explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3152: Skateboard

2025-10-16T06:15:19Z

Kurahaupo: /* Transcript */ add hover text

{{comic
| number = 3152
| date = October 8, 2025
| title = Skateboard
| image = skateboard_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x267px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I understand it's hard to do more than 300 feet on these 90-second rush jobs, but with a smaller ramp I'm worried the gee forces will be too high for me to do any tricks.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] appears to have gone {{w|skydiving}}. In mid-fall, he opens what he thought was his parachute, only to discover the bag in fact contains {{w|skateboarding}} gear. This may be a reference to [https://www.ladbible.com/news/us-news/skydiver-final-words-forgot-parachute-ivan-mcguire-367933-20250409 an incident] where a skydiver switched his skydiving equipment for his camera equipment backpack and died. Cueball blames himself for the error, pointing out that having something that is not a parachute in a bag that looks a lot like a parachute bag is practically inviting disaster.

After a {{tvtropes|BeatPanel|beat panel}}, Cueball (still in mid-fall) takes out his phone and makes a call to a company responsible for {{w|skatepark}}s, hoping to place an order for a {{w|half-pipe}}. A half-pipe is a skating ramp consisting of a semi-cylindrical surface that forms 180 degrees of a tube, allowing skaters to ascend vertically to perform tricks and then descend onto the same ramp. It seems Cueball's intention is to have a very large half-pipe transported to (or constructed at) his landing zone, then use his skateboard to land on the ramp. From there, he could either transfer his downward velocity into much more survivable horizontal velocity, or continue onto the opposing side of the ramp to transfer into upward velocity, which would be counteracted by gravity and ultimately allow him to survive.

Obviously, this idea is absurd; half-pipes are very large structures, and it would be difficult to move such a structure ''any'' meaningful distance in the time it would take Cueball to hit the ground, and still more time to build one ''in situ''. Furthermore, it would have to be built or positioned to align closely with Cueball's line of descent, and ascertaining this would significantly delay the operation. The title text plays this for laughs, suggesting that the skatepark representative takes issue only with the ''size'' of the ramp that Cueball is requesting (600 feet), with the implication that a smaller half-pipe (300 feet) would be perfectly within their capabilities. Cueball tries to convince the rep to accept his original request due to his falling speed; making a high-speed turn inflicts significantly more {{w|g-force}} (unusually rendered as 'gee' in the comic) on the turner the tighter the turn is and the faster the turner is going, and because of his dilemma (falling without a parachute), he doesn't have the option to slow down to make a tighter turn more manageable. One would think that Cueball's concern is the human tendency to black out under extreme g-force, and the additional danger that would result from the consequent loss of control. However, his actual concern is that the high g-force would prevent him from doing tricks. Half-pipes are commonly used in skateboarding and other sports for performing a {{w|lip trick}} at the stop of the pipe, such as going high up in the air and spinning around or planting a hand on the edge. Cueball is attempting to make lemonade out of lemons by using his situation to perform an absolutely incredible skateboard trick on the world's largest half-pipe.

Terminal velocity for {{w|Terminal_velocity#Examples|a human falling in a prone orientation}} is about 55 m/s (123 mph). A ramp with a radius of 600 ft, or 180 m, would produce a centripetal acceleration of ''v''2/''r'' = 17 m/s2. With 1 ''g'' (the acceleration of gravity at Earth's surface) being about 10 m/s2, that's 1.7 ''g''. A 300 ft radius ramp would generate about 3.5 ''g''. In both cases, the acceleration vector (pointed radially) will add to the Earth's gravitational acceleration vector (pointed down), and be at a maximum at the bottom of the ramp. Assuming no change in velocity while skating on the ramp, that would be a max of 2.7 ''g'' on the 600 ft ramp and 4.5 ''g'' on the 300 ft ramp. The duration of the acceleration would be π''r''/''v'', about 34 s on the larger ramp and 17 s on the smaller ramp. Humans will generally black out under prolonged exposure to 4-5 ''g'' acting downward, as the forces pull blood away from the brain, so the difference between the 300 ft and 600 ft ramps could be the difference between tragedy and skating immortality. However, if Cueball were to land lying flat on the board, the g-forces would be survivable - [https://www.goflightmedicine.com/post/pulling-gs-the-effects-of-g-forces-on-the-human-body humans can withstand] sustained transverse accelerations of up to 11 ''g''. The opportunities for tricks are more limited in that position, though.{{cn}}

The human record for a controlled skateboard descent on an extremely tall ramp [https://www.redbull.com/int-en/sandro-dias-ultimate-skate-ramp was set on 25 September 2025], about two weeks before this comic appeared, by Brazilian professional skateboarder {{w|Sandro Dias}}. Dias completed a controlled 70-meter skating descent on a skateboard ramp built to match the curved contour of {{w|Centro Administrativo Fernando Ferrari|an office building in Porto Alegre}}, Brazil, with a shape somewhat similar to a quarter-pipe. Dias started from rest, on a platform attached to the skate ramp, rather than first jumping out of an airplane and reaching terminal velocity, but he was able to maintain control throughout the extremely steep and high descent, reaching speeds of over 100 km/h (28 m/s) without falling. Cueball is in a much more challenging position in various ways. Dias's feat actually confirms the conceptual plausibility of a 300-foot halfpipe, although (a) his maximum g-force was lower because he achieved lower maximum velocity after starting from rest, (b) his period of high g-force was much briefer because he started from rest and he's on a quarter-pipe instead of a half-pipe, (c) he is currently the only person in the world ever to have safely descended such a large ramp, (d) the ramp built for his challenge was constructed on the side of an existing building over the course of an entire month, not in a matter of seconds, and (e) he trained extensively specifically for this challenge, including sustaining the g-forces involved.

This comic shares a similar premise, at its core, to the recent example in [[3147: Hiking]], where the timely delivery of a structure was also put to good use — albeit that, in this case, the need is probably more urgent and not just a convenient means of assistance and fun to the respective recipient.

==Trivia==
Although Cueball is falling at great speed, Randall didn't include cartoon-style [https://www.fastcompany.com/1673017/quimps-plewds-and-grawlixes-the-secret-language-of-comic-strips downhites], vertical lines above him that would indicate this.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Cueball falling in the sky facing, his back down, him facing upwards. He has a tall unzipped backpack with a pouch for holding additional items on his back and a skateboard in his hand . Clouds are seen in the background and are in the following panels in different positions]
:Cueball: I guess this is on me. I should really keep my skateboarding gear and my parachutes in different-looking bags.

:[Cueball looking at his skateboard, still falling, now facing downwards]

:[Cueball dialing on his phone, almost completely upside down]
:BEEP BEEP

:[Cueball talking on his phone, back facing upwards, similar to the first panel]
:Cueball: Hello, Pro Skate Parks LLC? I'd like an extremely expedited order for a 600-foot halfpipe.

:[Caption:]
:I understand it's hard to do more than 300 feet on one of these 90-second rush jobs, but with a smaller ramp I'm worried the gee forces will be too high for me to do any tricks.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Skateboard]]

Talk:3152: Skateboard

2025-10-16T06:07:54Z

Kurahaupo: skateboard engineering

Maybe Randall took inspiration for this comic from the recent Red Bull stunt with Brazilian skater Sandro Dias, who dropped from the side of a building from a height of 70 meters (that's little over 229 ft) on 25 September 2025. [[Special:Contributions/2804:214:4102:575A:D862:C9B6:9505:D740|2804:214:4102:575A:D862:C9B6:9505:D740]] 01:25, 9 October 2025 (UTC)vinnycordeiro
: @vinnycordeiro, I thought of that too. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centro_Administrativo_Fernando_Ferrari] He was able to start in momentary free fall and make a controlled skating descent down the curve of the building (on a smooth skating ramp that had been built to exactly follow the building contour, not directly on the building's normal external surface). Although doing more than twice that height and starting at terminal velocity instead of rest would be extra-impressive. Still, Sandro Dias's achievement shows that a champion skateboarder can keep control of a skateboard with staggeringly large amounts of kinetic energy! [[User:Schoen|Schoen]] ([[User talk:Schoen|talk]]) 03:14, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

Perhaps the “wrong parachute pack” thing is just a common trope, but I was immediately reminded of the example in the Henry Stickmin Collection, where Henry survives the initial fall without a parachute just fine, but is immediately killed by the contents of the backpack falling out and onto his head. [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 01:55, 9 October 2025 (UTC)
: Parachute packs are secured with shoulder AND leg straps, so it's indeed very difficult to mistake them for ordinary backpacks. [[Special:Contributions/194.119.24.136|194.119.24.136]] 08:39, 9 October 2025 (UTC)
:Oh my gosh, how did I not notice that!? I am OBSESSED with THSC. [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 15:32, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

Wait, so "gee forces" isn't some kind of weird obscure pun? - [[Special:Contributions/24.177.125.170|24.177.125.170]] 08:51, 9 October 2025 (UTC)
: I wondered that too, but couldn't find any connection, other than that there is a TeamGee that makes electric skateboards, but it doesn't seem to be particularly notable (or even well thought of). [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:41, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

Has anyone done the math to see if the duration of the free fall would realistically be around 90 seconds as in the alt text? I want to believe Randall has, but the only way to know is to double-check... [[Special:Contributions/81.1.2.155|81.1.2.155]] 09:06, 9 October 2025 (UTC)
: OK this is me again, I just found an [https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/free-fall-air-resistance online calculator] and for an 80-kg object, 90s corresponds to a fall of 5000 m, which is apparently a reasonable skydiving altitude. Of course he doesn't call just as he jumps so take 10 more seconds, that's 6000m. [[Special:Contributions/81.1.2.155|81.1.2.155]] 09:13, 9 October 2025 (UTC)
:: But he would only realize his mistake at the moment of opening his parachute, which is typically around 1000-1200 m, leaving only 20-25 seconds before impact. [[Special:Contributions/194.119.24.133|194.119.24.133]] 11:10, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

Terminal velocity in a flat orientation is something like 200 km/hr, or 55 m/s. The 600 ft halfpipe presumably describes the radius, so that's 180 m. Then, acceleration in a circular path is a = v^2/r, so making that turn would be 55^2 / 180 = 17 m/s^2. With 1 g = 10 m/s^2, that's under 2 g. A 300 ft, or 90 m ramp, would be about 3.5 g. Add 1 g when you're at the bottom of the ramp and your rotational acceleration is aligned with gravity, so 4.5 g on a 300 ft ramp. That is indeed at the 4-5 g's where sustained exposure will cause blackout. Note, it will take about 17 s to travel around a 90 m ramp. If Cueball can manage to land lying flat on the board, humans are much more tolerant of transverse g forces, up to 11 g's for 3 minutes, per https://www.goflightmedicine.com/post/pulling-gs-the-effects-of-g-forces-on-the-human-body But that would also probably prevent doing tricks.[[Special:Contributions/163.116.146.119|163.116.146.119]] 14:27, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

I think it's a reference to the new skate. game that's in early access because you commonly do insane stuff off building or while skydiving in the game. [[User:DetmerL|DetmerL]] ([[User talk:DetmerL|talk]]) 14:37, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

"the difference between the 300 ft and 600 ft ramps could be the difference between tragedy and skating immortality"
Whoever wrote this deserves an award. [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 15:10, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

=== Engineering ===
==== Skateboard ====
Assuming a landing speed of about 55 m/s (terminal velocity for a human falling in a spread-eagle position), and 52 mm diameter wheels, the wheels would spin at about 20000 rpm. Whilst that's well within the range for high quality wheels, the rotational acceleration on the wheels would be stressful; [[Cueball]] would need to land closer to upright to account for this initial resistance.
[[User:Kurahaupo|Kurahaupo]] ([[User talk:Kurahaupo|talk]]) 06:07, 16 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3077: de Sitter

2025-04-23T10:14:06Z

Kurahaupo:

the titletext still needs an explanation, but i'm not sure i get the connection to conformal field theory; i suspect it has to do with the explosive rate at which hyperolic space seems to "expand" when travelled through, as a pun on the club expanding at a similar rate? - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 07:01, 17 April 2025 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.137|162.158.90.137]] 07:21, 17 April 2025 (UTC) I think it's alluding to {{w|AdS/CFT correspondence}}, which I think is a string theory thing.

In hyperbolic space, parallel lines DON'T meet when extended, and in elliptic space they DO. Also, the rotation thing looks strange. In any of the basic geometries you have 360 degrees in a circle. The sum of angles in triangle will be different (smaller than 180 in hyperbolic space, larger in elliptic space). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.213.151|172.68.213.151]] 07:58, 17 April 2025 (UTC)
: Agreed. I went and changed it. Though technically, the stuff about parallel lines is still wrong. Parallel lines don't meet by definition, and spherical geometry doesn't have them. Maybe someone can add a better explanation? [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 09:19, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

The yellow wood is a hyperbolic space.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 08:08, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

maybe a pun on "babysitters are not welcome here" [[User:Translated ORK|Translated ORK]] ([[User talk:Translated ORK|talk]]) 09:08, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

Fun Fact: the german version of Anti-de Sitter space in wikipedia refers to a [Randall–Sundrum model|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall%E2%80%93Sundrum_model] {{unsigned ip|172.69.150.119|09:20, 17 April 2025 (UTC)}}

i think the joke is that his house is a Euclidian space. Because he wants all triangles to add up to 180 degrees and 2 parallel lines to never meet.

Basically he just wants his house to function normally, not fall down, and have regular corners

"...less than 180° in a full rotation" - Shouldn't this be either "...less than 360° in a full rotation" (or perhaps "...the angles of a triangle add up to less than 180°"). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.186.206|172.69.186.206]]

I've started to explain the title-text, but not well. I don't really understand either of these concepts. {{unsigned|Xnerkcd|17 April 2025 (UTC)}}

I don’t really know how to explain it well, but the wikipedia page on these spaces says it’s negative SCALAR curvature. That is a different concept from what is currently being explained here. The intuitive dimension of curvature applies only to 2-dimensional spaces. In higher dimensions you can look at 2D-slices, and the curvature of those is called the sectional curvature. Scalar curvature is then something of an average of those. Notably, if scalar curvature is negative, that does not mean sectional curvature necessarily always is (though perhaps the higher symmetry of these spaces enforces this? I’m really not sure). The main way you can measure scalar curvature is by calculating the volume of a sphere of radius r – if the scalar curvature is 0 it’ll be the usual formula from Euclidean space, but if it’s negative, then for sufficiently small radii the volume will be bigger than expected (intuitively, more space gets crammed around each point). Feel free to incorporate this into the article.

I thought it might be a play on "housesitter" and the fact that anti and de can denote negatives, but I'm not sure how [[User:BeeVee|BeeVee]] ([[User talk:BeeVee|talk]]) 14:37, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

This seems too well-timed to not reference Idaho's Everyone is Welcome Here controversy. {{unsigned ip|172.68.35.117|15:57, 17 April 2025 (UTC)}}

Is this the first strip where the title begins with a lower-case letter? Also, I just noticed that the site's strips use small-caps, while this site uses traditional case. Is that something worth examining? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.98.3|172.71.98.3]] 15:03, 17 April 2025 (UTC)
:1) Nope. 2) What? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 17:55, 17 April 2025 (UTC)
::Then which one is the first? [[User:Translated ORK|Translated ORK]] ([[User talk:Translated ORK|talk]]) 09:04, 18 April 2025 (UTC)
:::The first I found was [[dPain over dt]], the (previous) latest was [[the Wrong Stuff]]. There were ''twenty-nine'' of them, in my quick scan (nine of them in the "xkcd Phone" series). Seven of them had no capital letters at all. (<s>Surprisingly, [[IPod]] doesn't start with "i", though two other direct Apple references do.</s> ''edit: Misread+misremembered it. It's [[IPoD]] and isn't even the direct Apple reference itself, at best an allusion to it. ;) '')
:::It happens frequently enough (around 1% of all comics, so far) to not be particularly noteworthy. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.106|172.71.26.106]] 10:15, 18 April 2025 (UTC)

Parallel lines by definition are lines that do not meet... So if they meet they are not parallel, though yes at close range they might appear parallel... --[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 03:36, 18 April 2025 (UTC)
:Draw them on a sphere (i.e., a space with positive curvature, a.k.a. a de Sitter space) and they do. The canonical example of this is the lines of longitude on the Earth, which really are parallel at the equator and yet definitely meet at the poles. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.150|172.68.205.150]] 07:50, 18 April 2025 (UTC)
::I think the point being that they aren't parallel lines if they do meet, they (just like on hyperbolic planes) have points where a line that crosses both does so at 90° to each. By the parallel postulate, there are no possible parallel lines (geodesics) in spherical geometry, though there are parallel-line surrogates (the parallel curves of lines of latitude, for example) that obey a looser interpretation. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.106|172.71.26.106]] 10:15, 18 April 2025 (UTC)
::Yes on a sphere you can have triangle made out of 3 right angles... Is it made out of three parallel lines? Of course not, at least that is not how mathematicians treat it... The proper replacement of parallel line postulate in de Sitter space is that all lines intersect, so there is no parallel lines... --[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 14:07, 18 April 2025 (UTC)

I'm a chemist. Mr. Markovnikov shouldn't appear near my house! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.102|162.158.103.102]] 11:18, 18 April 2025 (UTC)

----
I've added a leading paragraph with some background for non-mathematicians, and swapped the order of the definitions for ''de Sitter space'' and ''anti de Sitter space''. Hopefully that resolves the '''incomplete''' tag; if you agree, please remove the tag.
[[User:Kurahaupo|Kurahaupo]] ([[User talk:Kurahaupo|talk]])

3077: de Sitter

2025-04-23T10:04:32Z

Kurahaupo: /* Explanation */ remove duplicate reference to {{w:Triangle}}. Add note about de Sitter dying in 1934, making the prohibition pointless.

{{comic
| number = 3077
| date = April 16, 2025
| title = de Sitter
| image = de_sitter_2x.png
| imagesize = 292x459px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our anti-de Sitter club is small at the moment, but I've started corresponding with the conformal field theory people.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The explanation is too technical and hard for understand for normies. EDIT: I think I've fixed it. If you're not a math boffin but can still understand this page then please edit it and remove this tag.}}
This comic is a pun on two uses of the term "space":
* in the everyday sense as a place for a person or thing to exist in; and
* as mathematical jargon used in topology (a branch of mathematics usually studied at graduate or postgraduate level).

Willem de Sitter was a notable Dutch mathematician and physicist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for his work using topological models to describe the overall structure of the universe. He is best known for formulating the definition of a {{w|de Sitter space}}, which has constant positive (elliptic) curvature, where the sum of the internal angles of any {{w|Triangle#Triangle in non-planar space|triangle}} is more than 180°, and lines that initially appear parallel will always meet; the surface of a sphere is an example of a two-dimensional de Sitter space.

In contrast, an {{w|anti-de Sitter space}} is a space that has constant negative (hyperbolic) spatial curvature, where the sum of the internal angles of any triangle is less than 180°, and two parallel lines will diverge when extended. An anti-de Sitter space is a theoretical space with strange curves and extra dimensions which is used in studying the space-time structure of the universe.

The caption "My house is an anti-de Sitter space" refers instead to being against the actual physicist {{w|Willem de Sitter}}, after whom both spatial geometries are named, because the speaker forbids de Sitter from entering their house. This prohibition is pointless since he died in 1934.

The title text refers to {{w|conformal field theory}}, a set of rules for how tiny particles behave on boundaries. The ideas of conformal field theory and anti-de Sitter space are closely linked: everything in an anti-de Sitter space has a parallel in conformal field theory, a property which is usually called the anti-de Sitter space/conformal field theory correspondence or {{w|AdS/CFT correspondence}} for short.

The extra pun here is "{{wiktionary|correspondence}}" also meaning "mutual communication or discourse", typically communication by letter or email.

==Transcript==

:[A large note is taped to a closed door, which has a doorknob with a keyhole on it. The note reads:]
:20th century Dutch physicist Willem de Sitter is '''''not''''' welcome here

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My house is an anti-de Sitter space.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

3077: de Sitter

2025-04-23T09:58:35Z

Kurahaupo: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3077
| date = April 16, 2025
| title = de Sitter
| image = de_sitter_2x.png
| imagesize = 292x459px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our anti-de Sitter club is small at the moment, but I've started corresponding with the conformal field theory people.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The explanation is too technical and hard for understand for normies. EDIT: I think I've fixed it. If you're not a math boffin but can still understand this page then please edit it and remove this tag.}}
This comic is a pun on two uses of the term "space":
* in the everyday sense as a place for a person or thing to exist in; and
* as mathematical jargon used in topology (a branch of mathematics usually studied at graduate or postgraduate level).

Willem de Sitter was a notable Dutch mathematician and physicist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for his work using topological models to describe the overall structure of the universe. He is best known for formulating the definition of a {{w|de Sitter space}}, which has constant positive (elliptic) curvature, where the sum of the internal angles of any {{w|Triangle#Triangle in non-planar space|triangle}} is more than 180°, and lines that initially appear parallel will always meet; the surface of a sphere is an example of a two-dimensional de Sitter space.

In contrast, an {{w|anti-de Sitter space}} is a space that has constant negative (hyperbolic) spatial curvature, where the sum of the internal angles of any {{w|Triangle#Triangle in non-planar space|triangle}} is less than 180°, and two parallel lines will diverge when extended. An anti-de Sitter space is a theoretical space with strange curves and extra dimensions which is used in studying the space-time structure of the universe.

The caption "My house is an anti-de Sitter space" refers instead to being against the actual physicist {{w|Willem de Sitter}}, after whom both spatial geometries are named, because the speaker forbids de Sitter from entering their house.

The title text refers to {{w|conformal field theory}}, a set of rules for how tiny particles behave on boundaries. The ideas of conformal field theory and anti-de Sitter space are closely linked: everything in an anti-de Sitter space has a parallel in conformal field theory, a property which is usually called the anti-de Sitter space/conformal field theory correspondence or {{w|AdS/CFT correspondence}} for short.

The extra pun here is "{{wiktionary|correspondence}}" also meaning "mutual communication or discourse", typically communication by letter or email.

==Transcript==

:[A large note is taped to a closed door, which has a doorknob with a keyhole on it. The note reads:]
:20th century Dutch physicist Willem de Sitter is '''''not''''' welcome here

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My house is an anti-de Sitter space.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

3074: Push Notifications

2025-04-22T04:33:59Z

Kurahaupo: make off-site reference descriptive of its target

{{comic
| number = 3074
| date = April 9, 2025
| title = Push Notifications
| image = push_notifications_2x.png
| imagesize = 277x347px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = NOTIFICATION: Now dismissing a head of the Notification Hydra… NOTIFICATION: Success! You have dismissed a head of the Notification Hydra! Different title text: :3
}}
To experience the interactivity of the game, visit the {{xkcd|3074|original comic}}.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|
*The transcripts for the additional [[#Comic images]] are not detailed enough!

*The current explanation is too messy (unrelated paragraphs and too many bullet points). If needed, reorganise it, use tables, or divide it into subsections. Also, the explanation for the title text is too far down, make it more prominent.

*The gallery is missing many image links! Links to all images are on the index.js at ''https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/index.js?v{{=}}1''. You can easily identify them, they look like this: '''static/xyz.png'''
**Since [https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/index.js?v{{=}}1 that same link] contains all the comic pictures, ''including each notification'', we might as well use them to showcase the normal onboarding flow. Upload the notification pictures in order (take them from [https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/index.js?v{{=}}1 here], by using Ctrl+F to search for "static/" and then pasting into the URL), and create a new section for them! (Make sure to download the bigger version, labelled "4x" instead of "2x"!)}}
[[File:zoom_turtle.png|thumb|500px|The turtle that appears when graphing the coordinates from the [[3074: Push Notifications/Table of Notifications#Zoom notifications|zoom notifications]].]]This interactive comic is the 15th [[:Category:April fools' comics|April Fools' Day]] comic released by Randall, just over a week late. It uses {{w|push notifications}} to change the comic image over time and make other statements.

Upon viewing the comic for the first time, a sequence of notifications will be rendered over the comic itself. The notifications have a fade-in animation and appear one after another. The sequence is divided into several "groups" of notifications, each containing up to 4 regular notifications and an interactable button, which has a circled arrow icon to the right as well as a different text color. Clicking the arrow removes all notifications on screen and proceeds the sequence to the next group.

At the end of the sequence, a red-background option to sign up for xkcd notifications is presented. This part differs depending on if the user is "playing" from a mobile or desktop browser.

* On desktop, clicking this will result in the browser prompting the user to allow or block xkcd.com's request to send push notifications. By allowing, the game begins. If blocked, the comic shows a message "An actual error occurred {{nowrap|:(}}", and the laptop bursts into flames (see the image in the [[#Comic images|table below]]). It also blows up in response to any other browser error, such as a 500 Internal Server Error, which is reported to happen if you click the pause button too quickly.{{Actual citation needed}}

* On mobile, a new on-screen notification will show up, telling the user to add xkcd.com to their home screen in order for it to send push notifications on mobile. Upon doing so and opening the webpage from the home screen, the system will prompt the user to allow or block push notifications from this webpage. The outcomes of allowing and denying are the same as on desktop.

Once the game begins, you are provided with two buttons: one labeled "Emergency Stop", and one labeled "Silence notifications at a cost". Clicking the "Emergency Stop" button allows you to either restart the full game or to subscribe just to thrice-weekly notifications for new xkcd comics, while the second button will temporarily silence notifications, supposedly at the cost of notifying two random people.

The title text references the {{w|Lernaean Hydra}}, a multi-headed serpent-like monster from Greek mythology; the Greek hero {{w|Heracles}} was tasked with slaying the Hydra as {{w|Labours_of_Hercules#Second:_Lernaean_Hydra|the second of his twelve labours}}. When he cut off one of its heads, however, two heads would grow in its place, resulting in more heads than before; Heracles soon realized he could not kill the Hydra in this fashion. It describes a similar situation with the "Notification Hydra": a push notification "head" of the Notification Hydra was dismissed, which subsequently spawned two more push notification heads providing updates about the status of the dismissal. If one of these new notifications were to be dismissed, it would again spawn another set of the same two push notification heads; thus, the Notification Hydra is unkillable in a manner similar to the original.

The subdirectory where the images and scripts for this comic are stored is titled 'marconi,' which is likely a reference to the Italian engineer and inventor of the same name, {{w|Guglielmo Marconi}}, who is credited with inventing the radio, and did much work in the field of early communication systems.

Up to 7 clickable cats periodically spawn at predetermined positions around the page, including one on the edge of the Emergency Stop button.

For a table of all notification messages, see [[3074: Push Notifications/Table of Notifications]].

A general list of notification types include:
* A few starter notifications about this comic, the successful sending of a notification of this comic, and the lack of another comic.

* An announcement that an old comic was posted, specifying a (seemingly) random comic and its publication date. The publication date seems to be shown in a random {{w|Calendar date|calendar date format}}.

* A word game where a first notification asks you to type a word, with further notifications apparently to be sent whenever someone chooses the same word as you.
** The word can be chosen by clicking on the first notification, which lands you in the comic page. The comic pane will be changed to a comic-style input dialogue with a space for the word and a submit button. Upon providing a word, a notification informs you that you will then receive notifications (of the form "Someone else has selected the word <Your Word>!"), and that your choice is permanent and cannot be changed. You can also submit a blank text field, thus receiving "Someone else has selected the word !" notifications.

* A "streak" notification counting the number of times you've clicked it. To start with, the message changes every 10 clicks; then every 50 clicks (after 100) and then at increasing intervals. After every 50 clicks there is an offer to make future clicks count twice, making this a simple version of {{w|Cookie Clicker}}. If you choose to accept the offer by clicking on it, it will reset your clicks back to zero but makes all future clicks count double of the current click rate; you can also reject the offer by continuing to click on the click counter message. There are occasionally notifications encouraging you to keep clicking and "extend your streak," tempting you with "a free click to keep you going". After 400 clicks it will reset your clicks back to zero but makes all future clicks count four times.
** Early notifications encourage further clicking.
** Approaching a hundred, the messages grow more concerned and later start warning that the server will crash or has crashed.
** Above 750: "Are you just doing this to annoy me?"
** 1000-2000: "You're just doing this to annoy you?"
** Above 2000: "I guess it worked"
** Above 1000000: "Wow, you're really into this"

* A "have you seen my cat?" notification which causes all the cats to spawn when clicked.

* Cat fact notifications that appear when a cat is clicked, in reference to a [https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/owx3v/so_my_little_cousin_posted_on_fb_that_he_was/ humorous exchange on Reddit].

* Various "Erroneous Alerts" with a warning triangle {{w|emoji}} (⚠ U+26A0), some with just flavor text, some corresponding to changes in the comic image.

* "Zoom notifications" including numeric coordinates, sometimes prefixed with "oh look!"; plotting these coordinates creates an image that appears to be a turtle, which could be a reference to [[1416: Pixels]].

* "Constant reminders" with references to mathematical, physical, or some other constants. The constant values are stated to be "at the tone", likely in reference to {{w|Speaking clock|time-of-day phone services}}, which are live or recorded human voice services that tell you the exact time "at the third stroke" over the phone. (In at least some portions of the USA, the wording did use "tone" rather than "strike." For example, "At the tone, the time will be 2:32pm, and 10 seconds ... (beep)")

* A notification that offers to provide weather alerts for your location, which leads into a series of notifications asking whether you live in a named city. If none of the cities that it knows are selected, your location is set to the summit of {{w|Mount Washington}}.

* When the time is near a full hour or half-hour, that the current time is five o'clock.

* An invitation to subscribe to the "What if?" YouTube channel

* A notification with the heading "System Log" that reads (INFO): A user has paused notifications
** This notification presumably appears when a random user has pressed the "Silence notifications at a cost" button.

* A reminder to comment and subscribe. When click on it will redirect to one of various Wikipedia pages, including: {{w|Talk:Mathematics}}, {{w|Talk:Romance}}, {{w|Talk:Language}}, {{w|Talk:Alarm_fatigue}}, {{w|Talk:Boneless}}, {{w|Talk:Sitting}}, {{w|Category talk:Unix text editors}}, {{w|Talk:Robot}}, {{w|Talk:Jamming avoidance response}}, {{w|Talk:Squircle}}, {{w|Talk:Like}}, {{w|Talk:Drafting linen}}, {{w|Talk:Hot dog}}, {{w|Talk:Goomba}}, {{w|Talk:Tidal locking}}, {{w|Talk:Multiple unit}}, {{w|Talk:Flag semaphore}}, {{w|Talk:Stoating}}, {{w|Talk:Roseate_spoonbill}}, {{w|Talk:Teleportation}}, {{w|Talk:List of dumplings}}, {{w|Talk:List of hat styles}}, {{w|Talk:Cats and the Internet}}, {{w|Talk:Laminar flow}}, {{w|Talk:Time management}}, {{w|Talk:Hole}}, {{w|Talk:Spot welding}}, {{w|Talk:Myst}}, {{w|Talk:Agriculture in ants}}, {{w|Talk:East}}, {{w|Talk:Smoot}}.

* A "{{w|Carriage return|Carriage Return}} Line Feed", referencing the Windows standard of storing line returns as a carriage return character followed by a line feed (newline) character. However, the xkcd Carriage Return Line Feed is instead a news feed concerning the next stop on a supposed "Carriage Return Line" of a train system. The announcements are all related to stations on the {{w|London Underground}}, including the use of the phrase "{{w|Mind the gap}}".

===Comic images===
{|class="wikitable"
!Image
!Transcript and explanation
|-

| [[File:3074_normal.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at his desk, with his laptop.

|-
| [[File:3074_big_laptop.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at his desk, with a very large laptop.

|-
| [[File:3074_plant_small.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at his desk, with a small potted plant.

|-
| [[File:3074_pot_squirrel.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at his desk, with a squirrel in the pot.

|-
| [[File:3074_plant_big.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at his desk, with a much larger plant that has clearly outgrown the pot, at least vertically.

|-
| [[File:3074_big_plant_cat_A.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at his desk with the larger plant, with a cat on one of the branches.

|-
| [[File:3074_big_plant_cat_B.png|240px]]
| A second image of Cueball sitting at his desk with the larger plant with a cat on one of the branches, but in a different spot.

|-
| [[File:3074 Desk with Cat Foreground.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at his desk, with a cat in the foreground near the point of view.

|-
| [[File:3074_cat_chair.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at his desk, his chair replaced with a large cat.

|-
| [[File:3074_computer_fire.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting farther back from his desk, with the laptop on the desk on fire. This image only appears if [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] is denied the permission to send notifications (see the [[#Explanation|explanation above]]).

|-
| [[File:3074_float.png|240px]]
| Cueball, the desk, and the laptop floating in the air.

|-
| [[File:3074_spin.png|240px]]
| Cueball spinning in his chair.

|-
| [[File:3074_desk_sit.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting on the desk, facing the laptop on the chair.

|-
| [[File:3074_gameover.png|240px]]
| The desk vacant with "Game Over" displayed if you use the emergency stop.

|-
| [[File:3074_sword.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at his desk, with a laptop on the desk, and a sword leaning against the desk on the other side.

|-
| [[File:3074_swordfight.png|240px]]
| Cueball and Ponytail swordfighting while the computer has an hourglass icon, referencing [[303: Compiling]].

|-
| [[File:3074_flooding.png|240px]]
| The room flooded 2/3 of the way up the desk. Cueball is still sitting with his laptop.

|-
| [[File:3074_sailboat.png|240px]]
| The same flooding, with a miniature sailboat behind Cueball.

|-
| [[File:3074_flooding_cat.png|240px]]
| The same flooding, with a cat face behind Cueball.

|-
| [[File:3074_Flooded_Shark_Fin.png|240px]]
| The same flooding, with a shark fin on the far side of the desk, facing toward Cueball.

|-
| [[File:3074_longtable.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at the desk, which has been extended behind his laptop like a long meeting table.

|-
| [[File:3074_nocueball.png|240px]]
| No Cueball, only the chair, desk, and laptop.

|-
| [[File:3074_nodesk.png|240px]]
| Cueball using the laptop on his lap, with no desk.

|-
| [[File:3074_squirrel_on_head.png|240px]]
| Cueball with a squirrel on his head.

|-
| [[File:3074_squirrel.png|240px]]
| A squirrel sitting at the desk, seemingly using the laptop.

|-
| [[File:3074_standing.png|240px]]
| Cueball standing on top of the laptop keyboard.

|-
| [[File:gallery_placeholder.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at the desk, wearing a wizard hat.

|-
| [[File:3074_floor.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting on the floor behind the desk.

|-
| [[File:3074_tentacles.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting in his chair, shielding his face from a tentacle coming from the computer screen.

|-
| [[File:3074_tall_chair.png|240px]]
| Cueball sitting at his desk, typing on his laptop, while in an office chair raised to an excessive height – likely a reference to [[2144: Adjusting a Chair]].

|-
| [[File:3074_cat.png|240px]]
| The cat that appears after returning to the comic window after leaving it idle for long period of time. It has a unique title text of ":3".
|}

[[Category:Math]]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Need to finish the transcript in the table ABOVE, it's not detailed enough.}}
:[Cueball sits at a desk in an office chair. He is typing on a computer.]
:[Gray message boxes with a small circled “x” at the top right corner are shown:]
:Happy April 1st (observed)!
:To celebrate, we were excited to introduce a new xkcd.com feature: push notifications for new comics!
:Unfortunately, this feature has gone horribly wrong.
:Until further notice, we are asking people ''NOT'' to sign up for new comic notifications.
:Frankly, we recommend not even clicking on any notifications to learn more.
:''Click this notification to learn more!'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:“Push notifications for new comics” sounds like a simple feature, right?
:There’s a nice API for browser notifications. xkcd updates three times a week.
:So you just send a notification for each update, right?
:That’s what we thought, too.
:''Click to continue!'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:[To the side of the comic frame is a big, horizontal hexagonal stop sign]
:Sign: Emergency STOP
:Below the sign: ''Halt ALL notifications and forget everything''
:The good news is that we did build a button to stop xkcd new comic notifications.
:You can press this button at any time and the system will stop sending you notifications.
:The nightmare will be over and the server will forget you ever existed.
:This part definitely works.
:''The rest of the system does NOT work.'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:We’re sorry.
:We don’t know how things went so wrong.
:The system is sending more than three notifications a week. A LOT more.
:We cannot recommend signing up for xkcd new comic notifications at this time.
:''Click here to ignore the warnings.'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:No, really.
:Our notification system may send a large number of very real system notifications.
:These may flood your browser, displace other notifications, and cause problems.
:<big>⚠️DO NOT ENABLE XKCD NEW COMIC NOTIFICATIONS⚠️</big>
:''Yeah, I get it, but I definitely want to enable xkcd new comic notifications.'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:Are you sure?
:''Yes!'' (a circled arrow is shown)
:Absolutely sure?
:''YES!!'' (a circled arrow is shown)
:To enable push notifications on mobile you need to add xkcd.com to your home screen.

:''Click here to subscribe to xkcd notifications''

:[Initial static image shows Cueball sat on an office chair at a desk using a laptop computer. A notification 'window' is speech-bubbled above the computer]
:[Grey notification box, header:] April 1st (Observed)
:[Notification box, further text:] Open xkcd.com to view.
:Laptop: [Warning sign.]

:[When viewed live, various xkcd-style popover notifications appear, each can be dismissed or (usually the last on every page) invited to press an 'onwards'-style button.]

:[First page of messages]
:Happy April 1st! To celebrate, we were excited to introduce a new xkcd.com feature: Push Notifications for new comics!
:Unfortunately, this feature has gone horribly wrong.
:Until further notice, we are asking people NOT to sign up for new comic notifications.
:Frankly, we recommend not even clicking on any notifications to learn more.
:[Notification with 'onwards button':] ''Click on this notification to learn more''

:[Upon choosing to continue, further messages appear, replacing any prior ones left open]
:"Push Notifications for new comics" sounds like a simple feature, right?
:There's a nice API for browser notifications, xkcd updates three times a week.
:So you just send a notification for each upafte, right?
:That's what we thought, too.
:[Notification with 'onwards button':] ''Click on this notification to continue''

:[Next set of popover messages]
:The good news is that we did build a button to STOP xkcd new comic notifications.
:You can press this button at any time and the system will stop sending you notifications.
:The nightmare will be over and the server will forget you ever existed.
:This part definitely works.
:[Notification with 'onwards':] ''The rest of the system does not work.''
:[To the right of the comic frame, a red, octagonal button has white text upon it:]Emergency Stop
:[Below the button is red text:] Halt all notifications and forget everything

:[Next set of popovers, "stop" button remains permanently so long as you continue]
:We're sorry.
:We didn't know how things went so wrong.
:The system is sending more than three notifications at this time.
:['Onwards' notification:] ''Click here to ignore the warnings''

:[Next set.]
:No, really.
:Our notification system may send a large amount of very real system notifications.
:These may flood your browser, displace other notifications, and cause problems.
:[Text bookended by warning triangles:] Do not enable xkcd new comic notifications
:['Onwards':] Yeah, I get it, but I definitely want to enable xkcd new comic notifications

:[Just two popovers, initially]
:Are you sure?
:['Onwards':] Yes
:[On clicking onwards, two more appear below]
:Absolutely sure?
:['Onwards':] Yes!!
:[On clicking, a further popover]
:[Red-tinted 'onwards'-style popover with warnings:] Click here to subscribe to xkcd notifications.

:[...something appeared then dissappeared...]
:[Genuine(?) browser dialogue activated:] xkcd.com wants to send you notifications. Block / Allow

:[If allowed, one more popover in the original style]
:Success!!
:[Below the Emergency Stop button, an oval gray button appears labeled in white:] Silence notifications at a cost
:[Below that, in grey text:]Temporarily pause your notifications at the cost of notifying two random people.

:[Further changes include the contents of the comic. The transcript for these changes is available on the [[#Comic images|Comic images section]].]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Cats]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Multiple title texts]]

explain xkcd talk:Editor FAQ

2022-01-29T23:44:06Z

Kurahaupo: /* it's/its typo */ new section

Feel free to enter any question about editing this Wiki and don't forget to sign you comment. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:18, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

== Formatting of explanations ==

Many pages contain tables where a definition list would be 1) easier to read 2) mobile friendly, for example: [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1957:_2018_CVE_List&oldid=160469 1957].

I was also involved in rewriting the transcript for [[1963]], where the discussion came up about how those should be styled. ("as if you were reading the comic to someone")

I think we should have a small style guide to encourage sane formatting. What else should such guidelines contain?

Edit: One more thing I'd love to see: semantic headlines (i.e. < h3> headlines for explanation subchapters instead of < h2> which is the same level as the explanation itself)

(Sidenote: I've been active on explainxkcd for quite some time, but only now got around making an account.) [[User:Gir|//gir.st/]] ([[User talk:Gir|talk]]) 15:01, 19 August 2018 (UTC)

:Thanks for your remarks. First: There is no need to start every new sentence at a new line. Tables are meant for small content in all other cases it's bad layout. I recently changed this [[2034: Equations]] to a proper floating text. At the transcript tables should never be used, even when there is a table in the comic image it should be described by text. The guide here was mainly written by me because there was nothing like this here before. Some people already helped and I'm happy for any further remarks to enhance it. And this table issue is definitely one; I just not wanted to be the only (arrogant) layout master. Your help is welcome to write something, otherwise I will do so soon.
:For headlines we don't use HTML-code but WIKI-code. The main headlines are written like this: <nowiki>==Explanation==</nowiki>, <nowiki>==Transcript==</nowiki>, and (optional) <nowiki>==Trivia==</nowiki>. Headlines inside that chapters should be done in this way: <nowiki>;Subtitle</nowiki>. The preceding semicolon causes the entire line to be rendered in bold. Only when the explanation really needs sub-chapters it can be done by this: <nowiki>===Sub header===</nowiki> (three equal signs before and after the text). I will put this also into the FAQ.
:Welcome and thanks for helping. PROTIP: Always use the preview button to check the layout before saving. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:39, 20 August 2018 (UTC)
::hi, I'm aware about the headlines and stuff, it was just shorter to write it this way in the comment. I see you started a bit with a styleguide already; I hope I can contribute to it next week, when things cool down at work a bit. //gir.st/, who is to lazy to log in [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.190|172.68.51.190]] 06:51, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

So, one more thing, regarding 'What is the proper layout for headers?'. I think we should better use small <code><nowiki>====headings====</nowiki></code> instead of just description titles (<code><nowiki>;bold text</nowiki></code>), since it makes the intent clearer. what is your reasoning behind suggesting it the other way round? greetings, [[User:Gir|//gir.st/]] ([[User talk:Gir|talk]]) 14:49, 25 August 2018 (UTC)
:Thanks for your input and of course Wiki markup headers should be valid. I just believe that the simplest way should also be valid for less experienced writers. When a new explanation starts it's often awful and chaotic; giving a simple but effective structure at the beginning helps against this chaos. So, I'm thinking about dividing the section "What is the proper layout for headers?" (it's a question because it's a FAQ) into two subsections:
:*easy: a semicolon, the colon at the following paragraph may be mentioned - but I'm not sure about the colon because it should be ''easy''
:*advanced: <code><nowiki>===headings===</nowiki></code> if the comic really can be divided into chapters; <code><nowiki>====headings====</nowiki></code> as a replacement for the semicolon; and <code><nowiki>==headings==</nowiki></code> is forbidden because it belongs to expl, trnsc, trivia. The semicolon, colon issue should be mentioned here.
:Please consider that there was many chaos in the past and many writers will do their edits without reading this FAQ. So keeping this simple as possible seems to me to be inevitable. And dividing sections by using the semicolon for a header is still much better than many of those tables. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:41, 25 August 2018 (UTC)
::Based on this discussion I edited the current comic here: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2037%3A_Supreme_Court_Bracket&type=revision&diff=161880&oldid=161841] and compare it to this former version [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2037:_Supreme_Court_Bracket&diff=prev&oldid=161841]. Do not focus on the edits, just scroll down to the resulting page.
::This brought me to another important issue: NO links in a header. At Wikipedia this is also not welcome. This site isn't Wikipedia but in this case I feel this is a good rule. But the TOC (Table of content) is shown in the preview while it's not at the resulting page. The result is preferred but the TOC in the preview may confuse editors here.
::So, I'm still looking for simple instructions, layouts which advanced people always can enhance.
::And consider that some editors are probably younger than xkcd is. Not sure about this but there are definitely young people here and I welcome them all. And I'm NOT getting old like Randall sometimes feel, I like to support every editor despite any other background. And this has to be simple on the first place. STOP(I could talk much more) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:49, 25 August 2018 (UTC)
:::Sorry, I missed this. I'd personally go with the "advanced" option, but mentioning both is fine too. Nice work on 2037! Really enjoying our conversations about this, I hope i'm not a bother ;-) [[User:Gir|//gir.st/]] ([[User talk:Gir|talk]]) 11:20, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
OK, after a few days and some more edits (for example see here: [[2035: Dark Matter Candidates]]) I believe this would be the best guide:
*<code><nowiki>====headings====</nowiki></code> should be preferred because the advantage is that each header has it's own edit button. One other advantage is that the header text will be shown at the summary in the history.
*The semicolon may be used as a preliminary layout for new comics until it's clear of what content the explanation is composed of.
*On more rare circumstances the <code><nowiki>===headings===</nowiki></code> may divide the explanation into different larger chapters.
*<code><nowiki>==headings==</nowiki></code> is reserved to the general layout and has not to be used.
And I still oppose to the colon at the beginning of any paragraph at all. Any thoughts? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:17, 29 August 2018 (UTC)

== Please '''''do not''''' use semicolon-lines as "headings" ==

Hi, sorry to butt in, but I was going to mention this here anyway after I saw it in the FAQ. Please ''don't'' continue to give this advice to editors:
<blockquote>For headlines you have to use Wiki-style code. The simplest way is a preceding semicolon at the beginning of the line which causes the entire line to be rendered in bold.<ref>§ [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ#What_is_the_proper_layout_for_headers.3F|What is the proper layout for headers?]] of the [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ|Editor FAQ]]</ref>

====References====
<references/>
</blockquote>

The [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ#In_which_case_tables_are_meaningful_and_when_not.3F|previous Editor FAQ section]] has it right: in wikicode, the semicolon opens a ''description list'', and will be translated into equivalent HTML. In other words, the wikicode is processed as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Wikicode !! HTML
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" |<pre>; xkcd
: a popular webcomic</pre>
|<pre><dl>
<dt>xkcd</dt>
<dd>a popular webcomic</dd>
</dl></pre>
|}

One or more lines started with a semicolon ''must'' be followed by at least one line that starts with a colon, to provide the <code><dd>...</dd></code> part of the description list block.

It is a {{w|Help:List#Common_mistakes|common mistake}} to use semicolon-lines as "headings". Unfortunately the result is '''invalid HTML''', since the HTML spec requires that a <code><dl></code> block contain:
<blockquote>Zero or more groups each consisting of one or more dt elements followed by one or more dd elements</blockquote>
It's fine to have multiple semicolon-lines in a row (as the HTML standard allows for groups of several <code><dt>...</dt></code> blocks in sequence), but they must '''always''' be followed by at least one <code><dd>...</dd></code> block, created in wikicode by following a line started with a semicolon with another line that starts with a colon.

Just like lines started with <code>*</code> or <code>#</code>, a line started with a <code>;</code> creates a list element, and has syntactic requirements that must be followed. Abusing the description-term wikicode for purposes other than description-list creation not only breaks the HTML on the resulting page, but it makes the content much harder for screen readers and other assistive technologies to parse and accurately reproduce.

(And, yes, technically Mediawiki's use of <code>:</code>-lines for indenting, as on talk pages, is also invalid since it creates a <code><dl><dd>...</dd></dl></code> block with no <code><dt></code> element. So it's bad enough on talk pages, it's 100x worse to encourage doing it on '''article''' pages.) Please consider removing this bad advice from the Editor FAQ. Thanks. -- [[User:FeRDNYC|FeRDNYC]] ([[User talk:FeRDNYC|talk]]) 05:48, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

:Thanks for your remarks, that's why I started this FAQ and the discussion about it. Especially the header section is still preliminary, just check the section above here at the talk page.
:My first purpose is to keep it as simple as possible for writers having not much or no knowledge about wiki code or HTML. After that an advanced section should follow and define the rules for a complete article.
:Please check my summary from 29 August 2018 just above here. You're right the semicolon isn't a header, that's why I'm saying it should be used only temporary. And after reading your remarks here I would propose a single line with bold text and a following empty line instead of that semicolon thing.
:Keep it simple for people who just want to write something here; advanced users will change it to an appropriate layout later. Consider: When a new comic is out the explanation often starts in chaos. And for now I'm really happy that the overwhelming usage of tables is stopped.
:Let me know what you do think about the bold text line (not by semicolon) and the more sophisticated header guidance for the final layout as I've mentioned on 29 August 2018. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:45, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
::And of course the usage of a semicolon should also be mentioned together with the colon because it's a list. An entire paragraph "How do I format lists?" has still to be written yet. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:51, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
::One more: I've checked the definition for <code>dd/dt/dl</code> and it's clear the <code>dd</code> tag must be followed by at least one (either <code>dt</code> or <code>dl</code>) child. This tells me that the indent done by a colon is proper HTML. This is very important because every transcript since the first comic uses this indentation. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:20, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

==Incomplete tags==
The FAQ says to use <code><nowiki>{{incomplete transcript|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki></code> but instead of rendering like this (like with the incomplete template):

{{notice|'''This transcript is incomplete:''' ''YOUR REASON'' If you can address this issue, please '''[{{fullurl:{{{target|{{FULLPAGENAME}}}}}|action=edit}} edit the page]!''' Thanks.}}

It renders like this:

{{notice|'''This transcript is incomplete.''' Please help [{{fullurl:{{{target|{{FULLPAGENAME}}}}}|action=edit}} editing] it! Thanks.}}

Can someone please change this? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.180|172.68.133.180]] 02:55, 13 October 2018 (UTC)
:The FAQ also says: "The reason at the transcript is not shown to the viewer." You can see it when you edit the transcript. And because the reason for the comic is also often not given this should be enough for the transcript. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:49, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

== math markup ==

Just to note - I was curious about the "math markup" message at the top of each page, and duly followed the link to the Editor FAQ as instructed, but ther--e is no mention of why it shouldn't be used... (no account yet, as I've not made any edits - yet! and i use google data saver, so this is not my ip -->) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.22|162.158.34.22]] 23:49, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

:damn, I'm tired - just re-read the section titles, and there it is. It's late, so sorry! --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.22|162.158.34.22]] 23:54, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

::I think the reason given is incomplete, but wanted to check here before I amended it. Transcripts are for the benefit of visually-challenged visitors, so using math markup, and thus rendering the text as images, is counterproductive. Right? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 15:06, 20 March 2019 (UTC)

:::The explanation is (in my opinion) somewhat silly, as the image generated by MathML has an alt tag for text browsers/accessible use. Further, if this wiki's settings were chosen correctly, the image would be output with MathML alongside, which is the ''actual'' (non-plaintext) accessible solution for displaying mathematical formulas on the web. See also: https://accessibility.princeton.edu/about/blog/mathml-accessible-math-markup [[User:DimeCadmium|DimeCadmium]] ([[User talk:DimeCadmium|talk]]) 02:20, 12 October 2019 (UTC)

== Create page for new comic ==

Should there be a paragraph about this?
Since the bot is not working anymore, people need to do this. I know I have seen isntructions somewhere on this wiki, but cannot find them... [btw: there is a new comic up, right now, as I post this line, which is not yet in the wiki. SO if you know how to do it, do it before explaining it on the FAQ :)] --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:27, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

== Page targeted by Spam ==

The page is currently targeted heavily by Spambots. I am not sure why they target this specific page. It might be, because it is linked in the header? Since Admins (who could protect the FAQ) seem to be currently absent from the page, anyone got any ideas what to do about it? leave it to spam and create a seperate FAQ with the same content? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:08, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

== Spaces ==

Seriously, why oh why is [[1285:_Third_Way|1285]] not linked into the statement about the one space / two space [[1285:_Third_Way | controversy]]? This feels like an inexplicable gap. Is there a policy insisting the FAQ remain fastidiously humorless in all ways? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.231|162.158.107.231]] 02:10, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

== Duplicating the hover text/title in the transcript section? ==

Is there a reason not to duplicate the title/hovertext in the transcript section, so a screenreader user can be sent there and not have to page back up for that bit (besides "one or more editors would need to check all entries and edit it in where missing")? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.43|141.101.68.43]] 00:11, 28 November 2021 (UTC)
:For my two (or three) cents:
:1) You'd be duplicating it, so you ought to lose the sub-image record if you do that or you could get silly with all kinds of repeating of everything..
:2) It's a Transcript to try to record/present the text (and imagery) you cannot already screen-read.
:3) It doesn't need manual editing (and manual editing is more likely to have mistakes, anyway).
:...Perhaps some Template(-pair?) could be developed to sit post-template to "display:screenreader-only" (or whatever the markup format would be) the upper-templated titletext field? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.12|172.70.86.12]] 04:00, 28 November 2021 (UTC)

== it's/its typo ==

At §[[explain_xkcd:Editor_FAQ#How_do_I_enter_mathematical_or_chemical_formulas.3F| How_do_I_enter_mathematical_or_chemical_formulas?]] please change “it's Wikipedia help page” to “'''its''' Wikipedia help page” (for the same reason that "our" and "their" don't have apostrophes).
[[User:Kurahaupo|Kurahaupo]] ([[User talk:Kurahaupo|talk]]) 23:44, 29 January 2022 (UTC)