explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

User talk:FaviFake

2025-07-29T01:30:46Z

Little Timmy: /* Questions */ new section

<big><big><big><big>Hey there, feel free to '''[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:FaviFake&action=edit&section=new send me a message]''' :)</big></big></big><div style="float:right;margin-left:10px;margin-bottom:10px;">__TOC__</div></big>

== Objects table ==
Thanks for replying. The current table in the main text looks good, but still it is a ''description'' or just ''enumeration'' of game objects, not an ''explanation'' (or in some cases: partly an explanation). Supposing we keep the current structure, it is possible to add explanations for the planet names in the '''Explanation''' column. For example, first sentence of the second paragraph is a good ''explanation'' for the Uzumaki planet's name. On the other hand, Andal has only a ''description'' (what it looks like and what features are present on the surface) and no ''explanation'' (that it refers to Animorphs series of books). There's also a question where one should put explanations of items and messages. Some do not need an explanation ('You found a stick'), but most do: what they mean and what they refer to, both in xkcd context (such as when there's a comic about the thing) and in general context. I hope you understand the difference between ''description'' and ''explanation''. Maybe there's also some misunderstanding resulting from a language barrier; English is not my native language.

What is also missing in the table are many structures or objects found on the planets and, most importantly, dialogues or monologous of the characters, which contain many puns and references, and also hints for the player. There's simply no place for them in the current structure. Making more columns may be messsy. That's why I proposed making several tables covering different aspects.

Please take my remarks as proposals to improve the structure and not as a criticism or request for you to make everything right and fill every cell of the table. I think we need to create a clear structure for everyone else to fill in with details; but also to provide good examples to follow.

Technical remarks:
* In my opinion, the filename column is not needed, it does not appear anywhere while playing, it's in source code only. Better remove it to have more horizontal space for the rest. The names given to the planets by the editors of the explanation page shown in the Description column are fine.
* Coordinates are also not useful for a regular player, who does not use some Javascript addition/cheats, maybe remove it as well; textual directions in '''Explanation''' column are sufficient.

-- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 19:59, 2 May 2023 (UTC)
:> Thanks for replying. The current table in the main text looks good, but still it is a ''description'' or just ''enumeration'' of game objects, not an ''explanation'' (or in some cases: partly an explanation). Supposing we keep the current structure, it is possible to add explanations for the planet names in the '''Explanation''' column. For example, first sentence of the second paragraph is a good ''explanation'' for the Uzumaki planet's name. On the other hand, Andal has only a ''description'' (what it looks like and what features are present on the surface) and no ''explanation'' (that it refers to Animorphs series of books).
:Hey! Yeah, that's the state of the table ''right now'', and I 100% percent agree with everything you're saying here. All planets and items that need an explanation should be explained and not just described. I mostly just copied and pasted the "planet description/explanations" from the old list to the table: creating the table was way more painful than i thought. I was actually surprized to see that nobody explained what Andal referred to, but I don't know anything about it so more knowledgeable people will have to chip in on that

:>There's also a question where one should put explanations of items and messages. Some do not need an explanation ('You found a stick'), but most do: what they mean and what they refer to, both in xkcd context (such as when there's a comic about the thing) and in general context. I hope you understand the difference between ''description'' and ''explanation''.
:I do! And I wish other people could help here. I'm not sure if you've seen it, but this is the banner i put above the table:
----
'''ALL ITEM EXPLANATIONS NEED TO BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE OLD PLANET LIST TO THE NEW TABLE''' 
We are currently switching from a disorganized list (below, inside the green banner) to the new organized table, but the explanations for specific items are missing from the new table. Please help by copying the item explanations from the old list and adding them to the new table ''in this format:'' 
<code>The item message &ndash; <nowiki>''Where to find it &ndash; Explanation, such as references etc''</nowiki></code> 
Example: You found a cheese platter (Your tanks recharge faster) – ''Next to the cell tower – The cheese is a reference to [https://example.com 1234: Cheese]''
----
'''OTHER ISSUES:'''
* upgrades that end in "???" need to be replaced by the exact upgrade message shown to the user.
* the "Tiles (X, Y)" column for planet coordinates is empty

:As you can see, the explanations should be put right next to the items and messages. Unfortunately no one has started to add them to the table yet

:> Maybe there's also some misunderstanding resulting from a language barrier; English is not my native language.
:Your English is excellent :)

:> dialogues or monologous of the characters, which contain many puns and references, and also hints for the player. There's simply no place for them in the current structure. Making more columns may be messsy. That's why I proposed making several tables covering different aspects.
Almost all the dialogues are on the [[2765: Escape Speed/Transcript]] page, so I guess they should be added there. I don't know if they're already here, I haven't looked at it enough
:: The transcript is not the place for explanations. Puns and references shall be explained elsewhere. I continue working on the transcript but there's still quite a way to go. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 5 May 2023

:> Please take my remarks as proposals to improve the structure and not as a criticism or request for you to make everything right and fill every cell of the table. I think we need to create a clear structure for everyone else to fill in with details; but also to provide good examples to follow.
:Yeah; i totally get everything you said. In my last reply I think I was a bit too rude for some reason, maybe it's because I just finished the table and was tired.

:>* In my opinion, the filename column is not needed, it does not appear anywhere while playing, it's in source code only. Better remove it to have more horizontal space for the rest. The names given to the planets by the editors of the explanation page shown in the Description column are fine.
:* Coordinates are also not useful for a regular player, who does not use some Javascript addition/cheats, maybe remove it as well; textual directions in '''Explanation''' column are sufficient.
I was heavily inspired by the table in the [[2712: Gravity]] explanation, which included these. I kind of agree that the filename could be removed, and the filenames could be added to the planet name or explanation, i didn't think about that. About the tiles, someone might use them someday, but if the column keeps remaining empty, i don't mind seeing it disappear

:I really liked your ideas, if you don't mind I'll copy and paste this discussion in the actual comic discussion page and see what others think --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 21:37, 2 May 2023 (UTC)

::Update: I found a way and added all the coordinates, and moved the planet filenames to the Planet Name column to make more space for the other columns :)

::: Hi, what about dividing planets and objects like in [[User:Malgond/Drafts/Escape_Speed|my experiment]]? There's plenty of horizontal space for explanations and the entries are quite compact vertically. I also think about color-coding the different Types of game objects. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 5 May 2023

::::Hmm, I think it looks a little messy and maybe too complicated. Do any other comics have two different tables? Also, I'm personally not a fan of mixing items, landscapes, and people. I think most people reading the table are there to get an overview of the planets and what they contain. Do we really have to explain everything in such detail? [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 14:09, 6 May 2023 (UTC)

:::::We do not have to follow other explanations too closely, we could use a new form if it seems clearer and better. The current form has no place neither for explaining items nor for dialogues/monologues. More columns could be problematic (specifically in today's world of high and narrow screens of smartphones). Should we explain everything? Well, it us up to collective "us". Personally, I would like someone explain a few puns/dialogues I do not understand.
:::::For now, there's only a handful of people still interested in somehow finishing the explanation for this huge comic. Maybe if we two can agree on some format we could put it in discussion page and ask for votes. (Discussion needs a cleanup, BTW). -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 22:00, 7 May 2023 (UTC)

:::::Hey, I'm back. I see you're enhancing your example table, and iI was wondering, do you plan to move your edits to the actual article after you're done and use the test to see how the formatting looks? Isn't it easier to just add them to the main page directly? Just wondering. If you want I can help you port them over :)
:::::Keeping the contents of the table on your talk page and then porting them over afterwards could lead to a loss of information added after you started editing your user page [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 13:11, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

::::::I'm back too. Yes, I intend to put it in the main article, but I am a bit shy to replace a lot of your work; I've asked for opinions in the talk page. Let's see how it sorts out. Maybe someone has a still better idea. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 21:50, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

::::::Oh. I think the structure of the current table in the article is better than the one you've been working on: for example, it's easier to sort for items, is more compact, and is just one. Why don't you just add a "transcript" column like the table on [[2712: Gravity]] to put what things and people say, and add the rest of the information on the respective columns? Personally, I think you're making it a little bit too complicated. [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:26, 14 May 2023 (UTC)

== Haltones ==

"They're not **predominantly** gray, the two main colors are just white and black. Sometimes he uses the gray color just like when he uses any other color" ... It didn't say that they were predominantly grey(/'gray'), any more than it said that they'd be predominently black (as [[:Category:Comics with inverted brightness]], often, in preference to white). The point being that even the most "black and white" images aren't monochrome, but have degrees of grey at the boundaries, with smoothly antialiased boundaries between the full black of the line (or filled area) and the full white of the background (or inverted detail). You'll see this if you zoom in, with your favourite image editor. And very often in images with a default RGB colourspace, even if the effective pallette employed covers just greyscale values. But greys actually do feature a lot, too (often the first choice of non-black-and-white, for slight lessening of prominence, as opposed to 'red pen' ''increased'' visibility). So it's technically inaccurate to describe them as pretty much monochrome. But how to convey this in <...counts...> less than 157ish words? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.173|172.71.242.173]] 16:35, 17 May 2023 (UTC)
:The wiki page says
::::"xkcd comics are usually plain, predominantly black-and-white line drawings, but sometimes they make use of hues beyond the usual monochrome colors, even if it is just red-penned annotations.
:I think it's enough, since, even if grey is more used than other non-monochrome colors, I don't believe it's so important that it needs to be included as a "third" main color. If Randall uses many bright colors, that he will obviously also use simpler hues of grey when needed. What do you think? [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:51, 17 May 2023 (UTC)
:Aside from the antialising edging gradient, I just used the Random Page link and landed on [[1301: File Extensions|something with functional greys]], [[734: Outbreak|an unusual use of 'Post-It' yellow]], an unremarkably "just black pen" comic and then [[1788: Barge|more functional grey]]. I'd argue against "monochrome" as a description, as clearly there is more than just #000000 and #FFFFFF, often enough, in an actual fill-colour/broad-brush context. Even if that's #808080 or another no-hue shade. (I was expecting to land on a "grey pen" comic to assess, after enough clicks but, having seen what I got in the random first handful, I saw no need to go on.)
:And "monochrome" can be/often is coloured. Sepia photographs or "night vision" green displays are perfect examples of monochrome (with or without halftones/dithering/whatever). As is [[267: Choices: Part 4]] (other Choices comics may be considered "duotone", in different ways).
:Maybe "...are often drawn as black shapes on white, or occasionally white shapes on a dark background, but may feature at least one additional highlighting shade or an even fuller colour pallette." Does that sufficiently cover that whole breadth of use? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.154|172.70.86.154]] 19:48, 17 May 2023 (UTC)

== Childish slang. ==

Agree with you on the recent change that you (generic 'you', not ''you'' 'you'!) sound infantile, any which way, upon use of the words mentioned. Which is how it was still said before the revert in that version of edit. But with <code>"pretty gay" and "retarded" are infantile and offensive slang for "foolish" or "contemptible"</code>, you miss the point. Foolishness is just one distant contender for what "pretty gay" is often intended to mean (even if not actually being used for someone/something 'effeminate'). And "retarded" is more in the whole "thick, stupid, dumb" line of insult than "contemptible" (which is more "horrible, dislikable, repulsive"..?).
 Personally, I also thought it better with not actually defining insults (correctly or otherwise), as it adds power to them. I can call someone a "numpty" in jest, for example, and colloquially that might be understood as the low-level insult (if that) which it is intended to be. But if I start to bandy around its {{wiktionary|numpty#Scots|dictionary definition}} then it becomes more of a seriously accusatory description.
 Just my opinion. Not really understanding the latest revert when it had seemed to be improved (if anything) in the version you reverted away. Just putting it there. I know you're doing a lot of editing (good stuff!) just wondering if you considered this one carefully enough in your obvious zeal. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.182.89|172.71.182.89]] 16:31, 28 May 2023 (UTC)
:Addendum. Meant to say, if you decide to undo/reform your own revert (I won't do it, but on the offchance you see my point), I'd have not said "''commonly'' used". They're used in slang, but I don't think we can say how frequently they pop up. They're "used in slang" (and also not in slang, or at least not insulting slang, where "gay" has a long history of just meaning "happy", whilst "retarded" is often to do with decceleration/minimised acceleration of physical systems) but I'm not sure they're no more than minority words in the whole world of such language. They depict a subset of insult-givers (like the character in the comic, for whom it adds a certain additional characterisation) amongst all the many and varied insult-givers, and Randall surely chose such semi-bowlderised terms to not have to write any of all the far worse words he might also have done. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.31|172.71.94.31]] 16:46, 28 May 2023 (UTC)

== IP page to delete ==

I didn't see your thinking about why the Deletion category was not needed there. And, believe me as an IP myself, I've never known anything useful being said on an IP's User or User Talk page. With that example not breaking the pattern any. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.131|172.70.85.131]] 00:41, 22 June 2023 (UTC)
:I just don't think there's a reason to delete it, it's useful to have a previous talk page if the IP continues to edit and people want to communicate with them [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 10:51, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
::"The IP" is whichever one of 'us' happens to land on that particular Cloudflare route.
::I'm not going to go back and find out which IP it represents, to check if it's in their current stock of connected gateways, but it might not be. Or it was even (depending on date) a pre-Cloudflare 'straight' access unproxied and thus no longer seen, even if the exact same editor on the exact same IP lucked on ''their'' initial gateway.
::Certainly it won't map to a meaningful 'user', chances may even be that it doesn't map to ''any'' user. IP-version User/User Talk pages are anachronisms pretty much as soon as they're created. Or before, if based upon trying to contact an author of an older edit. I was on 172.70.85.131, above, but who knows (before I submit it) what this reply's sign-off will say.
::And a one-shot editor may never ever see the results of any conversation that was tried to be started. Whereas I ''might'' see any response, anywhere, that contextually makes it plain that they're talking about an edit I once made.
::Honestly, I think it'd be worthwhile checking ''every'' IP-focussed namespace page and archiving anything truly interesting that found itself in there in some other central location then condemning them all to deletion. Maybe, if possible, prevent their creation too. But I don't have the ability to do anything (except sift through them for any of the very rare gems of quality, but I wouldn't be able to do anything about it from there on in, so...
::...not gonna do anything more about it (I can't, other than reinstate the To Be Deleted membership, whch I won't bother with), but I hope you understand my perspective on this. I've seen you become a very useful member of the community, who I generally respect for your input and tweaks to the site, and don't expect you to take instruction from li'l ol' me (not even working with an established identity). Just consider this as food for thought, and leave it at that if you wish. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.19|162.158.34.19]] 20:12, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

== RTL/LTR: "...but I think it refers to me" ==

Yeah, it does. The point being that we might not do anything about the smartarses who vandalise knowingly (and I don't see a problem with what you otherwise did), but when someone thinks ''they'' have unique and funny joke (along the lines of putting "Citation needed"s ''everywhere'') they might spot the comment and then realise how we've seen it all done before so refrain from the prank. I can't even recall how many times we have had to revert things, but best to put off the casual comedian, and it won't change the outcome either way for the dedicated vandal with their blood up and looking to cause trouble. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.107|141.101.98.107]] 20:00, 29 June 2023 (UTC)
:I guess you're right, I just thought it was very clear for everyone that rendering an entire article unreadable was an act of pure vandalism, but I guess an editor comment doesn't hurt. [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 10:53, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

== The reason "the image size wasn't there"? ==

...because it didn't need an image-size restriction, originally? Compare the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:Miss_lenhart.png previous and current version sizes]. Nice to have a (''huge!'') high-res headshot, no doubt, but clearly that's why you found that it now needs artificially constraining... No actual mystery. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.63|172.70.85.63]] 17:16, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

:Yeah you're right, I just assumed every comic had the image size to be future-proof. The weird thing was that the "imagesize: " part was already there, but there was no value. Anyway, nothing important.

== I disagree with Oxford commas. ==

"For breakfast I had some bread, toast, and jam." - A legitimate(ish) case of ", and ". Or "I created the world, and saw that it was good." I otherwise prefer to suscribe to replacing all non-final conjunctions in sequence with commas but ''not'' adding one before the ultimate (remaining) conjunction. That's like having "Fish, and chips", where it isn't an actual afterthought. And best to rephrase or repunctuate (e.g. with super-listing semicolons to separate) if you have confusing comma-breakout clauses that ''so'' easily clash (or lead you down funny garden paths) with Oxford Commas. My opinion, but this is why syntax is clearer when leaving out OCs. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.93|172.70.85.93]] 13:59, 6 July 2023 (UTC)
:I just think it's better to use it everywhere to avoid any possible confusion. If we used it half the time, it would be inconsistent. But it's no big deal.
::Similarly, no big deal. Except that it ''looked'' like an error. You've done a lot of useful changes, recently... A ''lot''... Which is not a bad thing, I must add. Occasionally I've seen what (I thought!) you intended to say, and I've helped out with a misplaced word or two. And I honestly do not feel like OCs read correctly in many circumstances. How would you even OC something like "...you should paint it red, yellow or, maybe, orange"?
::The comma already does a lot of heavy lifting, four or five different uses can occur in the same sentence, with it commonly doing duty as a sub-clause parenthetical (except without the clear open/close distinction of an actual parenthetical) ''as well as'' conjunction-replacement within a list. You will find many instances of non-OCed lists on the site. In fact I find the "Please note that all contributions to explain xkcd..." bit, below this edit box, to be the exception and not the rule.
::Anyhoo... I 'corrected' an example, but did not re'correct' it once you made it obvious what rule you were working to. I think you're less right than me, naturally, even if I wouldn't say that you're more wrong. ;) But I thought I'd make you a brief note of my thoughts rather than edit-warring the issue. Less brief, now, but I hope you still take it in good humour. (Oh, yeah, I'm sort of Ok with Oxford Spelling, insofar as it's mostly what I use naturally. Except for the "-ize" bit. That and their Comma are totally against how I was taught at school, a number of decades ago. :P ) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.71|172.71.242.71]] 15:26, 6 July 2023 (UTC)
:::You really seem to care about this a lot more than I do, if you want feel free to revert my edit back. I'm not even sure why we're here talking about commas lol
:::I'm no expert and I just like commas. Thanks for checking my edits, I think I've seen a few of your corrections. I have a lot of free time at the moment and I seem to like fixing up unorganized things here --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 21:42, 6 July 2023 (UTC)

== Science Girl/Hairbun ==

You may have noted that several of the Talk pages attached to those you changed already had discussions about whether someone was Hairbun or (a possibly grown-up version of) Science Girl, and you had people like Kynde support the change ''to'' treating her as Science Girl. No skin off my nose, but I'm not sure your arguments are strong enough to support your broad sweep changes in that regard. I think I'd side with "bun with trailing hair" being SG (regardless of apparent age/maturity, as the description only really says ''usually'' a child, whether you take that as prescriptivist or descriptivist) but not enough that I'd reverse your considerable efforts in this matter. But on the off-chance that you hadn't noticed the prior discussions and conclusions, before making your own assessment. FYI, only. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.204|172.71.178.204]] 14:01, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

:I will properly reply to you tomorrow since it's midnight here. Btw thanks for letting me know these hyperlinks were rendered correctly, and for fixing my 1 typo <s>(after i corrected 100)</s>
::Guys, some things may be being taken too seriously. Assuming [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1608:_Hoverboard&diff=prev&oldid=317396 this was the 'one error'], yeah, the Pedant's Curse hits us all, that's the point. Easy to see how it was done (read as "a Category:Interactive..." rather than "an interactive", or whatever). Happens to the best of us, when concentrating on loads of other things. Not sure about the Jill thing, at all, myself, but that discussion is probably for soewhere else. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.158|172.69.79.158]] 22:22, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

:::Nonononono I wasn't serious when I thanked you about the typo, I was also just kidding. I was joking about how after I corrected a ton of typos I added one more.
:::On the main topic you brought up: I think Jill's main characteristics (I'll talk about why I renamed her) are that she is a child, she is usually interested in science, and has always one or two buns with trailing hair. [[Hairbun]] isn't as defined as Jill: she just has a bun. This is what the page [[Hairbun]] (written entirely by Kynde, I haven't reformatted to remove the bullet points yet), say about the bun:
----
:::*Her appearance, apart from her glasses, can also change.
:::**In 703: Honor Societies, 708: Sex Dice, 1511: Spice Girl, 1601: Isolation and in every instance in 1608: Hoverboard her hair looks somewhat different, curly and with some kind of ponytail, but since '''her main distinguishing characteristic is the hair bun''', these comics are included.
:::[...]
:::*There are some characters with hair buns that are not Hairbun:
:::**Since she is a grown woman, she should not be confused with Jill or any other small girls with hair bun like in 1584: Moments of Inspiration.
----
:::And on the Page for Jill, before I ever touched it, it said:
:::*As she is usually also clearly a child she usually cannot be confused with Hairbun
----
:::Kynde mentioned [[1511: Spice Girl]] and [[1601: Isolation]] as featuring Hairbun and not Jill, but they look exactly like a grown-up Jill. Plus, on the gallery section on [[Hairbun]] (I'm working on adding back a better one since the old one was kinda broken UPDATE 11:13, 8 July 2023 (UTC): Added the gallery back with vector images), this was the first picture of Hairbun:
:::[[File:Hair Bun Girl with curly hair and ponytail.png]]

:::So, to recap: Hairbun has always had a version with a bun with trailing hair, but it was inconsistent between comics, so I settled on Jill is a girl that always has trailing hair and Hairbun is an adult that sometimes has trailing hair.

:::On the topic of renaming Jill:
:::*I searched the wiki for Jill and found 3 discussions. One of them ended up "why world we even create a page for that girl, there aren't many comics featuring her.", but didn't criticize the name too much iirc
:::*We did the same thing for [[Danish]]. The only time she was given ''any'' name ("Danish in the sense of "darling" iirc), that was the name used.
:::*If we change our minds and Jill also becomes a woman, we don't have to remove the "girl" part.
:::*I'm not sure about this, but I think she's slowing being added more and more outside science comics.

:::Wow this was long --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 10:20, 8 July 2023 (UTC)

== In reply to [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2794:_Alphabet_Notes&curid=26437&diff=321127&oldid=320916 this query]... ==

There's {{w|Welsh orthography|the Welsh}}, at the very least! (Well, you did ask! Even if it's truly not so relevent. ;) ) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.159|172.70.86.159]] 11:29, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
:Lol. TIL! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:13, 18 August 2023 (UTC)

== Plural animals ==

Following on from Ferret->Ferrets, what about the last remaining singular that is Category:Apatosaurus? (I must admit, all your edits/re-edits are making my head spin, as worthy as they often are, but this seems like the next logical step that I thought you might have done to finish that particular neatening job.) But I'll leave it up to you as to whether it's Apatosauruses, Apatosaurii or whatever else you might consider most appropriate... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.98|172.70.85.98]] 10:15, 24 August 2023 (UTC)
:I actually thought about it, and I came to the conclusion that I don't know what the plural of that word is. Feel free to research if there's a "right" word and rename that category :)
:> (I must admit, all your edits/re-edits are making my head spin,
:Yeah I don't really organize everything I want to change beforehand, so whenever i notice a little thing is missing, I add it to every page that needs it. I guess it's easier to review my edits in bulk from a page's version history lol --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 10:53, 24 August 2023 (UTC)

== Community portal spam ==
The spammers seem to be deleting text from Community Portal. [[User:ConscriptGlossary|ConscriptGlossary]] ([[User talk:ConscriptGlossary|talk]]) 07:28, 3 November 2024 (UTC)
:Thanks, but I couldn't find any recent example concerning me. Do you mind giving an example? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 07:49, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

== Possible Adminship? ==

Hi FaviFake, I’m Victoria. I’m planning on reaching out to Jeff via Twitter/X because there’s a long list of things that only he can do. You can see the list at my [[User:42.book.addict#To_Do_List_for_Jeff|user page]]. One of these tasks is promoting more admins. Seeing as you are quite active, and have done quite a lot of edits (top 10 in CS score-wow!), would you like to be mentioned in my message as a possible admin candidate? [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 17:21, 3 November 2024 (UTC)
: Oh hey, thanks for messaging me! I started caring a lot for this site about a year ago, went on a complete pause for a few months, and came back this week. You seem very active, love to see some new active users! I saw your message on the community portal saying you were trying to find a way to contact Jeff. That's actually something I've thought about doing for a long time but never actually tried since not even Davidy22 was able to contact him at one point iirc.
:Anyway, yes, I'd love to be an admin for this site since there are so many things I can't do as a user (i have my own to-do list, which includes 1) actually deleting pages in Pages to delete and 2) improving/fixing the comic templates and Main page).
: So yeah, I wish you good luck contacting him! My only advice is to use any possible way to (or to get someone else to) contact him without worrying too much about annoying him. His last contribution was more than a year ago, he can totally jump back in for a moment after being unreachable for so long. I really like your message, it's very well-written, now the hard part is getting it to him. Asking Davidy22 for his email address (or finding it online) sounds like a great idea to me. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 22:12, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

== Trivia below transcript ==
The FAQ page says that trivia is below transcript. I'm very sorry about this. [[User:ConscriptGlossary|ConscriptGlossary]] ([[User talk:ConscriptGlossary|talk]]) 00:41, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
:Nono don't be sorry, you're totally right! I came back here after months of being offline and forgot about the order! I realised my mistake yesterday but didn't have the time to go look for the article to revert my edit. Please revert it if you get the chance to do it before me. [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 04:53, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
::There, I should've fixed it now. I see you also reverted my edit, thanks! [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 04:59, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

== On the Ghosts in the NavPane ==

When I saw 42's inclusion of Ghosts in the Character NavPane, I was pondering asking for Demons and Aliens (the blob-monster types, or near variations, from both UFO-ish comics and far-future) to be added alongside.

But I agree with you that they're not ''really'' minor characters. Yet I think they (all of them) deserve a slot there, as they are as much a feature as the (Animals/)Squirrels section. Originally thought to suggest "Groups" (could include "Multiple Cueballs" and even "Children" for groups with otherwise un-IDed child characters), which you could still ''also'' add (but for human-character groups only), but now thinking "Other Beings" could hold Ghosts, Demons and Aliens (maybe "Future Beings" separate from the latter, or at least the differently-futuristic "Floating Orbs" as ''another'' other classification category in there). As a section between Real People and Animals, I thought, unless it's decided best to put them after Animals.

Food for thought, anyway. You (and 42, and maybe others) may have your own ideas on this, and I wouldn't (and can't) spring my own ideas upon you by suddenly just editing the appropriate source. It probably needs discussion. I nearly put my earlier thoughts in the Community Portal area, but as you're personally active on this at the moment I thought it might be easier for you to ponder if I finally commited it to writing just here. (Feel free to move this contrib/advertise it wider, if you see fit.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.62|172.70.91.62]] 14:19, 5 November 2024 (UTC)
:Just popping in to add my 2 cents-I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of having “other beings” in the navbox. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 16:02, 5 November 2024 (UTC)
::Hey there, thanks a lot for messaging me about this. I disagree with you for one specific reason: the navbox was initially supposed to catalogue the recurring characters in the comics which displayed more or less the same behaviours across comics, such as [[Black Hat]] and [[Beret Guy]]. It then expanded to include real people, such as politicians, which still remained the same characters across different comics. The animal section is different in that some of them are the same animals across comics (such as bobcats and red spiders, for example), but since we had to include them, we included EVERY animal, even when they were completely different every time, because it'd look weird if the only animals there were the specific ones i mentioned.
::If we included a section such as Other beings that includes ghosts, I believe it would be filled with characters that are not the same in every comic they appear in and the navbox would completely lose its intended purpose. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:13, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

== (Whoops, forgot a header!) ...FYC ==

If you agree with {{diff|356369|these additions/changes}}, with or without other adjustments, I was wondering if you'd like to do the respective changes to the Incomplete Article category page, as I find it's semi-protected and I'm thus locked out from the edits that I thought I might duplicate there too (in my IP state – yes, I know I could change this, but I'm happier just to leave it up to you/whoever). Anyway, for your consideration. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.75|162.158.202.75]] 17:09, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
: Done! Thanks. I removed a few technical details. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 07:24, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

==The [[What If? chapters|''What If?'' article index]] project==
''The messages regarding the [[What If? chapters|''What If?'' article index]] project have been moved to '''[[Talk:What If? chapters]]'''. To add a new topic regarding the index, [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:What_If?_chapters&action=edit&section=new click here].'' --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 09:15, 2 February 2025 (UTC)

== Removed "Discussion" super-header. ==

I had wondered, as (at that time) you hadn't bothered to remove any of the ''other'' equivalent super-headers. It looked a bit like an accidental select-and-cut, like sometimes editors do, given your actual edit was waaay down the other end of the page. (It was a bit too neat, not like the usual case of somehow snipping off just one of the "="s, make a =="header"== into a ="header="=, effectively, but I've also seen similarly unmessy accidents happen, so your decent tightening up of the whitespace could have just as easily been a part of the same misclicking.)

I did check the companion pages, and they were all happyily as they (once) were. Note that the extra level of header ''does'' have use for (e.g.) putting a similar level of header at the bottom to give Archive, FAQ, etc, sections (not part of the now-top-levelisted points), or even such that we can have "for <foo>, see <otherPortal#section>" to gather things up with less repeats. Not to have their own subheaders (unless they, too, get so large that we have to further split them!), but to be seperate-but-appended like a Transcript (and maybe Trivia) section, regardless of how subheadered an in-depth Explanation gets. If we ever get that (and, really, we could do with a ''lot'' of archival for most of the Community Pages, and maybe some FAQing, for which I ''might'' suggest a subheadering to easily scan for... e.g. ... the situation with the MathML that seems to get revisited more often than not), then we probably need the superheaders back, unless we put messy indented-bullet-trees (at the top? with or without "expand"-hiding?) ''only'' for non-discussion items.

Not that I totally agree that "1.<many...>" (and the occasional "1.<something>.<subsubitem>" was unreadable, either, but ''so long'' as we don't have a further main(ish) header, of equal import, then ''maybe'' it's ok to do it your way. Just it seemed like a big decision to make, to cut out all the (admitedly untaken) options out of the equation. ...And that is a summary of the mental arithmatic whizzing through my head when I had decided (on balance) that you'd probably just made an unknowing misedit that needed bringing back in line with the others. Just to explain the snap decision to undo your 'accident'. Not sure whether you'd been purposefully thinking about it for far longer, of course. Maybe even a couple of minutes! ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.58|172.71.178.58]] 14:53, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

:I totally agree with everything you said! One day I noticed there was a useless superheader at the top which was making the TOC unnecessarily slightly harder to scan through. We should definitely bring it back if someone decides to organise the portals, but I figured since it was untouched for more than a decade, it's likely it won't happen in the near future. There was no need to explain the reasoning behind your revert, but I appreciate you reaching out! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:06, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

==A simple Thank-you==
Thank you so much for expanding my knowledge of xkcd, the wiki, and wikis overall. That user page creation left a bit of a mark on me lol. I have found out that I have reached a high enough level to create user pages. I have created 2 user pages and 2 discussion pages for other worthy members of the community. Thank you for the very helpful advice, and thanks again for providing helpful information from the community. Sincerely, [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 05:14, 27 February 2025 (UTC)
:No worries! I'm glad we have another active contributor <3   --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:09, 27 February 2025 (UTC)
::It's relevant to note that we only create User pages when people explicitly ask for them. On the other hand, '''User talk''' pages are created if you want to talk to that specific member privately. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:14, 27 February 2025 (UTC)

== Removing references to order of LiveJournal comics ==

[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1%3A_Barrel_-_Part_1&type=revision&diff=320394&oldid=320342 But WHY?] 
I'm very unhappy to realize you have deleted my hard work giving people a possibility to click through the first comics in the order they where released on livejournal. I have not checked them all, but I'm not happy that it has been deleted and would like to get it back. Pleas try to explain why you found it a good idea to remove this info from so many comics! I'm quite upset about it at the moment. And since you removed it would like you to restore it if you cannot make me see why! Seems there is also more info I put in that have been deleted? :-( --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:31, 10 March 2025 (UTC)

:You are mistaken! I actually liked the idea of browsing the first comics in the original order ''so much'' that I moved it above the explanation! This means it's now much easier to browse them in the correct order, because the user is no longer required to scroll to the bottom of the page: the links are right below the comic.

:I did this for all the 50ish comics. I think you might also have missed the "Original title" and "Original caption" parts of these first comics. In every one of these comics, right under the title (above the image) there's an "Original title". Likewise, below every Title text there's now an "Original caption" part, which contains the LiveJournal caption. See for example comics [[4: Landscape (sketch)]] or [[8: Red spiders]]. I also added a link to the specific LiveJournal post both on the title and caption parts, so users can see them for themselves. Your hard work no longer sits in the hidden Trivia section, but is actually above everything else and easier to read and use!

:I do think it's still not perfect, especially part to browse the comics. I'd like to create a custom template with real buttons (not just links) and an actual explanation of the situation, or maybe integrate it directly into the {{tl|comic}} template. But still, a much better solution than putting everything in the last section! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:47, 11 March 2025 (UTC)

::I'm sorry for the harsh words. Late that night I realized all my trivia info was deleted (did see the original title text was added), but did not realize that the info was relegated to a more prominent place. So I take back my comment, and instead now thank you for improving my work. Hope you accept this apology from a message written at a bad time. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:58, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

:::Of course! You were very polite. I'm glad you're still active in this wiki :) --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:16, 12 March 2025 (UTC)
::::Me to, so there at least is one active admin. Sadly I'm not very good at the tech stuff a<nd also do not have time to look into all kinds of wiki policies... Glad there are others like you who lift the mantle on those parts. We really need a guy like Davidy... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 13 March 2025 (UTC)

:::::UPDATE: I moved the sentences above the ==Explanation==, so it should now be clearer. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:01, 1 April 2025 (UTC)

== Jill's renaming ==

Hi FaviFake 
Just came around to think about the renaming og Science Girl, that I created, to Jill. I really do not like it, and we do not generally give generic figures a name, Megan and Danish the exceptions. And because she is in a comic based on a children song, the name is clearly from the song not because the generic Science Girl is called Jill. Jill is not even used in the comic, only in the title text. You wrote there where no less than three discussions regarding this name change, agreeing with you. But they are not on the talk page of Science Girls page. I'm seriously considering changing it back, so let me know where these discussions are located. I also think it was a mistake to call Danish, Danish, but it beats calling her Black Hats girlfriend. It was just a nickname he used, and they killed the witness as no one must know... But that was done way before I began editing this page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:21, 30 March 2025 (UTC)

:Hey, thanks for your message! I'll respond tomorrow because I don't have time, but for now I just wanted to note somewhere (before I forget) that I looked though all 41 appearances and counted the times where science is the main theme of the comic. The result was that the majority of Jill appearences are not related to science. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:07, 30 March 2025 (UTC)

::Well I will have to check that but the first instance was included because it was a girl who where interested in science even though she doesn't look like ScienceGirl. And an adult version of her was included because it was science again. The question is of course if there are now a different girl... But I do not like the naming of her. We did refrain from naming Cueball Rob, and there was also someone who did not like Megan. But that I like now. I prefer keeping Danish, but do not like the reason why she got than name. And other generic characters have been given a name in some comics without we used this. And really feel it is wrong to name her after a children song just because she was in a comic about that song! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:26, 31 March 2025 (UTC)

{{Outdent|::}}
Hey.
And an adult version of her was included because it was science again.
I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to, but this would actually help my case! "Girl" implies she's either a teenager or a child. This means that, if you wanted to broaden her definition to also include "adult versions", you'd have to use another name. Science Woman? Science Female Charachter? I think Jill is better: it sounds like a name a child would have, but doesn't prevent us from giving the name Jill to adult versions. If we change our minds and Jill also becomes a woman, we don't have to remove the "girl" part.

We do not generally give '''generic figures''' a name
But I don't think she's a generic figure. In a bit more than a third of the comic appearences, she's specifically interested in science. This, to me, means she's likely the same person on most of the comics. SHe also has a similar behaviour.

Even if that weren't the case, we would still have to find a name for her that's generic enough, that represents her qualities, AND that's not a proper name. Or, we could just call her what Randall called her, "[[Jill]]". There is precendent on this wiki for giving a name to a character based solely on one instance, where the name wasn't even intended: that's [[Danish]]. Even more: Danish was used by Randall as an adjective, but here Randall gave us a proper name!

There where no less than three discussions regarding this name change, agreeing with you.
I didn't say they agreed with me. There was no consensus on all of them, iirc, mainly because few people partecipated. Yes, I remember they weren't on her talk page, which is weird, but they were somewhere else. I remember they were mostly even.

The first instance was included [...] even though she doesn't look like Science Girl
That specific comic is an exception, in all other comics she has a bun with trailing hair. Randall may have drawn a ponytail because of the limited space. Anyways, as I said, the majority of the comics featuring her aren't mainly about science. (Of course, almost all Randall comics relate to science, but I counted comics where it was intented.)

We did refrain from naming Cueball Rob
That's because there was consensus on the fact that Cueball is an everyman, while Rob is the same charachter.

And really feel it is wrong to name her after a children song just because she was in a comic about that song!
Well that's the only mention of her name we have, even if it's unrelated. I like that she was named after a nursery rhyme, it fits her character, since she's a child.

[...] I really do not like it, [...]

[...] I do not like the naming of her. [...]

[...] There was also someone who did not like Megan. But I like [Megan] now. [...]

[...] I really '''feel''' it is wrong to name her after a children song [...]
I'm starting to see a trend here. Do you think it could be possible you're against the name change because you simply... don’t like how it sounds? I didn't like how "Science Girl" sounded, but that's not why I changed her name...

--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:34, 31 March 2025 (UTC)
:Thanks for the reply. Sadly you could not show me any discussion about the name change. Only that you said there where. So that did not help. Yes maybe I used the same wording many time. Also not native English speaker so may have less options to express my meaning... What I do not like about Jill and using that comic to name her, is that I do not think that comic at all is representative of the character I had identified and named Science Girl. But I do agree that if there are several instances where she is represented as an adult it could be a problem. I only new her as adult in [[1520: Degree-Off]] and I can see this has been changes, although I believe this should be reverted as this is not hairbun bu Science Girl. I did not know it had been removed. In this [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1520:_Degree-Off&oldid=123879 version] she was named Science Girl] but it was removed without my knowing. And that she was an adult version was in this [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Jill&oldid=123921 version]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:35, 31 March 2025 (UTC)
::Looking at comics now, and just found this one, without looking for Jill and saw her here: [[2747: Presents for Biologists]]. To me the important thing is the interest in science and that the hairbun is not tight but with strings of hair hanging loose. So maybe the explanation to Jill should be changed to a young woman, often a child with a loose hairbun, not to be3 confused with the generic every woman Hairbun... Then Degree-Off is also clearly Jill. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:56, 31 March 2025 (UTC)
{{Outdent|::}}
Also not native English speaker so may have less options to express my meaning
I'm also not a native speaker, I'm Italian! :D I wasn't pointing out your choice of words but rather what you were trying to say, which is (I think?) that you don't like the name. Anyways:

To me the important thing is the interest in science [...] So maybe the explanation to Jill should be changed to a young woman [...]
It seems your opinion has changed completely then! This is what [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Jill&oldid=123921 you wrote] about [[Hairbun]] before I joined this wiki:
''Since she [Hairbun] is a '''grown woman''', she should not be confused with Science Girl or any other '''small girls''' with hair bun like in [[1584: Moments of Inspiration]].''
According to this logic in this comic:
* [[1520: Degree-Off]] - taller than other woman and man, so a woman → '''not Jill'''
* [[2747: Presents for Biologists]] - as tall as other woman and man, so a woman → '''not Jill'''

Also, this would mean we'd have to rename Jill to someone else in a third or a fourth of her appearences.

But I do agree that if there are several instances where she is represented as an adult it could be a problem
I agree! If there's one thing that I think everyone can agreen on is that we shoudn't call a grown woman a "girl". And "Science Woman" sounds like a superhero.

So, to avoid naming Hairbun '''based on how she looks''' and Jill '''based on her displayed interest''' (I'll remind you, you said in Hairbun's page that this is Hairbun:)
[[File:Hair Bun Girl with curly hair and ponytail.png]]

...all i did was standardise the matter:
*'''Jill is a child OR girl that always has trailing hair''' (except 1 comic), and
*'''Hairbun is an adult that sometimes has trailing hair.'''

I think any other definition would be incredibly confusing. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:03, 1 April 2025 (UTC)
:Well I originally put in degree off as Science Girl as she both looked and behaved like Science Girl. So I may have changed my mind. Cannot find the picture you said that I said was Hairbun? Maybe it was from before I introduced Science Girl. I have created both of these characters and then others have changed the explanation and the name. I also called her [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Hairbun&oldid=88388 Hair Bun Girl], which I can now see it wrong since she was a woman, but again, not native English. Here is my first creation of [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Jill&oldid=123862 Science Girl]. There where more than a year between, so maybe I changed my mind regarding which could be hairbun in between? I'm certainly more interested in having those characters with hairbun and dangling hair to be another than normal hairbun now. And would today have collected those that looks like that together. Also there are many instances of Jill where she do not have a speaking part, thus saying she is always interested in science doesn't fit with how she is listed now... It is difficult. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:57, 2 April 2025 (UTC)

::Oh yeah that makes sense, I didn't consider the fact that Science Jirl was created possibly years after Hairbun. I'm not sure I understood your last sentence, about Jill not speaking? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 14:26, 2 April 2025 (UTC)
:::I think only a year after. But still. I meant that there are several instances with Jill where she do not have a speaking part in the comic, and thus cannot be said to have a special interest in science or her sharp wit. So if science should be her main indicator then she has to say something. But I do not really know how to make this as best as it could be. (Science Jirl, Jirl a combination of Jill and Girl ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:46, 4 April 2025 (UTC)

::::It'd be so funny if we settled on Science Jirl haha. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:10, 4 April 2025 (UTC)

== As I can't edit it... ==

Regarding the Editor FAQ:
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.
...I might be tempted to say something like "This makes use of {{w|Help:Wikitext#Description_lists|Description List}} markup", given how there are circumstances when a ";something:fuller description of something" is also actually useful. And then go on to say something about how this is functionally simpler than the actual (sub-)header use of =s, ==s, ===s, etc, (which you'd be advised to check what 'level' of (sub-)header you're already working in and go for the next level on from that) and would the usually be recorded in a Table Of Contents of either the page concerned or any page which it is transcluded within.

Except that we're going into really ''technical'' territory with the latter bit. Generally, ==s are for Explanation, Transcript, Trivia headers in comics, you could say. (The reason being is that the Main Page has a single-= header under which the Latest Comic is transcluded and so ==s are best to be inherited as transient sub-headers - but you don't need to say that... it's just an obvious reasong behind the stylistic decision.) Headering a section other than these, in a comic (such as a place for a Table Of Things, or similar) would generally be ===ed (or, rarely, ====ed, as a sub-sub-header of the Explanation/whatever). It is best to avoid any ===+ing at all in the Comic Talk page because, if the Comic page itself gets a TOC (some do, most don't, but all ''potentially'' could) then the transcluded Discussion gets (probably!) inadvertently and improperly added in. (You can force a NOTOC, and some other tricks, but I've never been able to find a NOTOCIFTRANSCLUDED-like thing, not without peppering noinclude sections around section headers, which is... getting ''far'' too complicated.) So, just saying "Don't use '==...'s in Talk Pages, stick to ';'s..." (even without the reasoning) might be an advisable statement.

Yeah, I'm giving you a lot of stuff here (I think you know all of it, actually), hopefully you can tease out some of the bits actually useful to suggest in the FAQ. :P [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.164|172.68.205.164]] 21:52, 11 April 2025 (UTC)

Darnit, also meant to add that in the {{template|Citation needed}} explanation you wrote, could you change {{template|actual citation needed}} to {{template|Actual citation needed}}? The latter is the actual template, the former is just a redirect. No harm in ''using'' the redirect-needing ones (generally), but you might as well advertise the correct ones. Like you don't advertise {{template|cn}} or {{template|fact}} (both ->{{template|Citation needed}}, as are {{template|citation needed}}, {{template|Citation Needed}} and other case-accomadating variations), though people still are able to use them. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.164|172.68.205.164]] 21:58, 11 April 2025 (UTC)

:Sorry but you're gonna have to give me exactly what you want me to paste in the article, I haven't understood a word of what you said. I changed the actual cit needed thinghy--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 09:45, 12 April 2025 (UTC)

==User page creation==
I just wanted to say thanks again for making my user page! --[[User:Xnerkcd|xnerkcd]] ([[User talk:Xnerkcd|talk]]) 17:38, 13 April 2025 (UTC)
:No worries! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:22, 13 April 2025 (UTC)

==Admin==
What does an admin do? Are they just the people that can create pages?
:Not an admin, but they basically manage the wiki state-of-affairs and oversee day-to-day operation. Basically, a stepup from typical moderators. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.208.206|172.69.208.206]]
::I guess that's what they're ''supposed'' to do. Because of the status quo, they just sometimes pop back in and do stuff we can't. We can however create pages ourselves. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:46, 15 April 2025 (UTC)

== A Barnstar For You :3 ==

{| style="border: 1px solid {{{border|gray}}}; background-color: {{{color|#fdffe7}}};"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" | {{#ifeq:{{{2|}}}|alt|[[File:Blueprint Barnstar 3.PNG|100px|border]]|[[File:Blueprint Barnstar 2.PNG|100px|border]]}}
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: bottom; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Template Barnstar'''
|-
|style="vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Thanks for all of your work on improving the templates on here! '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 20:01, 18 April 2025 (UTC)
|}
:Thanks so much! But [[User:Firestar233]] definitely deserves that award more than I do! He created the templates for the what if? index that are still incredibly useful! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:31, 18 April 2025 (UTC)

==Restructuring [[Header text]] as a table==
''The messages regarding the [[Talk:Header text|''Header text'' reformatting]] project have been moved to '''[[Talk:Header text]]'''. To add a new topic regarding the projects, [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:What_If?_chapters&action=edit&section=new click here].'' --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 09:15, 2 February 2025 (UTC)

== So, the HiddenCat..? ==

You do seem pleased that it works, but I can't work out what you've done by it (presuming it has effects upon a different page). And slightly worried by the additional redlinked category that the page now has. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.229.161|172.68.229.161]] 19:31, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

:Sure. See {{mw|Help:Categories#Hidden_categories}}. I only applied it for the new All pages and the old All comics cats. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:13, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

:Solved the redlink (non-)issue by un-redlinking it (aka creating the cat). --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:55, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

::Still less than wise as to what ''problem'' it solves, but I'm just happy that you're happy. ;)
::Also "The categories that a page is in are normally listed at the bottom of the page." I'd have written as "The categories that a page are in are normally listed at the bottom of the page.", to match "categories=>are" ''or'' "Each category that a page is in is normally listed at the bottom of the page." to force "category=>is" agreement- but maybe that's a UK-English v.s. US-English thing. (Or just my particular regional sub-dialect of English (quite near me there's a place where "we was" and "I was" are considered 'correct' and another where "we were" and "I were" are, so there's easily room for such confusion, even though I'm a "we were" and "I was" person myself). Or just me be entirely mistaken about something!) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.187|172.68.205.187]] 20:52, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

:::> ''Still less than wise as to what ''problem'' it solves
:::Solves the problem of displaying a category that should not be seen by users.

:::Also, your suggestion seems grammatically incorrect. The "is" you'd like to change to an "are" is referring to "a page", not "categories". You may want to read the sentence again. afaik, "a page is here" is correct and "a page are here" is incorrect. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 14:18, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

== Exclusive xkcd textbook comics ==

Hey uhhh does anyone know about [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/science/randall-munroe-xkcd-science-textbook.html this]? Should we make explanations for these?
--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 20:48, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Google's Ai says there are multiple exclusive comics for the textbook, but I've only been able to find Inside Body, shown here:

[[File:Inside Body.jpg|300px]]

 {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|23:07, 8 May 2025‎}}
:Hey, I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific about what "this" and "these" are. You might be looking for this page: [[New York Times: Good Question]]. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:06, 9 May 2025 (UTC)
::'This' links to a NYT article about randall munroe doing illustrations for a science textbook. Google's AI overview says there are three exclusive comic for this. I've only been able to find one. I'm asking if we should add explanations for these new comics. I have given it the temporary name 'Inside Body', since when I saved the image from the NYT article, the name 'Inside Body comic' was used.--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 16:59, 9 May 2025 (UTC)
:::upon further investigation, the article is on the page you linked to. My question is still whether we add an explanation for Inside Body. Also, do we add explanations for the other comics shown in the science textbook pages? --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 17:02, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

::::A large language model is one of the most unreliable sources of information. Unless you find any other site or person mentioning that there are exclusive xkcd comics on some textbooks, I don't think we should in any way create pages based on what a large language model generated. Can you find any actual sources?

::::We might still explain that one specific comic, but this is not the right place to discuss this, we should use the community portals. Besides, there are many other comics in [[New York Times: Good Question]] that aren't explained. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 17:06, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

== It's a date. ==

I'm confused by {{diff|377635|the ISO Dates edit}}. First of all, as explained in my full revert's summary, lowercase are (mostly) reserved for time-placeholders and uppercase used for date-placeholder. And I checked a number of separate documentations and implementations where datetime format variations are described/configured, without finding even one that consistently reserved only "MM", etc, for month, for disambiguation with time's equivalent "mm"-for-minutes, but lowercased everything else.

Secondly, the apparent reason for this edit did not mention this. (Perhaps an overzealous editor auto-correct? Except it/you 'missed a few' and came back to 'fix' them.) The reason actually suggests a sentence's meaning was previously reversed when it clearly was not.

I reverted to before both your edits and those which had prompted your mass-'correction'. Technically, this leaves the "US format in binary" incorrect, which was the only case-change that the prior editor had actually rationalised before you. An argument ''could'' be made that "mm/dd/yyyy" could be parsable as being "MM/DD/YYYY, but in binary", like kb/kilobits is to kB/kilobytes... though that's not even how it's phrased and I'm sure that this should indeed be uppercased like it had been. I also think the other change, to the sentence, is more elegant (for the exact same meaning), but am allowing for a slight possibility that I'm wrong about that. As such, I'm letting you consider where we go from here. Revert my change (the latest, as I type) to re-'fix' things back into lowercase, if you have enough reason to, or reassess the things you blitzed and restore the "binary date" and/or rephrased "drop leading zeros" edits.

Any further discussion, on either original issue, I will leave between you and the other editor, though I thought I'd give you a direct nod about my full reasons why I nuked ''both'' changes, as you had apparently put far more effort into your contributions (for right or wrong). And I'm not currently unconvinced by ''their'' edits, but maybe you can take the opportunity to explain things better and switch my opinions over to your POV. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.229.44|172.68.229.44]] 04:05, 13 May 2025 (UTC)

:Sure! I just made the table on that page sortable again. Microsoft has always used yyyy, dd, and MM in their settings, so I assumed that was the standard. Thanks!--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 14:55, 13 May 2025 (UTC)

== From Kynde's page ==

::::: And finally: the typos in the message you replied to were caused by my keyboard autocorrecting my words (my pc is broken). When you reply, do it on my talk page so we don't spam Kynde's. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 12:44, 29 June 2025 (UTC)
{{outdent|:::::}}
:Hello, I think you mistook another IP's recent comment as being from me-IP, from things said prior to the above. There are a few of us around, and I don't mind being mixed up with some of them (or vice-versa) that are similarly longterm maintainers of seemingly good intentions. Though I think that IP also used "propogate" instead of "propagate" (like I know I've got my own blindspots in spelling/grammar, and occasional tendency to lapse into dialect), which also amused me.
:As to your autocorrection-errors, it surprised me... In my experience, non-native but fluent of English don't let mistakes like that happen, and you're certainly up there with native speakers (il mio italiano è per lo più limitato a ciò che può fare un traduttore online... così!). I think it just looked... careless. Also, strangely induced errors.
:Don't let me discourage you, you've gone to a lot of trouble. Some things maybe necessary, some things maybe more just 'your own vision' that I could take or leave. Just that the "diff" page doesn't always align things to make it easy to compare old vs. new versions for anything more complicated than paragraphs/bullets/tabling to bullets/tabling/paragraphs or tabling/paragraphs/tables (as required). Complete rewrites don't help, even assuming that they accurate rewrites.
:...so, this is my response. From your invitation. Of course I can't speak for anyone else involved. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 18:17, 29 June 2025 (UTC)

::Oh well, until you decide to create a proper account I will blindly assume every IP that uses parentheses and subclauses is the same exact person! You are everyone.

:: Grazie per il complimento; il mio inglese would be better if I cared about looking over every message I post. I usually only extensively proofread article changes. You're right, that specific mistake wasn't an auto correction, I just didn't want to explain everything, but I have time to kill so I guess I'll just do it. On mobile, i prefer using Gboard's glide typing feature, which can sometimes mistake two words even if their letters are almost completely different. You can look it up, it looks cool, though I doubt it'd be ergonomic to use on your tablet. That's why help became hello.

:: Amusingly, there's a grammar error in your reply that I'll let you find! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 22:17, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

== Comic series ==

Hi FaviFake

I just now realized that you have decided that a [[Comic series]] need to have three comics in it to be a series. Since when did you get to choose this. I can see you in such was has removed several of the series I believe to be clear series. Some even have numbers 1 and 2. Realized this when I was going to add the new series that just came now. I'm very unhappy with this definition and I WANT the comics, I have categorized as series, even if they only have two in them, back in the series category. Will you fix this error yourself? Or do really need to fix your mistake? I had even some problems finding my [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Comic_series&oldid=371447 old version] but did manage. Not happy about what I saw! Here are the list of series that needs to be reinstated:
*Well
*Synonym Movies
*Android
*Online Communities
*Etymology-Man
*Exoplanet Names
*Time traveling Sphere
*ISS Solar Transit
*Horror Movies
*Coronavirus Genome
*Old Days
*Alien Visitors
--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:00, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

:I agree that any particular two linked comics are worth recording as notable, I'm also sympathetic with the idea that "two points, loosely linked" isn't a series, especially if there's a lot of time between them. (For the Unsolved Problems comics, their extreme similarity overcomes the extreme temporal separation, IMO... but MMV on that. Whereas something like "every comic with Danish in it", for example, is still not 'a series' even after many more instances. With a rather vague boundary somewhere betwixt these two 'examples', the exact position of which might be hotly contested.)
:Can I suggest an intermediate solution? If a (formerly standalone) comic ever gains a 'second in a potential series' candidate, might it be best to instead describe those as "twinned" (or 'paired') comics, up until the point at which there is a (possibly still subjective) third-or-more to justify it.
:"Category:Twin comics" (or whatever) can be added as a subcat/onward-page of the Comic Series category/explanative-page, until they are justified by identifying their third member (perhaps retroactively, if it's not so straightfoward).
:Still might be subjective. Looking at the recent [:Category:Home Inspections] 'pair', it's actually more than a pair if you widen your categorisation (I think that we might even consider [[3078: Anchor Bolts]] to be related, as in the same sort of mindset as [[3070: Orogeny]] leads). It could get messy. But it already is that. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 22:48, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

::I'm back from vacation. I guess I have to explain a few things here. While I was tidying up the comics series category, I noticed a few "series" were just 2 comics, so I started removing them because I thought they didn't qualify as a proper "series". I also noticed their explanation was often just one or two lines and didn't add anything that wasn't explained in the comics. They were also sometimes very broad, to the point that, as IP said, you sometimes couldn't include comics unambigiuosly. I concede I should've asked you or the community in general. The main reason I didn't do that is that, initially, I thought these 2-comic series were just a few. I only discovered how many they were after I started removing them, and at that point I think I stopped? I don't remember exactly.

::This is another reason why I think they shouldn't be considered a "series": there are so many mini-series that they clutter the main Series category and mmake it harder to find the series that are intentionally defined as such by Randall. But I am very willing to do the following, if that's ok with you Kynde:

::*Create an article/category for these pairs of comics for these series, as IP suggested, or add them back to the original [[Comic series]] article in a separate section. This would avoid the cutter in the main series category that i have talked about.
::*But, I do not think it's a good idea to restore the categories for these miniseries, mainly for two reasons. (However, I will still do it if you want me to, given the amount of wor you put into it.)
::**They usually didn't contain more information that what was already avaialble in the explainations for the 2 comics, so at this point it's better for the reader if they just open the 2 comics instead of reading a short summary with not picures. The categories for each series are useful when they include 5-10 comics, because opening all the 10 explanations would be annoying. Reading 2 explanations isn't much work in comparison and is easier to understand because there are the comics pictures to look at. Reading the short summary explanation of two comics was useless when you could just open them just as easily.
::**As I previously said, I'd like the Series category to only contain proper series, not just a pair of loosely-related comics. This is why I tried to narrow down the definition of a series in the article [[Comic series]] below:

::''The xkcd strips that are part of a '''comic series''' are directly related to each other, rather than simply sharing a [[:Category:Comics by topic|recurring topic]]. ''[This was already the case before i changed it.]'' It should be clear that [[Randall]] intentionally created it as a series. This can usually be inferred from similar patterns in the comics' titles ([[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phones]]) or captions ([[:Category:Cursed Connectors|Cursed Connectors]]), sequential numbers in the titles ([[:Category:Stargazing|Stargazing]]), release dates purposefully deviating from the normal schedule ([[:Category:Journal|Journal]]), a partnership with other artists ([[:Category:Guest Week|Guest Week]]) or companies ([[:Category:A Smarter Planet|A Smarter Planet]]), or Randall simply posting a list of all the comics that are part of a series ([[:Category:The Boy and his Barrel|The Boy and his Barrel]])

::I'll await for input from Kynde (and from the IP please!) before doing anything. I would prefer it if you didn't choose to go back to the same exact situation as before, as i have explained above, but I don't want to bother you more that I already have and will try to do what you want. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:55, 19 July 2025 (UTC)
:::Hi FaviFake. Also been busy since I wrote this, back from holiday and swamped at work. So this is the reason I first reply now. I believe that any comic series where number two is given a 2 after the title like [[Well 2]] is clearly a series and must have been thought to be by Randall. But I could live with making a different category for series with only two comics. And then linking between the current series category and this, back and forth. And then a 2 comic series can be upgraded if a third entry comes in. (Just for the record a comic that refers to a character, real og in comic, a thing or a subject can be categorized after these things/characters. This will never make them into a series unless there is other things that connect certain comics. So Danish comics would never be a series because she is in them, but the one where se meets Blach Hat is a series, but not because she is in it, but because of the connected story line. This as a reply to the IP above your comment). Could the category be called "Two comic series"? Would like to have all those I listed as well as the new one that made me realize they where missing, included in this. I think it is very interesting to easily find these series, but fine by me if they are and under category of the "true series". --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:48, 27 July 2025 (UTC)

::::Alright then! This sounds good:
::::*A proper series will have at least 3 comics, unless there is a "2" in the title of the second comic.

::::*All other series will be called "Two-comic series" or maybe "Miniseries"? I think i like "Miniseries" better, it's simpler and more direct. They will be treated exactly the same as the main series, with a spot in [[Comic series]] (the written article) and their own category, under the "Miniseries" category, itself under the main Comic series category.

::::I'll get to work. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:48, 27 July 2025 (UTC)

== Rather than re-de-revert. ==

{{quote|The text "Don't remove this notice too soon" is there when there isn't a specific reason the page is incomplete. Now there is a clear moment when the page can be marked as complete. Not sure why you put back the PAGE CREATED BY thingy|{{diff|381894|Your re-revert}}}}

It's not just "Don't remove the 'Don't remove this text too soon' text too soon"... It's contectually applying to the ''whole'' incompleteness tag. Now, I'm not saying that, without it, people will think it ok to remove the whole thing, but there's no reason to remove it until you're removing the whole thing as solved. What even is the benefit of doing so?

But, honestly, I restored it not for meta-ontological purposes, but because I was actually trying to counter the strange removal of the PAGE CREATED BY bit. I appreciate that you may think that it confuses new readers, and I daresay that it does (a little bit), but it probably confuses them more when some new comics have this time-honoured bit of site culture and some do not. Whereas they shouldn't really take too long to realise that:
* "CREATED BY A BOT" is basically what it says on the tin, before any human has had a chance to ponder the newly added page,
* "CREATED BY <A JOKE>" is a new article once the rabble have gotten to it,
** ...though, IMO, you should only normally change it as "first editor" (or "first editor with a good idea ror a joke to put there") with something to contribute into the Explanation and/or Transcript (or will do momentarily), not ''just as a "FIRST!"-type thing then leave it...
** ...and you should think twice before changing someone else's joke to your own; perhaps refine it (oapply mild corrections to grammar/spelling/whatever it's trying to reference), but if you just totally "no, MY IDEA!" it, what's to stop the next person going "no, no, ''MY'' IDEA!!"? Just accept what's there (or tweak it, honourably), you'll perhaps be able to get (and keep for a reasonable time) the subtle 'bragging rights' to a future comic, if everyone plays nice and doesn't just entirely change it on a whim. Or remove it for no good reason, before the whole tag is considered superfluous anyway...
* If someone (like yourself) adds in an incomplete tag ''back'' into a previously 'presumed complete' page, that can happily stay without the BOT-inspired humour. Unless one feels like it, but actually adding the tag back in to pages, which (by wiki convention) are always open to being re-edited if you so wish,
** ...if I may say, adding an "incomplete|X and Y need doing to this page", instead of just doing X and Y to the page, is a waste of edits. I appreciate there are some things you might not be able to actually do (explain something that currently confuses you, for example), but occasionally it's a request to trivially reformat something, and no obvious reason why you haven't just done the reformatting in this edit. If you haven't time to do it all now, it doesn't need a placeholder to make a note to yourself to come back and do it when you can..
** ...and, unless you've changed it since I last looked, there's at least one "X needs doing" that seems to have been done but the "X needs doing" tag is still there. Haven't been able to work out if ''not all'' X has been done (for some reason), or whoever did complete it left this tag (whether or not they've deleted othersz along the way). When I have time to to through it line-by-line (more work than to quickly write something like this, which is to explain things that are clearly not as self-evident as I had thought), maybe I'll be the one to remove the notice to that effect..

I have no doubt that some of my thinkings around these matters (and various site traditions/conventions, which may predate me and do definitely prefate you) are perhaps a little strange. Similarly, I find some of your thinking strange. Or at least what I imagine is your thinkings, based upon your occasional doings. As it is practically impossible to cover all the various aspects of thought (or ideas about your aspects of thought) in an Edit Summary, especially one with "Reverting edit by..." filler already in it, this is to make up for the rather limited and compressed 'explanation' you perhaps had to make do with previously.

And it's only my opinion, albeit based upon site consensus (messy and ever-changing as that is) that I've absorbed from my time here. Perhaps you wish to shift consensus, but I'd of course like you to at least know that ''this is what you're doing''. If you don't know this, your well-meaning attempts to restandardise the groupçsnhive mind may just be more confusing than productive. Perhaps you may want to say "I don't think we should <foo> any more", rather than just de-<foo> everything without warning people that you might be treading on their metaphorical toes. Not that I can stop you, but every now and then I might be seeming to tread on your own toes (with no malicious intent), just because we're dancing to completely different beats. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.216|82.132.246.216]] 17:10, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

:Hi!

There's no reason to remove it until you're removing the whole thing as solved. What even is the benefit of doing so?

:That message is part of the default text for new comics. If someone has changed the incomplete tag, it's harder to notice that a specific reason has been created if the old text is still there. For these reasons, I believe editors are more likely to overlook what's written in the notice, thinking it only contains the default text.

[H]onestly, I restored it not for meta-ontological purposes

:What's a meta-ontological purpose?

the strange removal of the PAGE CREATED BY bit. I appreciate that you may think that it confuses new readers, and I daresay that it does (a little bit), but it probably confuses them more when some new comics have this time-honoured bit of site culture and some do not.

:Two things:
:1. The main reason I remove it is to avoid the above: editors thinking nobody pointed out specific page issues. And not just newer editors, even I sometimes miss an incomplete reason because I SEE THE ALL CAPS TEXT AND THINK NOBODY CHANGED IT. (im not screaming)

:2. Recently, I don't remove the joke from the LATESTCOMIC, unless it's really hard to see the actual incomplete reason.

"CREATED BY A BOT" is basically what it says on the tin, before any human has had a chance to ponder the newly added page,

:That hasn't been the case for months now. Look at the OG versions of the pages. Editors are adding it wholesale.

...though, IMO, you should only normally change it as "first editor" (or "first editor with a good idea ror a joke to put there") with something to contribute into the Explanation and/or Transcript (or will do momentarily), not just as a "FIRST!"-type thing then leave it...
...and you should think twice before changing someone else's joke to your own; perhaps refine it (oapply mild corrections to grammar/spelling/whatever it's trying to reference), but if you just totally "no, MY IDEA!" it, what's to stop the next person going "no, no, MY IDEA!!"? Just accept what's there (or tweak it, honourably), you'll perhaps be able to get (and keep for a reasonable time) the subtle 'bragging rights' to a future comic, if everyone plays nice and doesn't just entirely change it on a whim. Or remove it for no good reason, before the whole tag is considered superfluous anyway...

:I haven't considered this type of edit warring before, and I'm happy to stay away from it. I'm not sure whether the "you" was referring to me specifically, because I only edited the CREATED BY once or twice (i mostly remove it when it's old or hides the real reason a page is incomplete).

adding an "incomplete|X and Y need doing to this page", instead of just doing X and Y to the page, is a waste of edits

:I've been trying to do that less recently

If you haven't time to do it all now, it doesn't need a placeholder to make a note to yourself to come back and do it when you can..

:I thought this use was accepted. I do it because if someone else gets there before me, they can do it themselves. Could you suggest other ways for saving these small-but-needed edits?

unless you've changed it since I last looked, there's at least one "X needs doing" that seems to have been done but the "X needs doing" tag is still there.

:I think I've always removed an incomplete tag I created myself for all comics that aren't the ~20 most recent if, after chacking the page, I notice the editor has forgotten (and I always check the edits within a few days unless im on vacation). Please feel free to remove all my or others' incomplete tags if you notice it's complete. I don't understand why you're saying you noticed one and seemingly didn't remove it? If the editor that fixes the page forgets, it's up to whoever notices first to remove it.

Similarly, I find some of your thinking strange. Or at least what I imagine is your thinkings, based upon your occasional doings.

:Yeah I don't think I've ever explained my removals of the CREATED BY things. To summarise:
:Reason number 1) editors thinking nobody pointed out specific page issues because they think it's still the default notice.
:Reason number 2) the comic is old
:Reason number 3) confuses new users, but in the last year or so I haven't worried about this because I removed the incomplete notices from the [[Main Page]]. Hopefully the newbies will look at the mainpage first.

Perhaps you may want to say "I don't think we should <foo> any more", rather than just de-<foo> everything without warning people that you might be treading on their metaphorical toes.

:It's not that I want the tradition to stop, it's just that it gets in the way of productiveness. A notice is the most powerful thing we have to spread a message, and yet we use it as a joke which sometimes hides what's actually wrong with the page. I wish there were a way to keep the CREATED BY's and still allow for important notices to be highly visible. Currently, if I have to choose one, I choose the latter. Do you have any ideas about this? New templates, edits to the bot script, new fields for the existing template, a different notice type, etc?

:Also, any thoughts on the topic above. Your suggestions are often a good start but then you stop replying :( ㅤ [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 13:21, 26 July 2025 (UTC)

== Questions ==

Dear FaviFake

I posted a new question on the Randall question thing. I have no clue how to use the Wiki, but I still did my best to post a question. If I did it wrong please forgive me and I'll do my best next time.

PS. The question I posted is all the way down, at least as I am writing now.

[[User:Little Timmy|Little Timmy]] ([[User talk:Little Timmy|talk]]) 01:30, 29 July 2025 (UTC)Little Timmy[[User:Little Timmy|Little Timmy]] ([[User talk:Little Timmy|talk]]) 01:30, 29 July 2025 (UTC)

User:FaviFake

2025-07-29T01:27:01Z

Little Timmy: /* Your suggestions! What should I ask next? */

'''Hey everyone! I got in touch with [[Randall Munroe]] himself!! Here's what you need to know.'''

{{notice|<big><big>UPDATE 9 JULY: He answered my questions after 4 months! Scroll down to read it.</big></big>}}

<big>{{TOC}}</big>I emailed him to ask for the official release date of [[36: Scientists]] (see [[36: Scientists#Trivia|the trivia for more info]]). Surprisingly, he got back to me! You can read the full conversation below. I'll keep you posted if I receive more messages! You can [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:FaviFake&action=watch add this page to your watchlist] to keep track of it. I haven't received his explicit permission to feature his messages in full, so initially i hid his messages. I've now published the contents of his emails, since he hasn't responded to my request to make them public. My emails have not been altered, but in the copy-pasting, links have been removed. These emails were all hyperlinked, I now added back only a few links.

In his second email, Randall expressed willingness to answer a few more questions, particularly simpler, administrative questions (like the one he answered already), but kindly explained he prefers to avoid too much meta-commentary. Because I didn't want to come up with every question and I wanted to hear everyone, I'll try to send him some that you want, if he agrees to receiving more! You can [[#Your suggestions! What should I ask next?|add your suggestions here!]].

Even if he doesn't answer all these questions, we could also use this page for other things. I'm also planning to create a page on this wiki containing '''everything''' we don't know about xkcd, using these questions. '''So, keep posting your questions!''' In the future, this could become:

*A list of everything we can research extremely in-depth, if someone wants to help the wiki that way.

*A list of quick questions to ask him when someone meets him in person, at a book tour for example.

*A page for people who want to read about things we don't know and is interested in xkcd mysteries.

'''<big><big>  [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title{{=}}User:FaviFake&action{{=}}edit&section{{=}}2 CLICK HERE TO ADD NEW QUESTION''' (scroll to bottom)]
</big></big>

==Email thread==
<div class="plainlinks">
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Question from the Explain xkcd wiki regarding one of your comics'''
Email thread - 4 messages —
Here's a [https://imgur.com/a/2StTkvJ screenshot of one of the emails], if you need some sort of proof.
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|'''FaviFake''' <[email redacted]@gmail.com>
|14 February 2025 at 19:16 CET
|-
| colspan="2" |To: Randall Munroe <[Randall's email redacted]@gmail.com>
|-
| colspan="2" |

Hi,
I'm an editor at explainxkcd.com, which you probably know is the wiki that explains all your comics and provides as much info as possible on them.

In pursuit of that goal, we have always had an unsolved mystery only you can solve. Comic [[36: Scientists]] was originally posted as a duplicate of comic [[10: Pi Equals]]. You corrected this sometime between April 23, 2006 and July 5, 2006 , when the current version showed up in the web archive (see the two links). The comic looks like one of your old drawings.

So, explain xkcd thinks that when you realized your mistake (over three months after it was originally posted), you probably found an old unused drawing and posted it, to not make it stand out compared to the other comics from that time. This all means we have no date for this comic, since it could've been posted anytime between the two dates mentioned above. You can read more about this here. (If you're interested, we have a more comprehensive history of your webcomic here.)

Could you kindly help us figure this out by checking when you released comic #[[36]], so we can add an official date to it? This is one of the only official comics which we don't know the date of.

Kind regards, FaviFake editor @ explain xkcd
|}
''[In the copy-pasting, links have been removed. These emails were all hyperlinked, I now added back only a few links.]''
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Randall Munroe''' [Randall's email redacted]
!14 February 2025 at 22:20 CET
|-
| colspan="2" |To: FaviFake <[email redacted]@gmail.com>
|-
| colspan="2" |
FaviFake,

I had totally forgotten about this! Checking my logs, I believe I swapped it in on April 28th.

Thank you for your tireless documentation effort :)

Warmest wishes, Randall
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|'''FaviFake''' <[email redacted]@gmail.com>
!15 February 2025 at 17:39 CET
|-
| colspan="2" |To: Randall Munroe <[Randall's email redacted]@gmail.com>
|-
| colspan="2" |Hello Randall,

Thank you so much for your response!! I'm certain the rest of the community will be thrilled to have an official answer.

Unfortunately, this is by far not the only "unsolved mystery" we have encountered in our research of your comic. Because we don't get to talk to you very often, I'd like to ask you if you can answer more of our many questions, if you're up for it. Of course, I do not want to annoy you or waste your time, so please let me know if this is something you'd enjoy! I will try to keep the questions entertaining for you.

Kind regards, FaviFake
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Randall Munroe''' <[Randall's email redacted]@gmail.com>
!17 February 2025 at 19:02 CET
|-
| colspan="2" |To: FaviFake <[email redacted]@gmail.com>
|-
| colspan="2" |FaviFake,

You're welcome to send over questions, although I can't promise any answers so please don't put too much time into it!

I've always tried to resist the temptation to do too much explaining or meta-commentary in general, partly because once you start breaking the fourth wall, it can be hard to stop, and partly because I've found those boundaries are helpful for keeping me focused.

But if you want to send over some of your questions, I can see if there are at least a few of them that I can answer—at least some of the simpler, more administrative ones.

And seriously, my heartfelt thanks to you and everyone there. It's such a privilege to make something that people think is worth so much effort to explain <3

—Randall
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|'''FaviFake''' <[email redacted]@gmail.com>
!20 February 2025 at 18:07
|-
| colspan="2" |To: Randall Munroe <[Randall's email redacted]@gmail.com>
|-
| colspan="2" |Randall,

Thank you for the kind words!! I really appreciate the offer. Next time, I'm thinking of asking the community for other simple and administrative questions, because I'm sure I don't represent everyone.

(Also, would it be okay to feature your responses on our wiki?)

I had drafted the paragraphs below in advance and I'm not sure if they fall outside the boundaries you mentioned, but I figured I’d ask anyway since this is a topic the other editors are very curious about. Of course, no worries if you’d rather not get into the details! We have plenty of simpler questions we can't answer ourselves. Here you go:

On June 17, 2009, you released [[Conservation]] (along with IBM's accompanying blog post), the first comic created with IBM for their "A Smarter Planet" blog. You used the filename conservation.png, as usual. On August 11, 2009, the second comic of the series, [[Prescriptions]], was released (with its blog post), but this time you used an unusual filename: ibm_hc_1.png.

We initially believed these were the only comics you created, mainly because they were the only ones featured on your page xkcd.com/asmarterplanet, but a little over a month ago we discovered two additional never-before-seen comics by experimenting with the image URLs for [[ibm_hc_2]].png and [[ibm_hc_3]].png. We believe you created these two comics as part of the IBM partnership, but for some reason they were never released publicly and were only accessible from imgs.xkcd.com. (Interestingly enough, they are still available!)

Any additional info you can give us would help a ton! For example: their titles, when they were drawn or supposed to be released, or why they were never officially published. Thank you!

—FaviFake
|}

''I wanted to also hear what ''you'' wanted to ask! Randall asked for simpler, administrative questions (like the one he answered), and not ones that required too much explaining. Please add your suggestions to the section below! If you have thoughts, [[User talk:FaviFake#Contacting Randall Munroe|send them to me on my talk page]]!''

''Since I still hadn't heard back, I sent another email with a few of the quickest and smaller questions below.]''

{| class="wikitable"
|'''FaviFake''' <[email redacted]@gmail.com>
!13 March 2025 at 19:40
|-
| colspan="2" |To: Randall Munroe <[Randall's email redacted]@gmail.com>
|-
| colspan="2" |Hello Randall,

Hope you're doing well! I'm just following up since it’s been a little while.

In the meantime, we gathered some simpler and more administrative questions from the community—ones that might be easier to answer than the previous one. Below are just a few of them—let me know if you'd be up for answering any!

*When did you release [[Blue Eyes]]: The Hardest Login Puzzle in the World? This is one of the comics that don't have a confirmed release date.

*In comic [[1572: xkcd Survey]], you published a Google Form and said that "everyone's responses will be posted [...] to create an interesting data set for people to play with". However, due to the large number of responses, you encountered technical problems and didn't release the results. Could you confirm the reason for the delay and whether we should expect to see the responses in the future?

*Up until comic #[[1674]], you provided official transcripts for new comics in the JSON interface. In 2016, you stopped. Could you explain why?

*What was/is the purpose of pages such as xkcd.com/yes, xkcd.com/burlap, xkcd.com/dot, and [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#List_of_pages others]?

Thanks again for your time, and no worries if you’re too busy! We truly appreciate any insights you can share.

Kind regards, FaviFake
|}
Four months after my last email, '''HE REPLIED!'''
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Randall Munroe''' <[Randall's email redacted]@gmail.com>
! 9 July 2025 at 13:34
|-
| colspan="2" |To: FaviFake <[email redacted]@gmail.com>
|-
| colspan="2" |
FaviFake,

Sorry for the extremely long delay here, but I wanted to send you replies to some of these! <blockquote>In the meantime, we gathered some simpler and more administrative questions from the community—ones that might be easier to answer than the previous one. Below are just a few of them—let me know if you'd be up for answering any!
<blockquote><div style="color:#500050;">On June 17, 2009, you released [[Conservation]] (along with IBM's accompanying blog post), the first comic created with IBM for their "A Smarter Planet" blog. You used the filename conservation.png, as usual. On August 11, 2009, the second comic of the series, [[Prescriptions]], was released (with its blog post), but this time you used an unusual filename: ibm_hc_1.png.

We initially believed these were the only comics you created, mainly because they were the only ones featured on your page xkcd.com/asmarterplanet, but a little over a month ago we discovered two additional never-before-seen comics by experimenting with the image URLs for [[ibm_hc_2]].png and [[ibm_hc_3]].png. We believe you created these two comics as part of the IBM partnership, but for some reason they were never released publicly and were only accessible from imgs.xkcd.com. (Interestingly enough, they are still available!)</div>
</blockquote></blockquote>

I had forgotten about these! These were other draft comics I drew for the project, and I put them in that folder to transfer them, but IIRC the project involved a lot of organizational moving parts, and for administrative reasons those comics didn't end up getting published. I believe I never gave them titles.<blockquote>
* When did you release Blue Eyes: The Hardest Login Puzzle in the World? This is one of the comics that don't have a confirmed release date.
</blockquote>Unfortunately, I don't have an easy way to answer that one!<blockquote>
* In comic [[1572: xkcd Survey]], you published a Google Form and said that "everyone's responses will be posted [...] to create an interesting data set for people to play with". However, due to the large number of responses, you encountered technical problems and didn't release the results. Could you confirm the reason for the delay and whether we should expect to see the responses in the future?
</blockquote>Haha, I got a fun message from the Google Forms administrators that day. Apparently they were in the middle of updating to a new system on the day I posted the comic, and I provided an extremely unexpected—and profoundly unwelcome—load test. But they were very nice about it and we eventually managed to recover most of the data. 
I haven't found a way to release it that I'm comfortable with. I tried to ask about frivolous stuff that wouldn't provide easy fodder for shoddy social science, but I found that for almost any correlation pair in the dataset, you could immediately project a half dozen intriguing, serious, and contradictory theories onto the data. People were incredibly thoughtful and detailed in their responses to my silly questions, which made me want to be very careful with how I used their data. I still might find a way to release selections from it, because it's a fascinating dataset, but only if I'm confident that I'm not enabling bad science or betraying anyone's trust.<blockquote>
* Up until comic #1674, you provided official transcripts for new comics in the JSON interface. In 2016, you stopped. Could you explain why?
</blockquote>The transcripts were initially submitted by readers through Ryan North's OhNoRobot project, moderated and edited by some friends of mine through a custom system they set up. They eventually ended up often simply writing the transcripts themselves. It ended up being a lot of work to ask of volunteers, and eventually infrastructure updates were needed while the people involved were busy with other things, so I let them stop updating rather than trying to recruit more people. 
I'd love to start offering transcripts again, and hope to do so at some point soon, hopefully in a way that indicates they're from a third party without creating too much spam potential. As I'm sure you know from doing transcripts on the wiki, translating a comic to text can involve a lot of additional creative decisions—it's a different medium, after all!—so I want to make them available for accessibility while ideally clarifying that they're written from the point of view of a reader, to avoid making readers feel like they NEED to read both versions to see everything that I meant to include!<blockquote>
* What was/is the purpose of pages such as [https://xkcd.com/yes xkcd.com/yes], [https://xkcd.com/burlap xkcd.com/burlap], [https://xkcd.com/dot xkcd.com/dot], and [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#List of pages|others]]?
</blockquote>Most of those were inside jokes sent to friends [...]

:::::''I'll omit this part because I'm not sure it should be published. —FaviFake''

I hope that's helpful!

Best wishes, Randall
|}

I'm considering sending him another email, even though he hasn't explicitly said he's willing to answer more. Still, judging by the length of his answers, he seems to like it! What do you think?
</div>
==Your suggestions! What should I ask next?==
Remember, he said only simple questions. I'm assuming he'd like questions similar to the ones he replied to (short, sweet, no explaining needed), or questions that shouldn't require him to explain his comic too much. '''What's something relatively important that we don't know and that only Randall can answer?'''{{notice|

Format your suggestions like this:

'''<nowiki>'''QUESTION? --~~~~''' </nowiki>'''
'''<nowiki>:Explain in more detail your question.</nowiki>''' '''<nowiki>::Discuss it and vote --~~~~</nowiki>'''
[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title{{=}}User:FaviFake&action{{=}}edit&section{{=}}2 '''CLICK HERE''' TO ADD A NEW QUESTION (scroll to bottom)] }}

{{Done}}'''[[ibm_hc_2]] and [[ibm_hc_3]] (newly-discovered comics) and comic [[36: Scientists]]''' --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:34, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
:I asked this one already, because I assume it's the most important one right now. You can [[#Email thread|see my question above]].

'''Why were the first comics [[LiveJournal|uploaded seemingly at random]]? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 21:51, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
:Initially, randall posted his comics to LiveJournal ([[LiveJournal|learn more here]]). The new xkcd website opened on January 1, 2006, and the backlog of 41 comics from LiveJournal from [[1: Barrel - Part 1]] to [[44: Love]] was transferred on the same day, but in a completely different order. The only comic that has the same number on both sites is [[3: Island (sketch)]], while all the other comics were uploaded seemingly at random. Also, only eleven of the original comic titles were reused of the new site, and even among the last eleven comics posted on both sites, only six used the same title.

{{Done}}'''When was [[Blue Eyes]] released? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 11:01, 23 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:[[xkcd]]'s [[Blue Eyes]] puzzle is a logic puzzle posted around the same time as comic [[169: Words that End in GRY]]. [[Randall]] calls it "The Hardest Logic Puzzle in the World" on its page, but whether it really is the hardest is up to speculation. This is incorrect, as the comic was available long before October 11, 2006. The earliest date we have is [https://web.archive.org/web/20041024201125/http://68.57.186.221:8080/ October 24th, 2004] (see fourth link on the page), and the earliest version of the comic is from [https://web.archive.org/web/20041109034300/http://68.57.186.221:8080/blue_eyes.html November 4th, 2004]. Additionally, both the puzzle [https://xkcd.com/solution.html and the solution] (here's an [https://web.archive.org/web/20061102070433/https://xkcd.com/solution.html earlier version of the solution])were modified and updated several times since its release.

{{Done}}'''What happened to the transcripts in the JSON interface? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:38, 23 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:On the [https://xkcd.com/about/ about] page of xkcd there is a description of where:
Is there an interface for automated systems to access comics and metadata?
:Read more here [[Transcript]]. And on this page there is a [[Transcript#End%20of%20transcripts|description]] about how the json info got messed up after [[1608: Hoverboard]] and how they completely ended after [[1677: Contrails]] which had the transcript of [[1674: Adult]].
:I would like to know if he noticed the messed up order of the transcript and if that was why he choose to end it completely? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:38, 23 February 2025 (UTC)
::This imo is one the best questions we've gotten! Very technical and doesn't require him to explain any of his comics! Thanks [[User:Kynde|Kynde]]! Do you have more questions like this one? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:31, 25 February 2025 (UTC)
:::Thanks. I was frustrated about this at some time. Not any other questions right now of this kind. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:54, 26 February 2025 (UTC)

'''Why has there not been any new what if since comet ice? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.41.44|162.158.41.44]] 17:14, 24 February 2025 (UTC)'''
::Don't really see why we need to ask him this, A. This isn't related to the wiki, and B. They wanted short, administrative questions [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.168|172.71.30.168]] 17:26, 24 February 2025 (UTC)
:::I kinda like this one! A: I think it's partially relevant, we have [[what if? (blog)#Release schedule|and entire section dedicated]] to analysing the release schedule of new articles. B. That's true, but at least it's shorter than most other ones. Not a terrible question imo. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:31, 25 February 2025 (UTC)
::::I feel like the answer would either be unsatisfying, or unsurprising. Releasing too many articles may disincentivize people from buying the books, the YouTube page is better marketing, people aren't asking interesting questions, the increased popularity of the article has led to too many questions being asked and it becomes increasingly unfair to answer one over the other. There's a possible litany of reasons without considering other more personal reasons that Randall may not want to share. Also, (and this is my completely unfair opinion) I personally feel like any question asking "why?" is meta-commentary and out of scope. It also feels like entitlement when you ask why someone isn't giving you even more stuff for free. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.23.94|172.69.23.94]] 19:25, 3 March 2025 (UTC)
:::::Yeah no you're right. Btw, the first part of your answer is great, you should consider adding it to the blog page! (or I can do if you don't mind) [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 19:47, 3 March 2025 (UTC)
::::::Thank you! I don't mind you adding it, but I also don't want to burden you with it. I'll look the page over and see where it might fit. I appreciate you fielding the brunt of the community in this matter! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.57|172.69.22.57]] 21:16, 3 March 2025 (UTC)
:::::::Since you didn't add it, [[what if? (blog)#Sporadic releases|I did]]! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:47, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

:::::::It's because the email that the ''What If?'' suggestions go to is wrong. [[User:B_for_brain|B for brain]] ([[User_talk:B_for_brain|talk]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/@bforbrain youtube channel] [https://bforbrain.weebly.com/ wobsite (supposed to be a blag)]) 18:24, 20 March 2025 (UTC)
::::::::Wait what? Please explain, I didn't know about this! What do you mean? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 21:00, 20 March 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::Try submitting a "What if?" suggestion yourself – you'll get an email from whatever email service you use saying that the email "Doesn't exist". [[User:B_for_brain|B for brain]] ([[User_talk:B_for_brain|talk]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/@bforbrain youtube channel] [https://bforbrain.weebly.com/ wobsite (supposed to be a blag)]) 17:35, 24 March 2025 (UTC)
::::::::::Thanks! I didn't know about this. I'll add an incomplete notice. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 17:41, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

'''Why has the [[Blag]] stopped.? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:11, 26 February 2025 (UTC)
:Seemed like it was a good place to write extra info, but it has been removed from the links on the front page 2023 even though the [https://blog.xkcd.com/ page] still exist.

'''Do you read explainxkcd.com? --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.146|172.68.174.146]] 19:01, 27 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:We've probably all wondered: Does he ever read the wiki? if so, there are many directions this could go. Like: Has he ever posted anonymously (this could be asked without necessarily identifying which posts were his)? Ever find a explanation and laugh at how wrong it was? Ever find a explanation that had a funnier interpretation then he intended?
::Discuss it and vote - I doubt that counts as "administrative" but by not referencing any particular comic, we definitely avoid the "questions shouldn't require him to explain his comic more than he has already done." part. Anyway, feel free to reword/add parts/delete parts/hack the question up in whatever way you want. Consider this just me posting the idea for a question, and letting you guys do whatever you want with the idea --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.146|172.68.174.146]] 19:01, 27 February 2025 (UTC)
:::I do not think we should ask this. He has at least once referred to explain xkcd, so he do know of it. But I think that for his own sake, he stays clear of it as best as he can. ;-) -- [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:20, 10 March 2025 (UTC)

'''[[24]]'s original caption claimed to have more to it, but the link isn't archived. Is there more? [[user talk:lett‪herebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 01:23, 4 March 2025 (UTC)'''
::I wonder if he'd want to talk about it, since he's now deleted his LiveJournal reply regarding the broken link. But would be easy to answer if there wasn't more. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:08, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

'''In [[2256: Bad Map Projection: South America]], which eleven islands are representing what I assume are the Philippines and Indonesia? --[[Special:Contributions/104.23.187.145|104.23.187.145]] 13:45, 1 March 2025 (UTC)'''
:Luzon, Samar, Mindanao, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, and New Guinea seem pretty obvious, but what are the other three islands?

'''In [[2951: Bad Map Projection: Exterior Kansas]], assuming you didn't draw the map freehand, what function did you use to convert (actual distance from center point) to (distance from center point in the projection)? --[[Special:Contributions/104.23.187.145|104.23.187.145]] 13:45, 1 March 2025 (UTC)'''
:This information would be helpful for adding more states, territories, countries, and/or landmasses to the map.

'''Does he know that if a=1,b=2,c=3, etc. then x+k+c+d=42?[[User:Thehydraclone|Thehydraclone]] ([[User talk:Thehydraclone|talk]]) 19:49, 2 March 2025 (UTC)'''
:(Answer to life, the universe, and everything)
::[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/xkcd#:~:text=However%2C%20according%20to%20Randall%20himself%2C%20this%20is%20a%20coincidence This might be relevant], if you can find a citation for it...
::Not very important question but very easy to answer and trivial, i like it. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:59, 3 March 2025 (UTC)
:::But I think this has already been debated wildly and he has explained why he chose this name extensively, and it seems like it was not for that reason. I find it very interesting though, but it also only works for English alfabet, in Denmark we do not use W when saying the alfabet (although we have it for loan words. We also call it Weekend in Denmark. That is an official Danish word). But the X would thus be one less and the sum 41 ;-) I do realize that he of course would have used the English alfabet, so if he actually looked for this he would also get 42. -- [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:20, 10 March 2025 (UTC)

'''There's a hidden search box in [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]'s source code. --[[User:Bytesizeinfo.com|Bytesizeinfo.com]]'''
:It's commented out, but you can reenable it with your browser's inspect tool, and it still seems to work. (It's in the footer, if you want to try.) Why is it commented out? It seems like a useful tool.
::Interesting! I had noticed it was there on older archives but didn't know it was just commented out. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:08, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

{{Done}}'''What was/is the purpose of https://xkcd.com/yes/ and https://xkcd.com/no/? [[user talk:lett‪herebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 03:32, 5 March 2025 (UTC)'''

::Wait what? I've never seen these pages before! Are there any others? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 21:30, 8 March 2025 (UTC)

:::When I learnt of them, I tried various others (e.g. ".../maybe"), to no avail. But maybe there's something non-Yes/Noish that goes along with those two, thematically. So far, though, I've not worked out what they might be. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.33.252|162.158.33.252]] 00:08, 9 March 2025 (UTC)

::::I looked into it! There are other pages, but the xkcd forum link is broken and not archived. (See more info on the two pages, i just created, [[NO]] and [[YES]].) --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 12:33, 9 March 2025 (UTC)

{{Done}}'''Are results from the [[xkcd Survey]] ever going to be released? --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.92|172.71.254.92]] 01:53, 9 March 2025 (UTC)'''
:In xkcd.com/[[1572]] there was a survey. Randall said that he would release the data, but it crashed google forms. Is there any way to get it back, and if so, will he finally release it?
::Interesting! I didn't know. Very good question, thanks! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 12:33, 9 March 2025 (UTC)

'''Did you know that the chatroom in [[xkcloud]]; euphoria.io is living and growing under a new domain, leet.nu? [[User:Elaine Roberts|Elaine Roberts]] ([[User talk:Elaine Roberts|talk]]) 19:21, 11 March 2025 (UTC)'''

'''What checkmate did you intend to depict in [[1112: Think Logically]]?''' [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.40|162.158.167.40]] 07:04, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
:We suspect scholar's mate, but there is at least one other possibility, specifically a variant of fool's mate (since Cueball could be moving his pawns towards Knit Cap Guy's king).
::Did he really choose to depict a specific strategy? Is the assumption based on the board pieces at the end, or on the number of moves, or both? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:11, 10 March 2025 (UTC)

'''Is the board setup in [[3045: AlphaMove]] based on playing AlphaMove against a specific chess engine? If so, which one?''' -unsigned!
::Can you elaborate? What's a board setup, what dow e exactly not know? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:14, 11 March 2025 (UTC)
:::Seems to me, it simply means "has that playing position (i.e. the current state) been reached by pitting 'the algorithm' vs. any particular ''genuine'' chess-engine". (Or otherwise. The alternative, presumably, that it was a 'hand-crafted' response on Randall's part... Or possibly a volunteer from amongst his acquaintances, either knowing something of what they'd be pitted against or not.)
:::I suspect the answer will be frightfully unremarkable (if available ''and'' given), but I could also see it being a useful throw-it-in. (Better than [[4: Landscape (sketch)|"why's there a river running through the ocean?"]], anyway ;) ) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.163|141.101.99.163]] 16:49, 11 March 2025 (UTC)
::::Ah gotcha. Doesn't seem interesting imo but is small enough. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:22, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

'''Machine details -- [[User:HyperBirbN3rd|HyperBirbN3rd]]'''
:Is [[Machine]] going to have a finalized state? If so, when?
::Not sure this is easy enough to answer. He'd have to explain his intentions, which i don't think he published --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:31, 25 February 2025 (UTC)

'''Does the hexadecimal "pointers" in [[138: Pointers]] mean anything?--[[User:Bb777|me, hi]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 18:07, 29 March 2025 (UTC)'''

'''Why did you rename comic #[[786]]'s image to ''exoplanets_2010.png'' instead of uploading comic #[[1071]]'s image as ''exoplanets_2012.png''?''' --[[User:Winter1760|Winter1760]] ([[User talk:Winter1760|talk]]) 17:11, 5 April 2025 (UTC)

:Is [[2638: Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond]] supposed to represent anything at all? [[User:Bb777|me, hi]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 17:57, 5 April 2025 (UTC)

'''Why were the xkcd [[Forums]] shut down for good? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 07:25, 22 July 2025 (UTC)'''

'''What was/is the purpose of the [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#List of pages|other pages we found]]? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 08:46, 22 July 2025 (UTC)'''


'''<big><big>  [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title{{=}}User:FaviFake&action{{=}}edit&section{{=}}2 CLICK HERE TO ADD NEW QUESTION''' (scroll to bottom)]
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===Out-of-scope questions===
{{notice|<big><big>These questions are more like interview questions.</big></big> He said he'd answer simple questions. I'm assuming he'd like questions similar to the one he replied to (short, sweet, no explaining needed), or questions that shouldn't require him to explain his comic more than he has already done.}}

'''Why was what if? article ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20161205191559/http://what-if.xkcd.com/153 Peptides] deleted?'' --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:34, 21 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:[[what if? (blog)]] is a blog written by [[Randall]] with entries posted occasionally. On December 5, 2016, the article ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20161205191559/http://what-if.xkcd.com/153 Peptides]'' was published as number {{what if|153|153}}. However, it was [https://web.archive.org/web/20161206171630/http://what-if.xkcd.com/153/ removed the following day] and was replaced by a notice: "''Whoops. This article is still in progress. An early draft was unintentionally posted here thanks to Randall's [http://xkcd.com/1597/ troubled approach to git], and it took a little bit to get everything sorted out and rolled back. Sorry for the mixup!"''. No finished version of the article was ever published, and the URL was later reused for ''{{what if|153|Hide the Atmosphere}}''.
::I this this one is very interesting, but it might not be as administrative and short as Randall wants. He'd need to explain the reason why it wasn't published and why it looks like a complete article, not a "draft". Anyone agree? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:34, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
:::Copy paste from my reply below which I wrote first: "I'm not quite sure he likes questions about things he actually wished to delete... I mean seriously he tried to hide it but we got hold of it anyway?" --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:26, 23 February 2025 (UTC)
::::Yeah you're right, I didn't think about that --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:31, 25 February 2025 (UTC)

'''What happened to [[Five-Minute Comics: Part 4]]? --[[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 17:49, 22 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:A lost xkcd comic. He accidentally posted this instead of [[940]], and then erased all evidence of its existence by redirecting the direct image URL to a notice claiming it was a minor glitch in the universe. I'd get deleting the image outright, but just replacing it with what is essentially a sign to stop looking for it? Kinda weird. Also, how many more of these 5MCs has he made that are potentially lost media?
::I like this one, but I'm not sure if it's as simple as he'd like. He'd need to explain why he created the comic, which he almost never does. But there might be a way to ask it in a way that allows him to reply without revealing too much info. Btw, you seem very active on this wiki, do you have anything else in mind? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:11, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
:::I'm not quite sure he likes questions about things he actually wished to delete... I mean seriously he tried to hide it but we got hold of it anyway? Also we know why he drew these, it was a game he played with family. He just did not mean to post the fourth one. There might be more, but he only posted the three because he could not cope with the cancer of his wife and did not whish to give up his schedule. So as he could not draw three comics fast enough for that week he used these instead. Asking into this would also remind him of his wife's cancer. I vote no to this as an e-mail to Randall! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:24, 23 February 2025 (UTC)

'''Why was [[No One Was Hurt]] replaced? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.71.112|172.68.71.112]] 15:44, 24 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:[[No One Was Hurt]] was a comic that was replaced by Comic 2642, and while it's reasonable to assume that it's probably in response to some... unfortunate irl events, for documentation it would be nice to have an official, confirmed answer
::I'm not sure he'd like it, after all, he deleted it, so he might not want to talk about it more --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:31, 25 February 2025 (UTC)

'''Will we get more 5-part sagas? --[[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 11:44, 23 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:Like [[Choices]], [[The Race]], etc.
:::Not sure about this one, feels like we should be focusing on exclusively wiki data and such, this isn't an interview. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.168|172.71.30.168]] 17:28, 24 February 2025 (UTC)
::::Agree with IP, but it's not the worst question we've gotten. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:31, 25 February 2025 (UTC)

'''What inspired you to make [[Time]]? {{unsigned ip|141.101.109.166}}'''
::Frankly I don't see this one either, see the one above [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.168|172.71.30.168]] 17:26, 24 February 2025 (UTC)
:::Yup, definitely out of scope. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:31, 25 February 2025 (UTC)

'''Are there comics you'd like to update in light of recent developments? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.216|172.71.102.216]] 13:52, 25 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:Are there any existing comics you would like to update / sequel in light of recent developments (environmental, political, webtrends, demographic)? :The first thing that comes to mind is that 2024 was the first year above 1.5C over the pre-industrial average. [https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/01/10/0426254/2024-was-the-first-year-above-15c-of-global-warming-scientists-say].
::This is an interview question, not a simple question — read the notice above --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:31, 25 February 2025 (UTC)

'''Just wanted to note that some geography comics might be worth asking about [[User:XKCD Teaches Science|XKCD Teaches Science]] ([[User talk:XKCD Teaches Science|talk]]) 03:27, 24 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:I remember browsing pages on this wiki about 6 months ago and noticing that there were many explainations of maps or map like things where editors weren't sure which small islands or small countries since comic drawing is obviously not perfect. I don't remember which comics exactly and don't have time today to investigate, but I figured this observation is worth noting.
::I'm not sure i get what you're saying. What are you suggesting we ask Randall, exactly (if he answers)? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:31, 25 February 2025 (UTC)

'''Did they notice?''' -unsigned!
:I noticed that in [[1529: Bracket]] 'Jeff Gordan' was changed to 'Jeff Gordon' but apparently nobody noticed. When was the comic fixed?
:: Who knows! Good catch. This is not the correct page to talk about it, but I have mentioned it in the comic page. You can use the Wayback Machine to check when it was changed [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:56, 7 March 2025 (UTC)

'''Why have you drawn fewer multiple-panel comics recently?''' [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.113|172.70.214.113]] 07:38, 9 March 2025 (UTC)

'''Why are some of the april fools' comics late? - [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.108|172.71.146.108]] 18:55, 22 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:I'm fairly sure we've had this answered already ("things just weren't quite ready/more testing was needed") for some of the more technical ones, in some other place. Whether we can get more detail and for ''every'' not-on-time might be a matter of him having to remember the precise circumstances. And I also would feel uncomfortable if this turned into "why was <random non-April Fool comic> late?". Or early. (When doing Rightpondian book-tours, sometimes surprisingly early, but every now and then it seems he manages to release them from his native Leftpondia even early here in the Rightpondian day.) But this is far too much detail (and far too much expectation), of no importance so long as he continues to average out at three regular comics a week and ''if he wants to'', and ''when he can'', anything a bit more special.
:Consider this a downvote on bothering him with this question, but that's of course only my opinion, in leiu of anything more constructive to add ("What's your favourite cheese..?") [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.190|172.69.79.190]] 19:42, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
::I agree with the second IP on this one! Unless there's a particular comic for which the delay was very important (do you have any in mind?), I don't think this is going to be of much interest to him. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:11, 22 February 2025 (UTC)

'''Why was there no special thing for comic [[3000]]? [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 17:34, 24 February 2025 (UTC)'''
:This is something major as normally he makes special comics for these types of milestones, but the comic proceeded as if nothing happened. Why?
::A fair question, but a bit of a lower priority than anything else we can throw at Randall. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.43|172.71.26.43]] 17:44, 24 February 2025 (UTC)
::I am still curious about this, though. If no other question is deemed as important, this is a good one to ask IMO. [[User:Trogdor147|Trogdor147]] ([[User_talk:Trogdor147|talk]]) 21:32, 24 February 2025 (UTC)

'''In the xkcd email subscription, their is an address at the bottom, it being (68 Harrison Ave Ste 605 PMB 75312, Boston, MA, 02111-1929, US). If it something you are comfortable saying, what is this address? ''' [[User:Little Timmy|Little Timmy]] 1:26, 28 July 2025 (UTC)

User:FaviFake

2025-07-29T01:24:38Z

Little Timmy: In the xkcd email subscription, their is an address at the bottom, it being (68 Harrison Ave Ste 605 PMB 75312, Boston, MA, 02111-1929, US). If it something you are comfortable saying, what is this address?