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Archive 1←Archive 4Archive 5Archive 6

What-If Hasn't Ended

Why does the first sentence of the fourth paragraph state "From July 2012 to September 2015, there was a branch of xkcd titled What If?, which answered reader-submitted unusual science questions in a light-hearted but scientifically grounded way." There is a relatively new article on the What-If blog today (2016-01-12) which is definitely from within the last week. The reference cited at the end of that sentence is from 2014 and makes no mention of the blog having a defined end date. Although any casual observer could tell you that the posts to What-If? have become fewer and farther between, I'm unable to find any evidence anywhere stating explicitly that the blog has ended. I will be removing this detail sometime next week if there are no objections. Marcberm (talk) 14:58, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

Oooh, there's a new one! Thanks :p Someone edited to say that the blog had ended, and no one contested it. I knew it was never officially states, it mostly just seemed like it... but for all intends and purposes, it was kinda true, though it should not have been put there without a source. Feel free to remove the end date ^_^ ~Mable (chat) 17:29, 12 January 2016 (UTC)
I removed the end date and updated the tenses. --David Edgar (talk) 21:55, 12 January 2016 (UTC)
Haha, I think Randall might be watching this page because he just put out a new one. Incredible timing, as always. Winner 42 Talk to me! 04:27, 13 January 2016 (UTC)
I made the "past tense" edit to say that it had ended. I just came here to update it but found that it had already been fixed, thanks. Originally I made the edit, hoping to shame and annoy Randal into publishing another one, because I was annoyed that right after I bought the book, the blog ceased to be updated. This is what publicly editable encyclopedias are for right? Suggest reverting to my version if he lags for another three months before writing the next one. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.170.215.26 (talk) 05:18, 18 January 2016 (UTC)
"Shaming and annoying" authors to do something isn't exactly what Wikipedia is for, no. That being said, for all intents and purposes, the blog seemed to have stopped updating. It wasn't exactly a controversial claim. I'm just happy it started again :p
I know, well put. glad also, thanks to whoever made the revert.
Seeing as Randall may be showing a somewhat inconsistent update schedule now, I recommend not changing the verbs to past tense again until a reliable or primary source states the blog really has stopped updating. Let's just follow the sources as usual. ~Mable (chat) 10:36, 18 January 2016 (UTC)
TBH, last time we edited the article to mention the date of the last whatif update, Randall resumed a sterling schedule for about a month. It's been lagging for three weeks again now. Motion to mention when the last update was made to the whatif section of the site. We can leave all the grammar as is and simply mention perhaps the number of posts to date and the date of the most recent one.58.246.77.14 (talk) 01:59, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
Nah, let's just wait for a source. No reason to go for original research. ~Mable (chat) 04:25, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
See, there you go, a new What If installment has been posted. For future reference - again - don't edit the article to state that What If is on hiatus or has ended until either Munroe has confirmed it or the World Wide Web gets brought down due to solar flares ~Mable (chat) 13:22, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
It is in no way original research to make a note of the regularity of whatif updates based on information taken from the website (provided that the latest relevant information on this page is updated) I am adding the line: The Whatif feature on the site is updated with new articles from time to time and the last post *xxx* was made on *date*. The regularity of the comic book panel is noted, and the whatif panel should also be noted, particularly as the exietence of the whatif book draws a frequent number of new users. Edaham (talk) 06:23, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
Nah. Reliable sources haven't taken notice of its irregular update schedule, so why should we? Also, why is this an issue for the article on the webcomic, but not the article on Munroe or the book? Should What If? be mentioned in this article at all? ~Mable (chat) 06:57, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

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vox

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/8/16865532/2016-presidential-election-map-xkcd Benjamin (talk) 05:03, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

this seems important enough to mention, as it got not only the news source involved, but also some investigative reporting involving expert consultation. I'd support a mention in the article. Side note: xkcd there hasn't been a what if in ages. Did you know there's a what if barnstar for people who make them on their web pages? Edaham (talk) 05:30, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
Benjaminikuta done. Feel free to add. Edaham (talk) 04:50, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

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Capitals of name

I Belive in his blog (or BLAG) Muroe said not to write it as Xkcd, but XKCD or preferably xkcd. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 104.10.77.38 (talk) 21:12, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Which this article does. It's all xkcd here. What exactly is the issue? ~Mable (chat) 05:57, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
He prefers all lowercase, however, sometimes even he himself can not stick to it. Piisawesome3141 (talk) 04:19, 13 May 2017 (UTC)
Article address has "/Xkcd". Don't know how to change it myself. Someone else...? ~martín
It can't be changed. Template:DISPLAYTITLE is used to make up for it. See also this page for further explanations of technical restrictions on Wikipedia. ~Mable (chat) 15:27, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

Image from this article to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Webcomic xkcd - Wikipedian protester.png will be appearing as picture of the day on 23 November 2018. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2018-11-23. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. Thanks  — Amakuru (talk) 19:27, 8 November 2018 (UTC)

xkcd
xkcd is a webcomic created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe. Describing itself as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language", its subjects include statements on life and love as well as mathematical, programming, and scientific in-jokes. Although it has a cast of stick figures, the comic occasionally features landscapes, graphs, and intricate mathematical patterns such as fractals. New cartoons are added three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

This picture is an xkcd cartoon titled Wikipedian Protester, one of several references to Wikipedia which have appeared in the comic.Image: Randall Munroe (xkcd).

Archive – More featured pictures...

Wikipedia section

Hello, an editor recently added a substantial section on Wikipedia incidents related to xkcd. Unfortunately, it was mostly cited to the "Explain XKCD" wiki and Wikipedia itself. These are not reliable secondary sources. They are not suitable for inclusion in any article. 70.162.235.236 (talk) 06:30, 15 March 2019 (UTC)

→Perhaps if the article was sourced to the history of article edits for the pages that indicate where the edits occurred this should be added back. 75.183.17.205 (talk) 14:58, 19 March 2019 (UTC)


Some time ago I removed the wikilink from "a man wearing a black hat" to the Black Hat article, because when I first read this page I expected the link to take me to more information on the character, but the page doesn't mention him (or xkcd) at all. My change was reverted on the basis that "This is the appropriate semiotics for Black Hat the character", which I don't dispute, but the particular placement of the link still feels wrong to me. How about moving the link to where it says He has no name, so most characters just call him "Black Hat"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by CupawnTae (talk • contribs) 18:17, 16 June 2019 (UTC)

Good catch. It's important that links aren't confusing and users aren't too surprised by the pages they land on. I at least limited the wikilink as it stands now to just the "black hat" part of the sentence. The lack of any third party reliable sources in this paragraph makes me wonder if we should cover this character at all, though. We don't have any sources linking the character's design with the black hat hacker archetype, so it's all original research. ~Maplestrip/Mable (chat) 10:21, 17 June 2019 (UTC)
From Wiki News. Can we cite that here? Elfabet (talk) 12:41, 17 June 2019 (UTC)
I do think Wikinews interviews are good as a reliable source. Some may disagree because it is a fellow Wikimedia project (conflict of interest), but I say: use it! Turns out our reading of the black hat hacker is completely wrong too, so it's good that we can now correct that :) ~Maplestrip/Mable (chat) 13:38, 17 June 2019 (UTC)

"Cu.nniling.us" listed at Redirects for discussion

A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Cu.nniling.us. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2020 May 8#Cu.nniling.us until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Hog Farm (talk) 04:43, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

"Science it works bitches" listed at Redirects for discussion

A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Science it works bitches. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2020 May 8#Science it works bitches until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Hog Farm (talk) 04:45, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

"Correct horse battery staple" listed at Redirects for discussion

A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Correct horse battery staple. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2020 May 8#Correct horse battery staple until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Hog Farm (talk) 15:17, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

When you click on the link for 'one thousand most commonly used words in English', it takes you to the page 'Basic English'. From what I can tell, Basic English is a specific concept, which has nothing to do with the book. Randall Munroe states in the book that he himself compiled the list of words that he used, through a variety of different means. Can someone tell me why it links there? O-dog222 (talk) 19:18, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

Perhaps Controlled vocabulary would be preferable as a link. Elizium23 (talk) 19:22, 8 May 2020 (UTC)
I don't think so. Controlled vocabulary appears to be a system that uses complicated words/markup to reduce ambiguity, about the opposite of Randall's intent in the book (as I see it). O-dog222 (talk) 20:15, 8 May 2020 (UTC)
I think Most common words in English is a fairly obvious target. Thoughts on that? ~Maplestrip/Mable (chat) 20:33, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

"Malaria Party" listed at Redirects for discussion

A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Malaria Party. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2020 September 24#Malaria Party until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Hog Farm Bacon 17:02, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

Characters List

Do you guys think we should add a list of characters to the article? I know it was partially addressed in the 'recurring themes' section, but I think a dedicated section for characters would make sense. Mr. Skinny Wiki (talk) 14:51, 20 October 2020 (UTC) Mr. Skinny Wiki, Oct. 20, 2020

I think the themes section covers them sufficiently. I don't find any reliable sources giving much attention or significance to individual characters, and fans who are interested in that type of minutiae can go to xkcd.fandom.com. Schazjmd (talk) 15:39, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

Good article nomination?

It looks pretty good to me, and I think it deserves the status (and could perhaps ascend further)! Who wants to get the gears turning? Horsesizedduck (talk) 01:52, 2 July 2021 (UTC)

Picture of mr munroe

The picture in the history section, of mr munroe, is rather terrible and sinister looking. Upon watching video of him, I can safely say this is not an accurate depiction of his appearance, and as such is could be considered as a bad picture of him. Can we change this to a better one, perhaps one more obviously related to the webcomic xkcd as well? Just a thought The Theory of Knowledge (talk) 01:43, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

I noticed it was changed thank you! The Theory of Knowledge (talk) 17:30, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

Video Game

Today I noticed xkcd number 2712 has a little playable game with a rocket ship and a xkcd-style planetoid. 104.187.66.104 (talk) 16:14, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

These are somewhat common on xkcd and "Gravity" is indeed a lot of fun! It's one of the more dynamic experiences I've had with xkcd. I don't really see any reliable sources particularly covering it, so I'm not sure if a mention int he article would be appropriate. ~Maplestrip/Mable (chat) 17:37, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

Representative panel

Hi. I notice the panel - from "Philosophy" - shown as an example of part of an Xkcd comic. It's not actually very representative of the comic as it includes colour; most Xkcd strips are monochrome. Do someone think they should/could replace it with a monochrome panel? Thecolonpagesaretoocomplicated (talk) 20:46, 21 July 2022 (UTC)

@Thecolonpagesaretoocomplicated: Comics published on xkcd.com are, by default, CC-BY-NC 2.5, which we do not consider to be a "free license" Wikipedia:File copyright tags/Free licenses suitable for use in articles. This panel from "Philosophy", and the others included in the article, have been relicensed by the copyright holder so that they can be used. Therefore, if someone wants another example here, they'd need to approach Randall Munroe and coordinate another relicensing. Elizium23 (talk) 22:52, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
I think it's a perfectly fine example! There are multiple comics w/ color, and this is one of them! List on explain xkcd wiki: Category:Comics with color - explain xkcd 67.5.27.160 (talk) 16:59, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

Woah...

Has anyone seen how many tempelates this page has? This seems excessive. 67.5.27.160 (talk) 17:26, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

Short description

@The Grid: (I apologize for the terrible grammar in that edit summary.) It wasn't just because of the 40 characters, I also feel the word "American" doesn't help much. The short description is supposed to help disambiguate between searches, and there's no British cartoonist with a webcomic called xkcd. The word "Cartoonist" is much more helpful for this purpose. Snowmanonahoe (talk) 23:22, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

He's from the US and that makes his an American. To be honest, he's more than an cartoonist but if you want to simplify the short description than saying it's by someone based from the US is pretty normal. There's singers, songwriters, mathematicians, etc where the short description is based on where they're from. – The Grid (talk) 02:15, 5 April 2023 (UTC)

Academic Research

Hi all, I've added the subsection "Academic Research" to the section "Inspired Activities". Please let me know what you think about it and whether any improvements can be made - this was my very first Wikipedia edit. Maxmuller100 (talk) 10:58, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

TSA response to Bag Check (#651)

As documented by explainxkcd.com, the TSA actually responded to the comic. They expounded their view on the matter, not without Randall responding on his own.

Such instances of truly official recognitions of his comics would probably be worth noting. -- WA1TF0R䷟ 14:17, 23 January 2024 (UTC)

Xkcd should be capitalized

As per WP:MOS, articles should follow standard English capitalization practices. This takes priority over WP:COMMONNAME, for example with Star Trek Into Darkness or Numbers (TV series). BlueBanana (talk) 13:07, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

See MOS:LCITEMS and MOS:TMCAPS. In these cases, we follow reliable sources, which I think either use all-lowercase or all-caps for xkcd. A proper dig through all the sources would probably be needed to get a good conclusion of best presentation. ~Maplestrip/Mable (chat) 13:18, 30 March 2023 (UTC)
Its a really difficult decision which version is correct . Nira gliro (talk) 17:44, 30 March 2023 (UTC)
WP:MOS quite clearly states at the very top of the page that it is a guideline, not a rule. --Rob Kelk 14:06, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
At the bottom of https://xkcd.com/about/, xkcd gives its preferred capitalization.
JuxtaposedJacob (talk) 16:14, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
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