Design of xkcd.com
The design of xkcd.com includes four white segments, which are separated by a thin black border and a light blue-gray background color. All text on the page uses a small caps font, except for the word "xkcd" in the logo image. Here is a list of the changes that have been made:
The design has changed many times but mainly in the beginning. This was the first time that a design close to the current was used. 126: Red Spiders Cometh was up at the time.
- 2006-02-07 This was how the web site looked after Randall had closed down for LiveJournal releases the week before on January 30th, 2006 (with the release of 56: The Cure). The link is to the first copy on the web archive after that happened, and it was saved the day after 60: Super Bowl was released.
- 2006-01-09 This was how the web sited looked three days after the second comic, 46: Secrets, was released simultaneously on both LiveJournal and xkcd. The page was saved on the 9th of January 2006, before that day's comic (47: Counter-Red Spiders) had been released. Randall had taken a long break from xkcd since and had just begun posting again on both sites from January 4th, 2006, with 45: Schrodinger. The 41 comics released earlier throughout 2005 was at that time all included on the xkcd page as if they had been inserted on New Years Day (2006-01-01). Thus disregarding that, they had almost only been released using the still going Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule from September 30th 2005, with the first being 7: Girl sleeping and the last being 39: Bowl released on December 5th 2005. Thus, he took 30 days without a release from there and had released. And as would be clear he also disregarded the order as the first is now 1: Barrel - Part 1 (which was though released the same day as the Girl, but still only as number 3), and the last number of those 41 comics is now 44: Love, which thus also shows that three other comics have been inserted among the first 44 to make the first xkcd release number 45.
Links
- For more information, visit the main article.
The first segment is at the top left of the page, and it contains links to navigate around on xkcd.com and his social accounts. There have been multiple changes to the links over the course of the site's history, with the last one being made in 2023. It states:
Header
The second segment is the header, which contains the logo, the tagline, and the header text. The header is wider than the first segment but has the same height. The xkcd logo is positioned on the upper left corner and serves as a clickable link to the front page. The image used in the logo of xkcd is from the first panel of 77: Bored with the Internet, showing only the characters and the desk.
Tagline
- For more information, visit the main article.
Next to the logo is the tagline, a short text that appears regardless of which comic is being viewed. There have been eight taglines displayed over the course of the site's history, with the current one being added in 2006. It states:
- A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.
Header text
- For more information, visit the main article.
The header text is updated whenever Randall has news to share. After the novelty of the news ends, the page usually goes back to its default header text, which states:
- xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Comic
Finally, beneath this second row of buttons, two links are provided. The first functions as a permalink, directly linking to the comic currently displayed on the page. In some cases, custom permalinks are used for various versions of the same comic, such as in some of the interactive comics like 1350: Lorenz and 1663: Garden. The structure of this link consists solely of the xkcd.com domain followed by the respective comic number. For instance, the link for comic 2000: xkcd Phone 2000 would appear as: "https://www.xkcd.com/2000/". The second link leads to the image URL suitable for hotlinking or embedding, in this case "https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/xkcd_phone_2000.png". This link is stored within a comics-specific logical subdirectory of the server. The filenames of these images typically align with the comic titles, although exceptions arise, particularly in cases of title conflicts or when the visible comic is dynamically generated or a composite rendering.
- Permanent link to this comic: https://xkcd.com/2000/
- Image URL (for hotlinking/embedding): https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/xkcd_phone_2000.png
Bottom segment
- For more information, visit the main article.
The footer comics are likely selected for representing the topics covered on xkcd. There have been five changes to the footer comics over the course of the site's history, with the last one being added in 2019. They are:
| 150: Grownups | 730: Circuit Diagram | 162: Angular Momentum | 688: Self-Description | 556: Alternative Energy Revolution |
| 1732: Earth Temperature Timeline | ||||
Feeds
Below the footer comics, there are three feeds links. These links consist of a RSS feed, an Atom feed, and, starting from February 6, 2019, a subscription link for receiving news via email. On June 11, 2019, the last two links were also added to the links at the top for easier access. They are:
Comics I enjoy
Beneath the two feeds there is a list of Randall's favorite webcomics with links:
- Comics I enjoy:
- Three Word Phrase
- SMBC,
- Dinosaur Comics,
- Oglaf (nsfw),
- A Softer World,
- Buttersafe,
- Perry Bible Fellowship,
- Questionable Content,
- Buttercup Festival,
- Homestuck,
- Junior Scientist Power Hour
Other things
Beneath the "Comics I enjoy" section, there is another section of links to external sites. Since February 26, 2019 there have been three links. They are:
- Other things:
- Tips on technology and government,
- Climate FAQ, Katharine Hayhoe
On March 21, 2017, this section was added to xkcd.com for the first time. It stated:
On July 15, 2017, the third link was added:
- Other things:
- Women Also Know Stuff, Tech Solidarity, Tips on technology and government
Warning
- For more information, visit the main article.
The warning on xkcd was originally added to the site in 2006, but it was removed in 2016. It stated:
- Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).
Footnote
- For more information, visit the main article.
The footnote on xkcd is written in a very tiny font, which makes it very hard to read without zooming in. There have been two major footnotes displayed over the course of the site's history, with the current one being added in 2016. It states:
- xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS
- at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device
- from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing.
License and copyright
Randall allows people to use his comics for free as long as they do not make money on them and as long as they credit him with the work. There are two notes:
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.
- This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). More details.
"More details" is a link to xkcd.com/license.html, which expands on what people are and are not allowed to do. It states:
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.
- This means that you are free to copy and reuse any of my drawings (noncommercially) as long as you tell people where they're from.
- That is, you don't need my permission to post these pictures on your website (and hotlinking with <img> is fine); just include a link back to this page. Or you can make Livejournal icons from them, but -- if possible -- put xkcd.com in the comment field. You can use them freely (with some kind of link) in not-for-profit publications, and I'm also okay with people reprinting occasional comics (with clear attribution) in publications like books, blogs, newsletters, and presentations. If you're not sure whether your use is noncommercial, feel free to email me and ask (if you're not sure, it's probably okay).
