tributary to make the inferential leap, I think would be entirely "unscientific" to do so (which is so ''un''Randall...) It also reinforces the notion that this happens to many, many more couples: Randall and Megan are not unique in what they are experiencing, though Randall does an excellent job of illustrating just what they're going through. (And yes, I could just go and change it myself, but wanted to discuss beforehand.) -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:02, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

:::Wikis lack democracy. Somebody puts their foot down, and that's that. In any case, I think if someone is going to insist that these characters can only represent Randall and his wife Megan, it's odd and slightly disrespectful to never use her proper name.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 01:29, 2 December 2012 (UTC)

::::Crying out about social injustice is the adult version of screaming "Ouch!" when a parent grabs a child's arm to get their attention. Democracy is not do-what-you-want-to. Democracy is having a discussion and then acting upon the results of that discussion. There have been [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Randall_in_Comics|many]] [[Talk:1117:_My_Sky|discussions]] about having Randall in comics. The result was that whenever Randall decides to place himself in a comic, that we should honor that. So, instead of using a generic character he put himself and his wife into the comic. So, we honor that. We do not know the name of his wife, Randall is a very private person, we respect his privacy and only go by the information he gives out, and we don't make wild speculations, this is why we don't refer to her by (any) name; it's the most respectful thing we can do.

::::To prevent vigilante edit warring I've locked the page. Now, if you think that the site should not recognize when Randall specifically puts himself in comics, then there is a reason to bring this discussion back to the table. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:45, 2 December 2012 (UTC)

:::::So why is this comic different from [[881]], [[931]], [[933]], and [[996]]? There was consistency until [[1141]]. Consistency is what's wanted in a Wiki.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 05:39, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

::::::I believe those other comic is rather general, where this particular one has enough set of facts that specific to Randall's case. That said, I agree with you that consistency is good, having the character called Cueball and Megan and explicitly said that those represent Randall and his wife probably better. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 16:48, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

:::::As [[User:CityZen|CityZen]] said above, consistency is good. It is not that we don't want to recognize Randall in the comic, but we probably want to recognize it in the way where we said that in this comic Cueball and Megan represent Randall and his wife. I imagine it is possible that a reader see other comic and start questioning why the characters were called Cueball and Megan in the other comic but called Randall and his wife in this comic. I believe it will be easier to simply consistently label the character Cueball and Megan, then explicitly and clearly said and explain that in this particular comic, Cueball and Megan represent Randall and his wife. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 16:48, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

::::::Cueball and Megan do not represent Randall and his wife. Cueball and Megan are the everyman/woman (and usually not even that but the geekiest kind of every(wo)man). Now, if Randall were building a story arc that spanned 1000 comics I would believe that this was Cueball and Megan, in character, standing in for Randall's real life experience. But the fact is, Randall clearly marks when he intentionally has multiple comics that build directly upon each other, see [[:Category:Comic series]]. If xkcd were a story driven web comic we'd have to point out that Cueball and Megan have been married several times, as well as been flirtatious with other characters, had children both in and out of wedlock. It's much more easily explained that this comic is Randall and his wife merely drawn "in the style of". Ignoring an unusually personal comic for the sake of consistent character naming seems absurd to me. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:50, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Panel 3 is possible reference/inspiration for comic [[1024: Error Code]]--[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 18:56, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

:Given what we know from Randall's past two years, I would rather infer that comic 1024 was inspired by one of these activities as seen in panels 3 and 8. [[Special:Contributions/46.142.57.253|46.142.57.253]] 19:43, 30 November 2012 (UTC) madd

::I was leaning towards the trip in panel 3 inspiring comic 1024 rather than referencing it as well. [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 20:50, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

Sooo... Because the clipboard-holding character in the first panel is a woman, we assume she's a nurse instead of a doctor?

:Seriously the clipboard-holding character is much more likely to be a doctor than a nurse if they are communicating actual results of medical tests.--[[Special:Contributions/71.251.30.68|71.251.30.68]] 03:58, 6 December 2012 (UTC)Anonymous

Hey I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask questions, but I don't really get why the waiter says eww at the end? Thanks in advance! Love this site! {{unsigned|169.229.101.43|12:29, 6 December 2012 (UTC)}}

The waiter says "eww" at the end because, instead of celebrating a wedding anniversary (or similar) which is what he is expecting, the couple are celebrating a "biopsy-versary". It's the contrast between the mental image of what happens in a biopsy with the emotions of what is normally expected when celebrating an anniversary (eg wedding anniversary as opposed to cutting-a-hole-in-you anniversary).[[Special:Contributions/203.1.252.5|203.1.252.5]] 03:38, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

It's the equivalent of "yuck" and similar expressions of moderate gross-out. [[Special:Contributions/109.154.103.101|109.154.103.101]] 09:34, 7 December 2012 (UTC)