explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests

2025-07-18T04:55:38Z

Grep: /* Do you want expxkcd.com? */ new section

<noinclude>{{Community links}}
__NEWSECTIONLINK__
{|-
|valign="top" width="100%"|[[File:Mop.svg|left|120px]] <big><big>Admin requests</big></big>

 Welcome to your mother's basement! Problems requiring assistance from an [[explain xkcd:Administrators|admin]]. User problems, changes to protected pages, more user rights etc. {{AddNewSection|Page=Explain XKCD:Community portal/Admin requests|Text=(+post)}}
|}
{{cot|List of current admins}}
These users currently have the admin status: 
{{Special:ListUsers/sysop}}
Please note that only [[User:Kynde]], [[User:Jacky720]], and [[User:Theusaf]] are active admins as of April 2025. All other listed admins, including the owner of the wiki, [[User:Jeff]], have been inactive for a long time.
{{cob}}</noinclude>

==ARCHIVED DISCUSSIONS==
<div class="plainlinks" style="background:#edf6ff; border:1px solid #a7d7f9; margin:1em auto 1em auto; width:100%; font-size: 120%; padding: 0.5ex; text-align: center;">Most of the discussions on this page have been archived. The archive is available at '''[[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Admin requests]]'''.</div>

== Racism on Main Page ==
There are some extremely racist comments on the main page. See https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Please remove immediately!
Can admins please delete the racist comments on the main page?
The user who wrote these racist comments has the IP address of 162.158.146.163. Please block!

Edit: Resolved. Thanks :)

== Convert to real X-Forwarded-For IP addresses? ==

Can you admins do the https://serverfault.com/a/526551 thing so you can block by real IP addresses and ranges? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.134|172.70.211.134]] 15:45, 22 July 2022 (UTC)
:That is out of my league. But maybe some of the other clever admins may know what if that can be used? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:07, 22 July 2022 (UTC)

==Install anti-spam programs==
I think it’s time to install some sort of automated anti-spam programs that can catch these spammers fast.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.91|172.70.130.91]] 06:30, 24 July 2022 (UTC)

I don't want to be disrespectful, but it seems that the current set of admins lacks the collective time or ability to upgrade Mediawiki/MySQL and install widely available anti-vandalism and anti-spam measures. But you have perhaps the most technically inclined, supportive, and motivated audience you could hope for here. Why not use the main page top banner to ask for expert Mediawiki volunteers or if that doesn't work, funds to hire such a consultant to upgrade blocking and filtering tools or a new hosting solution if needed? I believe you'd be surprised with the extent of community support you can muster, and manually chasing vandalism is becoming tiresome. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.90|172.70.211.90]] 07:28, 24 July 2022 (UTC)
:I've been chasing jeff for months now because he's the only one with access to the server. I know he's alive and still active online, but he clammed up partway through the previous wave of heavy spam and the email chain is just 20 of my own emails, I'll get through eventually. '''[[User:Davidy22|y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:10, 24 July 2022 (UTC)
::[https://twitter.com/jeff_underscore @jeff_underscore] tweeted four days ago. Would it help if we launched a Twitter campaign to get him on board with a server update fundraiser, or something? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.43|172.70.214.43]] 03:36, 25 July 2022 (UTC)
::: Anyone with the skills and experience should tweet him to take him up on [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:Jeff&diff=211706&oldid=211700 his offer,] IMHO. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.118.39|162.158.118.39]] 04:12, 25 July 2022 (UTC)

::::wait, don't we already have reCAPTCHA? that should at least stop the bots and slow spams. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.216|172.71.146.216]] 00:35, 24 February 2025 (UTC)
::::: We do, but users who are autoconfirmed don't have to do the captcha, which is something like 50 edits. It probably does slow them down, having to do most things manually, but I don't doubt that there are ways to automatically circumvent a captcha. [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 04:56, 24 February 2025 (UTC)
:::::: I tend to never say any details about ''what'' the autoconfirm thresholds are, on the basis that anyone trying to game the system doesn't have an idea of "Ah.... now just twenty more manual 'edits' to go and I can fire up my VandalBot script!". Especially the ones who are likely to attain the achievement by making inoccuous and actually useful-looking edits, who then need to be really dedicated to keep on doing this, even though they have the ultimate aim of subverting the whole lot. But it takes all sorts, so obviously there are those who wouldn't find that a problem at all. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.69|162.158.74.69]] 22:06, 24 February 2025 (UTC)
:Yeah, and also, what are these spam edits anyways? Some are just [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Prescriptions&action=history redirects to random comics] added to obscure pages like [[Prescriptions]]. What's the point in vandalising a page that's not advertised anywhere? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:36, 24 February 2025 (UTC)
::It's bored idiots who have nothing better to do with their life. ''Possibly'' (in certain events in the past) there ''were'' organised vandalisms that might have had people, on some obscure forum in the grey areas of the web, chatting about their particular contribution to the 'raid' that their particular group of saddos had decided to send against the latest target''--du-jour''. But there's always going to be people happy to despoil someone else's work just because "they can", who might find this place and decide that they can get their 'shitz'n'giggles' from it. I've seen other places completely overrun (either a completely overwhelming individual or a raid), because there weren't enough valid anti-vandals (whether fellow users or, where they can't do enough, a constant moderation team). Luckily, we're not in danger of that; generally we more than handle it, and even a particularly rough period (like on occasion) tends to get a major pushback from the 'regulars'. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.69|162.158.74.69]] 22:06, 24 February 2025 (UTC)

== Basic punctuation standards ==
Can we please have some agreement that <code>."</code> is better than <code>".</code>? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.29|172.71.150.29]] 07:08, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
:That would depend.
When asked "How do you deal with endquote punctuation in quoted speech?" he answered "Yes," with a definite nod of his head, "I would always try to put the punctuation before the quote."
:...that is how I was taught to do it, <mumble>fumphty-fumph</mumble> years ago, and when it is clear quoted speech (with 66s, 99s) then that's probably best. Except when it might confuse, but then a rewrite (or clearly indicated paraphrase/part-quote) might be useful. You'll note I example-quote 'wrongly' in some places below, to accomodate other factors. Like an exclamation point as a feature of the holding sentence that makes no sense at all to be translated to within the quoted sentence(-fragmant).
On the other hand providing "a set of words", with no clear quotation to them, ellicits no such compunction.
:...it gets a bit hazy, because a partial quote of a real full sentence (or an incomplete/incompleted quote) could go either way. But I would not consider "a set of words," to be sensible.
If you give a "list", "spread" or "set" of singular terms then no, or even compounded ones if they are ultimately the "be-all" and "end-all".
:...noting that I might personally single-quote in this case (I know not why I have adopted this principle, exactly), though I've often seen such things changed by others and it may be more contested than even the terminator punctuation. I might say that the 'true' difference is whether it is a definite "literal", insofar as meaning, or somewhat 'ad hoc', 'foreignish' or just plain constructed.
:But this is just my opinion. And, regardless of my preference to quote-punctuation ordering, I've seen several recent occasions where paren-punctuation ordering was totally off (IMO). Either "...at the end of a sentence (an aside.)", which should have been "... (an aside)." instead, or "(As a whole aside of its own)." for which it ''must'' surely be "(As ... of its own.)"
:Now, obviously too much ()ing is awkward, especially if nested, but I prefer the clearer in/out indication than other methods — like the mdash — which seem to be the favoured method by some editors — and, even more confusingly, often without spacing both sides. (Like "...by some editors—and, even more confusingly..."! Looks more like a hyphen, despite "—” and "–”-users changing hyphens-used-as-dashes to one or other of the dashes to try to differentiate them.)
:Ultimately, though, the people here will have learnt (or redeveloped) their own typographical standards over a wide range of educational eras (or under teachers/mentors whose own learnt-preferences might themselves be several decades passed into history) and with additional localisation/localization complications as well. I tend to agree with you (with caveats as mentioned) but it won't be universally acceptable. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.13|172.70.85.13]] 21:34, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
: Better? No. Correct (at least in American English)? Yes. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:25, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

== Propose block of (an?) IP user(s?) and suppression of their edits ==

I don't mind being insulted but I think it's clear they're bad for the community:

* https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:NotaBene&diff=296485&oldid=203158
* https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:NotaBene&diff=296486&oldid=296485

--[[User:NotaBene|NotaBene]] ([[User talk:NotaBene|talk]]) 14:15, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

: As the IP who subsequently reverted those back out of existence (wasn't sure you'd seen it, but was clear to me it wasn't a useful/good-faith commentary, and now I find that you had and had certainly ignored it in-situ) I have mixed opinions. I could not have done my (good faith) edit if somehow restricted, in a way someone had previously gotten around. Bearing in mind the idiotic vandal(s) we have had before, and always ended up dealing with through sheer force of the more righteous and honest userbase, I think that drastic actions aren't necessary. But I can think of a few minor tweaks that maybe the current adminship can still hold in reserve and occasionally employ, without preventing the likes of me (long time contributor, but not yet decided to make it 'official') occasionally poking registered users' Talk pages with genuine queries or comments under most circumstances that may actually warrant it.
: That said, we have indeed had a spate of vandalism, recently, which I'm inclined to believe is 'our old friend' who probably decided he(?) was bored again. A few novel tricks (nonsense 'cat on keyboard' edits with no clear pattern to the nonsense or what it replaces) but in association with some of the old ones (global word replacements throughout an article). Quickly recorrected in all cases, SFAICT, so not a big problem.
: The above insertion (...insertions... seeming to care about punctuation typos!) I might have left for you to blue-pen out of your own Talk page (whatever the intent behind it) except for my spidey-sense saying it really was ''just'' trolling and that you had no reason to even consider a dismissive reply, never mind argue your defence against such an accusation. (But could always restore and reply to it if you really wanted to!) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.137|172.71.178.137]] 17:57, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

:: To be clear, I'm not proposing a site-wide restriction of all IP users, just those specific addresses. --[[User:NotaBene|NotaBene]] ([[User talk:NotaBene|talk]]) 18:41, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

::: Understood, but that'd mean inconveniencing even legitimate readers routing through the same Cloudflare gateways. Which are in bunches, such that any given region of the world is served by not necessarily contiguous IP ranges, thus false-positives and false-negatives. Until you blanket-ban enough to just make for a whole lotta false-positive blocking for a segment of real users once the instigator of the mess just moves on (or enjoys the mess he made, if self-aware enough of it).
::: I won't even know, until I submit this, if I'm this time listed even in the same IP/8-block as the above (172.71.178.137), but if it turns out that I'm a 141.* this time (or maybe 142.*, I forget what I occasionally show up as) then obviously had you reason to IP-block me because of my own actions then you'd have accomplished little by even banning the whole 16-/24-block of my original. And that's without any conscious intent to bypass the default allocation system...
::: So, not that you should take my own opinion as gospel, just thought I'd mention this. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.3|172.70.90.3]] 20:23, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

== Hey ==

I cleaned everything up. You should probably restore the newest 3 topics.

:It could definitely do with a cleanup (not the only page like this!), but in a positive and considered manner, not just wiping and expecting unwarrented deletions to be restored after your removal. Archival sub-pages (restricted/fully-protected) should be involved, perhaps, for reference/history (on top of the History view itself).
:Not just wiping by an unisigned contributor, as you did. I'm a hairbreadth from just reverting it all back again, on principle, and maybe someone else will do that anyway.
:But defering to known named users (esp. the admins) and their decision on how to procede. (Please do delete this contribution if you see fit to do any restoration and make my opinions moot.) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.138.79|172.68.138.79]] 20:26, 23 October 2022 (UTC)
::I agree that it needed cleanup, and also agree that wiping everything was not the best way to go about doing it. I've moved most of the deleted content to the "talk"/archive page, and put back some discussions. [[User:Theusaf|theusaf]] ([[User talk:Theusaf|talk]]) 23:22, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

== Complaint transcluded from [[user:ArthurGreenham]] ==
:(Ok, so, the above transclusion is subject to change at any time, as proven by While False going in there and 'wikilinking' everything since I first saw the transclusion inserted here, so perhaps a little less ephemeral explanation is needed..?)
:Point the first: I have no issues with While False, in general. Seems to be a good editor in general. As I recall, did a lot to counter that particularly recurring bad-faith editor who the current expanded admin set will recall. And regular editing from you, mate..? As good as anyone else, I would say. No bad-faith detected in you at all.
:Point the second: You do seem to be a bit too gung-ho with new pages, and similar experiments with markup. Just because you can, it seems. If those with the power to remove pages choose not to, then I'm not complaining, but I still think it's a bit... self-indulgant. Not that a mere IP like me can rightfully complain.
:Point the third: Clearly, among the mass of newly registered users (who never then contribute) there is a large cohort generated by some external script(s) for the intention of SEO/propogation of linky-links. I suspect that they're set to do this on any wiki that they can create accounts upon, mindlessly and with the initiating 'intelligence' not bothered how well they do it (economies of scale, as per spamming/etc) because some will do it and fulfil whatever purpose.
:Point the fourth: But, back a long time ago, our chief admin here (and his then current peers/etc?) set it up so that new users just did not so easily create brand new pages. Without overly restricting the spamming of user-registration (or, more importantly, legitimately interested actual contributors) it stymied the scripts that were creating users that then could not create (and write their spam upon) the pages they were programmed to create.
:Point the fifth: But if someone who is an autoconfirmed user looks at the accounts created (I'm guessing here, so corrects me if I'm wrong) and decides to make the pages that new and heretofor uncontriutive users ''cannot'' create for themselves, there are times (at least two, that I know of) that the mindless spam-script has not given up and moved on from putting their random link-spam upon RandomNewname's user page. And as RandomNewname ''has'' a page, it does its preprogrammed stuff.
:...and the world does not stop turning, if that happens. But it does just marginally increase the benefits vs costs of the spam-engine technique (which are probably already breaking even and more, across all speculative spam-destinationa) and I'd suggest we shouldn't be helping with that any more than we already have to.
:Maybe theusaf could add to their own bot some sort of detection of a suspicious level of linkspamming upon a user's own pages (to neuter these that leak through, like the ones that it deals with in other circumstances), but that'd be difficult without having false-positives upon genuine new users with (once they can) a genuine reason to populate their userspace with various external links.
:Instead, perhaps hold back upon feeding the spambots the fresh ground that they seem to like to make use of. Perhaps a page for "please create my userspace!" if we want genuine users (or at least ones that can find and read instructions) to get a userspace more quickly than the normal limits apply, so any established (named) editor can give them their Welcome-templated editspace.
:We can't so easily protect against conscious bad-faith editors (we will just have to deal with them, as we have done), but we seem to have sufficient anti-bot defences. If misguided editing doesn't open up cracks in the walls.
:...Ok, that looks like a rant, but was just intended to cover (much of) the issue as I saw it in a way that explained my accumulated thinking on the matter. And I clearly think too much. This is not a diatribe against anybody (except the spambot originators), just a plea for action (or, rather, inaction) in a key way. And perhaps some moderator-level cleanup, so that the above transclusion is now effectively red-linked (then delete/archive this horribly overblown entry). Leaving it up to you lot. Have fun! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.3|172.70.90.3]] 10:34, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

==2696: Accuracy and precision==
This is my first edit/post here. Could someone please include the Wikipedia link to "Accuracy and precision" [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_and_precision], which is a separate article from 'accuracy' and 'precision'? Thanks! {{unsigned ip|172.71.98.97|16:04, 9 November 2022}}
:If someone else hasn't done already, it's trivial enough to do yourself in a similar way to how you edited here, in any one of a number of ways.
:*By bare URL (shows the URL, like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_and_precision but not really suitable here)
:*As you did it above, with [] around the URL, giving a 'reference'-like link. Occaisionally useful, but a little impersonal in most cases.
:**Or use URL and alternate text in the []s (space-separated) <nowiki>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_and_precision like this]</nowiki>, which looks [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_and_precision like this] and is most useful for non-wiki links that you can describe well, or associate into the flow of text.
:*An internal wiki link is defined like <nowiki>[[2696: Precision vs Accuracy]]</nowiki> and renders as [[2696: Precision vs Accuracy]], which is common site practice (you could alse link to [[2696]] or [[Precision vs Accuracy]], in most cases, which are redirects) but doesn't help in the above link's case.
:**If you wanted to internally link with [[2696: Precision vs Accuracy|other text]] then using <nowiki>[[2696: Accuracy and precision|other text]]</nowiki> is the way to do it (use the pipe delimiter).
:*When it comes to wikipedia links, though, we have a nice template for it. By using <nowiki>Accuracy and precision}}</nowiki> (or with the underscored version of the title, if you wish) you get a link to {Accuracy and precision}}, with the nicer aesthetic. '''Probably what you wanted.''' You can lowercase the "A" and it will still link (usually... always good to check) and linking to something like a w|noun}} can generally be written as <nowiki>|noun}}s</nowiki> should you wish the flow of text to seemlessly render the link as being for multiple noun}}s, thanks to a little more background trickery.
:**If you want to use more <nowiki>Accuracy_and_precision|replaced text}}</nowiki> then you get aAccuracy_and_precision|replaced text}} rendering. '''Another possibility for what you'd wish to use, here.'''
:**Similar templates exist for linking the likes of emplate|wiktionary}} and evenemplate|tvtropes}}, should you need them.
:**...noting that the latter needs the NoSpacesVersion of the title and because tropes|TVTropesWillRuinYourLife|TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life}}, it has a slightly more forboding format, even though it isn't really ''that'' much worse than [[214: The Problem with Wikipedia]]. ;)
:In case that's of any use to you, or anybody else. There are a few more tips and tricks, but this covers a lot of the usage-cases.
:Also, in discussion pages and ones like this, it's useful to sign your contribution with the four tildes. But it's easy to forget and there are templates to mark unsigned contribution. As I did above. Don't worry about it. It just lets you datestamp and demarkate elements of conversation in a useful manner. As a first edit, you can be forgiven, but just so you know for future! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.57|172.70.91.57]] 18:21, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

** "'it's trivial enough to do yourself in a similar way to how you edited here'" Those options do not seem to be open to me if I do not set up an account; I'm not ready to take that step, so it looks like I can only edit behind-the-scenes pages, not comic pages. Thanks for the advice! I do enjoy the site when I check in! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.182.17|172.71.182.17]] 18:35, 9 November 2022 (UTC)
** Never mind. I found the option. I didn't realize the new comic page was separate from the main page. I was trying to edit the main page. Thanks! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.182.17|172.71.182.17]] 18:39, 9 November 2022 (UTC)
:...I must say, I never thought about that, or I might have not concentrated on the link-formatting stuff (which I hope was just as useful, in its own way).
:As you see, I'm also not 'ready' to set up an account. But I rarely go via the main page, which is locked against trivial vandalism, plus know that the useful editing occurs only in the transcluded source page anyway. And now so do you, happily.
:I don't know if that confusion catches out many potential editors, but at least now you know yourself. And, from one IP to another, Welcome! I hope you now find yourself productively editing away in the future, if you have anything else useful to include. No obligation, of course, except to play nice if you do. ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.11|172.70.86.11]] 19:20, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

==There's a lot of vandalism going on==

See the page history of any recent comic page. Not sure what to do about it. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 00:57, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

:Ban 162.158.107.56 and 172.71.150.83, they seem to be the perpetuators. [[User:Starstar|Starstar]] ([[User talk:Starstar|talk]]) 02:15, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

As of the 22nd, the users ChuddyCobson and CobsonTheGemson are responsible for a large amount of attacks and image vandalism, most of them NSFW (inappropiate and/or gore). Can something be done about them? [[User:Gyozaplanet|Gyozaplanet]]

I noticed the image for 1460 has been vandalized. But, in looking at the history it shows an old vandalism that was fixed. But following the link in the alleged fix gets the vandalized image. I'm out of my depth for fixing this, but couldn't find a better place to report it. It's getting too late and I'm far too tired to do more... (As an aside to what I came here for, are the above two things vandalism here? That's a rathole I'm not continuing down.) [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 09:37, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

A few hours ago I decided to visit this wiki, and got quite the surprise on the front page, in that it was heavily vandalized. Decided to make an account after looking at recent changes and saw how much there was.

The accounts involved seem to be these;
* CobsonTheGemson
* ChuddyCobson
* Cobson
* Stinkycobbypoopoo
* Chud
* GotTheJakkyDoe

Kinda confused since they don't seem to be bots but I assume they're using a script or something to automate their vandalism. As far as I know, A few other people and I reverted more or less everything those accounts have done but it's possible some stuff fell through the cracks.

Also some of the gifs I reverted (most notably the gif for 381) seem to still have the same image so I'm hoping that's just a cache thing that'll sort itself out in time.

I left the above weirdness since I don't know the etiquette for deleting stuff in this section and it would remove some context to the above person's post. Hope I didn't break anything while cleaning up. [[User:Neerti|Neerti]] ([[User talk:Neerti|talk]]) 10:24, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

:Cleaned up some accounts '''[[User:Davidy22|Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:38, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

== Opening Certain Pages causes mediawiki errors ==

For example [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals Proposals] and [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/User:Dgbrt this user page] [[User:Starstar|Starstar]] ([[User talk:Starstar|talk]]) 02:10, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

== Apparent abuse of multiple accounts ==
For a few weeks (mostly the last few days) 51 accounts with the same soon-current name [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special%3ALog&type=newusers&user=&page=User%3ASadSanta&pattern=1&year=&month=-1&tagfilter=&subtype= have been created]. To me it looks like preparation for abuse of multiple accounts. —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | [https://www.google.com Google search] | current time: CURRENTTIME}}) 11:44, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
:Now, they’re 195. —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | a late contribution | current time: CURRENTTIME}}) 17:24, 19 December 2022 (UTC)
::With the exception of being 'topical', these are quite typical of numerous other "<commonroot><randomchars>" sets of never-ever-used usernames. It is good to be aware of them, but I think this 'common root' was just randomly grabbed by the algorithm (or its master) without any particular view to be used any more effectively than before.
::I leave it to those who can actually do something to decide ''whether'' to actually do something, but I'm currently not so concerned. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.127|172.70.91.127]] 01:06, 20 December 2022 (UTC)
::Addendum - alongside "SadSanta...", we're getting a lot of [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special%3ALog&type=newusers&user=&page=User%3ANatasha&pattern=1&year=&month=-1&tagfilter=&subtype= "Natasha"s], while around this time last year (as the first time glanced back at) we had [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special%3ALog&type=newusers&user=&page=User%3APellGync&pattern=1&year=&month=-1&tagfilter=&subtype= "PellGync"] and [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special%3ALog&type=newusers&user=&page=User%3ASnawlrab&pattern=1&year=&month=-1&tagfilter=&subtype= "Snawlrab"] as the common roots concerned. Which ultimately came of nought.
::I get the impression that the limited-success script (as being used to create spam-accounts, but overwhelmingly failing to then exploit them) is set up to randomly apply two such common roots at a time (or else there's two copies of the code running, wherever, each switching out 'exhausted' roots for the next enqueued one in their own list ...as and when necessary). A quick poke into other 'recent' historic points in the Account Creation log highly supports this, but it could do with a far more rigorous analysis to be more definite. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.118|172.71.242.118]] 01:31, 20 December 2022 (UTC)

There also used to be a lot of eight-letter usernames. Too many usernames are being created every day. --[[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 22:03, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

== Current troll(s) ==
There's trolls posting extremely obscene stuff on the homepage, and frankly I'm appalled. The Admins need to take several steps to lock down the main page so that it's not possible for readers to view such obscene content (for example, why are arbitrary images that don't come from xkcd.com allowed???) Why are random users allowed to post arbitrary images that are not filtered/scanned in any way? ([[User:bkayes|bkayes]])
: It's been like this forever. It's rare enough that the admins leave things fairly open, but lengthy stretches lead to the lockdowns you're asking for, usually for about a week which is usually sufficient. Mixed feelings. There are a lot of tools that could help a lot, but we can't get [[User:Jeff]] to upgrade because his hosting deal depends on some ad stuff that won't port to newer versions. :( [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 04:45, 22 December 2022 (UTC)
:: Image uploads being open is usually nicer for everyone, except in the scenario while children decide to use it as an avenue for vandalism. I got enough on my hands already to be dealing with but this probably demands some attention '''[[User:Davidy22|Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:38, 22 December 2022 (UTC)
::: (Rerationalised under a new header, as a different issue, though also related to a prior section's 'insertion/revival' in response to the idiot concerned, too.) Appreciated, David. Noting that the inability for me to correct the account-led vandalism, last night, is the one factor that might eventually push me to establish a non-IP presence. But we had other volunteer accounts reacting fairly well to the trouble, and I knew we'd settle down soon enough. Anyhoo, Merry Christmas to you and the others on the side of stability, while I'm here and chatting away. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.136|172.71.178.136]] 17:00, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

::: I find it unfortunate that "rarity" is any sort of excuse for allowing this to happen. XKCD is a fantastic source of quality STEM entertainment, and thus is a great resource to get younger audiences interested in such fields through humor. Many high school age and younger people regularly view xkcd content. However, some of the comics are quite obscure or contain a lot of depth, which is why explainxkcd has been such a great resource for everyone to learn things that are outside of their depth (including younger audiences). The knowledge that someone can open explainxkcd and have the slightest chance that they see extreme gore/porn is absolutely absurd and unacceptable for a wiki that is serving solely family friendly science content. I can no longer recommend explainxkcd to people I know (and especially not younger people) because of the lack of modern anti-trolling tooling, and that really sucks. I understand the issues surrounding locking down the text explanations, but the images should be a trivially solvable problem. Compare a checksum between the image found at *.xkcd.com and the image uploaded and reject an image that doesn't match, or better yet *use the official xkcd RSS feed* (https://xkcd.com/rss.xml) to download the images directly, and don't allow any user edits of the images. Then you can deal with vandalization of the text some other time, locking down the images is really the highest priority here I think. ([[User:bkayes|bkayes]]) 04:17, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

== [[2659: Unreliable Connection]] ==

Could probably do with some page protection here. Thanks. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.231|162.158.34.231]] 23:41, 29 December 2022 (UTC)
:If you mean for the thing that [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2659:_Unreliable_Connection&diff=prev&oldid=303665 gets reverted very quickly], I think that's already dealt with quite nicely. And it isn't the only page that is targetted, so where do you stop? Whole-site lockdown, when the occasonal automated spam is equally automatically reverted? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.21|162.158.74.21]] 00:05, 30 December 2022 (UTC)
::Over the past couple of weeks, the edit history of this particular page has consisted of nothing but vandalism and it's subsequent reversion. The vandal doesn't seem to be targeting (m)any other pages, so protection should make them go away. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.158|172.69.79.158]] 21:43, 14 January 2023 (UTC)
:::Nonetheless, the same tactic has been seen (and reverted, promptly) on other comics, like #976. ''edit: ...and #2503 suffered this vandalism/reversion, again, on 15 Jan 2023.'' Block 2659 and 976 from editing and someone may easily change the config for the script and hit any othe page they please, not really reducing the ultimate change/revert frequency, just where it is happening.
:::I'll accept gradual locking down of progressively more and more of the site, if it happens, but I'm not sure it'd be of any real benefit to do so. Not my call, so just giving my POV... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.74|162.158.34.74]] 23:47, 14 January 2023 (UTC)
Someone pointed out that the spams are more likely to occur on pages with "Connect" in their titles. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 10:49, 31 March 2023 (UTC)

The user talk page with the same name got spammed. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.242|172.69.134.242]] 06:18, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

== Announcement: online chat with Randall January 31 ==

Admins: would you please consider adding this blurb to the end of the [[MediaWiki:Sitenotice]] just for this month?

: [https://libraryc.org/mountainviewlibrary/22032 Register to attend an online chat] with [[Randall Munroe]] January 31 at 11am Pacific.

Thank you for your consideration. [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 06:23, 2 January 2023 (UTC)
:Done —[[User:Theusaf|theusaf]] ([[User talk:Theusaf|talk]]) 23:29, 4 January 2023 (UTC)
::Thank you! I'm very much looking forward to the well-attended zoom chat, let alone what should come from the large pool of questions from international fans. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.16|172.69.134.16]] 14:04, 5 January 2023 (UTC)

Archive of livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAEutGwIQ9c [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.173|162.158.166.173]] 19:03, 31 January 2023 (UTC)

==All community portal==
Would you mind semi-protecting [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/All|this]] and [[explain_xkcd_talk:Community_portal/All|that]] page? They don't seem to need edits. --[[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 17:55, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

== Brief(?) and limited spate of vandalism. ==

It may be a flash in a pan, but there's some [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2293:_RIP_John_Conway&action=history misuse of multiple accounts] going on here as of this timestamp (with ColourfulGalaxy having mostly had to correct matters on their own, so far). FYI, on their behalf. With any luck the idiot involved will get bored soon, if not already, but making a note anyway. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.124|162.158.159.124]] 20:15, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

: He edited my user page just now. --[[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 20:17, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

: I tried to help them, but failed. I had to turn to you for help. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 20:24, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

: EDIT: By the way, don't call him "idiot", or he may be angry.

::Given that someone [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:ColorfulGalaxy&curid=25508&diff=304689&oldid=303399 seems to be stalking you], and even snuck in some activity before ''my'' post, above, I'm starting to suspect something more. I leave it to those who can do things to sort it out. As an IP, I don't think I have any say in the matter, but I'll let others consider the possibilities. (You've got to be an idiot to clearly log in with the wrong account, though, and then fail to pick up the changes with the 'right' one. And I knew While False wasn't truly finished trying to do stupid things to the site... You're not impressing anybody, WF.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.201|172.70.85.201]] 20:28, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
:::That’s not typical WF behaviour at all. —[[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.198|162.158.222.198]] 19:38, 27 January 2023 (UTC)

== The online chat s over ==

Please revert https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Sitenotice&diff=304122&oldid=239894 [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.92|172.70.211.92]] 18:45, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

== Users involved in spamming. ==

There are at least three 'people' involved here, using trivial character differences/substitutions:
* https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/ElisabethPacheco
* https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/EIisabethPacheco
* https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/EIizabethPacheco
(...in case not obvious, especially in sans-serif, the second two use capital-I (i) instead of small-l (L), and the s/z difference should be obvious. No obvious signs of anything like using cyrillic look-alike characters, yet.)

There may be others, or will be, but these ones have just recently popped up in spamming (and then obfuscating? ...hoping to be reverted back into the spam version?) the redirect pages [[Drama‎‎]] and [[Google Maps]] (see [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Drama&action=history here] and [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Google_Maps&action=history here]), though they are currently fully reverted. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.35|172.70.90.35]] 04:33, 28 February 2023 (UTC)
:One of these also interacted with a differently named suspicious-looking/acting account:
:* https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/CipherGuide
:Could be a coincidence, but... For reference. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.190|172.71.242.190]] 13:18, 28 February 2023 (UTC)
:And now [[User:ElisabethPacheco (do not ban me)]]. [[User:AndroidTheLucario|AndroidTheLucario]] ([[User talk:AndroidTheLucario|talk]]) 03:54, 19 March 2023 (UTC)

Can someone block [[User:Email Trial 1]]? They're repeatedly adding comments on spamming other people's emails. Thanks! ~ [[user:megan|Megan]] she/her [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 16:25, 24 March 2023 (UTC)

== Ongoing image vandalism ==

by [[User:Troonjak|this user]] ([[Special:Contributions/Troonjak|contributions]]). ~ [[user:megan|Megan]] she/her [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 02:50, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

I suggest we raise the threshold for image uploads. After all, there's no reason for most editors to upload images. ~ [[user:megan|Megan]] she/her [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 03:13, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

Bumping this since it happened again. —megan [[user talk:megan|talk]] [[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 07:54, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

== Fix obnoxious typo on the Editor FAQ ==

This page contains a typo and I can't edit it out: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Editor_FAQ

It's highlighted in this sentence:

"You can use the Math markup <nowiki><math>...</math></nowiki>. The other known code from Wikipedia <nowiki><chem>...</chem></nowiki> is not supported yet. It's based on LaTeX syntax and a general overview can be found at '''''it's''''' Wikipedia help page. Don't use it unless you actually understand what you are doing." Edit: Whoops, forgot to sign: [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 09:04, 1 May 2023 (UTC)

== Update MediaWiki ==

The current MediaWiki version is 1.30.0 which ended support mid-2019, please upgrade to 1.39.x or something due to security concerns. Instructions here https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Upgrading [[User:Cam1170|Cam1170]] ([[User talk:Cam1170|talk]]) 20:55, 29 March 2023 (UTC)
Make sure to upgrade to 1.35 first, from the Check Requirements section.
Actually, 1.31 then 1.35 then 1.39 for the smoothest transition. [[User:Cam1170|Cam1170]] ([[User talk:Cam1170|talk]]) 15:15, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

I would like to add that this is still an issue. I don't know a better way to bring this to admin attention. [[User:Cam1170|Cam1170]] ([[User talk:Cam1170|talk]]) 21:28, 9 November 2023 (UTC)

== user edits someone else's comment ==

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2760:_Paleontology_Museum&diff=309970&oldid=309964 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.87.65|162.158.87.65]] 09:51, 8 April 2023 (UTC)
::That word is not spelled "Ye". It's "Þe". [[User:Omg Oriental Music Group|Omg Oriental Music Group]] ([[User talk:Omg Oriental Music Group|talk]]) 00:49, 9 April 2023 (UTC)
:::That would depend. We all (FCVO 'all') get your point, but is spelt (or, if you wish, "spelled", but I would like to use the other form) that way by the original commentator. And it was a signed Talk post, not an Explanation page that needs to be standardised(/standardized) by success revisions.
:::Can you also say for definite that it was not intended by the original author to be the second-person plural personal pronoun (nominative), correctly or otherwise, rather than the definite article (under a standard reduced typeset)? No reason to change it, not even if an actual tyop. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.207|172.71.178.207]] 11:56, 9 April 2023 (UTC)
:Yeah, bad practice, except where correcting clear mistakes or otherwise sanitising something best not left up in the open (for whatever good reason). Like if I'd misapplied a style "colour" tag, by accident, but not if I'd openly written "colour" in a Talk entry.
:But not necessary in this case of language-geek hyperconnection. I think a revert/re-edit to restore the original would be not an issue, but I won't do it myself.
:The best way to look smart with the "thorn" character would have been to say "You have 'Ye Olde blah-de-blah', but I hink you meant... [etc]" and own the joke and the smugness rather than try to 'improve' on the original in-situ. As one who has made typos (but also said exactly what I wanted to, perhaps deciding not to over-egg the pudding) I would prefer even a snarky "did you mean.." reply over an invisible 'improvement' that may not even be properly focused any more. Each to their own, but my suggestion, if the editor wants to revise their edit. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.65|172.71.178.65]] 15:54, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

== Deletion of wrongly-titled pages ==
Could you please delete [[:Category:Comics with small caps|this redirect]]? [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 06:18, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

Could you delete [[:Category;Comics featuring real people|this page]]? [[User:ClassicalGames|ClassicalGames]] ([[User talk:ClassicalGames|talk]]) 03:29, 15 June 2023 (UTC)

[[Usertalk:Billstz]] turned into a redirect. It should have been deleted. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 21:10, 25 June 2023 (UTC)

== Repeated spam in user talk page ==
The page [[User talk:ClassicalGames]] got repeatedly spammed. Could you semiprotect it? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.242|172.69.134.242]] 02:07, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

:Hmmmmm, I think he really deserves the spam. He spammed in [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Sandbox|someone else's user page]] without permission. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.228|172.71.154.228]] 03:56, 15 May 2023 (UTC)

:Easily reverted, to restore legitimate conversation. (Perhaps more such attention should go to where some people are [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2293:_RIP_John_Conway&curid=22901&diff=312913&oldid=312626 repeatedly making entirely useless and gratuitous edits]...) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.86|172.71.242.86]] 08:59, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
::Those spammers probably knew the CG rules, and appeared to have welcomed every CG group member with a spam. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.23.33|172.69.23.33]] 09:57, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

== The relevant xkcd comic from not xkcd ==

https://thomaspark.co/2017/01/relevant-xkcd/ This comic. A reference to xkcd, in the style of xkcd, about xkcd.

Can I make a page about it? Please? :)

== What's a "comic incarnate"? ==

[[User:Memo Spike Connector]] seems to have a friend group of users with the names of various comics. E's been changing their user pages ''and signatures'' to match the comic pages and titles. Is this some sort of cult? It sounds fun! Where do I sign up? --[[User:AndroidTheLucario|Your favorite aura doggo]] ([[User talk:AndroidTheLucario|talk]]) 03:18, 10 June 2023 (UTC)
:To answer the title, "incarnate"=="made flesh". Reincarnation is when you're given a new body, again, incarnation can therefore be taken as when the 'spirit' first assumes a tangible (or visible) form.
:To ponder on this fad of creating comic-related user accounts... pretty much unnecessary and has no reason to be encouraged, I suppose. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.62|172.70.162.62]] 03:52, 10 June 2023 (UTC)
::How do I join? I wanna be cool like them! --[[User:AndroidTheLucario|Your favorite aura doggo]] ([[User talk:AndroidTheLucario|talk]]) 03:59, 10 June 2023 (UTC)
:I think this needs to be taken more seriously now. [[User:Memo Spike Connector]] has had their page added to the *category* of Cursed Connectors, despite not being an official comic. It's starting to feel like a very unusual case of vandalism, but I'm not sure. [[User:Tsumikiminiwa|Tsumikiminiwa]] ([[User talk:Tsumikiminiwa|talk]]) 19:37, 14 June 2023 (UTC)
:: Addendum, [[User:Unreliable Connection]] has their page added to the Internet and Social Interactions categories. Everything else I said before still stands. [[User:Tsumikiminiwa|Tsumikiminiwa]] ([[User talk:Tsumikiminiwa|talk]]) 19:41, 14 June 2023 (UTC)

== Main page in phones category ==

The [[Main Page]] is now in the [[:Category:Phones]] category. [[User:ClassicalGames|ClassicalGames]] ([[User talk:ClassicalGames|talk]]) 03:25, 15 June 2023 (UTC)
:Surely because [[2789: Making Plans]], currently transcluded there, is legitimately given that category. I'd be more surprised if it wasn't. (Until Wednesday's new comic release changes this, if it does.) What's the problem, and how is it related to 'your' issue, above? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.146|172.71.178.146]] 10:04, 15 June 2023 (UTC)
::I moved this to its own section, but you can change the section title if you want. --[[User:AndroidTheLucario|Your favorite aura doggo]] ([[User talk:AndroidTheLucario|talk]]) 19:43, 15 June 2023 (UTC)

== please block u|Vandal (and many more)==

cf. [[Special:Contributions/Vandal]] 11 page blankings today. Thanks. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 21:24, 4 July 2023 (UTC)

Actually, looking at [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:Log/newusers&limit=500&type=newusers&user= Special:Log/newusers] is pretty ominous. Nearly all of the last 500 (within the past 4 days), and also the next few thousand, are suspicious. The CAPTCHA probably needs to be replaced with something more difficult that is perhaps not as trivially automatable? And all those users blocked? Not sure. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 22:05, 4 July 2023 (UTC)
:As a regular checker of such things, I know for a fact that you get hundreds of 'suspicious' accounts created every day, and most of them 'go nowhere'. The account creation speedblocks may not be very good. Or, possibly, tens of thousands of accounts are ''tried'' to be created, with 'just' a small percentage of them getting past the CAPTCHA/etc to get noticed by us - the actual top-level site admins will have access to the 'failed to register fully' logs. ''But'', the actual page vandalism is very rarely any of these 'mechanised spam accounts'. I presume because the CAPTCHAs throttle down the 'lucky' accounts' abilities to do anything they were programmed to do ''once'' registered. And, no, the accounts aren't blocked (i.e. disabled accounts, except on very ''rare'' occasions when an Admin gets annoyed with a conspicuously used spam-login), if the actual Block Log is to be believed, but so many get created and ''never'' used so it looks like the "new user early posts" precautionary checks do a very good job.
:We're also getting that idiot (I presume the same idiot as we've had for a year or two now) who manually creates accounts, such as you have been dealing with (and me, and others) over the last 24 hours or so. As a stupid human rather than a 'smart' bot, the CAPTCHA is no block to him/her/them. And the occasional IP gets used in that way, too (and I mostly successfully revert vandalism as only an IP; usefully, I hope) which might just be lazy vandalism, on top of the baseline stupidity. But the precautions against them are different. As with the 'Eric's ("Hi, I see your website needs improving - Eric"-types of message), which also seem to be handled by the community (and/or our automated blocking/reverting).
:I don't see increasing the severity of the CAPTCHA to be a solution to much, honestly. Not from my perspective, certainly, though I know there's no reason to take my own unattributable word on that.
:Instead, we should keep on keeping on. The community handles these things as they need to be. The admins know the 'hidden fight' going on in the background, but won't (and shouldn't) reveal too much about the extent of the first-line defences against bad faith 'automated' edits and the rest. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.140|172.70.90.140]] 08:13, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

Vandalism appeared again in [[2800]]. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 20:07, 11 July 2023 (UTC)

== Ban fake IP ==

Could you ban [[User:172.68.102.XXX]]? His edits sound suspicious, and he seems to be fighting against us. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 19:41, 11 July 2023 (UTC)

== Vandalism by 172.69.214.158 ==

Large number of extreme vandalism, which ThatoneU is valiantly yet inefficaciously fighting:

example from https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1193:_Externalities&action=history

<pre>
(cur | prev) 01:04, 24 July 2023‎ 172.69.214.158 (talk)‎ . . (6,765 bytes) (-15,000)‎ . . (Undo revision 318344 by ThatoneU (talk)) (undo)
(cur | prev) 00:47, 24 July 2023‎ ThatoneU (talk | contribs)‎ m . . (21,765 bytes) (+15,000)‎ . . (undo)
(cur | prev) 00:46, 24 July 2023‎ 172.69.214.158 (talk)‎ . . (6,765 bytes) (-15,000)‎ . . (undo)
</pre>

== Vandalism on page 2805 ==

The latest comic page (2805) is currently being vandalized. Can an admin please look into it?

== Problem with new accounts and IPs ==

So I'm sure many of you are well aware of the vandalism happening recently. But what concerns me the most is that all the edits were done by many, many different IPs, meaning that we can't just block one, and this site could get overrun by systematic IP vandalism. Also, the new accounts being created seem very suspicious. For such a small community, there's no way that there can be around 100 new users each day. The actual usernames of the users seem to follow a very repetitive pattern (generic first name + generic last name + random number). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.42.209|172.70.42.209]] 18:44, 24 July 2023 (UTC)
:As a fellow IP (and not a vandal myself, at least by intent) I find that the advantages of being able to leap in and correct (often 'named') damage outweigh the relatively small amount of IP-led vandalism. And the details of how the IPs represent the (limited, but geographically distributed) Cloudflare gateways has been noted before a number of times, together with what can be done about/with them.
:About the new accounts... Look back for ''years'', and you'll see the same (or similar) patterns. Almost all the truly rogue (presumably automated generation/'registering') then do nothing else as the site blocks the (still automated) attempts to do something with them.
:The worst danger this site is threatened by is the actual manually-posting individuals who (IPed or named) can do what they like so long as (like us legitimate editors) they are prepared to be sat at the keyboard and spend/waste the time in navigating the initial CAPTCHAs/etc to set down their changes. And there's not much more anybody can do about them without ruining everyone else's experience to a similar degree. Perhaps there's some adjustments possible, but none seem necesary to address the account-spam and other precautions are intercepting/reverting the lion's share of the edit-spam (with or without accounts).
:Not up to me, but I trust in those who it is up to. To continue with what is happening right now or to respond in new ways to anything that needs a new approach. Not saying that I don't have ideas of my own, for if I were able to intervene, but I doubt it'd be useful to voice them. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.158|172.70.162.158]] 21:12, 24 July 2023 (UTC)

== Large amounts of vandalism involving disturbing imagery. ==

Page 2805 has a huge vandalism problem. Vandals (it seems to be the same few people over and over, or maybe one person with multiple addresses) keep covering the page with weird, disturbing photos and way-too-bright colors.
A few people have been valiantly fighting back but that doesn't mean this isn't a problem.
I would like to please request that the page be locked to prevent further vandalism, and that you please ban all the people that have vandalized it in this way before (and/or take some other action to prevent future vandals) . Thank you very much! [[User:(insert name here)|(insert name here)]] ([[User talk:(insert name here)|talk]]) 01:20, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

There also seems to be a parser problem where instead of vandals replacing the page source, the vandalism is appended to the end, even though it isn't in the source. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.174.230|172.71.174.230]] 03:39, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

The optimal way to go would be to add bots that automatically replace questionable content like divs and detect image/word spam (like the one in Wikipedia). They would always be on so the vandals would get overwhelmed. Similarly I'd suggest monitoring the constant stream of IP addresses and created accounts. Most editors are IP addresses though, so you might want to watch out for that. Does ExplainXKCD have semiprotection capabilities? You would definitely want to do that, especially the important articles like [[xkcd]], [[Randall Munroe]], [[Cueball]], [[1:_Barrel_-_Part_1]], and ALL of the templates (the vandals were targeting those the most). [[User:84596Gamma|84596Gamma]] ([[User talk:84596Gamma|talk]]) 11:53, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

: I agree that the important pages (primary pages, plus all templates) need to be protected somehow so that this can't happen again. It's nice to have a low threshold to editing; it's nicer having a resource that can be depended on and doesn't require random volunteers jumping in to save. (Let's be honest; the images the vandal posted could have been much, much worse.) -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 12:28, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

:: What the heck is 'Explain XKCD Administrator' doing? He seems to also be doing some weird div BS, making it so that it's impossible to scroll or click on templates or some comics. Blocking would be heavily advised. [[User:84596Gamma|84596Gamma]] ([[User talk:84596Gamma|talk]]) 12:39, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

== Becoming an admin? ==

Hi. I've been contributing occasionally for eight years now, and I think I've been helpful. But, almost half of the edits were last night in that wave of vandalism. It was very frustrating knowing that I had the same tools as the (14-year-old?) vandal, and the only end-point to the fun would be one of us throwing in the towel, and it was probably going to me (bedtime).

I don't have the time and/or commitment to do regular moderation work, but I (think I) am a reasonable person, who deals with conflicts rationally and could help out in a pinch. Is there a chance I could be given some more powers to help out if (when) such a crap-storm happens again? Thanks for your consideration... -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 11:14, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

:I saw your efforts, early on in my own day, definitely looked to be amongst the helpful editors. I later picked up several cases (might have missed a couple, that others IDed before me) after I got online, and undid that latest form of vandalism in both templates (agree with above, they probably should be semi-protected) and pages. A simple Undo even at my level was sufficient to revert practically everything. What might have been handy was one of the top-moderators being around to use the mass-revert tools to streamline that, and keep on top of the account (or account''s'', as the problematic one would definitely open new accounts - we've seen them do this before) deserving to be blocked and banished. Unfortunately, the freedom of a wiki (which I value) doesn't really work well with over-administration. But that's a discussion to be had by those already at the top levels. I don't envy them. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.164|172.70.90.164]] 18:08, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

:: Well, the 14-year-old is back. I'm losing interest in fighting this mud-fest without real admin tools. -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 20:11, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
::: We really need to stop this wave of persistent vandalism with protection. When will the admins notice our suffering? [[User:84596Gamma|84596Gamma]] ([[User talk:84596Gamma|talk]]) 20:23, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
::: I feel your pain. I caught (and had to recatch) a few of them as he turned up whilst I was browsing/considering proper edits. nd then I noticed you had appeared and were also retroing them, just as I thought I was barely keeping pace. But he's slackened off, so maybe you arriving here has made the difference. (And I'm fed up with pictures of fire hydrants!) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.214|172.70.91.214]] 20:20, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
::::Me too... I'm coming to help. Hopefully we can fight that manchild off. Also I call death and destruction to Captcha. [[User:84596Gamma|84596Gamma]] ([[User talk:84596Gamma|talk]]) 20:22, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
:::: It's frustrating to watch the same few IP addresses wreak all this havoc. Being able to ban them would be a joy; why can't we have that power? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 20:31, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
::::: OK: 2/3 of my contributions have been in the last 24 hours fighting Bozo-Man in all his flamboyant IP addresses. Without further powers, I'm done, because (unlike Bozo-Man) I have better things to do. Sorry... -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 22:39, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
:::::: What powers do you need? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]])
::::::: I'm not looking for Super Duper Guru™ powers, just something that would even the battle a bit. No, that's not true: I'm looking for something that would make the battle ''unfair'' by making it easier to clean things up than it is to vandalize them. For instance, of the 123 vandalisms I reverted over the pat 24 hours, a third of them were from the top four IP addresses, and two thirds were from the top ten. If you only look at the first three quads of the IP addresses, half came from just two subnets. Block a few IP addresses, and the moderation load would go way down. (And that ignores the work the other users did.)
::::::: It makes sense that you wouldn't want to be handing out Thor's Hammer indiscriminately, but (IMO) something needs to change. If MediaWiki's moderation permissions aren't selective enough for your tastes, I'd be happy to follow your guidance (e.g. no blocking people for more than 24 hours). -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 01:16, 26 July 2023 (UTC)
:::::::: Congrats, you are promoted, thanks for helping out. See me in a week if you still want the powers. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]])
::::::::: Thank you. Any guidance for the newbie admin? Or should I just "moderate moderately"? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 01:33, 26 July 2023 (UTC)
:::::::::: Block and move... block and move. Great power / great responsibility and all that. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]])

== Preventation of vandalism ==

I'll bet the entire budget of the Death Star II that the vandalizer is going to strike again in a few hours. We should be more prepared - I've already cut links to templates, and we should be vigilant about the pages they are going to attack: the current comic, templates, important pages. [[User:84596Gamma|84596Gamma]] ([[User talk:84596Gamma|talk]]) 00:06, 26 July 2023 (UTC)
: What do you need to help? Let me know. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]])
:: Semiprotect all the templates. [[User:84596Gamma|84596Gamma]] ([[User talk:84596Gamma|talk]]) 00:52, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

== Username request ==

It looks like an impersonator registered an account under my name. Is it possible for me to get that username? [[User:Randall Munroe 2|Randall Munroe 2]] ([[User talk:Randall Munroe 2|talk]]) 04:41, 30 July 2023 (UTC)
:: To ask an obvious question: who are you? And, if you say you are the Randall Munroe of XKCD fame, how can we be sure? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 12:41, 30 July 2023 (UTC)
::''May I have your attention, please?''
::''May I have your attention, please?''
::''Will the real Randall Munroe please stand up?''
::''I repeat''
::''Will the real Randall Munroe please stand up?''
::''We're gonna have a problem here...''
::(...but, in my assessmemt, Randall would have actual more direct ways of introducing himself to; if he suddenly decided to muddy the water by descending to our level when his interactions even with the forum were minimal; if he hasn't already been here/there/wherever all along, incognito and with/without the administrators knowing this. But Randall's technical and connected enough to not need to ask the above the way it was asked.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.181|172.70.162.181]] 15:36, 30 July 2023 (UTC)

== user page ==

how do i put stuff in my profile? others have done it but for mine it says that i don't have permission to create that page [[User:An user who has no account yet|An user who has no account yet]] ([[User talk:An user who has no account yet|talk]]) 16:01, 5 September 2023 (UTC)
: Don't know why you couldn't, but I now have created your user and talk pages; let us know if you now can't edit them. [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 16:08, 5 September 2023 (UTC)
:: There appears to be a rather restrictive page creation policy (it may be dialled up fairly high to age of account, possibly more so than any mere contributions-count), at least in regard to User-typed namespaces. Many account-creators have noted this, and had to be helped out. I suspect it's just their making that An User was ever prevented from. After all, even I can add things to User (and, more correctly and politely, User Talk) pages. And I'm not even a usernamed person. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.230|172.70.85.230]] 20:28, 5 September 2023 (UTC)

== Unable to edit ==
For the last two months, I was unable to make any edits. Is my account secretly locked? Also, I couldn't even post tweets. Did I offend you? [[User:ConlangGuide|ConlangGuide]] ([[User talk:ConlangGuide|talk]]) 23:38, 27 September 2023 (UTC)

:Also, I tried to post on ClassicalGames's talk page but it was messy. [[User:ConlangGuide|ConlangGuide]] ([[User talk:ConlangGuide|talk]]) 23:43, 27 September 2023 (UTC)

== cannot create user page ==

Like all the other instances of this, it just says "There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, or search the related logs, but you do not have permission to create this page." At least it isn't just me [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]] ([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk]]) 16:43, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

: Created your user and talk page with placeholder text (".") -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 19:20, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

:: much thanks! now to wait until i can make my own custom css page [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]] ([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk]]) 19:38, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

:I didn't want to create yet another discussion topic for the same issue, so I put it here. Could someone create my user page as well? Thanks. [[User:Obwankenobi|Obwankenobi]] ([[User talk:Obwankenobi|talk]]) 20:14, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

=== Same here. ===

I'm almost glad I'm not the only one with this issue with the user and talk page. I was kind of asking myself what I've done not to be permitted a user page, you know. I remember trying to create one once upon a time, which included a link to my own webcomic. It didn't save for some reason and after that I wasn't permitted to create a user page. So if a link to your own hobbyist scribblings is considered illicit advertising, please let me know in order to avoid misunderstandings. [[User:PaulEberhardt|PaulEberhardt]] ([[User talk:PaulEberhardt|talk]]) 14:54, 16 June 2024 (UTC)
:With a dozen edits (up to and including the above), and a decent amount of time, I'd have expected you to be over the nominal threshold to give you the right to create your pages.
:(I'm not entirely sure what the criteria are, off the top of my head, though I know it's been discussed elsewhere. And if I were configuring it, I'd not put too much weight on "the number of edits" or "the net amount of added bytes"/whatever, as it could encourage pointless editing-for-the-sake-of-editing, rather than relying upon 'time served' to weed out those who are in a rush to create havoc... but there's arguments to make it a combination of criteria. And it's not up to me, anyway..!)
:Firstly, have you tried again recently, like right now? If you have, and it still won't 'take', or even let you get that far, then there's plenty of longer-term/higher-intensity users that ''might'' look kindly upon your participation and answer your plight. But do try again.
:And I'd say that (within reason, like avoid linking to anywhere dodgy or uploading masses of total junk) you're free to make your User page into anything you want. I'm pretty sure you aren't going to want to cross any 'line' (official or otherwise), so all the best. And bumping your request. (Also slightly sub-headering, because it is rather a reply to the above header. I might just have added an indented reply straight off, but... again... it's not really for the likes of me to say, so I'm only tweaking it, not merging it in.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.71|162.158.38.71]] 20:57, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

::Cheers for the info, and for the tweak! I didn't know how to make sub-headings (yes, I'm that wiki-illiterate - lol), or I'd have done it myself. Possibly I'm just not over this mysterious threshold, being a somewhat irregular visitor with a slight penchant for bad puns, but I certainly do intend to make contributions that actually contribute to something whenever I can (btw. my own webcomic, actually two webcomics by now, are both All Ages and hosted on a well-known webcomic community site, so it's certainly nothing dodgy from my point of view). I don't want to make a fuss about it all, either. If nothing works after a year or so, I'll just start over with a new account or something and see what happens. [[User:PaulEberhardt|PaulEberhardt]] ([[User talk:PaulEberhardt|talk]]) 18:24, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

== Small css-related changes to two templates ==

I've explained what changes I want made in the talk pages for [[Template:Comic]] and [[Template:Comic discussion]] already, but I think I might need to mention them here too. Changing the templates shouldn't cause any adverse effects, and allow for more versatility for users who create their own CSS. [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]])

: You should sign your comments with "-- ~~~~", which will insert your username. And, there's a very low chance that anyone with the power to change the CSS to wander by; we've been on our own for a while. -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 22:01, 20 October 2023 (UTC)

: Added the class names. —[[User:Theusaf|theusaf]] ([[User talk:Theusaf|talk]]) 15:39, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

:: THANK YOU!!! The face of pure shock and excitement i felt when seeing this was beyond my wildest dreams ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 15:46, 2 November 2023 (UTC)

== Math Module breaks all pages with it ==

[[2070]] and [[2034]] appear to be broken for some reason. They wont load at all with the following reason:

<code>
MediaWiki internal error.

Original exception: [ZUPRak3GkbeSokPCcKIp8AAAAJI] 2023-11-02 16:42:18: Fatal exception of type "MWException"

Exception caught inside exception handler.

Set $wgShowExceptionDetails = true; at the bottom of LocalSettings.php to show detailed debugging information.</code>

[[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 16:42, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
:: [[2295]] also broken. Must be related to the Math module. [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 16:44, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
:: Full list of broken pages:
::* [[128: dPain over dt]]
::* [[687: Dimensional Analysis]]
::* [[849: Complex Conjugate]]
::* [[899: Number Line]]
::* [[969: Delta-P]]
::* [[1047: Approximations]]
::* [[2028: Complex Numbers]]
::* [[2034: Equations]]
::* [[2048: Curve-Fitting]]
::* [[2059: Modified Bayes' Theorem]]
::* [[2070: Trig Identities]]
::* [[2117: Differentiation and Integration]]
::* [[2295: Garbage Math]]
::* Possibly more [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 00:14, 3 November 2023 (UTC)
:::On further analysis, it seems to be related to the MathML setting. [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 19:23, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
i might be able to read the error if someone turns that setting on - [[User:Bb777|;)]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 00:48, 22 March 2025 (UTC)
the proposals page also went. :00:24, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[[User:Bb777|((([...]((((((((]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]])

update:[[User:dgbrt|dgbrt user page]] has the same error- [[User:Bb777|me]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 17:45, 25 March 2025 (UTC)

== Way to contact the site hosters? ==

I have tried posting at Jeff's talk page to no avail. Maybe yáll admins have a red phone hotline to Jeff? See reasons at [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical#Way to contact the site hosters?]]. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 01:34, 9 December 2023 (UTC)

== Escape speed is no longer incomplete ==

Can you delete the text at the top of every page except the main page that says ''"We still need to complete some explanations like this one: 2765: Escape Speed. All incomplete explanations are here."''? Escape speed is no longer incomplete, so that is wrong.[[User:B_for_brain|B for brain]] ([[User_talk:B_for_brain|talk]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4bo-hj-mDyOOUp_Yp0pug youtube channel] [https://bforbrain.weebly.com/ wobsite (supposed to be a blag)] 14:03, 27 December 2023 (UTC)

This keeps happening with other comics too [[User:Moderator|Moderator]] ([[User talk:Moderator|talk]]) 21:44, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

== Vandal Issue ==

we've got vandals all over [[2875: 2024]], and they're getting persistent [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 16:50, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
:At least one vandalism per minute. Even with Someoene and I both reverting, it's showing the racist message most of the time. Can Explainxkcd protect a page? [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 17:54, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
::Deleting the vandal's ignorant... let's call it "self-defense" to be generous. What exactly is supposed to be "not racist" about a derogatory term for black men - which features prominently in the edit summaries is left as an exercise for the reader. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.181|162.158.146.181]] 18:35, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
:Preferably also rev-del the revisions and summaries. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.13|172.69.71.13]] 18:40, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

== XKCD Browser ==

I made a [https://github.com/kristianbenoit/XKCD XKCD browser] in python with pygame and think it could be useful to others. The idea was to popup a comic the morning after it was published from a crontab. There could be a hotkey to point to todays discussion on explainxkcd. I wonder where/how would be the place to advertise it ? [[User:Kbenoit|Kbenoit]] ([[User talk:Kbenoit|talk]]) 15:36-40, 20 February 2024 (UTC)
:Here's a good start. Perhaps on the comic discussions for similar things ([https://uni.xkcd.com/ unixkcd], etc). As and when you get a User page here then you can perhaps expound on it there (assuning you aren't leaving the explanation to the github webspace. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.172|172.71.178.172]] 16:01, 20 February 2024 (UTC)
::You (other IP, in the 160s.*) meant well, but [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Admin_requests&diff=prev&oldid=335412 the person who linked my text] was not me and that link isn't directly useful for K's purpose. Maybe indeed I should have pointed at [[UniXKCD]], or [[Talk:UniXKCD]], but I wasn't sure that was even the best place on here. Look around the [[:Category:Interactive comics]], and/or ones featuring browsers lrominently, maybe.
::I repeat that you (Kristian, with our help at bumping the contribution here) have already now made it known/knowable, at least to those who browse this site widely, but once you get a Userspace page you can perhaps do a little bit more in your own free space and also push people there through subtle pointers or signature-links in further on-context contributions. This isn't really a place for random advertising, but definitely contextual links to offsite xkcd 'fandom' is not something I'd personally have issues with (certainly compared to some other things that might get snuck on here). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.62|172.70.91.62]] 13:43, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

== Vandalism-related Ban Request ==

Hey, if any of the admins see this, can you please ban Jupitale? They’ve made 11 vandalism-related edits, within the time frame of about 21 hours. Even though they haven’t ben active since February 28, I feel like it’s better to err on the more cautious side. Thanks! ^_^ [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 01:09, 5 March 2024 (UTC)
:It'd be even more cautious not to [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:Ash123&action=history create userpages] for a user that [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1211:_Birds_and_Dinosaurs&diff=prev&oldid=336532 was only here to spam us].. (Note to admins: add Ash123 to that todo list, if we're calling them out, and I know I've reverted some other single-spamming usernames recently.) But you just know that a ban for anyone like 'Jupitale' (as much as they'd deserve it) is going to be of no actual consequence to them.
:And hold off on all those other userpages, 42. It's not your job, and you might not be right about the usefulness of the ones you're (seemingly randomly) creating. Without even being asked. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.217|172.69.194.217]] 01:55, 5 March 2024 (UTC)

== Countdown ==

Can we please have an xkcd-like countdown on the top of every page for how many days left till the next april fool's comic? (Eg. today it would say "7 days untill the next april fool's comic!") [[User:B_for_brain|B for brain]] ([[User_talk:B_for_brain|talk]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4bo-hj-mDyOOUp_Yp0pug youtube channel] [https://bforbrain.weebly.com/ wobsite (supposed to be a blag)] 10:26, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
:What certainty is there that there'll be one? If/when get the April Fool, or past it, do we reset for the next, or start counting down to the next hypothetical New Year, Christmas, Halloween comic or "Two/Seven/Ten Years" reanniversary? We need to know a few more details to the idea.
:And I presume you meant "a countdown in a suitably xkcx-ish manner, as there have been countdowns for books/etc but not a consistent approach, just some wide ranging but apt creative teasers [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.225|172.69.194.225]] 11:32, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
:Shhhh, it's supposed to be a surprise! I mean, in my opinion, I'd rather want to see people caught off guard in the comments rather than warn them. [[User:Asdf|Asdf]] ([[User talk:Asdf|talk]]) 12:35, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

== Unblock request ==

Hello! I tried to sign up for an account a couple years ago, but I happened to sign up during a major vandal attack, and an admin blocked me based on a mistaken accusation of vandalism and sockpuppetry. I had used the account [[User:Danny E. Corchado]], then I used [[User:Danny Corchado]] to attempt to appeal my block shortly afterwards; both accounts are now blocked. I no longer have the password to the former, but I can log in to the latter account. Can someone please unblock [[User:Danny Corchado]]? If someone creates [[User talk:Danny Corchado]], I should be able to edit that page to prove I do control the account. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.21|172.71.151.21]] 02:26, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
:ill give you the benefit of doubt-done and done [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 04:19, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
::Really? You actually think this could work like that? Both(/'both'?) of you? I wondered why you (42) randomly created that user's page from (from 'your' perspective) the mists of time. Which doesn't help unblock anyone, there's not even any logic in that request. (Once unblocked, whoever controls the account can prove that ''they control the account''. But where does that lead anyone?)
::And why would you associate ''in any way'' with an account 'of no account' that was linked with vandalism? You can only be judged by your actions, as you can choose any name (within reason) that you want. "Mr Corchado" still has uncounted options left if he absolutely must post, in all good faith, as 'Dan Corchado' or similar. You've been here long enough (longer than your current username) to know all this. Sheesh... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.77|172.70.85.77]] 11:03, 1 April 2024 (UTC)

== Adding images from 2916: Machine ==

I created most of the page for 2916: Machine, but do not have permissions to upload images to embed for each object/character, could someone either upload all the images I have linked on the page, or allow for me to upload the images? Thanks [[User:Claire Kholin|Claire Kholin]] ([[User talk:Claire Kholin|talk]]) 18:56, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

== Main Page Deletion ==

Hi. When I logged in today, I saw that the Main Page was deleted just 2 minutes before by Mark Hurd. If I remember correctly, he was confirmed to have passed on Wikipedia, and other Admins were talking about de-sysopping him. Can someone please explain this? Thanks, [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 15:44, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
:After Kynde restored the Main Page, he didn't protect it. Could someone please protect it so that trolls and vandals can't mess with it, like last time? Thanks. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:18, 13 April 2024 (UTC)

== "Interesting" Account Creations ==

Hi. So I was looking at the user creation log, and I noticed a suspicious number of accounts-at least 90% of them-are being created using a <Semi-generic first name> <semi-generic last name> <usally two or three numbers>. This would be kinda weird in the first place, however, almost none of the accounts are active. That and the fact that these accounts are being created no less than 10 minutes from each other made me think somethings a little weird. Maybe I'm just dumb. Just wanted to bring it to your attention in case this wasn't a normal thing.[[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 17:17, 15 April 2024 (UTC)
I looked a bit further, the exact same thing happened two months ago as well, but the names were random letters instead [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 17:34, 15 April 2024 (UTC)
:It's been happening (in various forms) for years. Maybe a decade, if not more. For as long as I've been paying attention, certainly, which might well be that long.
:Without access to the whole admin logs, it seems to reflect the intention of 'bots to spam, spam and spam again, automatically, creating accounts they will use to do so but then hitting the actually rather effective anti-bot defenses, so they do absolutely nothing (well, maybe they're lucky every now and again, but practically insignificant successes, and IP-only spams seem to dominate, at maybe twice a week for who-knows-how-many wctual attempts).
:Amongst the current bunch randomly created names, I see a few that are clearly created around the word "Ingredients" (rather than a feedstock to create 'FirstnameLastname', which has long been the main default). I take it that each meta-pattern we see as indicative of a different bot-farmer's efforts, so this might have been started up for a particular spam-theme. Which maybe we'll get an idea of if it gets lucky. Though I'm in no hurry to find out such details. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.13|172.71.242.13]] 12:39, 16 April 2024 (UTC)
Awesome, glad that its under control then :) [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 14:32, 16 April 2024 (UTC)
:Recently created a public-facing wiki and I can confirm these accounts are would-be spambots (they started spamming my wiki until I made it impossible to register an account without already having one). —Megan [[user talk:megan|talk]] [[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 09:07, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
::Not to question your decision on how to do this, but idly wondering how many people who already have an account would want to register a new one, and why... RPing with alts actively encouraged, and nobody new joining in? Sounds interesting, but I feel I've misunderstood somehow. (And solving the problem however you want to is your perogative.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.123|172.69.195.123]] 10:35, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
:::It's a small wiki mostly for me and my friends; I was silly and thought nothing could go wrong if I left account creation wide open since the wiki isn't linked from anywhere . I guess it must have been someone scanning the IPv4 address space. I don't need anyone registering anymore unless I make new acquaintances/friends, in which case I'll make an account for them. —Megan [[user talk:megan|talk]] [[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 14:41, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

==Block request==

Can someone block 42.book.addict on my profile and vice versa? We're having issues and I wanna stop with them. 19:34, 29 April 2024 (UTC)

== Problem with email verification. ==

I'm not getting the verification email. I checked everywhere in my inboxes, and dodecatuple-checked the email address I provided. Can anything be done? Although I guess it doesn't seem to be strictly necessary. Thank you. [[User:Paintadot|Paintadot]] ([[User talk:Paintadot|talk]]) 17:10, 2 May 2024 (UTC)

== Reclaim user account "rosuav" ==

I tried to sign in to make a small edit to #2954, but I can't create an account with my standard user name "Rosuav" due to one already existing; yet there's apparently no email address on file for that username. Is there a way to prove that I am that person, and request that it be unlocked? I use the same name everywhere eg GitHub, Twitch, Discord, Twitter (if that's at all relevant any more), and am the owner of the rosuav.com domain as well. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.144.144|172.68.144.144]] 06:10, 4 July 2024 (UTC)
:My instinct is that it could be done, but won't be. Even demonstrably owning the domain (with provable history) doesn't really trump the rights of any person who may have equally logical reasons for having beaten you to choosing 'their' username here. Yes, it leaves the way open for malicious cybersquatting/cybergazumping (haven't checked the history of this interloper account, to see if it's been unused/abused in 'your' name), but otherwise it sets an awful precedent of claim and counterclaim.
:I think you might just have to accept that you'll need a (totally, or slightly) different username here. Or do without, as you and I currently are.
:...not wishing to speak for the 'admins' here, who may suggest otherwise, but fairly safe in thinking that the hoops needed to be jumped through to 'correct' things in the fairest way are too untrivial, compared to the relative importance of task and any vital need. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.120|172.70.163.120]] 11:56, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

::Are the admins able to rename accounts? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.86|172.71.147.86]] 12:46, 8 July 2024 (UTC)

:::I think I've seen it done, maybe once, definitely a long time ago, unless I'm thinking of a completely different wiki(-like) server. But for totally different reasons than shuffling usernames in and out of use (in ways that didn't involve just account deletion, which is the clearer 'first step' that could possibly be justified).
:::Think about it, there's potentially a completely separate existing 'owner' of the contentious username. There's no pre-existing presumption that "<n> years of idleness" ever makes an identity forfeit, certainly not explicitly stated. Unlike various other login-mediated services, there's no real 'private space' to argue over ownership (and legitimate access) for, which saves some problems but then renders moot various possible reasons for making exceptional admin-changes.
:::For any purpose that mattersz it doesn't matter if you sign up as <code>JoeBloggs</code> or <code>Joe Bloggs</code> or <code>The Real Joe Bloggs</code> or <code>JoeyBloggs2008</code> or <code>JB003½</code> or <code>The Name's Bloggs, Joe Bloggs. Licenced To Kill, And Drive A Heavy Goods Vehicle</code>. Look at the [[Special:Log/newusers]], and see how meaningless any given username is, and not worth directly contesting in this sort of circumstance.
:::This is just my observation. I'd defer to any actual Admin who might have a more refined opinion (possibly quite different), Or actual community decisions, by ''named users'', that firmly suggested otherwise. But it looks like there's only three/four of us IPs who have anything to say on the matter. Or it's just me, pointlessly arguing with myself. ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.60|172.71.242.60]] 14:44, 8 July 2024 (UTC)

== [[Category;Comics featuring real people]] ==

Can someone please delete this? It's obnoxiously showing up as an autocompletion whenever I'm about to search for categories (i.e. when I type "Category" into the search bar, it shows up). It's a main-space article and a cross-namespace redirect. It was probably created as an accident based on the fact that the person who created it soon redirected it to the correct name. It is not linked from any page except this one. —megan [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 00:26, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

== Removal of administrator permission for [[User:Markhurd|Markhurd]] ==

''Note that this request requires a bureaucrat, but for almost a year neither of our two bureaucrats have been active.''

[[User:Markhurd|Markhurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) ([[Special:Contribs/Markhurd|contribs]]) has been inactive since 2016 and is blocked because he has passed on. Yet his account still has administrator privileges which may be dangerous, since blocked administrators can still perform certain actions (e.g. blocking the administrator that blocked them). Thus, the account should have its administrator privileges removed. —megan [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 05:56, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

Actually, on this wiki, per [[Special:ListGroupRights]], administrators have the <code>unblockself</code> user right, allowing them to unblock themselves. So blocking an administrator doesn't really do anything at all. —megan [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 06:05, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

== The crapper is back ==

And eir username is [[User:💩💩💩💩💩]]. [[User:AndroidTheLucario|Your favorite aura doggo]] ([[User talk:AndroidTheLucario|talk]]) 13:41, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
:Looking through the search archives, I see now. Maybe it's the person I had a brief revert skirmish with on 11 March 2023. Seems like that account stopped vandalizing a while ago, though their vandalism of a highly transcluded template makes me worried. —Megan [[user talk:megan|talk]] [[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 10:06, 20 July 2024 (UTC)
::Never rule out copycats, who did a bit of basic research. Or who were around the two or three times that this particular pattern occured, before, perhaps they weren't bored enough to join in then, or suddenly their hormones kicked in and they decided now was the time to rebel. Motives aren't easy to establish, beyond "because I can" and some strange urge to act out. For a number of minor reasons, that I'll not go fully into (because explaining would take more time than I place value on their actual correctness), I don't think it was "the crapper" seriously trying to revive their art.
::One other (broad) guess I have is that it's just a 'tagging' exercise/dare concocted by the off-site group from whom the original came, to have a new member fulfil initiation. I'm all but certain that certain lessons learnt by the original individual(s) weren't remembered, yet the choice of blindingly obvious emoji-username does seem like a relatively 'new' thought, so probably a different mind behind the implementation.
::Maybe they've even now got a sweepstake on how long it takes for the offending username to be banned? (Really should have been, already, though it doesn't matter in the long run if/when...) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.19|172.70.85.19]] 11:05, 20 July 2024 (UTC)
New crapper: [[Special:Contribs/The crapper is back]]. For some reason these users aren't really doing much - they seem to edit a bit and then back off. —megan [[user talk:megan|talk]] [[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 05:46, 22 July 2024 (UTC)
:Interesting to note that the crapper reappears at very close to the point in time that a number of CGs become active, by the way. Which is absolutely not the first time they both coincide (sometimes 'helping de-crap').
:Also CG accounts have a nasty habit of reverting an error recently added by (usually) an IP, and, if they can't find enough actual useful typos to correct (the spate of searching for rogue "the the"s was actually mostly useful and correct, but didn't take enough care about it). Also, CGs tend to revert any things that even ''suggest the CGs are linked'' as if to try to erase that idea from everyone's memory, rather than laugh it off or ignore it or say "yeah, and..? ...your problem is?" and I rather expect that this comment will get the same treatment. Which doesn't link 'them' to the crapper, but does become rather tedious in its own right. So perhaps 'they' should take the hint to stop that. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.249|172.70.160.249]] 10:44, 22 July 2024 (UTC)
:Addendum, an IP (other than me, obviously) has reverted CG's genuine (or at least correct) "the the"-like corrections several more times than the one that you (Megan) did. I re-reverted them. So that nobody else needs to. Nobody. (It could also be a game being played, or some weird steganographic alteration, but I'm defering back to just being 'helpful' but careless behaviour on behalf of a genuinely non-CG and otherwise CG-unaffiliated IP address.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.121|172.70.163.121]] 11:07, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

==Ba'al the Soul Eater==
Hi, so I didnt know wether this should go on admin requests or feature suggestions, so i put it here. I think Ba'al the Soul Eater needs a character category (and I dont know how to make one). They've been in more comics than many named other characters, droptablestudents is one example, and yet they dont have a character page. [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 16:52, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

== Some IP editor keeps erasing my user pages. ==

The same happened with 42.book.addict earlier. Please send help. [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 16:05, 25 October 2024 (UTC)
:I’ve come to accept that vandals will be vandals and trolls will be trolls. Honestly, if an admin protects your page, then they’ll just go to another user’s page. There’s not much that we can do, since they’re an IP. Just revert and move on, until you see it again. We do have strength in numbers, so there shouldn’t be much interference other than annoyance. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 16:12, 25 October 2024 (UTC)

== Adminship Needed ==

Hi all, it's [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] here. I forgot my password, and my email confirmation isn't working. I'm not able to recover my account, and I need my adminship rights back. Could someone please help me out? Thank you! [[User:Davidy21|Davidy21]] ([[User talk:Davidy21|talk]]) 02:38, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
:Pull the other one. It's got bells on it. (I'd say "nice try", but it really wasn't.) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.106|172.71.26.106]] 04:06, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

== Hide the red and green numbers ==

I recently found that my talk page has been spammed. The red and green numbers in the history page are really offending. Please hide the numbers if possible. I know that admins can hide titles, edit summaries and usernames, but I don't know whether they can hide numbers. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 19:40, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
:As gone into length after your similar request in TheusafBOT's Talk page, for all kinds of reasons I predict that this will not happen. Yes, they could ''perhaps'' hide the edits (vandalisms and the autoreversions), but not the numbers. And the justification to upend the edit histories for anything this trivial (I'm not convinced it isn't!) is severely lacking. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.130|172.70.86.130]] 20:40, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

== RSS Feed Broken ==

The RSS feed has been broken since xkcd 3015, I believe due to the ampersand in the comic title.

XML Parsing Error: not well-formed
Location: https://explainxkcd.com/rss.xml
Line Number 71, Column 18:
<title>3015: D&D Combinatorics</title>

I assume this requires an admin's intervention, so I'm posting it here even though it's also more directly a technical issue. There are a couple recent posts about it there as well.[[User:Tolozen|Tolozen]] ([[User talk:Tolozen|talk]]) 00:08, 14 December 2024 (UTC)
:I will email [[User:Davidy22]] and send a message to [[User:Theusaf]] '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 16:07, 16 December 2024 (UTC)
::I'm unsure if I can do anything about this, since `/rss.xml` is likely controlled by software external to the wiki, which I do not have access to. The title of the comic might need to be changed as a workaround for this issue --[[User:Theusaf|theusaf]] ([[User talk:Theusaf|talk]]) 00:46, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
:::I have emailed [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]], here’s what he had to say: '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 18:06, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
:::{{quote|My server login doesn't work. I actually wrote the RSS script, would be able to figure it out if I can get jeff to respond to me}}
:::Additionally, I have emailed [[User:Jeff|Jeff]] about this issue. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 18:06, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
:To All Technical Users: I’ve been doing some research on how to fix the ampersand issue and I’ve come up with 2 solutions that don’t require server access intervention: either we rename the page to have & instead of & and use [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Display_Title display titles] to make it look normal, or have the page renamed without the ampersand and put a disclaimer, just like in [[1482: NowPlaying]]. Could someone smarter than me try to figure out if these two ideas would work? Thanks! '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 02:21, 10 January 2025 (UTC)

::::I opened a bug with Mediawiki: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T385938. I'm a bit embarrassed to have wasted their time. Here's there response:
::::[Explain XKCD's] "MediaWiki version is 1.30.0 which was released 86 months ago".
::::Please can the version be upgraded? {{unsigned|141.101.98.244|13:10, 8 February 2025‎}}
:::::heh. nobody can update the wiki because server access is locked by [[User:Jeff]], who is also the only ‘crat on this wiki ([[User:Lcarsos]] doesn’t count, he hasn’t edited in 4 years) and the owner of this wiki. if you have a bug, '''suck it up'''. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 16:46, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

== Vandalizing user ==

[[User:KikeUNTERMENSCH]], as one might guess from his name, has done nothing but vandalize templates, sometimes to post racist comments on the main page and other times to post pictures of a dead goat. Please block him. Thanks! --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.209|172.68.54.209]] 04:43, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
:copied this request to [[User talk:Kynde|Kynde's]] talk page, as he is more likely to respond to that page. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 05:28, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

== Vandalism ==

Hello, there is vandalism here.

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Template:reflist&action=history
{{unsigned ip|162.158.10.130|05:03, 19 December 2024}}
:Noting that this has been sorted, already. But there seems to be a "change comic-info" IP vandal and a "derogatory username vandal" (probably the same moron, switching tactics) that has been operating in the short time before the above report. Mostly dealt with (automatically and with manual assistance) but I'll mop up any other instances that I see.
:Obviously, the DUV instance needs blocking, at least so we get to see a completely different idiotic username next time they decide that their next net contribution to the world is going to be just as futile. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.119|172.70.90.119]] 12:28, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
::I would recommend sending Kynde a message on his talk page, as he checks that more often than this. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 17:55, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
:::Note that it has been sorted (by Kynde), by the time you made this suggestion.
:::Also, while it's trivially true that an appeal direct to Kynde may currently produce the (joint-?)quickest response time, that may be less true if there are other admins around and checking their own pages (and this) somewhat more directly than those of their brethren/sistren/othren amongst the admins.
:::In the current reality, it probably doesn't matter much at all. Practically any obvious 'note', in any namespace at all, will get probably a near identical response. And, in that circumstance, perhaps best to uphold the expectation that someone, who doesn't know exactly ''who'' to go to, might find the Admin Requests page the most logical destination. If only because future editors might learn more about past reports than having to stumble over whatever might have been posted to who-knows-who's userpages as were suitable for the time.
:::...it ''might'' be good to have a bit of a clean-out (cut'n'paste things into an archival page, at Admins' discretion only) to leave only current/long-standing 'needs'. But that's a job-and-a-half! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.70|141.101.99.70]] 18:22, 19 December 2024 (UTC)

== Petition to add comic 404 to homepage ==

In the mainpage, it has a banner that says <nowiki>We have an explanation for all [[:Category:All comics|'''{{#expr:{{PAGESINCAT:All comics|R}}-1}}''' xkcd comics]],
</nowiki>, and it excludes [[404: Not Found| comic 404]] from the calculation. However, even Randall himself calls it a "real comic" (see the quote at the top of the page). So, can you please change the equation to re-add comic 404? [[User:B_for_brain|B for brain]] ([[User_talk:B_for_brain|talk]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4bo-hj-mDyOOUp_Yp0pug youtube channel] [https://bforbrain.weebly.com/ wobsite (supposed to be a blag)]) 12:23, 26 December 2024 (UTC)
:Agreed! Ironically the -1 was useful because it actually displayed the real number, because of the [[Papyrus]] clone page that counted as two (see trivia). But recently i fixed that so 404 should definitely be counted! [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 09:04, 12 January 2025 (UTC)
::It would be even better if it were made editable by more users, or if more active admis were added. Right now basically nobody updates it [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 09:06, 12 January 2025 (UTC)

I have removed the number 1. I'm as far as I know the only active admin at this time. I have reached out to others, but have so far not received and reply. I cannot make other in to admins. But agree it would be great with more. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:52, 20 January 2025 (UTC)
:Thank you! You might want to get in touch with [[User:42.book.addict]], she's been hard at work trying to get a hold of the owners of the wiki. Maybe you two together, an admin and a very active editor, can create an unstoppable owner-contacting force? [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 17:10, 20 January 2025 (UTC)

== Uncooperating User ==
I have been feuding for a couple days with [[User:Lettherebedarklight]], asking them to first change their username from being a YouTube link to a {{w|Rickroll}} to something else that wouldn't confuse users in talk pages, as it had confused me. I will admit that although I wrongly cited {{w|WP:PROMONAME}}, as it applies to usernames, not signatures, my point still isn't incorrect. Instead, I should've cited {{w|WP:SIG#EL}}. After this, they changed their signature to some random mish mash of gibberish, singing off as <code>[[user talk:lett‪herebedarklight|(CTU) 4202 rebmeceD 12 ,61:70 [[</code>, <code>[[user talk:lett‪herebedarklight|(CTU) 4202 rebmeceD 42 ,24:41 [[</code>, and <code>[[user talk:lett‪herebedarklight|(CTU) 4202 rebmeceD 52 ,74:60 [[</code> respectively. How exactly they managed to flip the date and wikilink I don't know, but I ''do'' know that this sig is in violation of {{w|WP:SIGPROB}} in regards to the broken date format and {{w|WP:SIGLINK}}. After going back and forth with the user, I have decided to ask for help. Could one of the admins please have a talk with them? Thanks, '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 22:12, 26 December 2024 (UTC)
:I have written to him now.[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:56, 29 December 2024 (UTC)
::I noticed he has kept deleting his own talk page. I have just given him a [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:Lettherebedarklight&oldid=362972 final warning]. Let me know if he deletes it once more! I might forget to check it out. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:00, 20 January 2025 (UTC)

== Creating new pages ==

To whom it may concern

Does anyone know how to create new pages? I'd like to make a page about Santa since we seem to be missing one. Thanks.

Edit: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Your assistance has been appreciated. --Albert McGee {{unsigned|Albert|10:20, 31 January 2025}}
:You're a new user (created less than an hour before you posted, with just <s>two</s> three(+?) edits, all of them with the above), and you don't get Page Creation rights for... a small while.
:Maybe somebody will see this and decide that you're right and use their longer experience to get Santa his own page, and integrate that onto the Characters page (under "Real people"? ;) ), or perhaps you'd have to be a new user for a while and learn the ropes until (at some point) you discover you can fulfil your aim yourself.
:Until either of these happy events, maybe you could prove your case by justifying the need. I suspect that most of his appearances are to be found in [[:Category:Christmas]] (but not all of them, which could be reason both for or against a "Comics with Santa Clause" page), but listing them and also finding any of his appearances (including under his various alternate names?) in ostensibly non-Christmas contexts would be interesting info to start off with.
:In short: earn your stripes, and you'll be okay (one way or another). Always good to see new and enthusiastic users getting to know the ropes. If in doubt, have a look around at other edit( historie)s and user contributions. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.129|172.70.86.129]] 11:01, 31 January 2025 (UTC)
::I’ll do it! Same question as him though, how? (I’ve haven’t been able to figure out that particular skill yet.) [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 16:36, 31 January 2025 (UTC)
:::You can just go to the link you want the page to be in, but I do not think we need such a category. We already have [[:Category:Christmas]], as IP said, and it could be hard to draw a line that defines a "Santa" eligible to be included in that category. If a user wants to browse Christmas comics, they already can. You'd also likely need to create a profile for Santa, and create the category by following the [[:Category:Characters|naming norms for characters]]. Or, you'd have to debate whether to consider Santa as a character or not, since they're neither a person nor an animal. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:56, 31 January 2025 (UTC)
:::If you search up the title of the page you want to make, there will be a line of text saying something along the lines of "<page> does not exist on this wiki, but you can create the page", with a link you can click. At least if you have the rights. [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 03:08, 1 February 2025 (UTC)

== 3074 Image upload permissions ==

I've downloaded all the missing images of "3074 Push Notifications" but can't upload them because of missing permissions.
The placeholder images are all the same, so I can't replace them.
I could replace all existing images with higher resolution ones.
Can I have permissions please to upload the missing images? {{unsigned|Etwas|21:50, 11 April 2025 (UTC)}}
:You could put them all into a Google Drive (or any other file sharing website) link so that someone can upload them for you, or you could link the original xkcd links that you got the images from so that I can upload them. You ''should'' be able to upload them now, since you have exactly 50 edits and registered your account 1 week+ ago, automatically giving you [[explain xkcd:Autoconfirmed users|autoconfirmed]] rights. Additionally, please sign with <code><nowiki>~~~~</nowiki></code> after commenting. Cheers, '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:58, 11 April 2025 (UTC)
::Actually, you’ve already uploaded files before. Are you ''sure'' you can’t upload them? '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 22:00, 11 April 2025 (UTC)
:::Yes, I have uploaded images before, but I can't now, just tried it again. "You do not have permission to create new pages." [[User:Etwas|Etwas]] ([[User talk:Etwas|talk]]) 22:15, 11 April 2025 (UTC)
::I have put the links to the images in a comment after the missing images with a suggestion of a filename so the one who fixes this has less work to do. I hope somebody can upload them. It's a little frustrating for me...[[User:Etwas|Etwas]] ([[User talk:Etwas|talk]]) 03:42, 12 April 2025 (UTC)
::Sorry, another thing. I have replaced the turtle with a much more complete version, but something went wrong. The thumbnail is wrong (from the previous version) and now the image is skewed. No idea how to fix it. Maybe delete it and upload again with a new file name? But alas, I can't upload new files...[[User:Etwas|Etwas]] ([[User talk:Etwas|talk]]) 04:35, 12 April 2025 (UTC)

:::Don't worry, the turtle upload worked. Your browser was fooling you. If you check [[3074: Push Notifications]] now it should look good.
:::I don't see a comment made by you on [[Talk:3074: Push Notifications]], could you specify where exactly you put the links? Sorry you can't upload files, but we need these restrinctions to fight spammers. We'll do it for you. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 10:37, 12 April 2025 (UTC)
::::The comments with the links are in the source code of the ===Comic images=== galery.[[User:Etwas|Etwas]] ([[User talk:Etwas|talk]]) 16:21, 12 April 2025 (UTC)
:::::Thanks! All of your images have been uploaded! If you check [[3074: Push Notifications]] now it should be complete, except maybe one that might still incorrectly show the old one.
:::::I think we could do something with the links, do you also happen to have te links for all the other images? Idk how the process of getting these links works. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:54, 12 April 2025 (UTC)
:::::: Links to all images are in [https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/index.js?v=1 index.js]. You can easily identify them they look like this: static/xyz.png[[User:Etwas|Etwas]] ([[User talk:Etwas|talk]]) 18:26, 12 April 2025 (UTC)
:::::::Whoa thanks! Is it possible there are actually more images that are undocumented on this wiki? I saw a lot of /static/ links on that page! (I changed your comment to hyperlink "index.js", since markdown doesn't work in wikis.) --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:36, 13 April 2025 (UTC)
::::::::No, the others are buttons, the notifications, and the promt to enter a word. [[User:Etwas|Etwas]] ([[User talk:Etwas|talk]])
:::::::::Ok thanks! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 19:29, 13 April 2025 (UTC)

== ExplainXKCD.com needs admin help ==

Recently, a majority of my page loads on Explain XKCD have resulted in a "Sorry! This site is experiencing technical difficulties (Cannot access the database)" error. If I'm editing a page, and the above error doesn't happen, I also sometimes get "Sorry! We could not process your edit due to a loss of session data."

We need someone with (at least) admin permissions to figure out the problem and fix it. I'd be happy to do so, but as a vanilla user there's nothing I can do. (I've failed 39 times and counting to add this comment due to one of the above errors; hopefully it will eventually work.) -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 22:38, 27 May 2025 (UTC)
:Noting that it seems that several people have already said what the problem is. Also noting that somehow failing 39 times sounds like ''you're'' not helping things. Take their advice, and the advice given one of the errors (that I only occasionally get) and wait a minute before retrying. (Loss of session data, though? That's never been an error of mine. Which browser are you using?) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.58.6|172.70.58.6]] 22:59, 27 May 2025 (UTC)
::39 tries over two hours. What should I have done instead? Given up? (Latest Brave on latest MacOS, BTW.) (And, this is try 18 at adding this comment. Started trying at 12:50 AM UTC; the timestamp and count will show when it succeeded.) -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 01:06, 28 May 2025 (UTC)
:::Seems like you're being particularly unlucky (can't believe I'm somehow more lucky than average). Or there's something else at play. But the only obvious thing is that the server needs to check your login credentials, while I'm happy not to need that added complication. Every now and then I'm getting pages that are clearly unstylsheeted (HTML, i.e. the .php, got composed ok, but the .css appears not to have been retrieved/checked as the same as that last cached), so I can only imagine what your background handshaking will do to establish your cookie-held login identity, or however it's done. ''Perhaps'' the small chance of failure is multiplying when it has to go "Page please":[OK]:"Here's my identity":[OK]:"And I need those resources":[OK]:"And, to repeat, these are my credentials":[OK]:"And can I have...":...etc. A few percent chance that any state of the session gets messed up could become a near certainty. (Depending upon how well a connectivity session can be kept as more persistant and get past the need to re-establish a check every time.)
:::Whatever happens, neither Chrome for Android nor Firefox for Windows (as an IP only) has been causing me anything like your stated issues. And unless it's because my default Cloudflare proxy gateway is a lot less harried by the problem-traffic than yours is (and thus with the double problem of a hard-hit server plus a hard-hit ''gateway''), I can't think of too many other reasons to explain the discrepancies of experience here. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.186.43|172.68.186.43]] 18:40, 28 May 2025 (UTC)

::::Oh ffs, why you keep purposefully missing the point? You keep replying to ''every'' comment about this by saying "Just wait a few minutes, I don't see this issue, maybe it's your machine, it's actually BETTER for us because we don't get spam bots, it's much better if you log out, YOU'RE causing this because you keep reloading the site..."

::::This site IS breaking down right now, and downplaying the problem is not helping it. Active users are even fewer than before, and it WILL get worse despite your skewed view of the problem.

::::You aren't required to write a pointless wall of text on every post about the site's performance. Please. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 10:02, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

:::::I wrote the above, and the thing about what other people had said, but I wasn't personally the other people. Just in general agreement with them, and pointing out that multiple questions and multiple 'answers' had already happened. Apologies for seeming like a "this is fine" meme, not my intention. Only to not leave the OP seemingly ignored because it was already being discussed elsewhere. I've stayed out of other conversations, exactly to avoid repeating what others have said (that I consider either correct or likely to be). Walls of text are a recurring theme here — perhaps blame the kind of people you attract here, perhaps blame the complexity of what is being talked about.
:::::Unless I've missed it, this is the only "loss of session data" report I've seen, and sounds like it's more a client-side thing. There was a one-off SSL error to be had, by someone. Which maybe adds to the "how can we fix this?"/"what needs fixing?" narrative slightly, if it happens again, as more server-side (but maybe partially a gateway issue). Good luck fixing it, of course. Seems better, today, but probably for reasons outside either our control ''or'' the absent server-wranglers'... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.131|141.101.99.131]] 16:38, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

:::::Dearest FaviFake,
:::::I believe that ''you'' are missing the point. The site is crashing a lot, but what do you want to do? We’ve already had the “oh no! The site is crashing-better contact the admins” conversation before. I volunteered to contact them, and we've learned that nothing can be done. Since there is nothing much to do, waiting patiently, as the person above said, is the best course of action.
:::::Sincerely, Tori. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 18:55, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

::::::Well I don't know! But one thing i don't think we should to is downplaying the problem every time someone brings it up. Instead, it's better to point readers to other discussions that have already taken place. That is the impression i get from reading IP's messages. I'm impressed the site has mostly recovered and is in pretty good shape now! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:23, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

: See discussion on the technical section of the portal. It's mostly smooth now. {{unsigned ip|162.158.8.190|07:07, 2 June 2025}}

== Any active admins at all? ==

It looks like, for quite a while, the wiki has been in quite a disarray. I totally understand why activity has fallen, and thus, newer pages are suffering in content. It's very hard at times to edit or even read a wiki when more than half of the time you get a 503 error. What is the reason for that? Also, I haven't seen any admins or moderators for quite a while, despite there nominally being over a dozen. Also, according to whois, the domain expires on 2025-08-10, which means if they don't appear soon, this wiki may end up getting offline. [[User:Cock|The Rooster]] ([[User talk:Cock|talk]]) 18:16, 4 July 2025 (UTC)
:There's one (fairly) constant admin-but-not-superadmin. And I've seen at least two 'irregular' admins do things 'recently', one today and the other one was a few months back. I wouldn't mind some of the older (and especially superadmin) admins to perhaps be able to pay us a bit more attention, but I have no idea what life (or lack, thereof?) has thrown at any or all of the 'missing' admin-individuals. I maybe regret not being in a position to be potentially nominated as an admin, myself, as of the last time we raised someone, especially as I try to be around at least once every other day and 'solve what can be solved' (see below, but moreso), but I never put myself in a position to be even considered as such, and I still feel content about not taking up that mantle.
:I do disagree that the wiki is in disarray, most things that need doing to it can still be done by regular users (even just l'il ol' me, at the most underpowered end of the spectrum of editors), and if you see something that isn't right then you probably can 'rearray' it. Or at least highlight that for those that actually can, or at least better know how to do what you don't know how to do (yet could have done).
:Activity... is variable, but nowhere near crisis levels. I think it's still going well, and not ''too'' overwhelmed. We're nowhere near the amount of 'peak 503', either, unless you're doing something much funnier than me. The likely reason, though, is that there is a level of activity which is edging a bit beyond the server's ability to respond. A couple of months back, this was much higher, likely associated with a lot of 'read-and-scrape' activity from what I theorise is a glut of AI-training activities. Together with some possible changes to the proxy-gateway that serves this site to the wider world, this appears to have reduced somewhat since the worst times for this. ''Perhaps'' the bandwidth-bill for the offending institutions became embarassing and they drastically throttled back their efforts, or maybe various intermediate gateways (perhaps assisted by some subtle changes on this site) managed to buffer the connectivity better. Perhaps a bit of both, and/or other reasons.
:And no, we don't yet have to worry too much about the domain expiring. As previously mentioned elsewhere, the domain seems to perhaps be about to expire ''every'' year, and be renewed in a timely fashion roughly one month (maybe exactly four weeks, or four weeks less one day?) beforehand. I would suggest only to start really worrying if we get to within three weeks of that date, and until then trust in the auto-renewel to happen once more. Or the person (being Icelandic or otherwise) who has perhaps been manually paying for the thing (on request) doing so just as promptly as they have seem to have done for the past 15 occasions. - To put this in context, the domain ''microsoft.com'' needs renewing on 2026-05-03, and was 'only' last updated 2025-04-01 (presumably in the run-up to the month-to-expire). Some other domains do have multi-year 'deals' (e.g. Google, last in 2019, next in 2028, or X was last in 2024, next in 20'''34''', although Twitter is on a cycle where it was last updated this January and 'due to expire' next January), but year-to-year is not uncommon, and any particular site 'going offline' sometime in the next 12 months is not a particular inevitability, just a statistical thing.
:And there are far more causes for a site to go offline even ''despite'' the domain-name being still current, if you want to put a much wider perspective on the problem. A small fire/flood in just the wrong place, a single bit of solder going 'off' or just someone pressing the wrong switch/keyboard-key could so easily cause a problem that ''may or may not'' be recoverable from. Or the failure to pay for a related service that is both unrelated to the actual domain name ''and'' perhaps not even tied to the same renewal date as the domain. It could fail tomorrow, or in November, or (despite everything else being cared for) in {{w|Year 2038 problem|2038}}, in ways that neither you nor I could ever properly anticipate and worry about as anywhere like a 'impending moment of doom', despite possibly being the ultimate fate and cause of this site's irreversible and irrecoverable demise.
:So fret about everything, or fret about nothing. Don't just dwell on the (very likely) 'recurring but eternally avoidable threat' that is the domain name issue. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 22:31, 4 July 2025 (UTC)

:Not going to bother posting this everywhere else that had been heralding the end of life as we know it, but...
::Current result of the WHOIS check for this site's domain:
Expires On: 2026-08-10T21:58:25Z
Updated On: 2025-07-11T07:07:51Z
:So ''please'' let us not get all panicky, just because "there's only a year and a month left before the domain expires!", or come back to this in nine, ten or eleven months to consider this an 'imminent disaster that we urgently need to do something about'.
:As mentioned, there are plenty of other things that could go wrong. I hope they don't, but the chances are that one or other of those will be the death of this site (at some unknowable future point in time), rather than specifically the domain finally lapsing. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 16:34, 11 July 2025 (UTC)

== Do you want expxkcd.com? ==

I did a thing over a decade ago, and I'm happy to keep the expxkcd.com domain/redirect working as is if that's what you want, but it feels... strange, and somewhat rude on my part, that I've been hoarding this domain when it ought to belong to the wiki. Would you like to have it?  {{User:Grep/signature|04:55, 18 July 2025}}

1715: Household Tips

2016-08-03T15:11:00Z

Grep: Add the fact that it's a continuation of a previous comic (1567).

{{comic
| number = 1715
| date = August 3, 2016
| title = Household Tips
| image = household_tips.png
| titletext = To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Missing title text explanation and needs elaboration}}

This comic shows a person explaining many things one should already know. This is a continuation of [[1567: Kitchen Tips]].

Below is a table:

'''To conserve water try turning off your shower before leaving home''': Most people do this on a daily basis; if you didn't your house would flood and the water service would shut off your water. The [[what if?]] article "{{what if|91|Faucet Power}}" illustrates similar wasteful and destructive water use.

'''Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your home and the batteries can last for months or years!''': This suggests that a normal house has many fires at once (Obviously not just the stove- in the image fires are everywhere) burning everywhere. If this was actually true, your house would burn down, your smoke detector would beep nonstop (hence making the batteries loose their charge), and your neighbors would have you committed to a Mental Health Facility.

'''Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!''': Seriously don't do business in the toilet tank. Just- don't.

'''Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!''': This suggests that the people he appeals to typically smash a window to get fresh air, hence the expensive clean up.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1704: Gnome Ann

2016-07-08T18:31:38Z

Grep: Gnome Ann is indeed an island...

The lotr reference is about the Witch King of Angmar instead of Sauron
Source:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-king_of_Angmar

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.196.143|162.158.196.143]] 05:05, 8 July 2016 (UTC)Dege

I'm surprised there's no reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphemus Polyphemus] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer Homer's] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey Odyssey]. Or is there one that I haven't seen?

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.165|162.158.85.165]] 08:00, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

I saw the first panel, and honestly thought the pun was between Gnome Ann and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomon gnomon] of a sundial. The rest made pretty clear of what's up, though.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.5|108.162.219.5]] 10:01, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

Between the trenches: Gnome Ann's land. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.10.34|172.68.10.34]] 11:29, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

Great comic. I really like this one. The idea is old but is put into new perspective with the drawings. Guess this can be made in different languages. Have seen one in Danish where a person was named ''Ingens'' = no one. So if something was owned by no one it was his... Must admit I did not get it until the Star Trek reference but I'm not native English and had to try it out to hear the no man in gnome ann where I would also pronounce the g hard although not for the reason mentioned in the explanation but because the Danish word Gnom is pronounced like that and not like nome. We need a Star Trek category I would say! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:26, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
:[[:Category:Star Trek|Done]]! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:42, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

It might still be considered a 'literary quotation' but, strictly speaking, the line "I am no man" is from the movie. The original dialogue in the book isn't quite that simple, and the "Gnome Ann" joke probably wouldn't work. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.220|162.158.214.220]] 14:28, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
:Given that it depicts the scene from the movie that is a perfect quote for this comic. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:42, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=26686 Language Log] has more of these. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 15:34, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

Gnome Ann is an island. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.211|108.162.237.211]] 16:39, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
:[https://zgrep.org/draw/island.png I could not resist.] {{User:Grep/signature|18:31, 08 July 2016}}

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2016-07-01T21:29:27Z

Grep: /* xplainkcd.com */ correction, because it's no longer true

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

== Add unexplained strips ==

At the moment, browsing through the explanations using the previous and next buttons is interrupted whenever there's an explanation missing.

I think adding a page with the strip fr all of those with a short message like "no one has explained this yet, want to give it a shot?" would make the wiki easier to browse through and will get more strips explained faster.

:I don't think that would happen. If suddenly it was much easier for people to skip over pages that had no explanation, I think they would do exactly that, skip right over it. On the same side of that coin, If suddenly there are no longer any red links on the [[List of all comics]] then everyone perusing that page assumes that all the comics have been explained and don't need to contribute any more. It's astonishing how quickly an [[589: Designated Drivers|embedded]] red link gets an explanation page created simply to get rid of the red link.

:Secondarily, ''many'' of the pages created recently aren't being created with their numerical and titular redirects. Without the numerical redirect, the comic template can't find that there is a previous/next comic to link to. Every once in a while somebody will go through and try to notice all the pages that don't have their redirects created but it's an unscientific process that only happens occasionally. If we could get every joe blow that comes in and vomits up a poorly done explanation to create the redirects I wouldn't be quite as annoyed at their lack of show-don't-tell-manship. But, since they can't be bothered to put the date in the comic template, I doubt we'll ever get people to create the redirects.

:'''TL;DR:''' No more red links, no more work gets done on the back catalog.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:28, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

== xplainkcd.com ==

When I first saw this site I thought it should definitely be at xplainkcd.com or at least redirect from that url {{unsigned|115.166.22.158|12:45, 3 January 2013 (UTC)}}

: I like that idea! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:28, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

:Yeah! If it's possible, it would be cool! At least as a redirect. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:46, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

:Not technically the same thing, but I just took [http://expxkcd.com http://expxkcd.com]. More explanation <del>is</del> was given on the website itself. {{User:Grep/signature|05:10, 29 March 2014}}
::We do that with explainxkcd.com as well, but yay shorter URLs! Mind if I use that for our social media links? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:45, 29 March 2014 (UTC)
:::I had no idea that you did that, but sure, go ahead! If you want, I can change any DNS records if you wish to have it go directly to you guys. {{User:Grep/signature|07:16, 29 March 2014}}
:::In case you were wondering, I just did the following: <code>^/([0-9]+)(/large)?/?$</code> {{User:Grep/signature|07:25, 29 March 2014}}
::::Hrm. We're just matching with <code>^(\d+)/?$</code>. You can keep ownership of the URL if you want, unless you have traffic concerns or whatever and you want us to handle it, which we're very capable of doing. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:49, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

== Section style and usage ==

I am new here and I'm trying to get up to speed with the culture. I have a few questions about how and where to use sections (== this ==). I am more willing to go with (and enforce) whatever norms there are here, but I have not seen them actually discussed.

# '''Is it OK to create sections in Discussion pages?''' I have been told no, but there are many examples extant of this usage in this Wiki and indeed in Wikipedia.
# '''Section title case''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters#Acronyms Wikipedia's style guide] recommends sentence case, not title case. There are many title cased section headers here.
# '''Links''' I do not have a reference for this but it seems to me putting links in section code (== [[<nowiki>this</nowiki>]] == ) is bad form.

Last note -- it's understood if these bylaws have not yet been written. I can see that a few of you have made a huge personal investment to make this Wiki what it is today, and that is a credit to you all -- this is awesome! As a long-time aficionado of xkcd I applaud your work and look forward to further collaboration.
--[[User:Smartin|Smartin]] ([[User talk:Smartin|talk]]) 04:15, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:As a general rule, we stick to the standard format that existing pages follow, with an optional trivia section below the transcript. Some zealous editors like to add other sections though, which tend to be for the most part unneeded or redundant. If something you want to add doesn't help to explain the comic in some way, but the inclusion of which would somehow still add to the page, *and* it doesn't fall under the trivia category, a new section is warranted. This isn't the case most of the time though, so editors usually fold the content of extraneous sections into "Explanation" or "Trivia." We have no policy on links in titles, and they're allowed so long as they are appropriate; the link is useful and can't be folded into the section itself. And we use title case for titles cuz it just makes sense. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:08, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:We generally do not (or at least, discourage) use sections on the talk/discussion pages for explanation pages. This is purely for looks. The comic discussion section of the explanation page looks/feels wrong if there are level 2 section breaks in the transclusion. Also, if the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Table_of_contents Table of Contents] starts showing up on a page, such as on [[Click and Drag]] the sections created on the talk page also show up in the TOC. This gets confusing, and this is why we prefer not to use them on explanation talk pages. Everywhere else we follow standard wiki format and do use sections on the discussion pages.

:Personally, I think that links in section titles looks wrong, but I choose not to be the dictator of style in this matter. :p

:Please feel free to make edits. The worst that happens is someone reverts your edit. If it's a big enough issue and/or you don't seem to be learning from what people are fixing about your edits someone will leave a comment on your talk page. That's it. We might leave a nasty-gram in the edit summary, but oh well. We only ban for malicious intent. Honestly working to better the wiki is good, even if sometimes we grumble about it.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:00, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

::Oh, I just looked at your talk page. I completely forgot that that happened. Don't worry about it. Learning the ropes is part of the experience. Do make edits, and if they're wrong, we'll nudge you in the right direction. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

I have been moving some trivia sections to directly below the explanation, in order to make it more consistent, and easier to survey and maintain. Often the dividing line between trivia and explanation is not entirely clear, and in articles without a trivia section the end of the explanation very often contains trivia-like information. (e.g. [[1155: Kolmogorov Directions]]) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:13, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
===Title case doesn't make any sense===
At first sight title case in titles just makes sense. However title case '''never''' makes sense. It's worse than all caps. Besides, only Americans and children like title case. [[Special:Contributions/190.96.48.48|190.96.48.48]] 20:04, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

==New character==
As per [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]], the character with hair has appeared in quite a few comics now, and he's starting to become a recurring character. Shall we go ahead with inaugurating him into our list of regular characters, and what name shall we assign him? Current candidate names include Hairy and Harry. Anyone? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

: I like Harry :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:04, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
::Cos made a point in the discussion on [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]] that Hairy is directly descriptive, whereas Harry is not obvious to visitors. On the other hand, not all names are descriptive ([[Danish]]) and I think this wiki is entitled to create some xkcd-in-culture, and not just describe. And Harry is quite funny.
::I wonder: has [[Randall]] ever called him anything at all in the transcript? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:52, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
:::Well, he's not named in a any official transcripts, but he's already called Harry in quite a few comic explanations. Then again, I do like having a more descriptive name for him. Shall we hold this up to a vote? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:29, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
::::I think we should wait a little for a few more viewpoints to crop up. Also, can someone link to some more comics he's been featured in? I've got [[1028: Communication]], [[1027: Pickup Artist]] and [[1178: Pickup Artists]]. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:41, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::I actually like what that anon said: ''Curly''. Second choice: Hairy (being descriptive, a la Black Hat, Beret, Cueball, etc.) While there's talk about in-culture, we've done that with the names Cueball, Beret, etc. It's my opinion that the only names that should be "real" proper names are those that are named in the comic. Megan, Miss Lenhart, etc. Danish (as is discussed below) isn't truly a proper name, but you could argue it's a meta-description (one attributed by Black hat.) So that's my vote: yes for '''Curly''' or '''Hairy''', no for Harry. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:21, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:::That's right, [[Danish]] is not descriptive, but 1/ that name was suggested because the character [[515: No One Must Know|was called that way in the comic]], which is a tiny bit like a name given by the author (at least more than Harry which we have completely made up), and 2/ in that case it's hard to find a descriptive term: use something that revolves around her black hair (her only descriptive feature), and you easily mix up with [[Megan]]; the only graphical difference is that her hair is ''long'', but what kind of name can you make out of that?
:::For this new character, I suggest Hairy because it comes as the easy solution with every advantage: descriptive, easy to understand, and it's not ugly... I actually see no reason to resort to a made-up name like Harry.
:::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 22:29, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

: '''Alright. So the discussion's been had, and the most oft recommended name appears to be Hairy. All in favor, say aye. If more than 1/3 of editors agree and we have more than 6 votes, Hairy it is.''' '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' [[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 06:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' to Hairy. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:43, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. Harry would be a nice nod to the fact that he's actually hairy, but indeed it's better to avoid inside jokes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:05, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. I'm convinced! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. Hairy. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
::Hooray! We now have a [[:Category:Comics featuring Hairy]], with four pages already! Does anyone feel compelled to create "[[Hairy]]", with a brief description and a nice profile pic like the other characters? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:58, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

== Ambiguous characters ==

I've been thinking about the problem of the ambiguity of characters. "Is this really Cueball even though he has an eye and half a nose?", "This is very likely ''not'' x." "Darnit, these arn't Cueballs, these are Randall and his friends!", and so on. The character ambiguity is standard for xkcd (not less so in the early ones), and comes from the very loose or "free" way Randall uses his characters to be whatever he needs at the moment. It's simply often impossible for us to know whether he had e.g. "Cueball" or himself in mind, when drawing a particular comic (and I'd say: probably often both).

I want to suggest that we in general have a likewise rather loose policy towards including characters in the categories for the comics. So that reasonably ambiguous cases should be included in e.g. (does she have a ponytail?) This is not because I believe this or that to really be this or that; I just don't believe in objective truth (here!). I feel that when doing research :) on a character, the borderline cases are often the most interesting ones, and you want to be able to find them through the "Comics featuring miss x"!

I came to think this through now, when I wanted to (and did) list two comics with [[Miss Lenhart]] (?) where she was drawn but not named. Any thoughts on this in general? Other case studies? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
:My take has always been that [[Cueball]], for example, has not been a specific character. There is not ''a'' cueball, per se, distinct from any other cueball... indeed, there are several comics with several cueballs in-frame, and that is the point. I see the cueball character as a wildcard character (pun intended) ready to stand in for anybody (and ''not'' necessarily just Randall; I think those readers who suggest "this ''is'' Randall" are missing the point; he's way more META than that...) [[Megan]], while slightly less generic, still remains the female wild-card significant-other, while Curls seems to be a not-significant-other female used to illustrate a relationship that is transient. Other characters come and go, and when it's important to visually distinguish them from others in the frame, they're given additional characteristics, to wit [[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], etc.
:Unfortunately, that viewpoint is not commonly held, so I daresay I'm in the minority here.
:-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

== Note at the top, about the server error ==

:''This thread was moved to [[MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice]]''

== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==

This does move it to above the line, and the rule stops early. Undo my change if that's more bothering than when the TOC is displayed as "add a comment!Discussion"...

I don't know how to automatically treat level 2 headers as level 3. That may be why Discussion was a level 1 heading earlier.
[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:16, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:Actually I now noticed there was a short edit war at {{tl|comic discussion}} over whether it should be a level 1 heading, just for this reason. [[User:Waldir]] seems to have conceeded... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:25, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

:: No edit war, hence no (intentional) concession. I reverted a change once, and didn't notice the change being re-implemented by another user. In any case, it is irrelevant now since we actively discourage using headers in talk pages precisely so that they don't display in the TOC for the main comic page, where the discussion page is transcluded to (see the discussion [[#Section style and usage|above]]). This might not scale well for comics that generate lots of discussion. It might be worth discussing our customs (and perhaps write them down somewhere) before performing such changes. What do others think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

== Time: The Table ==

Right now on the page [[1190: Time]], we have a whole bunch of tables in the form image-time-hash. The tables take up heaps of vertical space and all have to be collapsed to even be remotely traversible. I propose that we aggregate all the images into one table after Time ends, like so:

{| class="wikitable plainlinks table-padding"
|-
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
|-
|[[Media:time.png|00:00]]||01/00:00||[[Media:time.png|10:00]]||01/10:00||[[Media:time.png|20:00]]||01/20:00||[[Media:time.png|30:00]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS
|-
|[[Media:time.png|00:30]]||01/00:30||[[Media:time.png|10:30]]||01/10:30||[[Media:time.png|20:30]]||01/20:30||[[Media:time.png|30:30]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS
|}

The hash values aren't really a part of the comic, they're gibberish for the most part and they take up space that could be used to compact the table, as shown above. Even if we are conservative and make the table only five columns wide to account for smaller screens, we've divided scrolling time by five and eliminated much of the need for annoying collapsed tables and section headers for each day. Constructing the table shouldn't be particularly hard either, as all our current data is in nice regular tables with clear patterns that are easy enough to parse through.

I'm putting this here because the organization of the frame entries would be unintuitive and difficult to change from the edit window, which would make it a poor choice when we're still expanding it and don't even know how long the comic will continue for. It's merely a space-saving trick for after we're sure that the comic is over. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

:Oh and it'd be really nice if other people could also upload images if you're awake and a new one rolls by. There's gaps in the image record every time I wake up, and I dun likey. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
:Good work so far; go ahead make it better! :) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:34, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

==Featured Explanation, and Archival?==

* Wikipedia has featured content. Now that we are close to reaching the goal of all comics explained, I think it makes more sense to have a "featured explanation" which would serve as a sort of a marker for a complete and good explanation. Many comics, and almost all charts are not fully explained/not a good quality explanation.

* We should set up archival of discussion of the most discussed pages, like this one. Its not very pleasing to see comments from July 2012 still lying around here. It becomes hectic at some point.

Just my 2 cents, feel free to discuss. Cheers,
[[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.180|117.194.88.180]] 13:36, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

:We dedicate this wiki to explaining xkcd, and we do actually have a featured comic feature; it changes every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we usually manage to fill out the explanation for it within an hour or so of it going up. The most recent comic tends to be the one that most people visiting the wiki care about, so we give it prime space on the front page so they can find it easily. xkcd updates frequently enough that there isn't really that big of a time window for us to feature an article on our front page. Also, we're a volunteer project with quite a bit less manpower than Wikipedia.
:We do need to archive talk pages though. Some of these are getting ridiculously long. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:04, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::I agree with Davidy22. Archiving topics can be done by anyone, by moving resolved threads to the portal section's corresponding [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals|talk page]]. We could start with the threads marked "✓ Closed". [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

:: The reason I asked for a "featured explanation" was because many of the comic explanations we currently have are sub-par, and we're almost at our initial goal of explaining all comics. A "featured explanation" would drive our editors towards the goal of having complete and good explanation towards all comics, and would allow us to know which explanations need elaboration.
:: P.S. My definition of complete explanation would be - To have a good explanation, To have all categories relevant, To link to any comics related and To explain any technical portions of the comic.
:: [[Special:Contributions/117.194.82.49|117.194.82.49]] 07:45, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
:::That message on the front page is going to link to all the pages marked by the incomplete template. If you find an unsatisfactory explanation, please mark it with <nowiki>{{incomplete}}</nowiki> '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
:::: By my definition, I think all comics will be incomplete. An incomplete template will be focused more towards improving the worst explanations, while a featured one will be to improve the best ones. Since we already have the former, we should focus on the latter. Just my 2 cents. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.85.82|117.194.85.82]] 06:55, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

== Split the list of all comics ==

[[List of all comics]] is getting larger and larger, which makes it hard to read and hard to edit. How about splitting into parts, say [[List of all comics/1-1000]], [[List of all comics/1001-2000]], etc., or something to that effect? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

: Done. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.176|117.194.88.176]] 10:03, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
::Great job, thanks! [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:09, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
:::And I've added back [[List of all comics (full)]], which allows, for example, listing all comics by alphabetical order.[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

== Sidebar ads ==

''Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]] –– [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)''

Are they generating significant money? The ones I see are pretty sleazy looking and/or scammy - "Power Companies Hate this Device! - click here to break the laws of thermodynamics!" and "Debt relief program click here to lose more money". How much money are they generating? Can you set any selections to remove the sleazy ads? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 18:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
:Do we have sleazy sidebar ads? Since when? Thanks Google Chrome and AdBlock, I had no idea! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 07:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
::People give 20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks on explainxkcd, and Jeff uses that money to buy a faster server with a hard drive that doesn't have less space than a public toilet with an elephant in it. It'd be really nice if you didn't turn on adblock, the money is appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:::It's a question of me not turning it off specifically every time I visit this site. More importantly, I do think people would be more likely to click the "donate" if it weren't irrelevant ads around it. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:29, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:::Generating money is a great thing. Getting "20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks" is a bit unclear. Do the ads only generate revenue when clicked on? So EXKCD only gets money when someone actually falls for the sleazy ads? I know lots of people do not like Google - but at least their adsense stuff is relevant to the content of the website, which might generate some legitimate traffic for a legitimate advertiser.... [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 11:48, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
::::Welllll, I didn't pick the ad supplier. You could bring it up with [[User talk:Jeff|Jeff]] if you want, I think he picked the ad provider on basis of which one had a mediawiki plugin or something. If you can link Jeff to a quick and easy way to put adsense on mediawiki, he should change it quickly enough. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::And I also gather then that they are only a temporary thing? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:27, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::Until we can buy a server that doesn't poop itself every time a new comic is released, the ads are staying. If you want them to go away sooner, throw more money at Jeff. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::: The ads are crap. For sure. Wish I didn't have to run them, but I don't trust donations alone to hold up continually some better hosting. The ads really don't bring in that much $$$. I had google adsense before, but Google shutdown my adsense account for unnamed reason after 1 week. This new ad service is way sketchier. If you all think they don't have a place here, I'll ax 'em. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::: Thanks for the info Jeff. How much ad money are we talking about? Is it calculated on how many ads are displayed or how many are clicked-through? How close to the goal is the server fund? How about a Kickstarter campaign for the server? $10 gets your name on a thankyou webpage or something like that. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::::: It ain't much, last I looked it was $2 or $3 in 2 weeks. I believe it is based on clicks, it is not nearly as clear as Google adsense. I'm not really interested in doing a Kickstarter. I think the donations will cover the initial start up, I just want to be able to cover the monthly costs as well. A few things are still up in the air. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:24, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::Can you find a way to show the donations and ad income on the site, to make it transparent? ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:30, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::::: How about a donation amount that you'll take to turn it (the annoying unethical scummy ads) off for a year? Give me a dollar value and I might step up for the good of us all! [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 16:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

== Economic transparency ==

I think this is very important: How can we make the donations and ad-income transparent, so that we all can see when and how much money is coming in, and how far we are from reaching our goal? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:35, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
: Sounds fine to me, I think I can put something together. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 28 May 2013 (UTC)
::Hi, may I bump this issue? Or maybe you have done something, and I missed it? Anyway, I would still appreciate it! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:43, 22 February 2014 (UTC)
:::Numberssss. I'll get on with it, just need less homework and a few more numbers. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

I would like to respectfully file a complain. I find the banner advertisement of background checks distasteful. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 05:10, 15 July 2014 (UTC)
: Hey [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] - I am the one who approved those ads. But, since you have filed a complaint about them, I have gone ahead and removed them. Thanks. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:52, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

I thank you. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 03:36, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

== Using <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> in transcripts to improve accuracy ==

In the transcripts, <nowiki>[[lines]]</nowiki> are being changed to [lines] in order to avoid auto-linking. Why not just surround these with <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> tags and avoid the problem entirely? --[[User:Epauley|Epauley]] ([[User talk:Epauley|talk]]) 04:18, 16 June 2013 (UTC)
:Because it takes less time to type and single brackets are just as readable as double brackets to visitors. It's also a bit more readable in the editor. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:55, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

== Strip Title ==

For someone who commonly browses explainxkcd in place of xkcd, and hence often see the strips for the first time here rather than the parent site, I find it somewhat odd that the 'Title Text' is so poorly displayed given how critical it can be to the strip.

I propose that, while retaining the given name (perhaps moving it top left), the title text be enlarged and relocated to being over the strip as originally intended. {{unsigned ip|175.41.133.18}}
:The title text is placed very well at bottom of the image.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:20, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

:I would have to agree with Dgbrt, it's placed nicely at the bottom, and there is no need for it to be moved. My reasoning is that you never actually read the title text first, you read it last. Making it <code>text-align: left;</code> does not make sense, because the image is centered (just like on xkcd.com). I also believe that there is no need for it to be re-sized, mainly due to the fact that it is slightly larger than the title text (for me, at least). {{User:Grep/signature|05:18, 08 September 2013}}

:Plus, if you hover over the image, it's the same as on xkcd.com {{User:Grep/signature|06:13, 08 September 2013}}

:I also agree with Dgbrt and Grep. The title text is kind of a bonus and should not be emphasized more than on the original page. On the original site you only see it before the image, if you have very slow internet access (or very fast eyes) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:06, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

== Sections in talk pages ==

Is there a reason why there are no sections in talk pages? It is not a very big deal, but especially for longer talk pages it would make editing be much handier, especially when using the preview function (not having to find the section every time). Also it automatically adds a description to the history (thus makes it more easy to look for certain edits, or decide by just looking at the [[Special:RecentChanges]], if a comment should concern you. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
:When discussion pages are transcluded by the comic discussion template, section headers carry over from talk pages and bad things happen. Using ; to denote headers instead of equals signs works well, and doesn't share transclusion pain. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

== references ==

Any chance we can add [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php cite.php] to this wiki? Most pages don't need it, but some comics take on a life of their own and being able to add reference tags would be really helpful for those. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 01:33, 9 October 2013 (UTC)
: Cite has been added to the wiki. Thanks for the suggestion! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:35, 17 October 2013 (UTC)

== Stylized writing ==

I understand that this wiki isn't as formal as wikipedia or sites like that but it seems that there are a few questionable practices:

1. The use of questions - when a non-rhetorical or unnecessary question is entered into the explanation.

2. Extremely painted/biased view points - when there is obvious bias in the tone of the explanation of the contributor, in other
words; a lack of neutrality.

3. Extreme repetition/rehashing - the explanation restates things and makes for a long and tedious read when a more straight-forward explanation is possible and clearer.

4. The general informality - "This one's an easy one" "This is simple" "this one's straightforward" "You're an idiot for not understanding this one" etc.

5. Many other practices that make the explanation hard to read, difficult to understand, or plain ugly.

I know that there are disparaging view points on how a comic should be explained, but please let's clean up the site a bit, acknowledge each view point and report on all of them and then tighten up the sloppy writing. Carry out arguments in the talk section, not the explanation. Perhaps we could first try to say the majority view point on the interpretation and then write the alternate explanations, of course this would bring up the debate on which is the majority explanation. Either way, more complete, logical explanations should be given more credence. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

:I agree with 2-5. 1, on the other hand, is sometimes useful and can contribute the to explanation, although 1 is still a very good point. I would say that you should edit it to have "arguments in the talk" be a 6th point as well. Unfortunately, though, we are not all logical, comic-understanding machines here, so minor deviations of these rules are still to be expected. But I think that overall, these are good rules, even if 2/3 are sort of part of 5.
:[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]], please sign your post with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>{{User:Grep/signature|23:55, 22 October 2013}}

:I understand the use of questions in certain parts. And it was probably better to put the others as sub-categories to five but I wanted to show some common things that can be easily fixed. I know that some explanations require a lot of text and extensive research because of the abstract subjects Randall deals with and that it's difficult to be completely standardized but I think it would be good for us to try to come up with some general things to try to avoid to help the explanations "flow" --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)
::Most of that isn't intentional, it's just an awful lot of labor to copy check all the explanations. I've been going through all the current articles and fixing consistency issues, the worst being wrong transcript/title text/dates and the most benign being wikilinks, spelling and trailing spaces. I'm at 682 so far, but my next pass will be on actual language and content, and it'll probably take longer. It takes a while though, and you can totally work on improving language in articles if you want to. Some explanations were pulled from the old blog, some were written and just got lost in the changelog. Copy editing everything we have so far is a very labor-intensive job, and the only way to really deal with it is to knuckle down and do it, or form a wikiproject and hope to heaven that visitors feel charitable enough to join in on it. I'd *probably* push to finish up all our incomplete articles first though, just because that's more directly related to the purpose of the site; tone and style probably comes second to having correct explanations. That doesn't mean you can't do it yourself, it's just that I'll probably only dedicate the subheader on the main page to one project at a time and our current biggest bugbear hasn't been solved yet. I could put up a sitenotice to see if that speeds the process up any. I'll do that when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:31, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

== Easy redirect to comic? ==

I've been thinking, and there is one thing that would make navigating to the explained comics easier. My method of browsing is I'll see the comic on xkcd.com first, and if there is something curious about it that I don't quite understand, I'll come here. Sometimes it can be a bit troublesome, going to the homepage and then navigatiing to the right comic. Not too bad, but I'd like an easy way to go direct. So I was thinking, what if you had a redirect such that if you typed in, for example, www.explainxkcd.com/505, you would get redirected to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=505:_A_Bunch_of_Rocks. That would mean that you could get to the comic just from adding an "explain" to the start of the xkcd.com URL. I don't know if that is at all possible, but it would be pretty handy if it happened. Thoughts?
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:01, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Redirect_from_explainxkcd.com.2F1234 That's actually already on the to-do list.] I'm testing it right now and we should have it up soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:02, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
:: Awesome :) [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:26, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
:::Whoop, forgot to mark this as complete. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:37, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
:::: Done! Copy this and drag it to your bookmarks bar: |javascript: var url = document.URL; document.location = url.replace('xkcd.com','explainxkcd.com');| {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.29}}
:::::The feature requested here has also long since been implemented. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:20, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

== Increase support via prominent display of copyright and license for text submitted to explainxkcd ==

XKCD itself is rather liberally licensed, and gets lots of good will from that. As it says on the bottom of every page "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License." For details see [http://xkcd.com/license.html xkcd - A Webcomic - License].

But I found nothing on most pages of explainxkcd about copyright or licensing, and it discouraged me from contributing or donating. Finally, as I was writing this proposal up, I found a link on the editing page here: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Copyrights explain xkcd:Copyrights - explain xkcd] saying that "''The Explain XKCD wiki is generally licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license (CC-BY-SA-3.0)''". That notice should be more prominent on the site, with at least a link on each page. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
:This should be mentioned at the main page, including a reference to the xkcd origin.
:BTW: NO DOUBLE SPACES after a sentence. Are you US guys still using a typewriter? It's not rendered at a web page and stupid like Gallons, Miles, Foots, and much more unique US behaviours. But that's just a joke beside.
:The licence hint is much more important, you are just correct.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
::Added a creative commons icon to the footer of the page, next to the powered by mediawiki button. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

== New Comics Bot ==

Would there be need for such a thing?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] Synthetica
:Nice idea, I never thought about that before. I will do some tests on existing comics to check if this could reduce the current number of error posts for a new article. When that is ready and working I will talk to some admins. My bot account [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] was originally intended for [[1190: Time]] picture uploads, but I never have used it because Time was over. Creating the new pages should be easy in general, avoiding errors will cost some more work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:31, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
::If you can get dgbrtBOT to do that, that'd help us an awful lot. It'd allow us to get rid of the ifexist cases in template:LATESTCOMIC as well, since the bot could change automatically that whenever a new comic goes up. It'll also help us get new comics down almost the moment they pop up, since the bot could sample several times a minute until a comic is posted. So long as it gets the general pattern right so that we have a correct page set up, we're good. An admin can come in sometime later to clean up categories and image urls and other piddly easy-to-fix details. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
:::I will work on this next weekend, just local scripts and no updates here. I also will talk about my results before any automatic updates will be activated. My first focus is on creating the new pages in the general pattern, LATESTCOMIC and also the page "All comics" are maybe a bonus later. And of course all my scripts will be open source.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:44, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
::::The first version is ready and I will test it at my local wiki. If everything goes well I could activate it for Wednesday (2013-11-13). LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are on my roadmap, but first I want produce correct new pages here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:00, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
:::::Righty ho. Here goes. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:36, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
Even when my automatic local wiki test did fail today, just a damn wrong password, I will activate the bot here for Wednesday. It will only run from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM UTC. You will not see my possible updates at [[Special:RecentChanges]] unless you click ''Show bots'' at the top of that page. LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are not covered, but this is at my TODO list until this test will be successful. Give me a '''GO''' or '''NO-GO''' for this test.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
:Easily a GO, I'll be ready to clean up if anything goes wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:08, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
::So be ready on Wednesday for the clean up. My worst case is ''it simply does not work'', second worse scenario is still that I could delete some contend already posted here, but I'm trying to avoid this. ''Huston'', the countdown clock is counting. I'm joking about this because I really want to be confident about this ''BOT'' or ROBOT or uncontrolled action here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:28, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
:::The bot can't do anything that I can't reverse. I can even restore a backup from an hour before the bot's edits if it manages to break the database. How quickly does it poll xkcd, by the way? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:53, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

First live test here (comic 1289). Please delete this page: [[Simple_Answers:_1289]]. Since my local wiki did not provide this templates I could not see this error before. In general the bot will update pages differ to any existing pages, but when it is not changed no update will happen. I'm fixing this errors at my script and do a second test here soon. I want to see it's producing correct pages until the bot will do it's work when I'm sleeping.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
:Ok, test are done here, BOT is scheduled for the next update. Polling is every five minutes on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 04:00 until 08:00 UTC. Let's see how it will work.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:08, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
::Couldja ramp that up to once/twice a minute, push the start time back by an hour, and the end time by a few hours? Also, is it possible to terminate it once it finds a comic for a certain day? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:45, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:::It worked! Though it posted the comic 5 minutes past post time. We has technology now, we can afford to poll faster and closer, yeah? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:32, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
Uhh, it worked... I will increase the polls when I'm more confident about the release times. Today it was approx. 05:00 UTC (GMT) or 01:00 EST (Randall's time zone). Looks like he is still at daylight saving time, would have been 00:00 EDT. The polls will be increased to one minute when I'm sure about the Standard Release Time (SRT). Next steps for the next update on Friday are:
:The "All comics" page.
:The LATESTCOMIC template.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:The LATESTCOMIC template is included for the next run, it just simply has to return a number. But it's still the most critical part because if it does not work the Main Page is broken. I will change this to a better solution using that IFEXIST syntax soon. The list of all comics is still at my ToDo list. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:06, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
::The desired content of the LATESTCOMIC template should be just the comic number. If we can get out of having to poll multiple IFEXIST statements to find the latest comic, that would be a fantastic boon to our server performance. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 15 November 2013 (UTC)
:::OK, it did work today so I will not change this. Next step is the list for all comics.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:10, 15 November 2013 (UTC)
Next run will include an update on the "All comics" page. I'm crossing my fingers. When this update is also successful I will document my Bot at the Bot user page [[User:DgbrtBOT]]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 17 November 2013 (UTC)
:Oh, I forgot this detail: The bot is starting at 00:00 EST (RLT - Randall local time), which is 04:00 UTC and 05:00 MET for me. It polls every 5 minutes until 23:55 MET (22:55 UTC, 18:55 RLT) the main page until a new comic is found. I do not poll the comic number because I want to avoid 404 message logs at the servers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 17 November 2013 (UTC)
:Something went wrong there. That's gonna need fixing. I am enjoying the looks of the apparently faster polling though. Maybe you could also set the start time to 00:00:05 EST to catch the on-time xkcd releases within ten seconds? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:33, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
::Uh, what a mess. I will do some more tests at my local wiki. At the next time I will do a check against the number from the LATESTCOMIC template, only the next number will be processed. The test against my local history did fail because of some cleanups after testings.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:18, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
:::I don't like mess. So the BOT got many more checks before posting here but the bot was starting at 05:00 local time for me. I'm really asleep at that time. The mess here was covered, but I do need another GO for the next attempt. Otherwise I will just do a test to my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:35, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
No GO so far, my next test will run only at my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 19 November 2013 (UTC)
:My script is here: [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update explainXKCD_update]. At my current test "explainxkcd.com" is commented out and "localhost" is active. Since I don't like mess and the bot does act while I am sleeping the next update must be done manually here. I'm hoping the bot will be ready for the next update on Friday.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 19 November 2013 (UTC)
::Bot is ready for Friday, everything went smooth at my last local test today. The bot did find the latest comic at 04:05 UTC and all essential pages were properly created. So I will activate it for this site again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 20 November 2013 (UTC)
Bot did work as expected. So I name it release 1.1337, the next planed release will be 2.1337 (beta) because of this two issues:
*"Include any categories below this line." will be removed because it doesn't make any sense any more.
*BETA: I want to use the full template features at [[List of all comics]], just ensuring that the pictures are working properly. No need for this at the most comics, but the BOT doesn't cover all possibilities on corrupt file names like we have had in "Pi vs. Tau". The picture was without that dot. My bot just shows the real link it did upload here.
I'm pretty sure we will have some issues on this bot, but for general pages it should work. So the bot will be active on Mon,Wed,Fri from 0:00 EST (or EDT) every five minutes until it did found a new comic, on success the bot does not poll any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
:Aww, it's a bot. It doesn't need to rest or take time off to do other stuff. It can totally poll once or more times per minute. Also, if you set the start time to a few seconds after midnight, Randall time, when he uploads a comic on-time, you'll get it within a few seconds as opposed to having to wait for the next polling. As for the image names, maybe you could convert spaces in the comic name to underscores, compare the two comic names you have and use that to decide which version of the template to use? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:08, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
::I have to avoid that the bot is running twice, Internet Timeouts and more. And the comics are also published later sometimes. Look at my release [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update 1.1337], release 2.1337 will be later, Maybe I should start at 2 minutes after 0:00, but let's see right now how the bot does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:38, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
Uhh, what a huge discussion here. The bot will get a major update soon: Scheduler does start it once and until a comic is found and uploaded it here or an other limit is reached (maybe the end of the day) the bot will poll by a small delay. But every poll is still an entire download from the main page, When a new comic is found bot stops.
:Why, you could use http://xkcd.com/info.0.json, right?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] 07:38, 2 December 2013 (UTC)Synthetica
::The BOT performs perfect and I prefer to analyze the original page. A title text like the one from today (a text showing a link) will be covered in the future.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
A great enhancement would be also covering a new comic like 1190 Time was. I'm looking forward on this, some ideas, it does require a complete analyse of the page and then finding some strange content.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:05, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

== Require description for 'incomplete' tags ==
I've been trying to fix some of the incompletes, but several explanation pages I've come across are tagged incomplete without any reason given. The reason should be a required part of the tag. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.223|173.245.52.223]] 03:35, 7 December 2013 (UTC)
:This incomplete tags are just older than the recent change of that template. Current adds require a description, but it's not easy to figure out all that old reasons. If someone does find a reason, please just add it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

== Should there be a subwiki to cover the shop links that appear above the comic? ==

The current one (as of writing) is [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store_news/store_gd_b11_1ze4.png] but this is a different than the usual, and there was also a third in between these.
[[User:Rsranger65|Rsranger65]] ([[User talk:Rsranger65|talk]]) 06:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)
:Those are very ephemeral. They aren't going to exist for very long, I don't know how valuable it would be to archive that stuff. We could probably do it, but having to figure out another naming convention and all for advertisements doesn't appeal to me at the current moment. If you can flesh it out, I'd love to see how you think we should do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:24, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

== New Character ==

OK, I think we need a name for the character with a goatee and glasses in comics [[435: Purity]], [[796: Bad Ex]] and [[964: Dorm Poster]] as well as possibly others. Edit: oh and I suggest Goatee and Glasses Guy, but I'm open for suggestions Edit 2: also in [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] Halfhat {{unsigned|Halfhat}}
edit 3: Another sighting [[954: Chin-Up Bar]] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 16:57, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
: In the transcript, he is called "Person with Glasses and a Goatee" --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:39, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
:: "Glasses Guy", "Goatee Guy" are both probably descriptive enough! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:41, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

== What If Comics ==

Hi, I was thinking, maybe at some point we should do the comics in the ''What If?'' section, like [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/36/cornstarch_bitcoins.png this one.] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 20:01, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
: Start creating the pages for them! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:36, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
: I think I can start creating one or two pages for What If, if that helps... [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 16:14, 5 April 2014 (UTC)
:: If nobody has any problem with it, I'm gonna give it a try later. :) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 13:14, 8 April 2014 (UTC)
:::I thought they were already pretty self-explanatory though. Also, how are we gonna organize and present them? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:31, 8 April 2014 (UTC)
::::I totally agree with David: Read the entire What-If page and follow the links provided by Randall. No one of us can do that better in depth. But an overview page for this site is maybe not a bad idea, we just need a proper link here — a link at the main menu on the left. Translations to other languages are just another issue. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:37, 8 April 2014 (UTC)
:::::Yes, I was thinking of an overview, summarizing the contents and discoveries of each what if page. Not to mention, we could also organize what if pages by categories, such as physics/love.
:::::Would you like me to post here an example of what I would write? That way we can decide if it's worthy of creating an actual page. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:53, 9 April 2014 (UTC)
:Adding pages for What If? posts would be very helpful. Although the articles themselves are obviously self-explanatory, there are almost as many subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? posts these days as in the comics themselves.
I often visit explain xkcd when I feel like I'm missing an inside joke or a pop culture reference in a comic, and it would be very helpful to many people (especially those from other cultures/subcultures) to have the same service.
For example, today's What If? contains multiple allusions to the Superman Movie, a running Citation Needed joke, and a whole comic that is a not-so-subtle dig at Elon Musk and the Hyperloop. It would be awesome if the community here at explainxkcd could tackle stuff like that.
Anonymous 20:05, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

I agree. I don't understand the mouseover text on the first image in "Snow Removal", for example. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 22:57, 23 February 2015 (UTC)

== Transcripts ==

The whole point of the transcripts is to have those who are unable to view images to still be able to read the comic, right?

Then why is it required to stick to strictly official transcripts, where sometimes rewriting them slightly would make them flow better or otherwise get the ideas across better? I've tried rewriting a few, but they get reverted. I think that having easier-to-understand transcripts would be more important than strictly following official transcripts; what do you think? (For a few examples, see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=207:_What_xkcd_Means&diff=60061&oldid=57400 this edit] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=995%3A_Coinstar&diff=59862&oldid=57316 this edit]. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 17:38, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
:We use the original transcript to try and deduce original author intent if it's unclear from the image. I remember one comic where Beret Guy was off in the distance and it was difficult to distinguish him from the image, but the official transcript said it was him. We don't stick to the original transcript if it's obviously wrong, or it has typographical errors: see [[Laser Scope]]. Those edits seem to be mainly targeted at language and clarity, and should be fine. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:06, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
::Would it be helpful to have another (optional) section for expanding on the official transcripts? I too think it could be helpful, especially for complex images (such as 1079/United Shapes [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1079]). Or does supplemental description belong in the Explanation sections? Cheers. [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 23:00, 20 March 2014 (UTC)
:::Naaah, how many people even know there's an original transcript? If the original is wrong, change it. If your additions begin to verge on explanatory, move eet to the trivia/explanation sections. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:52, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

== "Characters in this Comic" section ==

Should there be a "Characters in this Comic" section in each comic explanation? (I feel like this should be longer but don't have anything else to say.) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:33, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

:There is a Category section at the bottom of each comic. Just scroll down and you will see any character belonging to a specific comic. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:50, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

== Adding the Radiation chart from XKCD ==

Hi
As there are already other comics with explanations even though they are not part of the number system.
This one does not seem to have any yet:
http://xkcd.com/radiation/
And as it is very alike the Money strip (the unexplained of the week) so I think it should be explained as well.
If you agree please add it as I'm not sure how to do that.

Best regards
:[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:47, 7 June 2014 (UTC)

== Reddit comments? ==

There should be a link in each comics explanation page somewhere linking to the comment section for the relevant comic on /r/xkcdcomic or reddit.
:The reddit comments page isn't ''that'' close to what we do though. If this is more popular, we'll do it, though there'll need to be a fair bit of post-hoc editing since I don't think there's a standard URL scheme for all the past comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

== Not insulting new users ==

I am writing a response to a vulnerability assessment. I have included a link to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 noting that it contains a good explanation of the relative security of passwords vs passphrases. I just noticed that the top of that page contains "Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb." Looks like I'll have to find a different site to link to. --[[User:Pascal|Pascal]] ([[User talk:Pascal|talk]]) 17:33, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
:I agree. While I'm sure it can seem cute or funny in various circles, that text has always seemed immature and inappropriate to me, and I'm sure to many folks we'd like to invite to the site. I suggest that it be changed. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:52, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

:The XKCD http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 suggestion for password is actually not that good. [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/62832/is-the-oft-cited-xkcd-scheme-no-longer-good-advice read here] for some more discussion. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.253.6|162.158.253.6]] 23:49, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

:I also agree. I'm not here because I'm stupid, I'm here because I don't know something and I'm hoping this site can help. It's off putting to have that text there, and there's no benefit to it. What about just repeating the thing at the top of XKCD.com: "Romance, Sarcasm, Math, and Language: Explained"?

== RSS feed ==

Is there an RSS feed (or some equivalent) of Explain XKCD available? It's helpful for those using feed readers, and superior to the primary XKCD RSS since there are explanations and the mouse over text is transcribed for the lazy. Thanks [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.154|108.162.219.154]] 08:24, 28 August 2014 (UTC)
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:NewPages&feed=atom&hideredirs=1&limit=90&offset=&namespace=0&username=&feed=&tagfilter= Why yes, we do!] It's the regular new pages log that all wikis have. It's a little ugly at the moment, and sometimes junk gets in there when a bot chucks spam at us, so a nicer feed is in the works, but the linked one should do you excellently for now. When the nice one is done, you'll see it in the sidebar below the "Help" button. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:31, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

== Navigation Pane Link - Categories ==

How about having a link to the "Special:Categories" page in the navigation pane?

A fair amount of effort has gone into categorising the comics, and at the moment it isn't particularly obvious how to browse by category. Is this worth doing?{{unsigned|Pudder}}
:Space on the sidebar is on a premium. I dunno, I'd probably be against it, but I want to hear what other admins say as well. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:45, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

== Alternate realities what if would benefit from a wiki entry ==

The what if entry from the end of November 2014 providing excerpts from alternate reality what ifs would benefit from an explain page.
I suspect these may have been typos that have been made into jokes, but some of the humor might not be apparent to all.
I doubt I have access (or maybe know how) to set it up myself.

Cheers {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.42}}

: Made it. Check out [[What If: 120: Alternate Universe What Ifs]]. [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:10, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
::We don't actually have a structure for what if pages in general, so I'll have to take that down, but when we do we can make pages for every what if. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

== Secondary URLs? ==

I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:50, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
:While we probably won't advertise them because we can't guarantee the uptime of third-party URLs, and they add an additional redirect layer and lack our shortened URL features, you're free to purchase and link URLs to us independently. We are not owned by Randall and as such cannot claim to actually be xkcd, so I'm not hugely comfortable with you using the plain name "xkcd" to link to us; a url in the format http://www.xkcd.[TLD] should by rights link to the main xkcd site, but no trademark claim has been made or likely will be made, so you should be fine with doing whatever you want to do with URL redirects '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

== LaTeX (Or MathML, TeX) support? ==

[[1489:_Fundamental_Forces|In the most recent comic at the time of posting]], there was use of formulae, being: Fgravity = G m1m2/d2 Fstatic = Ke q1q2/d2 
There are probably many more comics using formulae that cannot be rendered properly without the use of LaTeX or something. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Displaying_a_formula help page on Wikipedia] says that the following should work: <math>F_{gravity}=G\frac{m_1m_2}{d^2}</math> <math>F_{static}=K_e\frac{q_1q_2}{d^2}</math>
Provided that one has to set <source lang="php" enclose="none">$wgUseTeX = true;</source> in [[mw:Manual:LocalSettings.php|LocalSettings.php]]. Is there any reason for this to be disabled? If there is, is there any alternative? —[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 21:18, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

:The wgUseTeX flag was deprecated in mediawiki 1.18 in a move to simplify base mediawiki and move niche features into seperate plugins. I vaguely remember this being requested in the past, can't find any evidence of me implementing it. I'll try it now, see what stopped me last time. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:12, 21 February 2015 (UTC)
:Ah, there's a bit of configuration work to it and I was busy at the time probably. I'll put it on the growing to do list on my userpage. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:20, 21 February 2015 (UTC)

== Merge Cueball & Rob ==

At the risk of posting this idea too many places and annoying everyone, I would like to propose that we consider merging [[Cueball]] and [[Rob]] and redirecting Cueball to Rob, much as [[Cutie]] now redirects to [[Megan]]. The most common name given for a Cueball-like character in the strip is "Rob". Like Megan, he is not always named. Also, like Megan, Rob tends to have distinct characteristics such as being a nerdy alter-ego to Randall (e.g. [[1168: tar]]) just as Megan often is the appearance given to comic representations of Randall's wife (see [[1141: Two Years]], before hair loss). Megan and Cueball appear to have a relationship (e.g. [[159: Boombox]]) and Megan clearly hangs out with Rob in ways not inconsistent with adventurous couples (e.g. [[782: Desecration]]). Finally, comics that feature both [[Black Hat]] and "Cueball" seem to depict them as friends and possibly roommates. However, we learn in [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] that Black Hat's roommate is named "Rob".

In short, I believe if [[159: Boombox]] had called "Cueball" "Rob" we would've rewritten both Cutie and Cueball to redirect there. Because we learned that "Cueball's" name is actually Rob much later (I think the earliest occurrences are [[647: Scary]], and [[716: Time Machine]]; the first time he is seen with Megan in a capacity that might indicate a relationship is [[782: Desecration]]). [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:05, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

:As I answered your comment on [[1496: Art Project]] Rob is [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Rob already listed] as part of the category for Comics featuring Cueball: and this is listed as the first entry when going to the page for [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Cueball Category:Comics featuring Cueball]. Cueball is such an integral part of explain xkcd that I do not think any other users wish to change. Also the 9 incidences with Rob is maybe a specific person and at the time Randall did not think to give him any features. Also Cueballs have no specific behavior as you allude to. Neither has Megan. You can always find several Cueballs and Megans that behave a certain way. But then you can find many other comics where they behave the opposite way. Thus Rob and Cueball should not be merged. Also there are several comics with more than one Cueball. And here we have this problem: It is typically the first who writes the transcript who decides who of the Cueballs (or Megans) he feels represents the "real" Cueball. However, there is no real behavior of Cueball. So who should decide. I could change all these transcripts so it becomes the other character who becomes Cueball, because I think that the first transcriber did it wrong. And this is why in a comic with more than one Cueball (where neither is called Rob or the like) neither of the two should be called Cueball. It would still be in the category with Cueball, because that is just comics with a Cueball like character no matter how many. But they cannot be named Cueball and friend or Rob and friend (unless Rob's name is mentioned!) They could be called Cueball 1 and Cueball 2, but then guy or man would be better. I know several places have comics with two Cueballs where someone has designated one of them Cueball and the other friend of foe etc. But this should be corrected so none of these are called Cueball. Same should go for more than one Megan. But this is very rare, and I have only found one other than ''Art project'' and here only one Megan had any lines. The problem with different opinions on which Cueball is which came for the first time up with Megan in ''Art project'': The two Megan-like characters was first named (left to right) Megan and Danish. Then unidentified girl and Megan. Then Megan and unidentified girl, then two Megan like girls with short and long hair and finally you reverted it to my first change away from Danish to unidentified girl and Megan. (I can live with that as there is difference in hair length and behavior). But as far as I see it Cueball is not Rob as well as Megan should have continued to be called Cutie (but I would not like to change that now, as I have grown fond of Megan). But at the time the change was done I believe it was wrong. The same fondness for the name Cueball also makes me sure that no one else would wish to call him Rob, even if that is as much his name as Megan is Cuties... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:57, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

::My argument is that it is inertia and sentiment ("fond of Megan") that prevents an objective, equal treatment here. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

::Also, regarding the analogy made above to Danish. I am fine with a nickname when Randall hasn't named a character. So she was "unidentified girl" and then became "Danish". But, when we named her "Danish", we went back to "Journal 1" and other places and renamed her. My proposal is that we should go back through and rename "Cueball" as "Rob". Alternatively, we should reinstate "Cutie" for cases in which it is not clear that a character is "Megan" per se, but just Megan in her "everywoman" capacity. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:00, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

I'm not sure how to post a poll, but I see the following options:

1) Status quo: Cueball for all unidentified males without distinct characteristics (e.g. hats), Megan for all shoulder-length brunettes. Rob only for named Cueballs. Multiple Cueballs in a comic mean one is named Cueball and others get named "Friend", etc.

2) Symmetry 1: Cueball/Rob stays as is. Unnamed brunettes get named "Cutie". "Megan" like "Rob" is reserved for comics in which a name is used.

3) Symmetry 2: Megan stays as is. Rob is the default for indistinct males. "Cueball" page redirects to "Rob" (as "Cutie" now redirect to "Megan").

4) Expunge all Cueballs from multi-Cueball comics: Basically the status quo, except that in comics with multiple Cueballs none are named "Cueball" and are just all given names "Man 1", "Man 2", etc.

I am ambivalent regarding options 2 or 3. I could live with 1 if there is consensus for it, but I don't like it. 4 is a disaster in my mind and gains nothing. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

:We are probably the only one who reads these post...? But anyway as is clear I'm for 4. Which has been used several places already.´I can live with 1. I think 2 and 3 are disasters. Also it would be completely confusing for those who have used this page for many years. Why do you bring this up now? Is it because of the multiple Megan comics, or have you just signed up here, and dislike that it doesn't follow the rules you would have expected?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
::I suggest instead that we create a category for multiple Cueballs, so it is easy to explain why the Cueball is not a specific character, and thus can never be Rob (except when it is clear from the text), or be expected to behave a certain way. And in reverse we make a Named Megan category so it is easy to find the few (three?) where she has been named. This by the way has nothing to do with the other suggestions, so I might just do that to get an overview. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
::: It seems more consistent to me to use [[Cutie]] for all unnamed "Megans" and reserve "Megan" for named comics. Thus, Rob is '''a''' Cueball and Megan is '''a''' Cutie. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:30, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

::::I've read through some of your discussions (Here, Kynde's talk page, Art Project discussion), and thought I might put my thoughts forwards. Essentially we have three questions here:
::::1) Should we merge Cueball and Rob, and rename all Cueballs as Rob?
::::2) Should we rename all Megans as Cutie, except where she is explicitly named?
::::3) Once questions 1 & 2 are answered, what do we do where the 'same' character appears multiple times in one comic?

::::*I understand the objective argument for renaming Cueball to Rob, however I'm unconvinced of the importance of being entirely objective, and I can't imagine Cueball being renamed to anything other than Cueball.
::::*I think its fairly clear where the Cueball label has come from, even if it might not be immediately obvious to some. Even if readers don't make the link between Cueball's head and a cue-ball, it is quite a generic label, which I think fits well with the transient every-man nature of Cueball's usage.
::::*There is something far more specific about the name Rob, which suggests that he is the same character every time. The origin of the name isn't obvious, which I think would be likely to cause confusion.
::::This brings me to conclude that for me, the answer to Q1 has to be that Cueball should stay as Cueball, unless explicitly named something else.

::::The question of changing Megan to Cutie is one where I am less confident. Following the arguments I've made above, the outcome has to be that we rename to Cutie unless specifically named Megan, however I am not entirely convinced. The name Megan has a history, there are surely lots of people who now know her as Megan, what do we really stand to gain from all the work of changing to Cutie? I would also suggest that the name Cutie may not be accepted well by those with strong feminist views.

::::As far as multi-character comics, I don't have time right now, but I will come back later and add my thoughts. Now that we've only got a few incomplete comics, we've had to resort to discussing renaming characters!--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:07, 13 March 2015 (UTC)
:::::I agree with the reasons for keeping Cueball and Megan. And also that Cutie is such a loaded word, that it should never have been used anyway. This I did not immediately think about, but Cutie sounds like something from either a porn movie, or else a Bond Babe... Like the phrase from one of those movies: "Hello, I'm Plenty..." Then we should have to find a third name. And everyone here knows her as Megan. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)
::::::I have created the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Multiple_Cueballs Category:Multiple Cueballs] to locate them and to show how often there are more than one. Feel free to add any I haven't found yet. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:45, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

I think Rob is Black Hat's roommate and Megan's boyfriend/partner/husband (see above). The "Cueball" in comics such as [[159: Boombox]] and [[542: Cover-Up]] should, in my view, be renamed "Rob", even though he is not explicitly called that in those comics. Most other "Cueball" comics can stay unchanged. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:43, 14 March 2015 (UTC)
:I have left my reason to disagree also with this on the two comics talk page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

In my opinion, it is quite clear that [[Randall]] has chosen to name the main male protagonist [[Rob]], for the few occasions where he needs characters to call upon each other, in the same way as he has chosen [[Megan]] for the main female protagonist. We should therefore try to overcome our nostalgia, follow Randall, and call the common male protagonist Rob. The problem with multiple cueballs can most often be resolved by identifying the protagonist, from the first-person narration or the general perspective. Thus, in [[525: I Know You're Listening]] Rob is the comic's "I", to the left. In [[1110: Click and Drag]], Rob is obviously flying with a balloon. In [[610: Sheeple]] Rob is arguably the guy in the foreground facing us. Non-Rob "cueballs" we could refer to as "friend" "man", etc. In this way roughly half of the "multiple cueballs" would be resolved. I think I can live with a few unclear cases, like [[220: Philosophy]]. [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

:A featureless character has been ''specifically'' named Rob in 9 comics, compared with 968 'Comics featuring Cueball'. I believe it is fundamentally flawed to assert that because a featureless character is named Rob in less than 1% of appearances, that all featureless characters should therefore be assumed to be Rob. As I've discussed above, I think that Rob strongly implies a specific person, whereas Cueball is a vague 'everyman' character. I feel it would be a huge error to change all Cueballs to Robs.--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:37, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

::The problem with that logic is that "Megan" is only named in a small number of comics (fewer that "Rob"). So we should have a different name for an unnamed generic female. [[Cutie]] is fine, but if people perceive that as sexist, then another name, maybe "Cuegirl" or "Brunette" would work. (Side note: I doubt "Cutie" would be perceived as sexist and there's history there.) What I '''do''' find sexist is the fact that there is asymmetry between male and female "everyperson"s. In sum, I would say there is at less evidence to support naming Megan-everywoman "Megan" in all cases as there is to name Rob-everyman (here called "Cueball") "Rob" in all cases. Asymmetry here ignores the fact that Randall clearly intends his name to be "Rob" and also that we are using a proper name for everywoman but a contrived name for everyman, while creating an artificial distinction between Rob and Cueball and smearing out any possible distinction between Megan-everywoman and Megan-properName. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:18, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

:::As I put in my earlier comment (see above), I do agree that the logical conclusion is that Megan should no longer be named Megan, and should have an equivalent generic name. As an aside, I'm quite partial to your suggestion of Cuegirl. I disagree with your assertion that "Randall clearly intends his name to be Rob", and I think that is the central point of this discussion. I don't believe that there is anywhere near enough evidence to assign a specific name to what I believe is a generic character. If we want to go for formal logic, consider the syllogism "Some non descipt characters are called Rob, there are many non-descript characters, therfore all non-descript characters are called Rob". The conclusion simply does not follow. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:22, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

::::Great, I vote for Cuegirl & Cueball :: Megan & Rob! [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 01:31, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

I agree with Djbrasier's and St.nerol's arguments, and I too feel that the arguments against dealing with this in an objective, symmetrical and logical way seem mostly based on nostalgia. Either we agree that a few named instances of the everywoman are sufficient to generalize to the (vastly more numerous) unnamed instances, and apply the same standard to the everyman, which is only consistent (and even more justified in the case of Rob since he is named in more comics than Megan), or we decide that the extrapolation is unjustified and we revert the Cutie-->Megan merge. The alternative --having double standards and deciding things based on historical baggage and emotional attachment rather than rationality-- makes no sense for followers of the comic that ''literally invented'' nerd-sniping!

I'd also add that, as a non-native speaker, "cueball" doesn't ring any immediate bells unless the connection to cue balls is pointed out explicitly -- so actually Rob works even better as a generic name than Cueball. We have already [[#New character|agreed previously]] that clarity is better than cleverness when we named [[Hairy]], forgoing the less obvious alliteration "Harry", so I vote we use the name Randall ''actually'' gave us, let go of our attachments to a creation he never endorsed, and honor our collective nerdiness by doing the logical thing: apply our standards uniformly and adopt Rob the same way we adopted Megan. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 06:09, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

:I've already put my thoughts forward above, so I won't repeat the same ground I've covered, other than to say I believe it would be a mistake to turn all Cueballs into Robs. While I will admit to having some nostalgia for the name Cueball, that isn't a major facet of my argument. I believe that any generic name is better than a specific name. Call them Stickboy & Stickgirl if you want! I know there are a fairly significant number of contributors and visitors who do not have English as their first language, but I don't believe that is a reason to choose a specific name, rather than a generic name, even if the origin of the latter isn't immediately obvious to all. It would be interesting to know whether each of us sees Cueball as always being the same person, or Cueball *is* Randall, or Cueball is just a changeable everyman.

:To me, he is a changeable everyman, who I guess may represent or be based on: Randall, his friends, family or acquaintances, famous people, someone he saw in the street, or a completely made up character used to fill a specific role in the comic. The reason I argue againt merging Rob & Cueball is that the Cueball I see is this morphing and fluid character, and to use a specific name to tie him down to being the same character all the time runs completely counter to that. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:31, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

:: Understood, and sorry for mischaracterizing your argument (the nostalgia part does butt the discussion though). I suppose I would be somewhat ambivalent to either have Rob+Megan, or Cueball+Cutie -- Cuegirl doesn't work because she has hair :) --, in the interests of reason and symmetry. But I lean slightly towards Rob+Megan because those are names Randall actually gave us, while anything else is our own invention and thus has no claim to legitimacy other than popular support.
:: Particularly, while I understand your concern about shoehorning the various personality traits the Cueballs show in different comics into a single persona, that doesn't seem to have been a problem for Megan -- not to mention real people ''are'' indeed complex and multi-faceted beings (or "morphing and fluid", to use your terms) rather than one-dimensional caricatures. Heck, even Black Hat has his romantic side! :) So in light of that, I don't think we have to worry about ruining Cueball by naming him Rob -- if anything, that'd add more depth to him as a character! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:35, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
:::I'm still very much against changing things here. Call it nostalgia, but there are many users who will never read these arguments, who one day comes back and cannot find Megan or Cueball, and will ask who the heck are Cuegirl/Cutie. I'm completely with Pudder on the problem with giving Cueball the name Rob. It just doesn't make sense. I agree that we have a inconsistency with Megan. But then everyone who uses this page a few times, becomes familiar with that name. However the main problem with all your great ideas is this. Who should correct the either 984 pages where Cueball is mentioned because he is a part of it (and all the other pages relevant to him or where he is exactly mentioned because he isn't part of the comic) and/or who should do the same for 487 comics (plus loose pages) for Megan. Unless those in favor for changing the names will do this, then the discussion is moot. It is already clearly stated in the relevant pages that these two characters are generic and that they have been named but a few times. So what more can we do unless someone is willing to use several days to change this back. I sincerely doubt you can keep the correct syntax if you just try a brute force replacement? There are so many interconnecting links etc. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:21, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

I completely disagree with merging Cueball and Rob. Rob has [[276|Emily]] and [[632|Lisa]] as girlfriends, and Cueball has Megan. Rob also lives a more action-filled and stereotypical life compared to Cueball. --[[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 13:14, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

I think the main stances here are clear:
* Keep as is
* Rename Cuball to Rob
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl
Since keeping it status quo wouldn't change anything and is asymmetrical, I'll go over the others:
* Rename Cueball to Rob - Arguments:
** Randall gave him this name;
** It would offer symmetry to Megan;
** If the Cutie -> Megan logic is to be followed (as she was changed once named in the comics) then Cueball should be Rob;
** Even though cueball is a generic everyman name, Rob seems more like a name you could give anyone and would be more recognizable to non-native English speakers.
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl - Arguments:
** It would cause symmetry again, letting her have an everywoman name;
** Nostalgia for Cueball;
** Megan is not always the same character, so she should not always have the name Megan

I happen to agree with the idea of merging Cueball and Rob, but I'm not closed to the idea of Cutie/Cuegirl. The main problem is that these characters are typically interchangeable everymen/everywomen and there can be more than one in a comic. So another question is what we should do for multiple Cueballs/Robs. In my opinion, we should have all the comics with more than one depict them as Man 1, Man 2, etc. --[[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 17:04, 20 May 2015 (UTC)
:Well I disagree. The users are used to refeer to these characters now by these names. It is also impractical to try to change them all. Megan is rarely twice in a comic. Maybe she is more the same like Black Hat is. But it is made clear that they are not the same in every comic in their pages. If there are muliple Cueballs but one is the main protagonist then he us cueball. If none can be singled out then Cueball like guy to the left/right can be used. I have done that for tbose cases I have found so far ([[:Category:Multiple_Cueballs|49 today]]).--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:58, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

== How to fit explanations of new classes of xkcd-related mysteries into the site: what-if, t-shirts, posters, special comics etc. ==

I suggest that the [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:About explain xkcd] page should explain how this site is laid out, and what sorts of things are explained here besides the online numbered xkcd comics that come out three times a week.

For example, there is the [[A Smarter Planet]] series, and there are ideas for explaining some of the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/ What-If] series. I'd like to add my explanation of the [https://gist.github.com/nealmcb/398af29a72f7b3efc202 XKCD Greek t-shirt, with mathematical, scientific and engineering uses for greek letters] and perhaps some other t-shirts, posters and the like.

But I can't even figure out how to find non-numbered-comic-explanations, without going thru the entire [[Special:AllPages]] listing, which includes a huge set of unnumbered aliases as well as the numbered ones.

I've taken a stab towards that by editing the About page to point to some categories (and to start with a little overview), but since I'm just poking around, I might have missed some things. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:40, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

== Link to "Special pages" on main page ==

I think there should be a link to [[Special:SpecialPages]] on the main-page--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:55, 29 March 2015 (UTC)
:Special pages is a default feature in every mediawiki installation. It's also in the sidebar of every page, and it's not relevant to xkcd. Why does it merit space on the main page? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:56, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

== Science comic ==

Should the Science Magazine comic be added? http://m.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/58.full [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 03:14, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:I think that would be a great idea. Could there be other copyright rules when the comic has been published on Science? It there anyway to find out if Randall also has a link to it from (or has it on) xkcd? As he has done with the other [[:Category:Extra_Comics|Extra_Comics]]. And how do we create such a page, if there can be no link directly to xkcd (at the top of the comic)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

== "what if?" section? ==

I would like to start a new "what if?" section explaining and discussing what if pages.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:08, 8 April 2015 (UTC)
:Why does it need to exist? The main xkcd comic needs it, because Randall tends to be obtuse at times, but the what if articles are sourced and written out already. Supposedly, they're already explanations to questions sent in to Randall. Why do we need to explain explanations? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:29, 8 April 2015 (UTC)
::Explaining them indeed seems unnecessary, but we could certainly catalog and summarize them. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:38, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
::The images on what if? also have title texts that could further be explained, and we could organize what if pages by categories, as well as provide summaries. There are also subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? that should be explained.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:44, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
::This https://what-if.xkcd.com/120/ is a example of a what if that could do with some explanations.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:47, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
:::That's one of 135 what-ifs, and it's entirely self referential and can be figured out by reading the rest of the archive. The substance of the majority of pages is going to be incredibly thin, Randall doesn't tend to leave much for explanation. Comics that are simple one-shot images are our least used pages for good reason, and the what-if images pretty much all fall into that category, or are used to illustrate Randall's point that he makes in the immediately preceding paragraph. We could archive/catalog all the what-if pages and be a second archive button for the series, though there's a little less value to that than the archiving we did for [[Time]] and [[Externalities]] because there's already an archive along the same lines on the main site. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
::::I think the main value we could add is a summary (TL;DR style) of each entry, in a short Q&A format. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:13, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
If we are going forward with this, is there anyway to find the date in which the what if was first published?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:01, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
:At the bottom of the page, there's an archive button. Click that. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
Well, fact is, the [[what if?]] page is much, '''much''' larger now. [[User:Nk22|Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 11:52, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:Thank you, Nk22! I've added a link from the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd About explain xkcd] page. {{unsigned|Nealmcb}}

== Userscript ==

Hello there, just wrote a simple userscript that adds an 'Explain' button to the original xkcd.com

https://gist.github.com/magazov/934de662d60c9fb5fea9

You can run it via Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey and other similar plugins :)

[[Image:Screen_Shot_xkcd_button.png]]
{{unsigned|Magazovski}}

:Yeah, there's a few of these floating around. In the future, could you use an imgur link instead of uploading stuff like that to the wiki? Thanks. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:02, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

::So maybe explainxkcd should host & maintain one of them? --[[User:Magazovski|Magazovski]] ([[User talk:Magazovski|talk]]) 09:30, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Why would we host an image hosting site? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
::::He means we could host and maintain a userscript to help our fans get here from xkcd.... [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 14:36, 9 May 2015 (UTC)
:::::Hum, that's not a bad idea. I'll put it on the list of things to do. Although, if they're already here, why do they need a userscript to help them get here? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:34, 11 May 2015 (UTC)
::::::For people who mainly view the comics through the official site, but sometimes need an explanation of the comic. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:23, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

== Updating the incomplete comic of the day ==

Currently, I think the incomplete comic of the day should be changed more often (i.e. daily), since the incomplete comics are piling up, and most users aren't seeing the notice, as it is dismissible.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:40, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

:While I agree that the comic of the day could be changed more often, I wouldn't say that the incomplete comics are ''piling up''. Over the months I've been active here, the number of incomplete comics had fallen considerably. In fact if you check the comics which are still marked as incomplete, most of them are one where a significant effort would be required to complete them. For example the large comics (Money, Time, Congress) or dynamic comics (Externalities, Click & Drag, Pixels). --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:32, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
::Yeah. Of the 15 incomplete "pages," only 10 of them are actual comics that need the attention, and the full count is still dropping. I've been keeping it on single comics as of late because the remaining actual incomplete comics have been cycled through ~3 times already, with no significant effort made on them, because they're such monumental pieces of work. Making the message dismissable is by design, we are a service first and foremost, we're not trying that hard to make visitors do our work for us. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

== Infrequently recurring minor charachters ==

Should we just group all of the characters that are not of enough significance to warrant their own character page into a single page (i.e. [[Other Minor Characters]])? --{{User:17jiangz1/signature|02:58, 09 May 2015}}
:See comic [[1000]] for a sample of what this entails. Also, what value to we stand to provide by cataloging every unique character that has appeared in xkcd? Does it help us explain the comics any better? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:32, 9 May 2015 (UTC)

== Comic page creation ==

Is comic page creation not automated? If it isn't, then [[Help talk:How to add a new comic explanation]] should be created.--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|14:19, 26 May 2015}} 14:19, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

:Comic explanation was, at one point, automated. However, the bot ran on a schedule, and so sometimes there would be a few hours between a new comic being posted and the page getting created. Some editors just can't wait that long, so they do the bot's work before the bot even gets going. I agree that this page should be created and be kept up to date. Historically no one has read any of the help pages I've written. ;p [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:42, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

:However, I think that the page should be [[Help:Comic Explanation Page Creation]]. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:43, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

== Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob ==

Okay, so this was previously [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob discussed] but I felt that it was worth bringing up again. Really, at this point, there's no logical reason why the two should not be merged, or Megan and Cutie should be un-merged. Rob and Cueball clearly seem to be the same person, at least when cueball appears as a specific character. In the instances where there are multiple Cueballs, we should just refer to them as Man 1, Man 2, and so on. Can we get a vote or something this time? Yes, I understand that Cueball isn't always the same character. But neither is [[Megan]], and yet we always refer to the short black haired girl (formerly [[Cutie]]) as Megan. If that logic applies to her, it applies to Rob. It's pretty clear that Randall intended to name the character Rob, as most named Cueballs are named Rob and not Fred or something.

In short: Please don't bring nostalgia into this, it's really not relevant. Changing Cueball to Rob or Megan back to Cutie (or Cuegirl?) would have symmetry and make sense. {{unsigned ip|Sensorfire}}
:I'm ok with dumping a marginal character page that only served to add confusion to character identification in new comics, but this was a subject of contention before so we probably need to see more of people's thoughts first. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:03, 5 September 2015 (UTC)

:I agree: let's list the arguments for both sides, ensure that everyone agrees with the objectiveness of that listing, and then vote. If there's support for this plan, and nobody does it first, I'll take a stab at producing a first draft of the summary. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:57, 14 September 2015 (UTC)

:Randall is currently on a booktour. So, how about, instead of us (without the ability to read minds) arguing about his intention or who is/isn't the same character, someone go see him and ask? Then we'll know with absolute 100% certainty. [[User:WaltG123|WaltG123]] ([[User talk:WaltG123|talk]]) 04:49, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
::Randall never called either character Cueball and Cutie so of course this is not his names. Asking him would make no meaning at all. For any user of xkcd it will create lots of confusion to change the names of Megan and Cueball now. Regarding Rob he is already listed as Cueball in his category. And Cueballs have been called other names several times. Rob is just the only one that has been used a few times. I agree that it may have been wrong to call her Megan, (the name has been used like three times?) Similar it is just as wrong to call Black Hat's girlfriend [[Danish]], a nick name used once. But it is actually very nice to have a real name or at least useful name when speaking of characters. And it has also been mentioned that Cutie could be perused as a sexist name, so we should not move back to that. Well recently even [[Hairbun]] has her name changed from Hairbun girl since a user thought that was a problem given it most often was a grown woman. So I think we should stick to the solution of the previous debate and leave Cueball, Rob and Megan alone as they are! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:56, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

== Adjective phrases ==

Overwhelmed with the need to be picayune, I am compelled to point out that on the homepage there is the sentence that begins "There are a lot of comics that don't have set in stone explanations..." This sentence contains a adjective phrase which should be hyphenated thus: "set-in-stone"

Please pretend that I have said something witty here, as I am too tired to think of anything funny. {{unsigned|Gamewriter}}
:Is it actually grammatically wrong in it's current state? Huh. I guess I'll change it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:42, 1 November 2015 (UTC)

::This is long after the fact, but I'll throw my two cents in on Davidy22's question. Yes, it is wrong. If the 'set in stone' phrase were after the word explanations ("explanations set in stone") it would not require hyphens, but used as an adjective before the noun ("set-in-stone explanations") it requires them. D Miller [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.41|108.162.221.41]] 18:26, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

== Update MediaWiki ==

You are currently using MediaWiki 1.19.17. It's ''really'' outdated. Maybe update to 1.26.2, the current recommended stable version? There is an [[mw:Manual:Upgrading|official guide]] for that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.77|141.101.80.77]] 12:03, 24 January 2016 (UTC) (PS my IP address is wrong it's not what you think it is)

== Rename Hair Bun Girl ==

The character [[Hair Bun Girl]] was named in April 2015. There wasn't any discussion of the name at the time, so I'd like to open that discussion now please.

At present we have several other characters named after distinctive visual features: [[Ponytail]], [[Black Hat]], [[White Hat]], [[Beret Guy]], and arguably [[Hairy]] and [[Cueball]]. In all but one of those cases, the name matches the distinctive feature itself, without the addition of "guy", "girl", etc. Given the number of comics that Beret Guy is in it's probably too late to modify his name, but it's not too late for Hair Bun Girl.

Besides the consistency issue, there's also the inaccuracy of referring to a grown woman with the term "girl", particularly when the character has been presented as older than [[Megan]]. I'd really like to fix this while her number of appearances is still manageable.

The name "Hairbun" has been proposed and I think that matches really nicely with Ponytail in particular.

[[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 04:23, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
:As the "guy" who created the Hair Bun Girl characther, I have no objection to changing the name. I did not think about the issue with girl/woman, probably because I'm not native English speaker. (And with the Beret Guy as an example). Jkshapiro was so kind as to [[User_talk:Kynde#Hair_Bun_.22Girl.22|ask my opinion]] before starting this discussion. At first I thought that ''Hairbun'' was a little weird, but then again so is Ponytail in this context. So I '''support''' the change to '''Hairbun'''! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:06, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''change''' Hair Bun to Hairbun and '''keep''' girl. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 21:02, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

OK, I'm going ahead. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 02:47, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
:Well as I said I would not mind, but you cannot say you got any other to agree with you on this though. Mimek wished to keep girl... It will be a huge job to get all the instances correct, also be careful no to change those places where the talk is of a girl who has a hair bun. You cannot just change all placed with hair bun girl to Hairbun, in case is actually says the hair bun girl about a small girl who has a hair bun! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:59, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
::Seems no one cares, so I will remove the notes now. Great job Jkshapiro with changing the names. I like the new name now :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:35, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

== Mobile friendly website ==

Can we get a mobile friendly version of the wiki? If we already have one, what about forwarding the main site to it when viewed on a phone? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 20:59, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

== New categories ==

I think there may be a need to propose a standard way to decide on categories: what new ones are needed, what are the prerequisites for creating a new category, how to maintain new categories and make sure they are actually used when they apply etc. For now I have gathered all previous discussions about new categories under this section. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 13:39, 17 February 2016 (UTC)
:I think that whenever there are more than 4-5 comics that you wish to refer to in a given explanation because they are of the same topic as the current comic, then having a category is much to prefer rather than listing 5, 6 or 7 comics. I have made several categories for these instances, for instance for sport including the most used sports. At the time being I keep them up to date. One of the things this site does so well is giving you an easy way to find a specific comic even though you cannot remember the title of any precise quotes etc. If you just have an idea of what the topic was you might find it based on the categories. In this way I do not think we can have too many categories. As long as they describe a recurring subject. Only fault is that there seems to be no way to search for a comic based on more than one category? That would be great. In some cases even only 3 comics in a category can make sense. For instance I would be sorry to see this one go [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses]] (and I did not make it!) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
::For instance I have long wished for categories that covered all the space probe related comics, particularly all those referencing the Mars rovers. So today I made them with 16 and 9 comics in them already. [[:Category:Space probes]] [[:Category:Mars rovers]]. I hope people will generally think this was a great idea! :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:42, 20 February 2016 (UTC)
:::And [[:Category:The Lion King]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:47, 1 March 2016 (UTC)

=== Category: Protip ===

Anyone for adding ''Protip'' as a [[:Category:Comic series|Comic series]]. I have found five so far: [[653]], [[711]], [[1022]], [[1047]] and [[1156]]. (There are also a few comics with a protip title text.) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:25, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:I think that qualifies as a recurring topic (thus worthy of a category), but not as a series, where you can see a clear sequence. In fact, [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] has the same limitation, for what I suggest it to be removed from [[:Category:Comic series]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:42, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

::Seconded. Looks general and common enough to be a category. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:57, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:::Okay, great! Do you think that the ones with a "protip:" title text should be included? Besides, I think I might be the one responsiple for moving My Hobby from [[:Category:Comics by topic|Comics by topic]] to Comic series. I felt that all the My Hobby comics were about different topics, but maybe i've got to narrow an interpretation of the word "topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:31, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:::: Can you link to the protip-in-title-text comics?
:::: As for My Hobby, note that categories aren't mutually exclusive. They can be in the "my hobby" topic, and each of them further categorized as appropriate: music, math, etc. Makes sense? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:45, 5 January 2013 (UTC)
:::: I just searched for protip in the xkcd search bar. Here: [[1084]], [[427]]. And yes, makes sense. I've moved My Hobby back to "by topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:06, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: Sports ===

How about creating a new "Sports" category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 15:31, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:Well, maybe. Everyone aren't so keen on new categories here. Which comics are you thinking of, for a start? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:32, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
::We definitely need to reach an agreement as a community on when to create new categories. Something simple like a minimum of 3 (or, say, 5) existing comics. Since we're already at the proposals' portal... what do you guys think about that? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:44, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:::My opinion: Five would be enough to qualify. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:31, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
::::I vote for four. But it should also be a reasonable thing to categorize, like sports, not like "sports with Cueball containing at least three anagram words". Wich sholdn't be a problem. :) But the best name choice could be tricky sometimes. e.g. "Film & television", Film & TV", "Film", "Films", or "Movies"? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
:::
::::Agreed, five should be enough to create the category without having to discuss it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
: OK, let's start with [[588: Pep Rally|588]], [[1092: Michael Phelps|1092]], [[904: Sports|904]] and [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet|1107]]. Should be able to find a few more. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 05:00, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
::Yeah, it's a broad subject so there are probably several more. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
:::I found another one, sort of, in [[929:Speculation|929]] (although it hasn't been explained yet). Should I get the ball rolling (no pun intended) on setting up the category? Don't wanna do it unilaterally and get yelled at. ;) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 06:18, 30 January 2013 (UTC)
::::I think you should. On a wiki, getting stuck in discussions which die without a conclusion, to the point that motivated people give up without having done anything, is definitely counter-productive, and phrases like [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Be bold|Wikipedia:Be bold]] are here to remind us of that. Seems like people agreed that you ''could'', and after a while nobody said that you ''shouldn't'', so I'd say do it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
:I did it without looking here first, because it was obvious there were many [[:Category:Sport|sport comics]]. I have even created four under categories (only one was there before, Chess). There are 10 comics at present that are related to other sports than the five under categories. And given the way Randall thinks about sport (not very much) he still has plenty of comics about the subject. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:33, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

=== Category: Sex ===

I think we should also create a Sex category. There's no ''doubt'' we can find more than three examples. I'll start looking for them and post the ones I find in here; again, I don't wanna create a large category by myself without community consent. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:20, 2 February 2013 (UTC)
*OK, the ones for Category: Sex that I've found so far are [[443]], [[219]], [[550]], [[1026]], [[575]], [[468]], [[592]], [[320]], [[1101]], [[417]], [[713]], [[672]], [[230]], [[436]], [[940]], [[532]], [[649]], [[176]], [[1006]], [[596]] and [[717]], and I'm sure there are many more. Should we create this category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 23:17, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

:Same as [[#Category: Sports|above]], do it. Oh, already did; well, all the better. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:53, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: Flowcharts ===

Hello, the line "Randall has made use of flowcharts before." in today's comic explanation made me want a [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts category]] to navigate into...

As it didn't exist, I proceeded to create it, but as the log says, [[User:lcarsos|lcarsos]] deleted such a category in November, saying ''"Insufficient differentiation from Category:Comics with charts, diluting the depth of comics tagged charts"''.

I don't agree with that, and I think we could profit from such a subcategory. I found those pages fitting it:
* [[94: Profile Creation Flowchart]]
* [[210: 90's Flowchart]]
* [[488: Steal This Comic]]
* [[627: Tech Support Cheat Sheet]]
* [[844: Good Code]]
* [[851: Na]]
* [[854: Learning to Cook]]
* [[1195: Flowchart]]

So? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:Weell if you're willing to take charge of the category and personally make sure it's added to all relevant comic explanations, go ahead. The usual objection to making new categories is that we admins can't remember all the categories when we're reviewing new explanations, but it's K if you're willing to take up that responsibility yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:
:: OK. I did it without waiting for further replies, because I think it will be especially profitable today (to viewers).
:: It doesn't seem a big issue to me if the correct category is not added when a new explanation is made: a passing editor will do it later on... But hey, I'm OK with taking special care of adding pages to this category.
:: [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 12:28, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

::: I just want to add that Cos' view is indeed the appropriate way to work in wikis: there is no concept of a single author for a page, category, or piece of text, and the workload is meant to be distributed among several editors: it is not necessary that any single editor remembers all existing categories, or knows the wiki markup by heart, or knows how to work with all the features of mediawiki, etc. The reason why wikis can be edited by anyone is precisely a recognition that there *will* be errors and any page can be improved somehow. That reasoning against categories should, IMO, be abandoned, or at most only kept as the opinion of some editors. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:00, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

Isnt there a page which lists all the categories? If not, there should be one, and it should be accessible to all. Such a page could be useful when trying to quick-add categories to comics. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.83.155|117.194.83.155]] 13:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, there is. [[Special:Categories]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::Of course, there's a gazillion of 'em, over several pages, so I understand any reluctance to add new categories (having just suggested a new one myself which I feel is justified, but knowing that the upkeep needed may be the key point of contention so remaining philosophical about it).
::A solution perhaps to carry over from another locale that I frequent is to have a "Categories of Character" page, a "Categories of Object" one, perhaps "Categories of Event", and a "Categories of Publication". For each new comic someone can easily check the shorter Character categories list against those present, the Object list against itemsin use, Events, etc, and of course the Publication one has the "Tuesday Comic"/equivalent, and other date-based ones (although isn't that automatic from templated creation? ...never added a comic, but would imagine it is). After that it's a trawl through the miscelania categories (perhaps a meta-category just for them?). But, yeah, a lot of work to set up. Wouldn't wish it on anyone who wasn't already willing to do it, and I remain an anon-IP person right now so can hardly commit ''myself'' as volunteer maintainer of this. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:20, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: (Barred/banned from?) Conferences ===

I come here after realising I erroneously posted (in reply) to the Main page Talk, being anonymous (or at least IP-only) and without a list of qualifying articles to support me, just yet, but still wish to put forward the above category before I forget. There's no apparent equivalent, that I found, but it's definitely a recurring meme. I should be back (named or otherwise) with my suggested list of members, if someone else doesn't get there first, but I thought I'd start with the placemarker. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:41, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
:Ok, so I got the bee in my bonnet and spent a few minutes actually looking into this. Revising "Barred from Conferences" (actually more often "Banned" or even "Thrown out of"/equivalent) to just "Conferences", the subset of comics that I can easily find that are involved is *[[153]], *[[177]], *[[365]], *[[410]], *[[463]], *[[541]], [[545]], [[685]], [[829]] and [[867]], but I'm sure there are more recent ones that I didn't spot/recall. One alternative title to "Conferences" is "Presentations", and I'm sure if I'd searched for that I'd have found more potential candidates (less some that might ''exit'' the renamed category). The asterisked ones ''do'' deal with being barred/banned/thrown out/etc, making it still a suitable category in its own right, IMO, but I'll leave it up to your combined musings to decide. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
::I add [[690]] to the list. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:12, 13 September 2013 (UTC)

::: Great suggestions! I created [[:Category:Public speaking]] and [[:Category:Banned from conferences]]. I also added [[Wikipedian Protester]] to the mix, of course :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:59, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: Wishes ===

[http://explainxkcd.com/1391/ Several] [http://explainxkcd.com/1086/ comics] [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/152:_Hamster_Ball now] [http://xkcd.com/879/ exist] that talk about wishes - probably more. Should there be a category for this? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:22, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
:Doesn't seem significant enough. If you promise to maintain the category you can make it yourself, although it will be cleared out if it gets neglected as new comics are released. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:20, 8 July 2014 (UTC)

=== Category: Artificial Intelligence ===

Hello world.

There are a handful of comics involving Ai - [[1540]], [[1530]], [[1450]] and [[948]] for instance - and maybe it's an idea to give them their own category {{unsigned|Nk22}}

:The usual objection to new categories is that they get abandoned and are too narrow for other people to think of picking them up. If you're going to own it and update it with new comics, you can make it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:01, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

=== Category: Size Comparisons ===
There are numerous comics comparing sizes of things. I can't get a list right now, but off the top of my head, radiation dosages, money, today's comic, and space shuttles in horses. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:23, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

== Adding Ratings for Explanations ==

I found [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1652 today's explanation] excellently written however that is not always the case. Frequently explanations are walk through of the conversation that are too wordy without any succinct explanation of why or how a strip is funny -- while many of those low quality explanations are not strictly "incomplete" they could benefit from a careful rewrite. I was wondering if we should add a rating tool such as " ''Was this explanation helpful? yes/no'' " so as to identify explanation that could benefit from improvement without having to be tagged as "incomplete". [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:57, 8 March 2016 (UTC)
:We have a rather prominent discussion page for feedback, do we really need an additional add-on for this? I did a little research and found that other wikis use [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_Rating semantic rating] and [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ArticleRatings article ratings], which I can install if enough other users want it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:54, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

== New Speculation Sections ==

I often see a lot of speculation and conjecture within the explanation of the comic itself. I don't think it has any place in the explanation but I know many editors enjoy speculating and interpreting the comic and the meaning behind it so I've decided to start this discussion on whether we should provide a section where we can provide different speculations.

What I am thinking would not be like the discussion page, where comments are made and discussed, but an edited and reviewed section which outlines different speculations and interpretations of the comics themselves and perhaps even the author's intent.

Of course tone and presentation should be held to the same standards of the comic explanation but I think this would be a good way to better organize a review of the comic.

I have been away too long to remember if there are any comic explanations with something like this so I have no idea how well it would work.

As an example;

This part from comic 1642: [[Gravitational Waves]]

" It seems that Randall knew in advance about this announcement because this comic was published on a Thursday, not following the normal publish schedule, to coincide with the announcement "

Is well supported, and rather likely correct, conjecture which belongs in the body of the explanation because not only is it backed by strong evidence but it provides background on the comic and the time in which the comic was released and aids in understanding the comic itself.

However, this part from comic 478: [[The Staple Madness]]

"From just reading the comic by itself, one may presume that in the last panel, Cueball has been stapled to the ceiling (as obvious evidence to Megan that Beret Guy has indeed been abusing her staple gun). According to the comic's official transcript, however, it is in fact God who is speaking."

Is almost as equally well supported and certainly a valid interpretation of simply the comic. It is only refuted by the official transcript. I believe it is important to acknowledge and may even be a more humorous interpretation than the one which is provided by the official transcript.

If we added a speculation section (or something of the sort) then we would have a place to talk about this interpretation more freely and expound upon it more.

[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:16, 13 May 2016 (UTC)
: Problem is the whole "explanation" is actually conjecture. None of us the author, we're all just guessing. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 15:23, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

: Many of the current explanations are conjecture, that's true but not every explanation. Providing information on the science or mathematics behind a particular comic is not conjecture. Stating whether the author intended to belittle the field or state that one field is superior over another (unless fairly explicitly stated) is. And there are many things which can be inferred without being simple speculation. Not every comic would need a section like this, and not every comic needs a trivia section, and I'm not ready to start adding this proposed section myself. But I think it should be considered. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:35, 13 May 2016 (UTC)
::The intention of the discussion pages was to serve as a place for people to put their conjecture and reaching interpretations of the comics. They're presented alongside the explanation to make people's interpretations more readily visible. Some people may have trouble distinguishing an ungrounded interpretation of a comic from an explanation of it, and they will insert weak text into explanations. If you find something you disagree with, feel free to bring it up in the discussion section and edit it out of the explanation liberally '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:17, 17 May 2016 (UTC)

== Unixkcd ==

Hello everyone. I was just wondering: is there anything on http://uni.xkcd.com/. Because I was just looking and the only thing I found on Unixkcd is a mention of a bug in [[1350]]. There is not even a mention on the April fools article.
:There's nothing on this site, there's a couple of novel tidbits on the xkcd site that are at best tangentially related to the comic, as Randall originally intended to make xkcd.com his personal site for hosting his own projects. That particular one doesn't show up in any comics. Also, proposals might not be the best place to put this. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:46, 21 May 2016 (UTC)

== New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699) ==

From today's comic [[1699: Local News]] I just got the idea that there may be needing a new category for either blonde woman and/or comics with news reports. I posted this [[Talk:1699:_Local_News#New_character_category|post]], in the talk page of that comic. Any comments, and if agreeing that there might be one or two different character categories needed then please suggest what they should be called. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 27 June 2016 (UTC)
:Agree with Blondie as new character name and with adding a category for news reports. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 00:47, 28 June 2016 (UTC)
:Agree with new character category for Blondie --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:38, 28 June 2016 (UTC)

User:Grep/vote

2015-11-16T20:58:59Z

Grep: well, it's not going to show up anymore, because it doesn't work! :)

<div style="display: none; float: right; text-align: center; width: 5em; border-radius: 10px; background-color: #fff; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; background-color: #333; color: #fff;">Rate me! [http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~grep/vote/up.php +] [http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~grep/vote/down.php –]</div>

Talk:1604: Snakes

2015-11-16T20:57:10Z

Grep:

i don't know how to add the omega sign for the units of the resistor in the transcript. i'll leave that to someone more skilled than myself [[User:Beardmcbeardson|Beardmcbeardson]] ([[User talk:Beardmcbeardson|talk]]) 05:26, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

Just copy-and-paste! -N00b {{unsigned ip|108.162.214.77}}

Or find the 'omega' symbol in Windows Character Map. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 08:37, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

To be exact, a 24Ω resistor would be red, yellow, black; 240Ω would be red, yellow, brown, and so on, along a well-defined sequence. Red, yellow on its own would be missing the final "scaling" colour. [[User:Gearoid|Gearóid]] ([[User talk:Gearoid|talk]]) 08:54, 16 November 2015 (UTC)
:We don't need the scaling colour here, the snake is scaly enough as is. [[User:Matega|Matega]] ([[User talk:Matega|talk]]) 18:58, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_color_code， a "black red black red black" resistor shoud be 2kΩ, not 24Ω ... -- Oicebot [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.119|162.158.252.119]] 09:30, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

The fourth band on a resister is usually the multiplier (the value gets multiplied by 10 to a power according to the colour); it's the fifth that indicates tolerance [[User:sbutler87|sbutler87]]
:The resisteors that I have at hand are coloured the way I remember, Three bands of 'spectrum' colours (including black at zero, brown for 1, leading through the spectrum red to violet until grey at 8 and white at 9), the first two are literal, the third the power of magnitude to adjust up, and a fourth band (metalic silver/gold, to aid identification of the direction to read) as tolerance.
:I know there's variations, and zero ohm (or effectively so) links are a single black band, but that's all I've ever needed to know, in my time. (When I don't put something across mulimeter probes, just to make sure...) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.221|162.158.152.221]] 11:57, 16 November 2015 (UTC)
::The last band is tolerance, and there can be as many bands before that as the manufacturer needs. It's always the last band, no matter how many come before. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 18:18, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

FWIW: raw image: [[File:snake-pixelated.png]] and with added math: [[File:snake-interpolated.png]]. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 12:28, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

Does this mean a 200ohm snake is safe? (Red black yellow) [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 14:51, 16 November 2015 (UTC)
:That would be 20*10^4 ohm = 240.000 ohm if I get it right? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:13, 16 November 2015 (UTC)
::Red black yellow would be 200000 ohms, or 200kΩ (200 kilohms). Red-black is 20, and yellow is basically adding 4 zeroes to that. [[User:SuperSupermario24|Just some random derp]] 17:56, 16 November 2015 (UTC)
:::Ups, I put in the 4 from the comic, 20*10^4 ohm = 200.000 (not 240.000 as I wrote at first). Thanks for correcting ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:48, 16 November 2015 (UTC)
:As far as I can see, it's <code>black yellow red yellow</code>, repeated, and red does not touch black... {{User:Grep/signature|20:57, 16 November 2015}}

Do they still use color bands? Do they still teach them to technicians? Should parts of this explanation be rewritten in the past tense mentioning that Randal is getting old? I though the bands were relegated to the dead languages section, right next to linear B, once surface mounted components came along. I certainly haven't used them since around 1990, and would not expect my younger technicians to understand them.
--[[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.101|198.41.235.101]] 19:58, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1438: Houston

2015-02-05T22:19:12Z

Grep:

A commentary on the nature of outsourced helpdesks, perhaps? Although, IME, the problems are more due to 'sticking to a script' (which would have given an entirely different exchange) rather than an unknowledgable and casually uninterested 'service'-person. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.247|141.101.98.247]] 05:15, 24 October 2014 (UTC)
:I think this is the idea behind the comic too. Kind of like a "What if it had happened today?" It sure sounds like the kind of hotline support we get today. [[User:Deantwo|Deantwo]] ([[User talk:Deantwo|talk]]) 10:29, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

::I agree. This is definitely comparison between the original mission control center and current outsourced helpdesk centers. Although it would be interesting to know what specific incident caused Randal to comment on it. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:28, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

: I'm going to throw in the idea that this might be a reference to the "Facebook generation", hard to know what the reference is, but a few weeks ago in Australia, or national curriculum organization published a new curriculum program for year 9/10 students, teaching them how to be functional in the work place, respect for the workplace, other employees, bosses, work time, etc... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.217|108.162.250.217]] 14:32, 27 October 2014 (UTC)

What is going on is this strip? Usually it's a reference to something or a commentary, but I don't get it at all. [[User:Cheeselover724|Cheeselover724]] ([[User talk:Cheeselover724|talk]]) 05:32, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

I think I figured out enough of it to remove the "incomplete" tag. This is definitely one of the weird ones. [[User:Shachar|Shachar]] ([[User talk:Shachar|talk]]) 06:02, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

Reference to Continuum? (Canadian sci-fi show)
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.106|199.27.133.106]] 06:41, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

Ebola? Really? Where is that..what? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.79|173.245.49.79]] 09:34, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

I agree, there is no evidence to back up the ebola reference. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 09:36, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

Also, I took it to refer to people being distracted on the phone in general (hence the title text) or generally not taking their jobs serious. Maybe the idea that for NASA, space travel has become so routine that mission control is no longer as engaged in the missions. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 09:38, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

Perhaps the guy answering the phone is called "Houston"? A misplaced Skype call from a rather shell shocked astronaut? {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.111}}
:But then it wouldn't make sense, that he says he's at work.--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.29|173.245.49.29]] 13:36, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

There are a LOT of anachronisms, or things that don't match the way things were back in the 1960's, not just the flat screens. (And I do still remember the sixties, despite "if you can remember the sixties, you wern't really there" - a reference to the drug scene.) We didn't say "cool" or "you suck at doing that" back then, and it's very unlikely that communications with the mission and a simple telephone call would be selectable from the same headset, and the michrophones on headsets were larger and probably had dangling wires back then. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 13:22, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

It could be a commentary on privatizing space travel by NASA (among others to Boeing). Would explain, why Cueball knows it's a "airplane or whatever".--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.29|173.245.49.29]] 13:36, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

I understand it's a reference, but is this supposed to actually be the Apollo 13? I understood it was just another mission happening today. I find the anachronism explanation nonsensical. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.211|108.162.212.211]] 13:57, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

"At first glance, this comic appears to be an "alternate reality" view at what could happen today, given that most people in the XXI century seem to suffer ADD." I don't think that we can assume this at all. Also, that's not what ADD is. [[User:Lomky|Lomky]] ([[User talk:Lomky|talk]]) 14:16, 24 October 2014 (UTC)
:Yeah. I think it's far more clear that Randall's commenting on unhelpful tech support than anyon'es short attention span. I've edited the explanation above. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.146|199.27.128.146]] 15:34, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

Did Randall have a bad experience with a call center operator? [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 14:38, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

Can someone explain why this is supposed to be funny? The explanation page doesn't quite get there. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.199}}
:xkcd is a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language; humor is not guaranteed. I see no indication that Randall is trying for humor here. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 03:22, 25 October 2014 (UTC)
:: It must be the math then... [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.201|199.27.128.201]] 00:40, 26 October 2014 (UTC)

Am i the only one interpreting Cueball as a script kiddie with too much spare time who somehow managed to hijack the communication line between Apollo 13 and Houston? The alt text is consistent with the basement dweller stereotype. Wouldn't explain the other call though.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.169|108.162.219.169]] 17:22, 24 October 2014 (UTC)
:No, that was my impression as well. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 01:10, 26 October 2014 (UTC)

Nasa just uploaded several audio recordings of their missions on soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/nasa). Maybe Cueball is just playing with those while he is at work. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.53|108.162.230.53]] 17:31, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

"It's always 'problem, problem, problem' with you guys. Don't you ever call just to say 'hi'?" {{unsigned|PheagleAdler}}
: "We're having problems with our vocalization units. It seems we cannot manage to utter a single greeting during a tech support call. How can we fix this?" {{User:Grep/signature|22:19, 05 February 2015}}

I don't get the context here. Is this supposed to be a biting satire on how the new generation sucks at social tact with their cell phones? How is a guy at NASA mission control being an asshat supposed to be funny or thought-provoking? Even the helpdesk angle doesn't really make sense, as inept as they can be I've never had one outright antagonize me like this guy does. {{unsigned ip|‎199.27.128.114}}

I found the comic to be more of a reference to that of a "friend" who does not care what your problems are and doesn't wish to help you solve them- like if you had lost homework or forgotten to do a project and called your friend at the last minute, he would mock you for your incompetence and blow you off. I found the comic to be a little pedanticism, as if what if mission control was filled with the "friends." I had no thought as to tech support... Maybe because all my tech support has been helpful. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.27}}

The problem in call centers is that the businesses that run them cannot afford to train all incoming staff in the entirity of the technical
knowledge required to actually be able to diagnose problems, so they design a "script" to be followed so that the staff can determine the problem and
explain the solution. However, for those that do this job day in and day out and constantly have people calling with the "Same problems, over and over",
they get really good at predicting when someone's situation is leading to a certain forgone conclusion in the script, and may develop a disdain for the
callers due to the problem being "so painfully obvious how to fix, why does this person need to call me to fix that? Why don't they know how to do it
themselves?" Which is caused by the fallacy of treating the entire job as being one experience with a single userbase rather than individual experiences
with individual users. For those that are less versed in the technical knowledge that are just trying to do their jobs, their reaction when receiving
this attitude tends towards "Why are you being so difficult? I called you for help!"

The largest problem created by this mindset is that people start seeing everyone else as idiots because they seem like they don't know what they're doing
to the individual, but that's only caused by the fact that they are overexposed to their overly simplistic jobs and thus believe everyone else ought to
know how to do what they are doing too - the fallacy here is coming from the fact that all the other individuals have their own specialized jobs -
individuals don't get the opportunity to experience anything outside their own job experience very often because their jobs consume so much of their
personal lives. Because of these overly simplified jobs individuals throughout the populace all have a sort of learned helplessness - they are all very
good at one or two things, but rubbish at most everything else. And since the governments need good consumers to drive the money wheels of the economy,
they pacify the intellectual needs of the people with entertainment. Those that still disobey the rules and are not creating enough money and jobs for
the economy are jailed. Those that are creating enough money and jobs for the economy then hire lawyers and lobbiests to change the laws to protect
their interests.

Of course there is also the issue that since those who are applying for the position aren't always required to have some background training in the field
they are supporting, the applicant may have no interest in it whatsoever other than as a paycheck - these folks tend to be the ones that stick closest to
the script, because without the script they themselves are lost - these type of personnel can and have been replaced by automated prompts by some
companies. By allowing the customer to step themselves through the script, you no longer need an employee on the line to do that with the customer.

The consequence of leaving someone like this to answer incoming requests is that they generally feel their life is more important than the client calling
in because they have no idea what they are actually doing other than following a script, and generally don't care, "as long as I get my 40 hours in" , or
however long their work week is set to. They see the position as a prison they are submitting to so they can get the money to do what they want/need to
in their time off - A job rather than a career. This mindset can be seen all over the employment base of countries that have changed most working
environments into assembly line like jobs where each worker knows only one or two steps of the overall process, but almost no one knows the entire
process - because if the workers know the entire process, they could easily quit their low paying jobs and start their own business making the same
product but cheaper because they would not have all of the administrative overhead.

So overall I'd say the comic is a social commentary combined with a play on the famous events of Appolo 13. {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.158}}

;Wrong number

Maybe the call has just somehow been routed to the wrong number? If Cueball were staffing some other type of helpline or call centre, his detachment and lack of understanding would probably be a natural everyday response to people who ring up with problems that aren't in his field. The line about 'your airplane or whatever' suggests he's not NASA at all.

Or maybe he's staffing one of those call forwarding services, and the problem is that the astronauts forgot to say 'Could I speak to NASA, please'. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.176|141.101.98.176]] 08:35, 26 October 2014 (UTC)

:Houston is more than just mission control. If Apollo 13 is calling "Houston", they get Cueball in some Houston-based call centre. I think this, with your conclusion, explains the strip well - except the anachronism, and what's a little anachronism among friends. {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.9}}

'''The Time Traveler's Radio'''
Wow. I interpreted this very differently from others. Cueball is working at a modern company that allows him to access all communication from all times. His initial "Cool" was him getting the system to intercept a radio message from the past that he could then interact with in real-time. He trolled Apollo 13 from (thier) future.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.191|108.162.216.191]] 18:51, 27 October 2014 (UTC)

The dialogue looks like a gamer talking to a fellow gamer. I think that either cueball is showing his experience with gaming, presumably because of a "wrong number" or a game which cleverly connects you to NASA. {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.30}}

I view this as an amateur using a HAM radio, such as the one in Gravity, who is either trying to troll or not believing that it was actually the crew of Apollo 13. I did not get any alternate reality or call centre vibe from this at all. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.143|141.101.106.143]] 20:38, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1457: Feedback

2014-12-08T18:32:31Z

Grep: My comment! About the pineapple being the signal source.

--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.34|108.162.254.34]] 17:57, 8 December 2014 (UTC)Could the pineapple here have any relation to the [http://wiki.wifipineapple.com/index.php/WiFi_Pineapple wi-fi pineapple]? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.103|173.245.52.103]] 05:27, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

: Oh, it might as well be an obscure Psych reference. Please stop looking for extraobscure references.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm3_qEMTdc4 [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.39|141.101.104.39]] 06:35, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.39|141.101.104.39]] 06:37, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

I think the comic also refers to another experiment where pigeons received a snack from a dispenser at totally random times. The pigeons, thinking that whatever it is they did last helped trigger the release of food would develop a complex ritual dance to receive food. (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Skinner/Pigeon/) {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.123}}
: The intro to Mr. Nobody references this. It's what I immediately thought of when I saw this comic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGcEy_W48Kc (the explanation starts around 1 minute in){{unsigned ip|108.162.221.170}}

The title text may also be a reminder that despite signal strength being important enough to some humans to act in an insanity-suggesting manner, it is not an essential need of a living organism, as the rats visibly demonstrate. --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 08:47, 8 December 2014 (UTC)--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.34|108.162.254.34]] 17:57, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

I thought 'reception' and 'wireless signal' referred to the cellular signal. That caused a lot of issues with the iphone and others. {{unsigned ip|173.245.62.89}}
: Agreed. I don't think the comic has anything to do with wifi. The alt text seems to bolster this view. [[User:SeanAhern|SeanAhern]] ([[User talk:SeanAhern|talk]]) 15:09, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Was it Mythbusters who tin-foiled an entire room to see whether it acted as a make-shift antenna? --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:23, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

What if the pineapple is actually where the signal is coming from, but it's a directional pineapple... {{User:Grep/signature|18:32, 08 December 2014}}

User talk:Grep

2014-08-18T17:11:40Z

Grep: /* expxkcd.com down */ or sooner than 24 hours :D

{{User:Grep/vote}}
To "instantly" send me a message, clicking +Topic and typing should work. :)

[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:Grep&action=edit&section=new + Topic]

== Hue-shifting what? ==

If I'm not terrible mistaken, this is not how metamaterials work. Can anybody link me a work about wavelength-shifting metamaterials?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.249|108.162.210.249]] 16:35, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
:I've moved your message to the talk page for comic [[1351]], because as far as I can tell, that's where it belongs. {{User:Grep/signature|19:05, 05 April 2014}}

==Feedback==
User [[user:cos]] raised an issue [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#expxkcd.com_redirect_not_up-to-date|here]] with expxkcd.com. I can show you the rewrite rules we use to achieve the same thing if you need them. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:16, 16 April 2014 (UTC)
:Thanks. I replied in the original conversation. {{User:Grep/signature|12:08, 16 April 2014}}

== Creator of http://expxkcd.com ==

Hi, the layout at your user page suggests that you did create the entire site. But if I understand your edit correctly you are just trying to talk about the index page. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:58, 23 May 2014 (UTC)
:Good point... I'll try to clarify. {{User:Grep/signature|19:04, 19 June 2014}}

== expxkcd.com down ==
Is everything ok? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:03, 9 August 2014 (UTC)
:Sorry about that. Yeah, as far as I know it's all okay... I'm transferring the domain from one registrar to another, and that seems to be taking a while... although it's been quite a while. I'll check in on the transfer status. {{User:Grep/signature|16:10, 18 August 2014}}
:Now that is weird... Apparently the domain transfer is still locked, and the registrar is still namecheap... but it transferred successfully. :/ {{User:Grep/signature|16:18, 18 August 2014}}
:Ahah! Got it! :D It should start working in about 24-48 hours (edit: or sooner! :D). {{User:Grep/signature|16:27, 18 August 2014}}

User talk:Grep

2014-08-18T16:27:22Z

Grep: /* expxkcd.com down */ problem apparently fixed! :D

User talk:Grep

2014-08-18T16:18:16Z

Grep: /* expxkcd.com down */ more explanation as to why expxkcd.com isn't working

User:Grep/signature

2014-08-18T16:15:27Z

Grep: Made signature smaller. I hope it's still readable.

[[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]]{{{1}}} (UTC)

User:Grep/signature

2014-08-18T16:14:11Z

Grep: Fixed weird newline thing... I hope.

[[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]]{{{1}}} (UTC)

User:Grep/signature

2014-08-18T16:13:34Z

Grep: weird spacing thing...

[[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]]{{{1}}} (UTC)

User:Grep/signature

2014-08-18T16:12:59Z

Grep: Going back to the old way of making my signature smaller, since it's not smaller. :(

[[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]]{{{1}}} (UTC)

User:Grep/signature

2014-08-18T16:11:32Z

Grep: Trying to make my signature smaller...

[[User:Grep|grep]]



[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]



{{{1}}} (UTC)

User talk:Grep

2014-08-18T16:10:28Z

Grep: /* expxkcd.com down */ registrar transfer

User:Grep/vote

2014-08-07T22:44:48Z

Grep: to fit with my new signature.

<div style="float: right; text-align: center; width: 5em; border-radius: 10px; background-color: #fff; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; background-color: #333; color: #fff;">Rate me! [http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~grep/vote/up.php +] [http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~grep/vote/down.php –]</div>

User:Grep/signature

2014-08-07T22:42:45Z

Grep: Different, shiny signature, because why not.

[[User:Grep|grep]]



[[User_talk:Grep|talk]]



{{{1}}} (UTC)

User:Grep

2014-08-07T22:26:51Z

Grep: remove expxkcd stuff... it's annoying anyway

{{User:Grep/vote}}
I am a person who has ideas. :)

{{User:Grep/signature|22:26, 07 August 2014}}

User:Grep/vote

2014-06-25T06:41:18Z

Grep: To match my signatures look, changing the box a bit.

<div style="float: right; text-align: center; width: 5em; border-top-right-radius: 10px; border-bottom-left-radius: 10px; background-color: #fff; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; border: 1px solid #118;">Rate me! [http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~grep/vote/up.php +] [http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~grep/vote/down.php –]</div>

User:Grep/signature

2014-06-25T06:39:09Z

Grep: New update to my signature. Why not have it look different, eh?

[[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]]{{{1}}} (UTC)

User:Grep

2014-06-25T06:31:51Z

Grep: /* expxkcd.com problems... */

{{User:Grep/vote}}
I am a person who has ideas. :)

I am the creator of [http://expxkcd.com/index.html http://expxkcd.com], a simple website that redirects to explainxkcd.com (which I did not make).

[http://expxkcd.com/index.html expxkcd.com] (the redirecter) is fixed! It now redirects to the latest explainxkcd automatically and stuff.

{{User:Grep/signature|19:08, 19 June 2014}}

User:Grep

2014-06-19T19:09:41Z

Grep: added a horizontal line for readability... i hope

{{User:Grep/vote}}
I am a person who has ideas. :)

I am the creator of [http://expxkcd.com/index.html http://expxkcd.com], a simple website that redirects to explainxkcd.com (which I did not make).

== expxkcd.com problems... ==
It seems that perl has decided to hate me, recently, by giving me the following message (when trying to update to the latest comic page for the expxkcd.com redirect):
<pre>
Segmentation fault (core dumped)
</pre>
Therefore I've decided to switch to something else, but in the mean time it'll be updated manually (at the latest I'll finish this on the weekend).
Sorry for the long time I did not see that it was not working.

----

{{User:Grep/signature|19:08, 19 June 2014}}

User:Grep

2014-06-19T19:08:56Z

Grep: /* expxkcd.com problems... */

{{User:Grep/vote}}
I am a person who has ideas. :)

I am the creator of [http://expxkcd.com/index.html http://expxkcd.com], a simple website that redirects to explainxkcd.com (which I did not make).

== expxkcd.com problems... ==
It seems that perl has decided to hate me, recently, by giving me the following message (when trying to update to the latest comic page for the expxkcd.com redirect):
<pre>
Segmentation fault (core dumped)
</pre>
Therefore I've decided to switch to something else, but in the mean time it'll be updated manually (at the latest I'll finish this on the weekend).
Sorry for the long time I did not see that it was not working.

{{User:Grep/signature|19:08, 19 June 2014}}

User:Grep

2014-06-19T19:08:40Z

Grep:

{{User:Grep/vote}}
I am a person who has ideas. :)

I am the creator of [http://expxkcd.com/index.html http://expxkcd.com], a simple website that redirects to explainxkcd.com (which I did not make).

== expxkcd.com problems... ==
It seems that perl has decided to hate me, recently, by giving me the following message (when trying to update to the latest comic page for the expxkcd.com redirect):
<nowiki>
Segmentation fault (core dumped)
</nowiki>
Therefore I've decided to switch to something else, but in the mean time it'll be updated manually (at the latest I'll finish this on the weekend).
Sorry for the long time I did not see that it was not working.

{{User:Grep/signature|19:08, 19 June 2014}}

User:Grep

2014-06-19T19:05:55Z

Grep:

User talk:Grep

2014-06-19T19:04:28Z

Grep: /* Creator of http://expxkcd.com */

User:Grep

2014-05-22T01:14:22Z

Grep: added bit about me being the expxkcd.com person-thing-being-mosquito

{{User:Grep/vote}}
I am a person who has ideas. :)

I am the creator of [http://expxkcd.com/index.html http://expxkcd.com].

{{User:Grep/signature|01:14, 22 May 2014}}

Talk:1367: Installing

2014-05-12T12:07:07Z

Grep: added yet another comment... because i have it. about firefox os.

explainxkcd has it pretty easy with this one since the comic explains a lot of itself. Maybe explain what a smartphone is and how apps work? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 05:28, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

For some reason, this reminded me of the old Snaptu app. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snaptu) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.147|108.162.225.147]] 07:02, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

Maybe it should be mentioned that sometimes you DON'T want to auto-install every application and give it access to all your phone resources. Because, you know, malware. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:47, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

I wonder why he chose <code>cookies</code> over <code>localStorage</code>... seems like <code>localStorage</code> does a better job of storing configs. {{User:Grep/signature|12:06, 12 May 2014}}

Firefox OS can technically do this, and technically does this. {{User:Grep/signature|12:07, 12 May 2014}}

Talk:1367: Installing

2014-05-12T12:06:01Z

Grep: added comment about localstorage v. cookies

User talk:Grep

2014-04-16T12:08:44Z

Grep: /* Feedback */

Talk:1354: Heartbleed Explanation

2014-04-11T11:04:38Z

Grep: Added my comment.

I assume everybody got the (truncated) reference to the password "CorrectHorseBatteryStaple"... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.210|141.101.89.210]] 06:51, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Until I read this wiki, I did not get that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.50|108.162.216.50]] 10:09, 11 April 2014 (UTC)BK201
:There are also references to (if I recall correctly): [[Missed Connections]], "snakes but not too long" from [[Umwelt]], there's boats (of which many comics exist), "bees in car why" may be slightly related to [[Parody Week: TFD and Natalie Dee]]... that's all I see. Also the ip (375.381.283.17) doesn't seem to represent anything, but you never know. {{User:Grep/signature|11:04, 11 April 2014}}

While the bug is explained very good, there is one point missing: The word "user" seems to imply that Meg is known to server. But the bug doesn't require that - ANYONE can ask the server. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:03, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

User talk:Grep

2014-04-05T19:05:15Z

Grep: /* Hue-shifting what? */ Response to explain stuff and things.

User talk:Dgbrt

2014-04-05T19:04:20Z

Grep: /* Your Undo */ Response.

See the history for more:
* [[User talk:Dgbrt/2013|2013]]

== X11 Title Text Explanation ==

In my absence was it finally decided forever and always how title text explanations would be handled? I can't find a discussion in the Community Portal, if you have a link I'd be interested to come up to speed on the current editing policies. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:44, 7 January 2014 (UTC)
:A BIG problem is here still that there are NO editing policies in general. I'm just following the main "feel and look". In standard explains the title text is just at the bottom of the explain, and trivia goes after transcript. You are an admin here and maybe you should talk to [[User:Davidy22]]. In general I think that X11 still needs a better layout. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:11, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

::Ok. I had wondered about that. My personal policy, when I was an active editor a year ago, was once a title text explanation is longer than 2 paragraphs it should get it's own subsection. I'll have to get a dialogue started with Davidy about it once more.

::So you know, the English phrase is "look and feel". I know English isn't your first language, I just wanted to correct you on that. If I tried typing in German, I'd probably embarrass myself, and you'd have to help me.

::[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 23:25, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

:::I'm happy about your latest actions here! And of course I did mix it up, it's "look and feel" and a translation of my former mistake could lead into some problems. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 01:13, 8 January 2014 (UTC)

== [[1052]] ==

Think you may have marked this as complete a smidgen early - it needed a bit of cleanup, and a few more tweaks (the joke about theology wasn't explained, really). I've done it now, though. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.235|141.101.99.235]] 16:40, 10 January 2014 (UTC)
:You are welcome to enhance this explain, but in general it's not incomplete any more. If you feel the explain is still incomplete just add the tag again and provide a reason. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:02, 10 January 2014 (UTC)
::Eh, I got it. It was just a couple little things - the Ontological Argument joke, and such. I suppose, though, that "I had intended to do more work on it" isn't really an argument against removing it, is it? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.235|141.101.99.235]] 18:26, 10 January 2014 (UTC)
:::And I'm very happy if you still can enhance this explain. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:30, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

== Cthulhu and Azathoth ([[1040]]) ==

I can only presume you haven't read Lovecraft, but those are the best known sealed-away gods in modern literature. Cthulhu is supposed to live in the extreme depths, Azathoth beyond time, surrounded by insane pipers. They're a far better explanation than the Harry Potter one which is far, far more tangental - it sings in a bath, and contains nothing that could escape - but you're leaving in.

I doubt there's a precise reference being made to ''anything'' in the comic, but Cthulhu and other Lovecraftian Gods are the overwhelmingly likely inspiration. Unless someone has a better explanation. I suppose one could discuss The Abyss as well. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.235|141.101.99.235]] 11:27, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

:I disagree, this comic contains only REAL things. This is NO horror fiction. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:58, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
::The door at the bottom of the Marinas Trench is real now? James Cameron really released something on the world because he was distracted by its beautiful music? I think you've missed the actual context of the specific discussion. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.235|141.101.99.235]] 11:36, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

== Downtime ==
Next time you see errors, could you post the output of [http://explainxkcd.com/cdn-cgi/trace this link] somewhere? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:09, 22 January 2014 (UTC)
:I will do so, but currently there are no problems. It's working great. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:19, 22 January 2014 (UTC)
::Actually, could you get me the output to that file currently for now? And again in the future if downtime ever does occur. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:13, 22 January 2014 (UTC)
:::Currently I'm on a leased line at a different provider than at home. But I will document my dynamic DSL connections and provide some information here soon. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 09:36, 22 January 2014 (UTC)

Here we are, I'm online here via "webproxy.ca" right now. My route from Germany to explainxkcd stops somewhere in Chicago (Illinois) in the US [http://www.geoiptool.com/en/?IP=69.22.139.202]:

traceroute to www.explainxkcd.com (108.162.198.131), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
...
3 f-ed4-i.F.DE.NET.DTAG.DE (62.154.14.130) 17.008 ms 17.956 ms 19.323 ms
4 80.157.128.230 (80.157.128.230) 20.428 ms * *
5 xe-1-1-3.r20.frnkge04.de.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.5.221) 24.298 ms 25.328 ms 26.540 ms
6 ae-1.r23.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.3.179) 34.319 ms 17.730 ms 17.855 ms
7 ae-1.r03.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.147) 18.859 ms 20.572 ms 21.711 ms
8 xe-4-0-5.ar1.ams3.nl.nlayer.net (69.22.139.202) 21.740 ms * *
9 * * *
10 * * *
..........

And WHOIS gives me this result (excerpt):
Domain Name: NLAYER.NET
Registry Domain ID: NA
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.enom.com
Registrar URL: www.enom.com
Creation Date: 2002-12-25 17:52:16Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2014-12-25 22:52:00Z
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Registrar IANA ID: 48
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse at enom.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4252744500
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: GTT ICT
Registrant Organization: GTT
Registrant Street: 8484 WESTPARK DR
Registrant City: MCLEAN
Registrant State/Province: VA
Registrant Postal Code: 22102
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: 1. 1.7034425500
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax: 1.
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: ICT@GT-T.NET

At this time I even don't get an error message, my browser is loading... and loading... What is it? I'm reaching the US from Germany but then it stops. A Proxy from Canada works well, what the hell??? NSA or CIA or what? Maybe a Webhoster outside of the US would be better. 22:33, 25 January 2014 (UTC)~ dgbrt
:Uh, it'd be nice if you could also post the results from the link I posted. We kinda need that for troubleshooting the actual server issues. And if you could do it via the setup that you suffered the server issues under, that would be helpful. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:05, 26 January 2014 (UTC)
::I don't think this is helpful, you just see my proxy is located in Toronto:
fl=15f13
h=explainxkcd.com
ip=192.95.59.247
ts=1390768261.007
visit_scheme=http
uag=Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:22.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/22.0
colo=DFW
spdy=off
::Much more important is this. My route to this site still stops somewhere in the US (69.22.139.202)
traceroute to www.explainxkcd.com (108.162.198.131), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
......
5 xe-1-1-3.r20.frnkge04.de.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.5.221) 25.018 ms 25.705 ms 26.915 ms
6 ae-1.r23.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.3.179) 40.023 ms 18.255 ms 17.291 ms
7 ae-1.r03.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.147) 18.708 ms 19.898 ms 26.766 ms
8 xe-4-0-5.ar1.ams3.nl.nlayer.net (69.22.139.202) 22.642 ms 23.760 ms 25.257 ms
9 * * *
10 * * *
11 * * *
12 * * *
......
::And uhh, I can't reach your link from home. Just because I cannot connect this site without a proxy. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 26 January 2014 (UTC)
:::More important: '''My BOT will not work''' until this is fixed. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:22, 26 January 2014 (UTC)
::::Try using Google DNS. That looks like an ISP issue. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:46, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Holy crab, I'm back from a three day business trip. I did figure it out, it wasn't an ISP issue at all, it was just a remain at my local configuration attempting to avoid former problems. I was looking on this problem everywhere, but not at my own manual overwrites. Shame on me, Human Error. But this error is still much better than a BOT Error; so I'm hoping my BOT will behave on Friday again like it should do. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:50, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
:My crab, ehh.. bot should perform as before. My sweet eight legged animal did fail, caused by some former chaos here. I'm hoping that future updates will perform as before, even if an update is late. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:26, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

== Original transcripts ==

Where can I find the original xkcd transcripts? [[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]]) 23:32, 7 February 2014 (UTC)
:Look at the HTML source. There is a DIV-tag named "transcript", often, but not always Randall provides a hidden transcript here. And sometimes there are deeper information, helpful for explain.
:I'm using Firefox and the Add-On "Stylish" to show me this content at the comic page itself. The code is:
@namespace url(<nowiki>http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml</nowiki>);
@-moz-document domain("xkcd.com") {
#transcript {
display: block !important;
font-variant: normal !important;
}
}
:--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:19, 10 February 2014 (UTC)
::Thank you, now I can see the transcripts. [[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]]) 18:56, 8 February 2014 (UTC)
:::I'm happy if I can help. And shame on me, I did forget to sign my former post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:19, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

== Undo button ==
The undo button gives you the version of the page prior to the edit that you hit undo on. When you disagree with one part of an edit, hitting the undo button reverts everything else as well. Don't default to the undo button unless you're absolutely sure that the entire edit is bad. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:14, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
:I'm using the Undo Button only when I do know what I do delete. That's similar to an update here, I'm still trying to avoid an "edit conflict" here. But some actions here don't make me happy here, I don't know if my actions here are welcome. I don't need a thanks, but the latest GIFs were done by my BOT — that main table would not work without my work. My Undo is mostly done on an another Undo without any given reason, if there was a reason I do reply in a proper manner.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:30, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
::There's been a fair few cases in the past and with this particular case where you've defaulted to autoreverting an edit when the edit button would have sufficed. Disagreements need not be made personal; it is possible for a disagreement to occur without assuming insult. I track recent changes for vandalism/peacekeeping/comment signing duties and while I don't tend to interfere that often with daily happenings, I have noticed that a healthy portion of arguments have included you. Swearing isn't a strictly appropriate response to a user removing an incomplete tag or rewriting an explanation, even if you strongly disagree with it. try to avoid defaulting to arguing. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:28, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
:::Uhh, I'm back after two days — no time... I don't know if I can check all the recent changes, but I will give a try on the most important ones. The 1331 Frequency table is the first. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:57, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

== Übersetzungen in Deutsch - Translations to German ==

This is a call for help (in German and English):
:DE: Ich versuche die Startseite mit allen Templates zu übersetzen, ist nicht einfach und vielleicht gibt es ja Leute die helfen können.
:EN: I'm trying to translate the main page into German — including all that templates. That's not an easy task, but maybe someone can help.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:27, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

== When ==
Hi Dgbrt. This is just a question for my personal curiosity. After seeing [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Randall_Munroe&diff=58669&oldid=51439 this edit], I started wondering whether the use of "when" in that sentence was due to you being a native German speaker. I'm asking because I follow a blog by a Dutch guy who also uses "when" all the time, in sentences where it would make more sense to use "if" instead. Does the equivalent to "when" have extra meanings in Dutch and/or German, outside of the English time-based meaning? 
Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:08, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
:Hi Waldir, "if" is more a question about an issue while "when" is more about time. I'm not native English but I'm still trying to learn — Google gives me "if" as "indien" in dutch, and "when" as "wanneer". Since I do know {{w|Plattdeutsch}} I do know many funny misunderstandings belonging even on this simple word. A hurt in English is a pain, in Dutch it is a "pijn", but in German the word "peinlich" doesn't match this meanings at all. I'm doing mistakes on understanding languages, but I still have many fun on exploring. Don't know if (<-NOT WHEN) I did answer your question. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:46, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

: Although "when" is "wenn" in German and "if" is "falls", it is very common to use "wenn" for both meanings. Therefore, many Germans (including me) tend to use "when" even <del>when</del><ins>if</ins> they mean "if". Although I don't speak Dutch, I know that it is very similar to German, so it might be the same issue. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.196|108.162.254.196]] 14:57, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

::Using "when" is often a {{w|false friend}} used by Germans, like I did before. In German "wenn" means "when", "if", and more in English; so you have to care about those different words in English. I'm still happy to learn more about the English language, in general it's believed to be more simple than German. But in my opinion this just means that English is much more precise and shorter. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:17, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

::: Thanks guys for the explanations, they were both enlightening and amusing! I just want to clarify that sometimes it ''is'' acceptable to use "when" in English to refer to a general condition rather than a strictly time-based one (as it seems to be the case in German), but the distinction may be subtler/stricter than in German. [http://english.stackexchange.com/a/35164/10804 This answer] explains it well, I think: "If you say 'when' something happens, you imply it definitely will happen, even if the precise timing is unknown. You use 'if' when (!) there's uncertainty about whether the event will happen at all." --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:24, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

==Thanks!==

Hi! Despite our slight disagreement regarding the alt text explanation over "Purity", I did want to thank you for going over some of my edits and cleaning them up. The link format here is slightly different than what I'm used to, and it screwed me up. As well, I tend to overuse parenthesis. Don't feel bad about proofreading my edits - I do appreciate it.

If you're confused as to my objection over Purity, I've left a note on the talk page for that comic explaining why I feel what existed before is not sufficient. [[User:Jetman123|Jetman123]] ([[User talk:Jetman123|talk]]) 13:12, 10 March 2014 (UTC)
:I appreciate your thanks. My answer on that specific title text is here: [[Talk:435: Purity]] --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:47, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

== German translation ==

A translation isn't easy at all, my local German page is still mostly in English. It's not easy to figure out the important tamplates, but I did some more enhancements — if the general page does work, the remaining work only belongs to translation (not easy at all).

I think we should start this soon, and because even German people do know English as well there is no need to translate it all. Sometimes just a hint gives a shot. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:05, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

== Your Undo ==

On my talk page, you undid my deletion of a user's message. The reason I deleted the message in the first place was that it wasn't meant for me in particular, but meant to be placed in the discussion for [[1351]]. One reason I think that this was meant to be in that discussion is because this is a) the first time metamaterials were mentioned in xkcd (as far as I know); b) the user said "can anybody link" in their message, asking anybody in particular to help. I doubt people check my talk page for a discussion of an xkcd; and c) I did not start, nor join, nor end any discussion about metamaterials and their validity.

So... I'm just asking if you consider it valid to delete it, or if, in your opinion, I should leave it there (I have already added their (exact) words to the discussion for the comic, so that is already there). {{User:Grep/signature|22:33, 04 April 2014}}

:In general a discussion should not be deleted at all; I could do the same on this topic, too. Furthermore you do invite people to discuss, so just give them a kind reply. This even could be like -> here we go for further talks. But deleting that looks like ignoring this. Your user page proposes something different. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:48, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

::Ah. I understand your point of view, and I agree with it. Thanks! {{User:Grep/signature|19:04, 05 April 2014}}

User talk:Dgbrt

2014-04-04T22:33:40Z

Grep: /* Your Undo */ Dammit. Forgot my signature. And I keep forgetting to write a summary. Augh.

User talk:Dgbrt

2014-04-04T22:28:15Z

Grep: /* Your Undo */ new section

Talk:1351: Metamaterials

2014-04-04T17:55:30Z

Grep:

You should also note the reference to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roses_are_red - which should be quite obvious though.
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.61|108.162.229.61]] 06:34, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
:See also http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roses_are_red Sebastian :--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.194|173.245.53.194]] 06:28, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

Is there any guidelines for making a transcript? In my opinion any explanation of the comic should stop at a note of who deliver the line. Only when it is not clear in which order a text should be read or for special comics should there be anything else than written text from the comic. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:50, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
:Take a look [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Transcripts here]. It was a (short) discussion about transcripts. {{User:Grep/signature|12:20, 04 April 2014}}

If I'm not terrible mistaken, this is not how metamaterials work. Can anybody link me a work about wavelength-shifting metamaterials?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.249|108.162.210.249]] 16:35, 4 April 2014 (UTC) (whoever put this on grep's talk page... it's supposed to go here)

User talk:Grep

2014-04-04T17:51:34Z

Grep: /* Hue-shifting what? */

1351: Metamaterials

2014-04-04T12:27:07Z

Grep: /* Explanation */ said that metamaterial is a box, and removed the "lack of title text explanation" because that's there now.

{{comic
| number = 1351
| date = April 4, 2014
| title = Metamaterials
| image = metamaterials.png
| titletext = If I developed a hue-shifting metamaterial, I would photobomb people's Instagram pics with a sheet of material that precisely undid the filter they were using.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Feels incomplete.}}

{{w|Metamaterials}}, artificially created materials typically composed of very finely structured “conventional” materials, may cause light passing through them to shift. The exact color it shifts to varies based on the design of the material.
In today’s comic, Megan uses her metamaterial (which is in the shape of a box) to shift the colors of the cliché Valentine’s Day poem, “{{w|Roses are red}}, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you.”

The title text references this with Randall pondering making a metamaterial that reverses the effect of {{w|instagram}} filters, likely by placing the material between the camera and the subject just before the picture is taken.

==Transcript==

:[Picture of a red violet.]
:Megan (off-screen): Violets are red.

:[Picture of a blue rose.]
:Megan (off-screen): And roses are blue.

:[Megan holding sheet of transparent material in front of the two flowers: red violet, blue rose. Cueball stands nearby.]
:Megan: When metamaterials

:[Megan moves the object away from the flowers. Now violet is blue, and rose is red]
:Megan: Alter their hue.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:1351: Metamaterials

2014-04-04T12:20:56Z

Grep: Commented on what Kynde said. Because I can.

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2014-03-29T08:00:06Z

Grep: /* xplainkcd.com */

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2014-03-29T07:25:10Z

Grep: /* xplainkcd.com */

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2014-03-29T07:16:29Z

Grep: /* xplainkcd.com */

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2014-03-29T05:10:57Z

Grep: /* xplainkcd.com */

explain xkcd:Sandbox

2014-02-25T03:42:52Z

Grep:

__NOINDEX__
Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.
------
[[stupidddddddddd]]
[[stupid]]
[[xkcd]]
[[explain xkcd]]
{{#expr:1220+({{CURRENTWEEK}}-23)*3+{{#switch:{{CURRENTDOW}}|1|2=0|3|4=1|5|6|0=2}}}}
15:39, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
{{Comicbox sandbox
| number = 0000.1
| date = 0000.1
| title = 0000.1
| image = 0000.1
| titletext = 0000.1
}}

{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-2000}}

https://www.google.com/images/srpr/logo11w.png

User talk:Grep

2014-02-25T03:40:49Z

Grep:

User:Grep

2014-02-25T03:40:35Z

Grep:

{{User:Grep/vote}}
I am a person who has ideas. :)

{{User:Grep/signature|03:34, 25 February 2014}}

User:Grep/vote

2014-02-25T03:40:19Z

Grep:

<div style="float: right; text-align: center; width: 5em; border-radius: 5px; background: #eee; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; border: 2px solid #ddd;">Rate me! [http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~grep/vote/up.php +] [http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~grep/vote/down.php –]</div>

User:Grep/vote

2014-02-25T03:40:07Z

Grep: Created page with "<div style="float: right; text-align: center; width: 5em; border-radius: 5px; background: #eee; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; border: 2px solid #ddd;">Rate me! [http://users...."

<div style="float: right; text-align: center; width: 5em; border-radius: 5px; background: #eee; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; border: 2px solid #ddd;">Rate me! [http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~grep/?u +] [http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~grep/?d –]</div>