Forum:Uncyclopedia domain name

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↓ If you've come here to whine, the petition is below. ↓


Hi All,

It's Staff Hat time again. Which, as you may know, looks something like this (as "improved" by dear, sweet, Olipro):

Staff hat.jpg

So, Wikia has a bit of a size problem. We know that the wikis on our servers reach millions of people each month. But our advertisers look at us and see us as embarrassingly small. They count only wikis that are on wikia.com and so only see a fraction of our unique visitors. And sadly, to advertisers, size does matter. This is a particular problem for us because of the brand advertisers we want to attract. These give us a better quality of ad, but they only want to talk to very large websites.

This means that we need to move the primary url of Uncyclopedia to wikia.com in order to give us a much needed boost in the statistics. The actual URL can be uncyclopedia.wikia.com, uncyc.wikia.com, or albatross.wikia.com ... any suitable and available subdomain of wikia.com that you would like. All pages on uncyclopedia.org will redirect to the appropriate pages on the new domain, so we won't have any broken links and you can keep using old bookmarks.

Now obviously, we are aware that the name is a very important part of Uncyc's identity, so I don't expect this to be an easy change. Consolidating all of our wikis on to the wikia.com domain name is important to ensure that we are able to continue to provide the services that we offer over the long term. We are planning to redirect the domain on Wednesday, October 8th.

Most of the non-English versions of Uncyclopedia on Wikia are already on the wikia.com domain. The others don't need to move immediately but we are happy to help these move now if they would like to maintain consistency with the English version.

I will be available on IRC to be shouted at later, and to give any more information that you need.

Thanks all.

-- sannse (talk) 17:44, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Serious Discussion

That's odd. Illogicopedia is dying to leave the wikia.com domain name and get some fresh air. Uncyclopedians, however, want to go back into wikia.com. We Illogicopedians would gladly swap places with you. We don't like New Monaco. The Linkifier!!!!!? 17:58, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
Whoo! Staff Hat time! I say we change our URL to thesannsehut.wikia.com. :) But seriously though, if we did switch the URL, can't we still have uncyclopedia.org redirect to the new one or does this still present the same issue as before with the advertisers? - Rougethebat.gifAdmiral Enzo Aquarius-Dial the Gate SonicLivesPicture.png 18:03, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
Another idea would be to get uncyc.wikia.com running and have IT redirect HERE! I don't know about that, but my pen pal in Soviet Russia says they do it all the time. Navwheel-small.png» DJ "Reaper of Fail" Gentoo, now with wit, sarcasm, and even more obscure folk metal. Now in lime green! 18:56, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
uncyclopedia.wikia.com is already a redirect, but that doesn't help us. And for Enzo... yes, all links to uncyclopedia.org would redirect fully to the relevant pages on the wikia domain. Old links won't break. -- sannse (talk) 20:07, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

So... uh... tell them to count the others too? Is that too hard? Would you like me to do it?
Again, wikia is putting the advertisers first, and fucking over its users. I think it's safe to assume that nobody at uncyc wants to be under the wikia domain. Who are these ridiculous advertisers you are dealing with? They sound totally incompetent - it took me 2 minutes to get a list of all domains hosted by wikia (thanks, myIPneighbors), and I doubt it'd take long to do a traffic check on that list, if these advertisers are capable of doing their own traffic estimates, as you imply they are doing. How can they demand the restructuring of a site they might like to advertise on when it be short work to make that totally unnecessary? How can wikia not have the competency to sell its product to clueless advertisers?

It sounds far more likely that wikia just wants to get its brand name out there more to up the value, and knows that the most popular wikis, the ones big enough to have their own domain name, are the ones which are missing out on displaying that brand name in every url. By switching us over to uncyclopedia.wikia.com, they're making sure everyone knows who owns the site. The "traffic" excuse is pretty poor, to be honest. It's a shame the wikia management feels that fulfilling every supposed whim of advertisers is more important than its actual users and sites. But hey, being the company wikia likes to think it is doesn't pay the bills, right? Spang talk 20:11, 30 Sep 2008

To be fair "helping Wikia" is not what this site is about. I appreciate that Wikia would like to use their resources for their own benefit but the problem with any community, online or off, is that they have a very strong self image. Too many things that "threaten" the community and you are going to have a lot of trouble on your hands. With something as fickle as an online community I personally think this will be one step too far and you are going to see a lot of people walk away from Uncyclopedia.
I'm inclined to agree with Oli and Spang's view on this, and would hope that Wikia would reconsider for the good of the community. -- Sir Mhaille Icons-flag-gb.png (talk to me)

Would this result in a database merger, as well? - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 20:23, Sep 30

While I agree that helping Wikia is not Uncyc's job, the fact is that Uncyc does exist because Wikia allows it to, and for free. That's a pretty good slice of cake. I see no trouble with the Wikia suggestion: scratch their back, inasmuch as they scratch ours. ----OEJ 12:07, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
I think of our relationship with Wikia like an alliance. We had objection to the ugly wikia ads in the sidebar, but eventually allowed it because of this. We were quite unhappy about that, but the fact is that Wikia HAS given us a nice slice of cake, so it WAS worth it at the time. This is different. This time, they are asking too much. Or would be, if they were asking.--<<Bradmonogram.png>> 12:13, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
I also think it's worth mentioning that, should the alliance break up, it will likely do irreparable harm to both Wikia and Uncyclopedia. Needless to say, this is not ideal.--<<Bradmonogram.png>> 12:29, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Frankly I think what this comes down to is well, is Wikia going to die horribly? Wikia seems to be cutting staff? I presume what this means is that the recession economy has sort of rolled around and started punching people in the face. I certainly don't support this change, but I think I can see why they're doing it. It glues on pagerank and comscore to Wikia, probably helping save them in the process. It's probably no surprise that they're coming to us with this proposal now, I imagine the days of free rolling startup money are gone. I really don't see why you couldn't just put a rewriting proxy in front of the domain, but then again, I'm not the one implementing it. (Disclaimer: I do not work for Wikia. My views do not reflect those of Wikia or my employer Google.) --Chronarion 03:21, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Is this confirmation that Wikia intend Uncyc to have commercial adverts?

Is it? MrN MrN9000SouthParksmall.jpg 18:08, Sep 30

Either that or Wikia is going to pull the ol' bait and switch on its advertisers. "Yes, we have thousand more pages now that Uncyclopedia is moved onto our domain name... But YOU CAN'T ADVERTISE ON ANY OF THEM! BWAHAHAHAHA! *snort*" --Pleb SYNDROME CUN medicate (butt poop!!!!) 18:14, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
You ARE actually totally fucking mental, if you hadn't noticed before. MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 18:43, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
I'd hit that. Navwheel-small.png» DJ "Reaper of Fail" Gentoo, now with wit, sarcasm, and even more obscure folk metal. Now in lime green! 18:56, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
The idea is that they see how sooper and big we are, and then are willing to negotiate with us for pages/pageviews/whatever. Rather than just turning their nose up at us. As for ads on Uncyc, my personal belief is that they will be back one day (yes, "back", we did have them in the past) but that's not something currently planned. -- sannse (talk) 20:07, 30 September 2008 (UTC)



My suggestion.

I want our new address to be... blowmeallnight.wikia.org. Wikia is a .org, right? – Preceding unsigned comment added by Dexter111344 (talk • contribs)

You just got fucked. It's .com MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 20:01, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
How about wikia.wikia.wikia.com.org/humor/uncyc/uncyclopedia/Main Page? Woo! -RAHB 20:13, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
How about wikia.uncyclopedia.milk.overthrow.org.net.info.com/overthrow/humour/Uncyclopedia/milk/overthrow/milk/uncyc/Uncyclopedia/milk? Even better than yours! MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 20:16, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Cut the (random) crap

OK, I do firmly believe in a symbiosis of a sort; Wikia provide us with hosting, they cover the cost of that hosting, the database, the software, the maintenence... That is then funded from some advertising that gets shown here and there, OK, fine. However, the domain of a site is its identity; if you move that then the site starts to lose the identity... and yes, I know uncyclopedia.org will become a redirect, but it's just not the same.

Now let's just stop and look at ED... they are running; I think everyone has by now worked out that ED aren't going to disappear and they are in fact profiteering at this point, from the donators and adverts, so no worries about them going out of business.

We could do the same thing with uncyclopedia; take a chance on becoming independent, a few of us could pony up the dough for some hosting (and I know hosting, it's not a fortune at all) and then take the business risk of finding a way to have it pay for itself as soon as we get going.

However, the previous paragraph will never happen, ever. why? because Wikia control the spice domain - and as I said before, he who controls the spice domain controls the universe traffic.

End result? instead of fighting, since we're castrated against that, our only option is to shamelessly beg like fucking whores to leave the domain as-is. -- Prof. Olipro Icons-flag-gb.png KUN (W)Anchor Op Bur. (Harass) 20:23, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

...So, basically you're saying that this bind is all Chronarion's fault. --Pleb SYNDROME CUN medicate (butt poop!!!!) 21:50, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
Personally i'm with Olipro here, i'm not a fan of this. I hold the opinion that after this will come Monaco, adverts in our content and there'll be nothing left to distinguish us from the other Wikis out there. I'm sure some of us would be willing to put toward buying us out. I know I would. So that's my stand on this really BonSig.png (Bonner) (Talk) Oct 1, 15:39

_______________________________________________________________________________

Sannse says Wikia are worried about Google Pagerank getting fucked up if they don't turn uncyclopedia.org into a redirect.

Tell your technicians to find out what a robots.txt is.

Then tell them to implement it so that it serves a deny-all to search engines crawling uncyclopedia.org and no deny if they come in via uncyclopedia.wikia.com -- Prof. Olipro Icons-flag-gb.png KUN (W)Anchor Op Bur. (Harass) 21:27, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Didn't Google have us blacklisted some time in the past anyway? Nothing we're not used to... Actually, could you dumb this part down for me a little? What would be the benefits uncyclopedia.org not being a redirect, and how would denying webcrawlers to uncyclopedia.org help with Google Pagerank? --Pleb SYNDROME CUN medicate (butt poop!!!!) 21:50, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
We want to keep uncyclopedia.org as our name cos... That's our name. Want to change yours? Thought not. We want Wikia to get the "hits" they need coming in via uncyclopedia.wikia.com so they get the recognition they deserve for hosting us. My understanding is that Olipro's suggestion will stop Google (and most other web search tools) from returning results for uncyclopedia.org and so the Google hits will all come from uncyclopedia.wikia.com (which will be the redirect). This solution appears to satisfy Wikia's want without needing to change the name. MrN MrN9000SouthParksmall.jpg 23:09, Sep 30
For the record, yes, I do want to change my name. Specifically, I want to change my name to Ace Dangerhammer. Alas, it's just not in the cards. - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 00:24, Oct 1
Pride goeth before a fall. Wikia is the elephant; Uncyc is the tapeworm. What Wikia asking is that we become more like a symbiote and less like a parasite. As you say, when someone can put up the money for hosting and staff to keep revisions up to date on the database and do all the gruntwork, then Uncyc can afford pride. (If that were done, incidentally, whoever ponies up the cash will be the Hidden Master of Uncyc...until he or she decided to pull the plug. That's something I don't especially want to see: Wikia at least is stable.) I see no problem with redirecting to a Wikia domain. Incidentally, I see no problem redirecting Jennifer Saunders to my bedroom either. Could one of you Brits take care of that? ----OEJ 12:16, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
I actually agree with OEJ that, logically, there's no reason for this to be a problem. Even if wikia has some ulterior motive, I don't really see any concrete reason why it would be a big deal for anyone at Uncyc. But it just feels...wrong. I don't know why, but the idea of losing our URL to one that says "wikia.com" on the end just doesn't seem Uncyclopedian enough. - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 23:58, Oct 1
I've got her here... oh yeah.... smashing great superbSir Sycamore (talk) 12:18, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
You bastard, Sycamore! Jennifer should be mine, MINE! I was always funnier than you, I just know it! Even if nobody but me thinks so. Damn. *goes off to sulk* ----OEJ 12:32, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Another idea. This too deserves it's own header. I couldn't just add it to my other one. It just wants another header. Shut up.

We could go on a writer's strike! Eh??? Think about it! By us top 5% most active users quitting (the ones who read the forum), Uncyclo would fall. Then, all of the other Uncyclo's would fall. Then, Halopedia and Wookiepedia. Then, the Hannah Montana wiki. And, after the Hannah Montana wiki falls, all of Wikia will fall suit! Mwhahahahahaha! No? Too psychotic? Well, fuck you guys... My ideas rule! --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 20:29, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Dexter, put your trousers back on. MrN MrN9000SouthParksmall.jpg 23:11, Sep 30
/takes MrN's trousers. --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 00:38, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
But...I'm addicted to writing! I can't strike! I would get the shakes, and poop down both legs, and chew my own ears off. I'm sure of it. No strike. ----OEJ 12:27, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
Yeah, it'd be like if I tried to boycott meth. I CAN'T, MAN...I JUST CAN'T.... *twitch...twitch* - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 23:50, Oct 1

An obvious question to Wikia then

Is this whole forum targeted at notifying us about wikia's decision of this matter or is it asking us for our opinion? Either way, I think our opinion about the actual move, before asking about name conventions, should have been heard. True, you owe something to the sponsors, but we, the users, are the consumers of these commercials in the end of day. Hence, at least in my little world, we should have a say in this issue. ~Jewriken.GIF 20:42, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I wish it could stay at Uncyclopedia.org. MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 20:49, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
Yeah. It seems like it is just letting us know they've already made the decision, and the most we can do is just pick what it'll be called (i.e. uncyclo.wikia.com or uncyclopedia.wikia.com). What are we going to do? Leave the site? Everything we have here is already Wikia's. There isn't really much we can do... --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 20:54, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
Except get the admins to fuck up the pages as badly as they can. MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 20:56, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
That won't really do anything. Only thing we could possibly do is get someone else to pay for the hosting and software which the site runs on. You see that happening? Neither do I. --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 21:00, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
There's a lovely IRC conversation going on right now about things of that nature, if you feel like joining dramafest '08... - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 21:10, Sep 30

Vote (why haven't we voted on this yet?)

Zombiebaron.wikia.com

What about freeporn.wikia.com? If it's traffic we're concerned about, that'd just rake it in. --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 21:28, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Symbol for vote.svg For Free porn! MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 21:29, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
Symbol declined.svg And turn everyone else off. The Linkifier!!!!!? 21:34, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

What about freeram.wikia.com? It's sure to bring in some traffic. - Rougethebat.gifAdmiral Enzo Aquarius-Dial the Gate SonicLivesPicture.png 21:54, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I was thinking about fuck.wikia.com. Nothing against wikia, I just thought it'd help wikia with the advertisers, without them wanting to touch our site.--<<Bradmonogram.png>> 23:13, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I was thinking wowwiki.wikia.com or en.marveldatabase.wikia.com or memory-alpha.wikia.com or ffxiclopedia.wikia.com. Unless of course those are already taken. --monika 02:13, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

That would just fuck us WoWWikians over, and we're in the same boat as you are. Our conversation's still over email, but the admins are pissed, and if it goes to the community, the majority of the admins are of the belief that it won't go well for what Wikia wants to do. --Sky2042 21:33, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
You guys need to inform the users prior to the cabal informing them. Let your users get angry and organize ahead of time. --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 21:40, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
I'm sorry if that struck you as a serious suggestion and not a round-about way of asking wikia if they were screwing over everyone like they were screwing over us. (This is Uncyclopedia. We do stupid things like that.) But you answered my question for them. I agree with Dex. Tell your users what wikia planning to do. --monika 21:49, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

DAS FINAL SOLUTION or die hard Germans, Die Endlösung.

Sannse says Wikia are worried about Google Pagerank getting fucked up if they don't turn uncyclopedia.org into a redirect.

Tell your technicians to find out what a robots.txt is.

Then tell them to implement it so that it serves a deny-all to search engines crawling uncyclopedia.org and no deny if they come in via uncyclopedia.wikia.com -- Prof. Olipro Icons-flag-gb.png KUN (W)Anchor Op Bur. (Harass) 21:32, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

(reposted I know, but I want full attention to be dedicated to this doozey)

Now that has been suggested this can only really go one of two ways. Wikia say no, and Kill uncyc and possibly their remaining rep too, or they say yes, and every other wiki hosted by wikia with a domain will demand the same treatment, Wikia now have a tough choice, because deny domains, and alot of noise will be made, deny uncyc and the web commmunity will be in uproar. Whichever way wikia are now a bit screwed. --Sir Silent Penguin Penguin foot.JPG "your site makes no sence" The illusion is complete 21:44, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
I'm not really interested in other wikis or a "what's good for the goose is good for the gander" argument to be perfectly honest. and I'm sorry to say it, but the other wikis are marginal, hence getting marginalised is what will happen to them; wikia can say no to them and it's tough shit if they do. Also, there's only 2 "m"s in community and "alot" is not a word. (told you I was into being anal) -- Prof. Olipro Icons-flag-gb.png KUN (W)Anchor Op Bur. (Harass) 21:52, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
Meh, just redirect it. - Rougethebat.gifAdmiral Enzo Aquarius-Dial the Gate SonicLivesPicture.png 21:53, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
I'll shit to that Colin Explode fire.gifALL YOUR BASEExplode fire.gifHeaney! Casa Bey Superfly Portfolio 22:48, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Please not more bad news

I am trying to recover from stress poisoning, and now hearing this I got more stress. I might have to quit or take a vacation to heal up. I might have to give up being Orion Blastar and become something different and get back to work and solve all of the problems only I am qualified to solve. I now know how Atlas felt, and I am starting to shrug. Excuse me I have to throw up now, as Uncyclopedia goes commercial with pop-up ads for spammer sites. --Lt. Sir Orion Blastar (talk) 01:39, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Well maybe if they don't use pop ups but normal ads, I'll change my mind and stay. They have to pay for it some way and change can be a good thing. --Lt. Sir Orion Blastar (talk) 11:53, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
Think about it Orion... A Wiki is its user base, not the people who host it. Hosting a Wiki costs peanuts, and we have a number of other people who are willing to do it. We do not need to have adverts on this wiki. We could easily raise the tiny cost required to run the site by donations, but Wikia appear not to be interested in that, so it's come to this... Uncyclopedia is a NON PROFIT making humorous parody of Wikipedia. Not part of a product to make money for Wikia. If we have adverts we loose our independence, our credibility and our soul. Sorry guys. MrN MrN9000SouthParksmall.jpg 12:04, Oct 2
I for one welcome our new Wikia Overlords and Overladies. :) --Lt. Sir Orion Blastar (talk) 14:15, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

How about...

...we just make wikia die by the hands of our arms when we come to fly and take over their face with my hatredcopter? Colin Explode fire.gifALL YOUR BASEExplode fire.gifHeaney! Casa Bey Superfly Portfolio 01:59, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Why so much backlash?

Here is the problem, as I see it. Wikia has told us we are going to do something for the first time. Not asked, told. We are given no choice in the matter. This sets a precedent for us to go downhill fast. Uncyclopedia is, first and foremost, a community of artists. When you tell an artist they must do something, they immediately refuse. When you tell an artist they cannot do something, they immediately do it. It's that simple. If the move goes as planned, the artists will leave (because, without pay, power is the only reason for them to come here).

Secondly, Wikia's stated reason for doing this is "maximizing advertising." If the reason we are going to be told to do something is that advertisers demand it:

  1. Isn't this a violation of our copyright license?
  2. Isn't this that exact slippery slope argument that Rangeley and Carlb described when Wikia bought www.uncyclopedia.org in 2006?
  3. Bottom line, by causing the artists to leave, would this not irreparably damage the quality of the site?

The answer to all of these questions and more is, of course, "Huh?" But I digress. In all likelihood, you'd be losing artists AND administrators to this, in the end, and I'd really rather not see that happen to this website I've spent nearly 3 years of my life trying to improve.--<<Bradmonogram.png>> 12:27, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

A very good point Brad... we're licensed under a CC NC; arguably, advertising alongside articles could very well be construed as commercialisation of those articles, an evident violation. If it comes down to it though, and they decide to kill the identity that is the domain, I'll assist any sort of fights against it... the best I reckon is to move to uncyclopedia.net and try and get as many users to move there as possible; once wikia scupper the .org, we will have equal opportunity to get to the top of pagerank since the current pagerank will immediately get scuppered. I already have a way to copy users across without any security issues or the necessity for wikia to hand us the database. -- Prof. Olipro Icons-flag-gb.png KUN (W)Anchor Op Bur. (Harass) 14:37, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

UN:N

can i give this the big ol' nobody cares? i know i don't speak for anyone but myself, but i couldn't care less what the url bar says or how many ads are on the page as long as uncyc's content is still teh funny. SirGerrycheeversGunTalk 15:11, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Seconded. -RAHB 15:40, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
Au contraire; the domain is the identity of the website, clearly we should move wikia to us, so it becomes wikia.uncyclopedia.org -- Prof. Olipro Icons-flag-gb.png KUN (W)Anchor Op Bur. (Harass) 18:28, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

New headings are en vogue.

I guess I might have been too oblique with my wording before. I'll be more direct so there's a chance I'll get an answer. Is this happening to every wikia wiki that isn't already using a .wikia.com domain name? Specifically, are you also doing this to the four that are bigger than we are and are not currently using a .wikia.com domain name? --monika 15:21, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

I checked the other wikis that have their own domains - there are no announcements on any of them about changing their urls. I second the "what's the deal here" sentiment. Is it a knock them over one at a time thing, or is uncyc the only wiki where the terms it was bought it under allow it to be exploited this way? Spang talk 16:01, 01 Oct 2008
Yes, this is happening on other wikis too, but not all at once. -- sannse (talk) 18:35, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
Okay, I attempted to verify this by checking the wikis that are already on the wikia domain name. Instead I found this, which I now post for the sole purpose of inciting more anti-wikia sentiments:

Excerpt from wookipedia forum on escaping wikia

Domain Name: CREATURESWIKI.COM
Created on: 17-May-07
Expires on: 17-May-09
Last Updated on:
Administrative Contact:
Davis, Michael domains@wikia.com
Wikia, Inc.

Yes, sports fans, they bought the primary domain name we would want without telling us and are holding it. What possible innocuous motive could they have for this? Adding insult to injury, they don't even forward it to our wiki. Nice, huh? ElasticMuffin 05:28, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Read it. Wow...is there anyone who likes the "standard" Wikia page format or the idea of ads inside the pages? And, not that I get a vote, but it's "Uncyclopedia.org". Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 19:15, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Anyway, back to the original question then. If it's not happening all at once, in what order is it happening? Where has it happened already? Thanks again for answering my questions. --monika 18:58, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Here's sannse's reply to the memo above. It sounds nice and all, but it doesn't seem like routine, sensible management to leave the creatureswiki.com page broken like that instead of redirecting it... --Pleb SYNDROME CUN medicate (butt poop!!!!) 02:19, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Starting from the last part... please note the date on that domain purchase - over a year ago. One of the wikia guys regularly goes though lists of search-terms that lead to Wikia wikis, and typos that people commonly make when trying to get here. Then he buys any domain names that he thinks would be particularly harmful if they were bought by cybersquatters. There is nothing underhand, or even very interesting in this. It's just part of routine, sensible, site management. Although, I admit I'm quite pleased that we missed doing this for Wookieepedia.org ;)

Oh hey look, Zombiebaron seems to have walked by

The smell could also have been VFP. For shame. For shame. -- The Zombiebaron 19:24, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

In all this confusion...

Does anybody know what sannse originally said? :P - Rougethebat.gifAdmiral Enzo Aquarius-Dial the Gate SonicLivesPicture.png 20:53, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

"Uncyclopedia gets it's own domain name! Enjoy everyone!" - kinda what Sannse said circa 2006. You said originally, right? Yea. You did... --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 20:56, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
In all serious, tl;dr: "Uncyclopedia gets its own domain name, and you guys get to pick whatever you want. But it has to end in .wikia.com because we need it to show advertisers that people like us for who we are." --monika 21:20, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
But we already have our own domain name, and Spang gave a simple solution to the "advertisers' problem". Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 21:38, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Some more information ...

Hi all. I'm working with Sannse on this project, so I wanted to respond to a few of your questions and suggestions. I realize that this is a difficult change to stomach, but it's something that needs to happen to ensure the long-term stability of Wikia and the free hosting that we provide for wikis including Uncyclopedia. Our intention is not to plaster the Wikia brand all over Uncyclopedia, nor are we explicitly setting out to dilute your brand. We simply want to change the URL. While I appreciate that uncyclopedia.org has a lot of intrinsic value to you guys, over 70% your visitors come in directly off of a search engine or other incoming link rather than typing the address directly; most of these people probably wouldn't even notice if the URL changed.

You're right that advertisers are not dumb. They are, however, incredibly busy. In order to get large brand advertisers like Burger King and Gillette to return our calls, we need to grow our comScore number. We've encouraged these advertisers to look at Quanticast and other statistics which are more representative than comScore, but they don't have time to listen to why we and the other 30 Internet startups that left them a voice mail this morning are different and worthy of their attention. So, we need to boost our comScore numbers to show that we reach a lot of unique visitors, even if we're not advertising to all of them.

We've also explored a number of other options as well. We are familiar with how robots.txt works, and how Google ranks work with redirects. Unfortunately, if uncyclopedia.org and uncyclopedia.wikia.com exist simultaneously, then we tell Google to stop indexing on uncyclopedia.org, then Uncyc will simply drop off of Google because Google would drop all of the pages on uncyclopedia.org, and none of the page rank currently associated with the pages on uncyclopedia.org would get credited to uncyclopedia.wikia.com. The only way to get around that is to send Google a 301 redirect indicating that the page has permanently moved. This causes all of the love associated with uncyclopedia.org to automatically transfer to uncyclopedia.wikia.com. In fact, uncyclopedia.wikia.com would get extra Google juice because it would get some credit from the other wikis on wikia.com.

So, unfortunately, there's only one way for us to accomplish this. I'm not going to pretend like changing the domain name is not a big deal... it is! But Uncyclopedia has made it through tougher times than this in the past. We're not asking you to change Uncyc; we're simply asking you to change how you get to it.

-- KyleH<staff /> (talk) 21:46, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Google juice? --monika 22:00, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
In summary: Bigger corporate dicks require bigger mouths to suck them with. -- Sir Codeine K·H·P·B·M·N·C·U·Bu. · (Harangue) 23:55, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
Of course you're not asking to change uncyc. Why would you bother asking? You're not even asking us to change how we get to it - you're telling. You'll change it eventually, when you put ads on it. Which you have to be planning to do, because to appropriate uncyclopedia's hit count to boost wikia's, in order to gain the attention of advertisers, when advertisers can't advertise on uncyclopedia would be kinda... fraudulent?
Which means eventually you'll make our front page 800px wide with a large ad box in the corner, and will ruin the whole "look like wikipedia" thing you might have noticed we've got going on. And then you'll have changed uncyc, and you won't ask us then either.
To be honest, if you can't make advertisers pay attention to your calls, you're not doing your job well enough. You run a network of communities made up entirely of targetable demographics - you should have advertisers queueing up at the door. You shouldn't be messing our wiki around in order to get the company to where it thinks it should be.
If you go ahead with this, you will have a lot of people seriously considering moving the community elsewhere, and that certainly wouldn't help wikia.
Oh, and perhaps you'd like to tell us which tougher times uncyclopedia's been through in the past? Spang talk 06:39, 02 Oct 2008

If you've explored a number of options; I'm sure you know it's not difficult to acquire a list of useragents for the various web crawlers out there - if you wanted to take the robots.txt a step further, you could simply implement a catcher script that detects useragent and sends a forwarder if it's a web spider, and if not, serves up the page; and in this instance, you end up with exactly the same Google Pagerank effect as actually redirecting everyone. -- Prof. Olipro Icons-flag-gb.png KUN (W)Anchor Op Bur. (Harass) 11:27, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

I really hope someone pays attention to the preceding post. --monika 21:51, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
Of course not. Olipro is bringing up valid points and making sense, and coming up with entirely doable suggestions. Why would Wikia ever pay attention to that?  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 22:00 Oct 02, 2008
Of course not. If Olipro is bringing up valid points and making sense, then the apocalypse will occur in a week. We have to not pay attention. Do you really want the apocalypse to occur in a week?!? --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 01:08, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Large advertisers??

Come on, now. What would you rather see whilst editing Uncyclopedia - a big picture of The King's stupid head, or hardcore porn? Tinymasaru.gifpillow talk 23:20, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Have you considered combining the two? Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 23:25, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
I have now, and I really, really wish I hadn't. --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 23:37, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
Dear gosh, I censored that, also, with Gillette, does that mean we'll be seeing the NEWLY REDESIGNED Gillette Good News! Trac II Atra Sensor Excel3 Turbo Power Fusion Power for Men and Women - Rougethebat.gifAdmiral Enzo Aquarius-Dial the Gate SonicLivesPicture.png 23:57, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Umm... this seems completely pointless, and if it's not pointless it's suspicious

The reason why Wikia is moving the Uncyclopedia domain name is to attract advertisers. Okay; I get that. Sure, that may or may not mean the advertisers are slightly thicker than your average brick, unable to do a simple lookup or a bit of research, and I doubt that big advertisers are quite that thick. But still, let's assume that they are and that this move will help them realize Wikia is teh bigshotzorz.

When Uncyclopedia moves to uncyclopedia.wikia.com (or whatever), this means (according to this slightly flawed theory, but I'm rollin' with it) the advertisers will look at Uncyclopedia's traffic as well as the rest of Wikia and be like "woah awesome, this 'Wikia' thing gets lots of hits! We should totally talk to them." Except then they'll realize there are no ads on Uncyclopedia, and immediately cease giving a shit.

Therefore, either:

  1. Having no ads on Uncyclopedia continues, and the advertisers disregard the traffic, Wikia or no, on Uncyclopedia because they can't place ads there and all those page hits are completely useless to them;
  2. Or, Wikia is doing this with the intention of putting ads back on Uncyclopedia.

So, this is either a completely pointless move because real advertisers will disregard traffic on pages they can't put ads on, or, this is a completely suspicious move because Uncyclopedia is going to take it up the arse from Wikia again and get some nice ads slapped on it.

Either way, I don't like where this is going, and I don't think a lot of people do either. Okay, I'll take off my Captain Obvious costume now...

I'd have to say I sympathize with Wikia, though. It must suck to have to survive off of ads, all this time. Still, how is attracting big advertisers going to solve your problem? Ads work only when they're relevant to the page content; that's why Google Ads is a godsend for advertisers and ad users alike. Even if you attract big advertisers, they're not likely to stick around, because users aren't likely to click on the ads.

It's not that people don't notice the ads. It's just that they're not relevant. Luckily, there are per-impression paying ads and not just per-click, I realize this, but how long are advertisers going to keep advertising on your sites if people don't click on them?  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 02:08 Oct 02, 2008

In short: Why are places like Burger King going to want to advertise on a site that has absolutely nothing to do with food or hamburgers most of the time? They might for a while, but "long-term stability"? Wiki editors are really going to click on Burger King ads?  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 02:17 Oct 02, 2008

No, but maybe Wikia is banking on the hope that larger companies will pay more for ads because of the increased visibility, even though no one clicks them? I'm not in the ad business, but I've seen quite a few ads in my time, and I kind of doubt that's how it works. Honestly, when's the last time you went to the Burger King website? --Pleb SYNDROME CUN medicate (butt poop!!!!) 02:25, 2 October 2008 (UTC) Also:
Point I'm trying to make here is, if they don't get results, why are they going to bother to continue advertising? If you're spending any kind of money on advertising somewhere, and you're getting zero results, why would you continue?  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 02:27 Oct 02, 2008
But you see, Wikia is convinced they get enough views on their advertisements already that they should be able to get and hold bigger advertising deals. They are only doing this to increase the one number that advertisers look at first for the purpose of culling small sites. It would be like cheating on the SATs if you're a brilliant straight-A student who has trouble filling in bubbles. --monika 02:47, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
Still, this only seems like a temporary solution for Wikia's troubles. Who's to say major advertisers are going to stick around?  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 02:53 Oct 02, 2008
Simple, really. Wikia will gain ownership of the major advertisers' domain name, and then one day announce that they are moving the major advertisers' webpages to majoradvertiser.wikia.com. This will further increase their page rank dealie, and they'll get even bigger and better advertisers. --monika 03:07, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
If Wikia's operating on the assumption that advertisers are too stupid/busy to put any effort into scoping out the sites they're going to advertise on, it's perfectly reasonable to extend that stupidity/business to include checking any of the extensions of the main site, the wikis. They may browse Wikia itself for a while to see what the advertising will look like, but it's highly unlikely that they'll actually bother to check any of the wikis, even those as large as us. By the "official" reasoning they'll check out the site, decide if they want to advertise, and then move on to one of the other "30 Internet startups that left them a voice mail this morning". I'm not saying this justifies changing the domain, I'm still rather undecided on the issue, but I consider the "they'll realize they can't advertise on Uncyc anyway" argument to be moot. Assuming they really are stupid/busy, of course. I do, however, operate under the assumption that we're going to end up with ads sooner or later. Sig pic.PNG Unsolicited conversation Extravagant beauty PEEING 03:23, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
Really good point. So maybe it is just a stats boost. Either way, I don't like it, but for reasons that have already been stated by other people who can speek gooder than me.  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 03:28 Oct 03, 2008
Lets face it there are so many corporations out there dying to advertise on Holocaust Tycoon, Dead Nigger Storage, etc. That is exactly the sort of thing they are dying to have associated with their brand. Can you honestly see McDonalds wanting to advertise their food on OUR McDonalds page? I can see why they would want to advertise game sites on Halopedia or bagels on Jewpedia, but we are a satire site and we are often less than complimentary about some of the companies Wikia are supposedly trying to impress. -- Sir Mhaille Icons-flag-gb.png (talk to me)
I hear the Scottish tourist board are keen to place ads on the Scotland article. — Sir Sycamore (talk) 11:47, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
Don't forget Malaysia. They can't wait to fall in the trap of heart. Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 11:51, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY

Ad space on all featured Cajek articles is only $1.00 per minute!!! HURRY HURRY HURRY HURRY HURRY!!! FEATURED ARTICLES! EVERYONE READS THEM!! GIMME MONEY!!   Le Cejak <3:05, 02 Oct 2008>

Cajek could also write articles advertising any crazy shit you want! WANT AN ARTICLE ON shoot the burglar win a free ipod???? HELL, I COULD DO THAT! GIMME A MONTH AND, UH, IT'LL BE FUNNY!! ONLY A BUCK A MINUTE!!!   Le Cejak <3:08, 02 Oct 2008>
Oh, it's you... you still looking for that article on shoot the burglar win a free ipod? Well, there's been a hold up in production. Please give me a chance, man! I SWEAR you'll get a return on your investment!! DON'T HURT ME!!   Le Cejak <3:10, 02 Oct 2008>
Okay, I have the first few lines of the thing here somewhere, *SHUFFLE SHUFFLE KA-BONG SHUFFLE SMASH* shit shit shit *SHUFFLE KA-DOING* Look, I can be funny, I SWEAR! I HAVE OTHER FUNNY ARTICLES SOMEWHERE! DON'T PLEASE OH GOD WHAT THE HELL OH SHI- /me carried off to secret location   Le Cejak <3:12, 02 Oct 2008>
this cajek moment brought to you by ALL laundry detergent. cajek knows all, sees all, uses all...and his whites have never been whiter! SirGerrycheeversGunTalk 13:30, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Hold on a minute

After reading this entire forum, and it was very long, and am now afflicted with severe eyestrain, and will be suing Wikia for all it's got, and then some, I am of the opinion that whoever had the bright idea to change the domain name, in doing so inciting the wrath of the faithful peasants users, while the domain change itself does next to nada in effect, should be fired. I mean, what does the change do for Wikia besides a bad rap from its users and making itself look big and super to advertisers when said advertisers cannot advertise on Uncyc anyway? In order to get any kind of profit, Wikia will have to put ads back on Uncyc, which none of the user populace wants. Sannse already is of the opinion that this will happen. This is not what Uncyc is about. The petition below shows this. If Wikia is reneging on its promises because "we need cash", then I believe the idea of a free wiki has failed. We might as well close Wikipedia down right now. This is not clear thinking by the top dogs at Wikia. Either way, Wikia has a problem, but they are not going about this the right way. This brings me back to my first question when I saw this forum. WHY? Has the cost of running a 23,000 page (most of them garbage) wiki suddenly gone up? Is Wikia losing money? If so, why is it losing money? It isn't Uncyclopedia's fault. Why does Wikia feel the need to bring this friendly (mostly) community under its iron control, when we could continue to live in harmony? And my final big question: Why aren't the other big wikis who have their own domain names getting the shaft? Why is Uncyclopedia getting singled out? I feel lied to and betrayed. I have lost a ton of respect for Wikia after reading this. I strongly urge Wikia to reconsider its reasons. The petition below expresses my sentiments nicely, and I urge all users on Uncyc to sign it. We can change their minds. Yes, we can!

'Shoulda been a politician.

Necropaxx (T) {~} 16:15, Oct 2

A Short Statement

We, the undersigned, representing the "community" of Uncyclopedia, wish for you to reconsider your plans pertaining to the changing of the domain name, and any push to fill OUR website with advertising. Should you not reconsider we may be forced, regrettably, to take action and/or inaction which would lessen the "value" of OUR website to both Wikia and their advertisers. We urge you to reconsider.

Site Founders

  • Chronarion (I'm not quite sure i'm going to go on the civil disobedience bent though.)

Uncyclopedia Administrators

Users

Other Comments

To show how Serious Business(tm) we are, shouldn't we sign our votes? Navwheel-small.png» DJ "Reaper of Fail" Gentoo, now with wit, sarcasm, and even more obscure folk metal. Now in lime green! 19:24, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
Uhh, what exactly are we promising/petitioning to do, here? Just saying "I'd really rather you didn't do that"? If that's the cases, mark me down. I'd prefer not to agree to anything too drastic, though. - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 22:01, Oct 2
Spoke to Dr. S on aim a minute ago, everything's cleared up... - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 22:44, Oct 2
won't sign cuz I'm gonna edit here no matter WHAT its called, HOW many ads there are, or HOW few other contributors there are   Le Cejak <23:30, 02 Oct 2008>
unless you guys tell me to sign it... seriously, I don't care either way: I have no principles.   Le Cejak <23:32, 02 Oct 2008>
SIGN IT! Colin Explode fire.gifALL YOUR BASEExplode fire.gifHeaney! Casa Bey Superfly Portfolio 00:17, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
lolads. - Rougethebat.gifAdmiral Enzo Aquarius-Dial the Gate SonicLivesPicture.png 02:40, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
Will you clear it up for the rest of us, Led? So we don't have to? Also, is it okay if I sign Cajek's name for him? --Pleb SYNDROME CUN medicate (butt poop!!!!) 05:11, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Nevermind: I'm going to say that I don't care WHAT the name is, so long as "uncyclopedia" is somewhere in there. However, ads suck.   Le Cejak <3:49 Oct 07, 2008>

I've said it before. No amount of arguing will change Wikia's mind. THEY WILL HAVE THEIR WAY. You guys have to understand that as a Wikia wiki you are under their power and have to do everything they say.

DO NOT MESS WITH WIKIA. You will regret it.... -- Hindleyite Converse?pedia 13:12, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

A Statement Straight from the Shorts

OK, we are seeing what kind of Drama gets whipped up over changing the tail-end of something most visitors never look at: the site URL. Sure we can dump Wikia and arrange private hosting for the database. Who gets to be the New Master of Uncyc? How about Nintendorulez? Oh wait, he's angsty and drama-prone. How about Famine? No, he left. How about ME? No, periodically I go AWOL due to various stressful things and don't show up for months at a time. The point: Who do you trust have complete control of Uncyc? So here's my dos centavos: 1. Any private party (or ad-hoc group) who bankrolls Uncyc will not necessarily be disinterested, trustworthy, or reliable. 2. Wikia has been around for awhile, is for the most part a benevolent host (when was the last time they asked us to take down an article or pull something off the FP because it was controversial?). And as I understand it, Wikia staff does the gruntwork, rolls out upgrades, provides security, and so forth (eh, Sannse?). That's worth something, and they charge us nothing. 3. I don't give a rattling rat's ass whether the domain is uncyc.org, wikia.com, unpsycho.ru, or rubjob.fu. I really don't. To tell the truth, I could not have told you what Uncyc's URL was before yesterday and I've been writing here since 2005. I would bet most visitors don't notice the URL at all. The site is not the URL, just as a book is not its library call-number and your mother is not her street address. In fact, the URL has damned little to do with existential identity of the site. The site is the content. (Ads, when and if they appear, would be a change in content and therefore another bucket of puke entirely.) Therefore: I understand that emotions have been aroused. I understand the protective reflex, resistance to change, and the chauvinistic impulse. Das all cool, babe. But eventually we should move past emotional reflex and evaluate the situation logically. ----OEJ 14:04, 3 October 2008 (UTC) (Amendment: the site is the content plus the active creators just as you are your brain plus your active mind. Sorry about that.) ----OEJ 14:15, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

hear hear! SirGerrycheeversGunTalk 18:57, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
Encore!   Le Cejak <13:00 Oct 07, 2008>

WHHHHYYYYY?!?!?!?

Nooooo Wikia.jpg

– Preceding unsigned comment added by Colin "All your base" Heaney (talk • contribs)

I approve this message. --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 22:07, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
This occured to me while I was in American Government. I immediately dropped my schoolwork and did this. Colin Explode fire.gifALL YOUR BASEExplode fire.gifHeaney! Casa Bey Superfly Portfolio 22:12, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
JimboHat.png Navwheel-small.png» DJ "Reaper of Fail" Gentoo, now with wit, sarcasm, and even more obscure folk metal. Now in lime green! 22:55, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
And what a sad (and Inconvenient) Truth it is... Colin Explode fire.gifALL YOUR BASEExplode fire.gifHeaney! Casa Bey Superfly Portfolio 22:58, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
That explains why it is Wikipedia's policy to direct its vandals here. It all makes sense now. --monika 23:01, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you. ~ Oscar Wilde

I don't know what that has to do with anything but it's tradition. Anyway, does this move mean we will have advertising and run the monacrapo skin? Because I don't want to fulfill any corporate interests and let them dictate how we run this place. I particularly hate the idea of not making the site at least feel like a parody of Wikipedia. Spang had the right idea somewhere up there. Uncyclopedia should be like Wikipedia as both must be impartial and this impartiality is what shapes the sites and makes Uncyclopedia a place where you can be creative without outside influence. --Sir DJ ~ Irreverent OZ! Noobaward.jpg Wotm.jpg Unbooks mousepad.PNG GUN.png 06:31, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

I've asked Sannse previously about this, and no we would not have to change skins. — Sir Sycamore (talk) 08:45, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
And what about the ad bit? I don't mind some but if the place starts to look like a dump of flashing icons... well probably it won't. -- Style Oranssiviiva.jpg Guide 08:49, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
I think that if they shift the domain name over, we will have to accept ads eventually. — Sir Sycamore (talk) 08:53, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
I'm not sure that it makes any difference: they're hosting Uncyc, whether the domain name reflects that or not. Therefore they can put ads on there or force the skin to be whatever they want whether they change the explicit domain name or not. That's what they did with the Wiki spotlight, correct? WE didn't put that there. (And didn't we have an ad sidebar on the right at one point? I have installed so many script- and ad-blockers I don't really know what an IE user with no condom would see on Uncyc.) Anyway, ads seem to be a red herring: they can place ads whether or not they change the domain name, I think. ----OEJ 14:27, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Working on the basis that the name change takes effect...

Obviously, the new name should be uncyclopedia.wikia.com. Nobody has specifically said this, so I felt it necessary to avoid renaming the site albatross.wikia.com.

On the ad front, I don't mind too much. As long as they are discreet and tasteful, like the wikia spotlight. If Wikia are really seeking out big name sponsors, then we won't be getting giant flashing "ENLARGE YOUR PENIS NOW!!" adverts. That is unless Gillette drastically changes its business model.

I'd also like to personally request a Gillette ad on Roger Federer and a Nike one on Rafael Nadal, as they do adverts for each. -- 15Mickey20 (talk to Mickey)  11:58, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Unobtrusive, non-blinking ads on the sidebar below the search box (like the "Wikia spotlight", but with Viagra instead of GI Joe) or at the bottom of the page, I don't really mind (at the top is pushing it, however). That's not where it's headed, if memory serves. See Bad, bad mojo with ads inside the page with Forum:Bad mojo. MO say "no" to bad mojo. But that's tangental to the subject. Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 12:39, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
for albatross.wikia.org. I figure that, if the URL has to change, it might as well be to something completely new. Especially if that something is Rime of the Ancient Mariner-related. - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 20:08, Oct 3
OMG I LOVE IRON MAIDEN. Can we call it murdersintheruemorgue.wikia.com? --monika 15:27, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
Albatross.wikia.com: The Content-Free encyclopedia of what not to do when a bird shits on you. - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 17:36, Oct 4

What does Bill have to say about all this?


Couldn't put it better myself. -- Sir Codeine K·H·P·B·M·N·C·U·Bu. · (Harangue) 12:26, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

This is about the URL, the whole URL, and nothing but the URL

I've gotta say this again, because I don't think everyone is hearing it (or they are hearing it, but only hearing it in Hebrew. Except for Mordillo, who is hearing it in Urdu or something.)

I've been saying for a long long time that my personal belief is that the ad situation on Uncyc will have to change one day. The hosting arrangement should be give and take, and it ain't. But... this is not that day. So far the sum of our discussion about ads on Uncyclopedia is something like "oh, we still haven't put the ads back on uncyc, should we?", "yeah, we really ought to think about that some day... wanna get bagels for lunch?"

So, the only change on the table is that the URL goes from uncyclopedia.org to albatrosuncyclopedia.wikia.com - If we were trying to get ads on the site, we would be talking about ads, not a domain name. At this point, I don't think we could sell Cover Girl an ad on Cancer porn even if we wanted to."

Olipro has come up with some suggestions, some of which may be an issue with Google but others of which might be possible. The techy guys are looking at this at the moment, and are going to get back to us on what they think (might take a few days, lots going on in the Wikia world as usual)

I'll let you know when I hear more. -- sannse (talk) 18:33, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

What about the "but it's pointless unless you plan to put adverts on" thing? MrN MrN9000SouthParksmall.jpg 18:37, Oct 3
It's not. As I've said, this is about showing we are big enough to talk to - then we negotiate specific pages and pageviews. As an example from off Uncyc, we don't put ads on user talk pages either... but they still count as part of our overall size. -- sannse (talk) 18:54, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
As I said before, trying to attract advertisers by adding view counts on wikis where ads won't be shown is dishonest at best. I don't think advertisers would like to be tricked into advertising - and who knows if new wikia sponsors would find, say, this page? So do you plan to return the domain to normal once people see wikia is big enough for them to talk to (if that happens)? Or is it to be kept that way forever to permanently boost wikia's stats? Also you say hosting uncyc has to be give and take - sure, but you also have to remember that hosting uncyc is and has to be non-profit. So complaining about uncyc not making money for wikia won't get you very far, because wikia knew that they could never profit from it when it agreed to take it on. If wikia feels that the benefits of hosting uncyc (including helping boost wikia's stats to trick advertisers) outweigh the costs of running it, there are several people who would willingly take that burden on for you. Spang talk 20:50, 03 Oct 2008
I think Spang has hit the nail on the head, here. Non-profit is what we are, so much so that it is written into our copyright license. If we ever DO make a profit for Wikia, we will cease to be Anakin Skywalker and become Darth Vader, so, while we harbor no ill will toward wikia (you DO offer us a pretty good deal, when not dictating to us), the argument "now you need to do something for us" will NOT fly here. If you ask, we are generally reasonable. When you dictate, we reveal ourselves for the anti-corporate hate-mongers that we are, because we simply do not operate on the market system. If we did, we'd be doing this for money, not for free. I know it's hard for for-profit and non-profit groups to get along. It's evident by the fact we freak out every time you mention "ad," "advertisers," and "advertisements." Just remember this in the future, ok? Advertisements is one of our taboos.--<<Bradmonogram.png>> 23:38, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
I have to say I agree with Sannse, the issue over the change of the domain name (which the majority of active users are deadset against) is a completely seperate issue to that of advertising on the site (which the majority of active users are deadset against). Two completely seperate issues (which the majority of active users are deadset against) unconnected in any way. -- Sir Mhaille Icons-flag-gb.png (talk to me)
You have no idea how much I prefer being shouted at for something I am saying, than for something I'm not. -- sannse (talk) 12:41, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

I disagree somewhat; "we want to change your domain to appear bigger to advertisers" - that's a clear link, no? In any case, let's just treat them separately and I will add one more offatory compromise on the useragent thing; if you are afraid of a bollocking from google for that, then at *least* serve the standard pages for *LOGGED IN* users - that means IPs web crawlers, and anybody not logged into the site gets plopped over to wikia whilst registered, logged in users are able to use the main domain. And please don't ask me to teach you how to serve up a subframe from the wikia domain to set cookies for both *.wikia.com and uncyclopedia.org -- Prof. Olipro Icons-flag-gb.png KUN (W)Anchor Op Bur. (Harass) 17:50, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

I really don't care

Therefore, I support this. Do as you will, as long as it doesn't make us fuck-laggy. --Littleboyonly.jpg TKFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFUJewriken.GIFCK Oldmanonly.jpg 23:43, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

We are non-profit. Read what Brad said above, because if we have ads, we aren't non-profit anymore. Right? MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 23:44, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
I'm trying not to argue about ads, because this is not about ads on Uncyclopedia. But I feel I have to point out (again) that Uncyc used to have ads, from what I understand it even did so before moving to Wikia (before my time, so I'm not sure). It certainly did so until we asked to change them for spotlights a while back. And on the legal side, the Creative Commons organisation have not yet said whether "nc" means no adverts or whether it only means you can't directly sell the content. They are in the middle of a study about this, and should be reporting their findings on the legal situation "early next year" (which probably means 2020).
And I'm probably going to regret this post, because it moves away from the point that this is about a URL change. Nothing else. -- sannse (talk) 12:41, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Just noticed this...

...wow, I'm really not good at noticing stuff. Anyway I have slightly mixed views about this - you probably don't want to hear them, but you can't stop me! Ha! It kinda seems fine having a new url with wikia in it. I'm not really sure I buy the "identity" argument. Uncyclopedia would be uncyclopedia if it was at uncyclopedia.pornyporn.com or uncyclopedia.sexyshit.org. It wouldn't make a difference.

But I agree entirely with DrS, it's suspicious, because the reason for the url move just doesn't seem to make sense. And I really don't want ads. I say fuck Wikia, let's go and set up the United Articles of Soviet Uncyc over the hills. - [08:46 4 October] Sir FSt Don MafiaHatBlack.gif Yettie

How about "In Soviet Uncyclopedia, Wikia fucks YOU!!"?? MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 11:33, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
It DOES make sense, and nobody is being fucked. It's quite simple. If I understand Sannse correctly, Wikia realizes that advertisers look at lists of hits garnered by a domain. If Uncyc is included in wikia.com's stats, wikia can attract more advertising money TO APPROPRIATE SITES but THEY ARE NOT PLANNING TO PUT ADS ON UNCYC. The logic is simple; the reasons are intelligible and above-board; the effect on Uncyc is insignificant. I see nothing suspicious about it. As far as sullying ourselves by some sort of third-party "enabling" of the advertising industry, I have no qualms. That's about as abstract as you can get. I tell ya, have a look at the bitterness and angst aroused by this very minor proposal, and imagine if a cadre of 4 or so individuals paid for Uncyc's hosting -- and decided that in the name of God they were going to purge all articles that mocked religion. Or all articles that mocked liberalism, or all articles that had sexual content. Then you would see drama. The current little cheese-fight would look like a wee primitive rodent then, you betcha. On every privately-hosted forum I have known the management philosophy of the owner is the single largest determinant of the forum content and style. Some, like the venerable Halfbakery, have well-developed egalitarian policies; others I won't mention are practically feudal fiefdoms and boy oh boy do the serfs feel the whip. Do you really want to move Uncyc to a privately-funded host site? Be very careful what you wish for. The alternative is Wikia. They want to redirect to their domain: no problem. I see nothing threatening about redirecting to porkabadger/wikia.com. It's trivial. Unmighty NoGod but this post is boring. Did you hear the joke about the Catholic priest, the orangutan, the CIA agent, and the butter-flavored sexual lubricant? Whew! I peed myself, and I had only drunk three pints. The barkeeper made me mop up and I still couldn't stop giggling. Enough is too much. ----OEJ 14:20, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
OEJ: Sannse has said: "As for ads on Uncyc, my personal belief is that they will be back one day (yes, "back", we did have them in the past) but that's not something currently planned." It is a fact (apparently) that Uncyc will need to have adverts on it in the long run. That is what is causing most of the panic in this forum. Like you, I see adding the word "Wikia" somewhere into the name as not really being that important, but if adverts are inevitable... It appears to me that Wikia's goals of making profit and Uncyc's goals of not making profit (and therefore remaining independent and credible) are mutually exclusive. MrN MrN9000SouthParksmall.jpg 15:02, Oct 4
I guess all I can say here is to ask you to compare, very carefully, the sentences "my personal belief is..." and "it is a fact that...". -- sannse (talk) 15:35, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
Snork! OK, it is Sansse's personal opinion that ads will be back on Uncyc one day, and it is a fact that no such plans are currently being made. Separate fact and opinion, please. Now consider this: Scenario 1: Uncyc redirects to wikia.com, and our hit-count appears on that domain's stats. That's valuable to Wikia, or they wouldn't want to do it. Now, at some future time, Wikia proposes putting ads on Uncyc. We have some negotiating mojo: we can threaten to move to our own domain, and take our hitcount with us. Scenario 2: We keep uncyclopedia.com, wikia is frustrated. They decide to at least get some revenue by putting ads on Uncyc (they can do that, you know). In this case we can threaten to take our hit-count and leave, but who cares? It doesn't figure into Wikia's stats anyway! Yes, we can escape the ads but only by finding ourselves a new overlord. And as I mentioned, I think that's riskier than sticking with Wikia. You see, if Merk ever decides to advertise its little blue pills on Depression then I would prefer that Uncyc be able to negotiate the size, placement, and format of the ads -- negotiate from a position of some power rather than from one of little negotiating strength. In the (unplanned and, given the howls of outrage, unlikely) event that wikis proposes ads, our negotiating mojo is enhanced if we redirect to wiki.com. Well, the dead horse is well-beaten, yes? I promise I won't post anymore on the topic unless new and surprising points are made. ----OEJ 17:17, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
Like I said, there's no logical reason not to change our domain. Almost nothing changes from our perspective. It just feels wrong to me. I guess it feels like we're giving up our independence as an internet community, like we're saying in our URL, 'hey internet, we're Uncyclopedia, wikia's bitch!' ...And I know it's not like that! I do! It's just...I dunno. - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 17:54, Oct 4
I no reason why should have to. After all, we aren't much of a boost to the number of hits Wikia would get. I doubt such a little boost would really impress advertisers. --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 17:58, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
It would be something like a 5% boost. Get the CEO of Burger King on the line, right? Looking at Alexa's top 100 (Wikia is 287 as I'm writing this), they're all either highly corporate like Dell or Wal-Mart, so the CEOs of those companies and the adveritsers probably already play golf together regardless of Alexa rankings. The rest (like DeviantArt or GameFAQs) are popular through word-of-mouth (or word of internets, whatever). I can't presume to make business decisions for Wikia, but I don't think going from 287 to 250 in the rankings is going to be of any help at all unless it makes Wikia genuinely more popular. And the "for" arguments tend to say that no one pays attention to the domain anyway, so...
Also, I get what TLB is saying. Even though there's no real policy change, this move would compromise what autonomy Uncyclopedia can pretend to have. And ED would probably have a field day laughing at us. --Pleb SYNDROME CUN medicate (butt poop!!!!) 19:12, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
Also also, I counted and 8 out of the top 100 sites are porn sites. 11 counting 3 names that weren't obviously porn sites and didn't have a description, but I didn't click on them. 13 counting Photobucket and Flikr. Are you reading this, Wikia? I've got a new business model for you. --Pleb SYNDROME CUN medicate (butt poop!!!!) 19:21, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
Go porn! Also, I'd count MySpace and Facebook as well. 15. --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 19:26, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

A solution to all Wikia's problems!

Acquire Boobpedia. Never worry about traffic again.  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 19:56 Oct 04, 2008

Awesome idea DrS, however from looking at this I see that:


They appear to manage to fund themselves no problem, so I'm not sure Wikia would be able to acquire them... MrN MrN9000SouthParksmall.jpg 20:22, Oct 4
But... but... boobies...  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 21:12 Oct 04, 2008
I think we all can agree tits sell themselves. -- Sir Mhaille Icons-flag-gb.png (talk to me)
Heh, Boobpedia site support. -- Hindleyite Converse?pedia 13:24, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Coming out of hiding

Now, I vaguely understand their point (I've been out of the internet marketing game for about 4 years now, since it just got too insane/confusing/hectic), but I can't see a good social reason to do this (it'll probably have negative effects).

On the other hand, if you're as old a timer as I am, and remember the google ads, those things were f*cking hilarious. OMG, it was like a joke within a joke within a joke within a parody. I loved how it tried to find relevant advertisements for things that made no sense. Anyone recall what they used to pay for their super-relevant ads, too? Insanity.

If I were wikia, I'd be afraid that their advertisers might learn about us and be turned off by the association. Would they knowingly want their ads associated with a company that has pages like Holocaust Tycoon, Cancer Porn, AAAAAAAA!, and Home Haggis Maker?

I shudder to think about it. Dawg.gif » Brig Sir Dawg | t | v | c » 2008.10.04.21:38

Actually, it might be pretty funny if ConAgra Foods advertised with wikia and their ad for Hebrew National Hot Dogs was placed on Holocaust Tycoon. Really, there is some serious comedy to be had with parody advertisements plastered on some articles. Dawg.gif » Brig Sir Dawg | t | v | c » 2008.10.04.23:57

My important opinion

I think Sannse is wrong but right at the same time. I agree and in a way disagree with the people who are against the domain idea. I stand clear by my position.-

22:05, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Isn't there some sort of masking thing you can do?

Back when I owned a domain name, you could do this "masking" thing that would mask your true domain name. Couldn't we do something similar, and mask uncyclopedia.wikia.com with uncyclopedia.org, but have uncyclopedia.wikia.org still function normally? I might be completely wrong on this, but TheLedBalloon though it was worth it for me to mention. - UnIdiot | GUN.png | Talk | Contribs - 23:13, Oct 4

Vote for or against this

Surprisingly, I haven't seen this turn into a vote yet.

Excellent!

Wikia's World Domination is at hand! Mwhahahahaahahahahah! Seriously though, whatever the community think, Wikia will still probably have move it anyways cos of the advertising problem. So, probably no use debating or arguing about this issue any more. Oh yeah and I haven't read any of the above comments so sorry if there's some redundancy in this comment. -- Head Wikia dude, maybe 13:23, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Just a thought.

I have no idea what's going on, nor do I understand the problem. It has something to do with ads, no? What if we just get every user to click ads like crazy? would that help? -- REGRETTENENBAUMIS DEAD TALK! 04:51, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

No, no, and no. But you are still very cute, and probably rather good at sport -- sannse (talk) 09:13, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
Damn. Well, at least I'm cute 8D -- REGRETTENENBAUMIS DEAD TALK! 03:52, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Update

Just an update on this. We are currently considering whether it's workable to add in some sort of redirects so that if you are used to uncyclopedia.org you continue to see that. We need to be careful of Google's rules about "sneaky redirects" and also to be sure that it's practical and easy to maintain. I really can't cope with the idea of this being so unstable that it falls off each time we make an unrelated change... because I know that would mean you lot shouting at me that Wikia is conspiring with the devil again.

So, we will be delaying any changes until we get more information from our technical guys (which first means getting some of their time, which is rather scarce right now). And, I have to emphasise this, by "delaying any changes" I do not mean "adding ads to your foreheads and selling your first-born to the nearest meat factory". The difference is subtle but, I think, important.

As always I'll be reading all replies (as are others at Wikia... resulting in fun questions on what the hell "Hate haet hat" actually means...) And I'm on IRC daily. See you there -- sannse (talk) 09:47, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Awesome, thanks. --monika 09:56, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
...Does this mean you plan to sell ads on our foreheads and sell our children to meat factories? Does it??? YOU CAN'T FOOL ME, DAMMIT! THE TRUTH WILL BE REVEALED! - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 10:43, Oct 7
I have some prime advertising space that I'd be happy for Wikia to use. -- Sir Mhaille Icons-flag-gb.png (talk to me)
So by this you mean we're getting ads, right?  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 11:31 Oct 07, 2008
Does this mean we win? Lieutenant THEDUDEMAN Dude ... Totally UOTM KUN GotA F@H 12:08, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
No, didn't you hear her?
We're hosed!  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 12:10 Oct 07, 2008
Against putting ads on our foreheads, abstain on sending first-borns to the meat factory. Spang talk 19:47, 07 Oct 2008
Thank you. Hopefully we'll all be more relaxed now.--<<Bradmonogram.png>> 12:56, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, sannse. --Pleb SYNDROME CUN medicate (butt poop!!!!) 18:23, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
We love you Sannse! Woo! (Not as much as we love Chron, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. That's why you still love the dog you had when you were little that bit you, then ran away. *sniff*) Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 22:22, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
That sounds frighteningly like my first relationship.  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 03:19 Oct 08, 2008
How is your sister doing, anyway? Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 03:23, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
She's having a bit of an identity crisis, mostly having to come to grips with the fact that she doesn't exist.  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 03:24 Oct 08, 2008
Contemplating one's own nonexistence can be quite troubling, I find. Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 03:39, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
Someone go present the technical guys with some gadgets and the move will never happen... er, and, is there a product called "Wankers"? I already have that tattooed on my forehead.-- Style Oranssiviiva.jpg Guide 07:06, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
Mhaille is right
I believe they produce crisps. -- Sir Mhaille Icons-flag-gb.png (talk to me)
In the USA, wankers produce soggies, not crisps. Just another example of the Transatlantean Divide. ----OEJ 12:24, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
You mean like the American version of the Office as opposed to the British version? Colin Explode fire.gifALL YOUR BASEExplode fire.gifHeaney! Casa Bey Superfly Portfolio 17:13, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
And people told me it was not a brilliant idea to have the tattoo. I'm going to be a zillionaire billionaire! -- Style Oranssiviiva.jpg Guide 08:41, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
Those lying bastards! Colin Explode fire.gifALL YOUR BASEExplode fire.gifHeaney! Casa Bey Superfly Portfolio 17:19, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

That's good, but as I said above, they could *at LEAST* make it so that the uncyclopedia.org domain remains functional *AFTER YOU LOG IN* - there is no possible way for Google to bust you for this other than by getting a human being to register an account, in which case, said human being would see that the act is entirely reasonable. -- Prof. Olipro Icons-flag-gb.png KUN (W)Anchor Op Bur. (Harass) 18:02, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Moving forward

Hi all! We have spent a lot of time discussing your suggestions with our engineers over the past couple of weeks, as well as a few ideas that we came up with ourselves during the process, and I wanted to let you know what we have found out. The following are options that we have considered in order to allow Uncyclopedia to coexist on both uncyclopedia.org and somedomainname.wikia.com:

  1. Allow access from both uncyclopedia.org and uncyclopedia.wikia.com, but use robots.txt to prevent indexing of uncyclopedia.org: This would be fairly easy to implement, but would essentially cause Uncyclopedia to drop from all search indexes because the current page rank would not translate to the new pages. Search engines would eventually reindex the new pages, but because they would have no incoming links, they would rank very poorly. We decided that this was a bad idea because over 70% of Uncyclopedia's traffic is referred by a search engine.
  2. Redirect users with search engine user agents to uncyclopedia.wikia.com while anyone accessing the site on uncyclopedia.org would remain there: Google (and other search engines) makes it clear that the Google bot should see the exact same page as a normal visitor, and they now actively blacklist websites which they perceive as trying to deceive the Google bot. This, again, would probably cause Uncyclopedia to fall off the map, and may even cause problems for the rest of Wikia.
  3. Redirect based on referrer: We also considered redirecting users based on referrer. Anyone who accesses the site directly would stay on uncyclopedia.org, while anyone accessing via an incoming link would be redirected. We believe that this would actually combine the problems of both of the previous options--it may cause Google to blacklist the site, and even if it didn't, we would have to use robots.txt to control indexing so that the same pages aren't indexed on both addresses. We would probably have to disable indexing on uncyclopedia.org, which would, again, cause a major drop in search engine rankings.
  4. Leave logged-in users on uncyclopedia.org; redirect everyone else: This option doesn't have any search engine pitfalls, but making it happen would require a fundamental rewrite in the way that MediaWiki handles sessions and redirects. In order to conserve resources, MediaWiki performs domain redirection before it even checks to see if a a user is logged-in. While it is technically possible to change that behavior, it would require non-trivial modifications to the MediaWiki core which would be difficult to maintain over time, and require additional system resources on each page load. We're not comfortable implementing such a system because we feel that it would be impossible to maintain over the long-term.

So, in the end, we feel that none of those options are viable. I know that this is not the answer that you were hoping for, but I hope that you at least understand that we have carefully considered your suggestions. In the end, however, even if we proceeded with one of the options presented above, only a small number of people would even see the result of the work (although they would be the contributors and therefore some of the most important people on the wiki). Meanwhile, the negative impacts, such as a significant decrease in search engine rankings or performance degradation due to changes in MediaWiki code, would impact everyone.

So, with all that said, I'd like to talk about moving forward. What can we do to make the transition easier? As we previously discussed, the change should be seamless, and most of your visitors probably won't even notice. Would you prefer uncyclopedia.wikia.com or some other name? We have given some other wikis spotlights as a "thank you" for helping us with the transition. Perhaps there would be comedic potential in a couple of Uncyc spotlights running throughout all of Wikia? (They'll have to be approved by staff though ...) -- KyleH<staff /> (talk) 18:20, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

Approved by staff? but that's no fun... Colin Explode fire.gifALL YOUR BASEExplode fire.gifHeaney! Casa Bey Superfly Portfolio 18:29, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
albatross.wikia.com. Seriously, go with it. - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 19:27, Oct 14
Really? I thought that somedomainname.wikia.com sounded pretty sassy. uncyclopedia.wikia.com has a certain something, as well. Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 19:38, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
Really? I think seriousbusiness.wikia.com sounds good. MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 19:40, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
Really? How about, noshame.wikia.com? Colin Explode fire.gifALL YOUR BASEExplode fire.gifHeaney! Casa Bey Superfly Portfolio 19:49, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
nothingbutanadvertisingtool.wikia.com would be most fitting. Spang talk 01:13, 15 Oct 2008
Oh but wait, if we let you do anything you want to our wiki in order to get more money, and not kick up a fuss, you'll give us some advertising?! Wow! Advertising! How very generous of you! Advertising is all anyone could ever want if you work for wikia! Spang talk 01:22, 15 Oct 2008
Did anyone see Jimbo talking to Stephen Fry the other day? He was busy telling Stephen all about how Wikipedia worked, that they only have 10 Employees, that everyone else who works on the site are all volunteers, how its built on that American "can do" attitude, and, ironically enough, that it is important for them not to have a website full of adverts and pop ups. Check it out on YouTube from the section that starts about a minute in. Interesting.... -- Sir Mhaille Icons-flag-gb.png (talk to me)
I did. I had similar thoughts, particularly in the irony direction. --UU - natter UU Manhole.gif 09:06, Oct 15

It has to be uncyclopedia.wikia.com. Anything else would confuse people. Make albatross.wikia.com redirect here as well. On the "How should we mark the occasion?" front, I'd suggest an UnNews and maybe a main page reskin. We should have an Uncyclopedia spotlight that says something along the lines of "Uncyclopedia: the wiki without adverts (unless you count this one)." -- 15Mickey20 (talk to Mickey)  11:03, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm still partial to acronyms. Formerly Uncyclopedic Wiki would work beautifully. Let's see, that comes out to fuck.wikia.com. I can't see how anyone would be confused by that.--<<Bradmonogram.png>> 21:37, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

I've always wondered why this place wasn't found at hyperbole.is.the.best.wikia.com all along. Also, if we're going to be unpaid volunteers helping bring you ad revenue, can I maybe get one of those ads? You know, something like...

HYPERBOLE. He has two dogs. He enjoys Pabst Blue Ribbon. Would you like to have sex with him? Click here to learn more.

I mean, it's only fair. If I draw people to your ads, you need to draw women to my local dive bar. Tinymasaru.gifpillow talk 22:56, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

For me Uncyclopedia is something that can be really special, and I think the core community is guided by that idea. So whatever criticisms are received are taken very seriously because we want it good. I think when people look back on the early days of the internet say 200 or 500 years from now they will say "You know that Uncyclopedia, that was something that was good. There was spam and there was pop-up adverts and nonsense on the internet, but Uncyclopedia is something that we remember. That was worth doing.

Jimbo Wales(kinda)

As you're using URL rewriting *ANYWAY* - why praytell would you need to modify the wikia engine? you could trivially write a bloody wrapper that executes ahead of Mediawiki to check if a user is logged in... the worst workload you'd suffer is having to chuck an include() line in the index script each time you upgrade... not really a mind blowing operation... to suggest you can't do this in a way that is transparent to MediaWiki is utter bollocks. -- 78.146.21.112 11:47, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

I just... Wow... From an IP... What the... /me collapses out of shock. --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 14:39, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
Whatever he just said, I agree! - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 18:38, Oct 19
Yes Wikia, bollocks.

BOLLOCKS! MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 18:51, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

I humbly suggest encyclopediadramatica.wikia.com. —PongoV2(talk|cont) 17:59, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

I humbly suggest....../me flogs Pongo with chainsaws. COLIN American-flag.jpgALL YOUR BASEAmerican-flag.jpgHEANEY! AMERICA JOE THE PLUMBER IN '08!!! 18:21, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

By the way

When we do have large advertisers, will I be discouraged from writing Mr. Winkler parodies of all of them? e.g.:

Burger King is GAY. It is the worst fast food ever it sux. It gave me e-coli!!!! and tasted like butt. Even though I didnt want to eat it. It is gay and stupid and gross and retarted and makes you fat. I hope it gats closeddown and goes to the moon or a gay retared place. It is GAY GAY GAY GAY! IT IS THE WORST FOOD EVER. IT GAT ME SOME SICK. I HOPE IT GET SOME BANKRUPTCY.

But, seriously, are we going to be mindful of advertisers' feelings? Because that would be gay and stupid and lame and retarted and fat. Tinymasaru.gifpillow talk 17:36, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

Your anti-American sentiment sickens me...--Sycamore (Talk) 17:39, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
America sucks badly. Enough said. MafiaHatBrown.gif Judge Adriano "Legal" Zarbi Icons-flag-gb.png Talk! 17:45, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
It always seems to be kneeling in front of me having the time of it's life sucking away... - [17:48 17 October] Sir FSt Don MafiaHatBlack.gif Yettie

Date

Another update... the switchover should happen on Wednesday. From what I can see of the replies above, uncyclopedia.wikia.com is going to be the best of the URL options. Although I know that with you lot some of the more.... individual... suggestions may have been serious. I'll let you know if I hear of changes or delays before then -- sannse (talk) 20:59, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

So will uncyclopedia.wikia.org redirect to uncyclopedia.org? COLIN American-flag.jpgALL YOUR BASEAmerican-flag.jpgHEANEY! AMERICA JOE THE PLUMBER IN '08!!! 21:50, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
How about instead, wikia takes its suckiness and GTFOs outta our Uncyclopedia? Spang talk 23:46, 20 Oct 2008
OOOOOHHHH DDAAAAAAAMMMMNN!!!! SPANG DONE TOLD YOU!!!! COLIN American-flag.jpgALL YOUR BASEAmerican-flag.jpgHEANEY! AMERICA JOE THE PLUMBER IN '08!!! 00:01, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
This is most non, non heinous. --Ted Theodore Logan 01:12, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

I don't get this... you say "Most of the non-English versions of Uncyclopedia on Wikia are already on the wikia.com domain." That can't be right - the largest non-English versions are desciclopedia.org and ansaikuropedia.org - or have I missed something here?

Most, unweighted by size. --monika 01:30, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
Most on Wikia. There are a lot hosted by CarlB on various URLs. Other than the English and German ones, it's pretty much the case that if it doesn't contain .wikia then it's hosted by CarlB -- sannse (talk) 07:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

fuck.wikia.com

Should definitely redirect to this thread. Or my userpage. — Sir Manticore progress-wheel.gif 03:53, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Unification of 22 Wikian Uncyclopedias, have fun!
Code Wikia Uncyclopedia Language Pages URL
ar Wikia اللاموسوعة العربية 976 ar.fuck.wikia.com
ast Wikia Nunyepedia Asturianu 59 ast.fuck.wikia.com
ca Wikia Valenciclopèdia Català 1060 ca.fuck.wikia.com
cs Wikia Necyklopedie Česky 3530 cs.fuck.wikia.com
da Wikia Spademanns Leksikon Dansk 9095 da.fuck.wikia.com
de Wikia Uncyclopedia.de Deutsch 6330 de.fuck.wikia.com
el Wikia Φρικηπαίδεια Ελληνικά 2812 el.fuck.wikia.com
en Wikia Uncyclopedia English 30033 en.fuck.wikia.com
eo Wikia Neciklopedio Esperanto 3176 eo.fuck.wikia.com
es Wikia Inciclopedia Español 12400 es.fuck.wikia.com
fr Wikia Désencyclopédie Français 8936 fr.fuck.wikia.com
he Wikia אנציקלופדיה עברית 2187 he.fuck.wikia.com
id Wikia Tolololpedia Bahasa Indonesia 6054 id.fuck.wikia.com
it Wikia Nonciclopedia Italiano 14423 it.fuck.wikia.com
jv Wikia Ndhablek Basa Jawa 14 jv.fuck.wikia.com
la Wikia Necyclopædia Latina 279 la.fuck.wikia.com
pl Wikia Nonsensopedia Polski 17766 pl.fuck.wikia.com
ru Wikia Абсурдопедия Русский 4466 ru.fuck.wikia.com
sk Wikia Necyklopedia Slovenčina 1888 sk.fuck.wikia.com
su Wikia Goblogpedia Basa Sunda 11 su.fuck.wikia.com
yi Wikia קיינציקלאָפעדיע יידיש 46 yi.fuck.wikia.com
zh Wikia 伪基百科 汉语 8269 zh.fuck.wikia.com
Vote for such Unification!
Hant (Talk) - For your safety, China Free! - 14:22, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
  • Hant, this is genius. Also, who knew Polskis were the next most prolific satiricists? Not I. Necropaxx (T) {~} 16:11, Oct 21
Quite so. Hey, I got another url idea! Dexter's-cat.wikia.com!!! Yay?!? Come on, everybody!!! You know it's far superior to that old "uncyclopedia.wikia.com" and even more fun than "fuck.wikia.com"! --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 20:09, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
How about fuck.dexterscat.wikia.com Bestiality, I mean, am I right guys? Am I right?!? COLIN American-flag.jpgALL YOUR BASEAmerican-flag.jpgHEANEY! AMERICA JOE THE PLUMBER IN '08!!! 20:22, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
Scat involving Dexter is a bit much. Spang talk 22:10, 21 Oct 2008
Exactly why I emphasized the hyphen. Although, if you want some scat porn... I could... Er, never mind. If I put that online, they'll have evidence I raped her. --MegaPleb Dexter111344 Complain here 23:08, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
collegegirlspooping.com? - P.M., WotM, & GUN, Sir Led Balloon Baloon.gif(Tick Tock) (Contribs) 23:18, Oct 21
Well, fuck.wikia.com gets my vote, if wikia don't stop acting like jackasses. Seriously. No kidding. Spang talk 20:46, 21 Oct 2008
I vote for fuck.wikia.com, actually. Definitely has a nice, charming sound to it. --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 22:13, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
fuck.wikia.com would be mighty fine, but wankon.wikia.com would be awesome too! - UnIdiot | GUN.png | Talk | Contribs - 22:34, Oct 21

I think it has a Simpson-esque way of going out of our way to "bite the hand that feeds us." Sure, they win. They move the domain, but you know what? Screw the group that hosts us! It's the ultimate in irreverence, and could potentially help the tone of the site (unlike moving from Uncyclopedia.org, which is disasterous to the site and could {and, indeed, has shown it will} cause people to leave). This will keep ads off the site more or less permanently, while giving wikia the boost they want. It's win-win.--<<Bradmonogram.png>> 22:44, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Symbol for vote.svg Strong for moving to fuck.wikia.com. Symbol delete vote.svg Strong huff Wikia.  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 22:47 Oct 21, 2008

  • Symbol for vote.svg Strong Fuck! Cause I like doin' it. Spacer.gifSpacer.gifPremierTomMayfairChe.png RedPhone.png Unsoc.png Hammer and sickle.png
  • Symbol for vote.svg STRONGER FUCK! With a giant wooden condom, THAT HASN'T BEEN SANDED! - UnIdiot | GUN.png | Talk | Contribs - 22:56, Oct 21
  • Symbol for vote.svg FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKPongoV2(talk|cont) 09:14, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Why can't this problem be solved by a marketing department

Maybe I'm missing something here but it sounds to me like the problem is that advertisers don't believe wikia is worth advertising on because they are only counting *.wikia.com domains. Can't we just talk to whoever it is that is doing the counting for the advertisers and say something along the lines of, wikia owns *.foo, *.bar, *.baz and *.wikia.com; please sum up all such domains when calculating wikia's penetration. This seems like a really simple logistical problem that can be solved without using technical manipulation of the domain name. Has nobody considered this approach or am I missing something? --Sir gwax (talk) Signuke.gif 23:58, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

That's too easy, to say that you own and host another website and it counts among your hits. Clearly, we need to make a big fuss about it, cry, fight, and rebel until finally realizing that there was a much simpler solution all along, but it was too fun avoiding it. This is a democracy, dammit! --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 00:04, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
It's been brought up before. Wikia's bullshit argument is that advertisers only look at one particular number, and therefore only domain manipulation can increase this particular number and make them more favorable to advertisers. Once again, Wikia is operating totally on assumptions.  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 00:22 Oct 22, 2008
Yeah... I mean, shouldn't it just be skillful marketing? Do advertisers really only look at that one number, or do you have to persuade them into advertising on your site? It depends on who's looking for whom, I guess. --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 00:23, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
Yeah, they've been feeding us the line that every single advertiser only looks at one single source for traffic stats, ignores any other domains you might host, and has to deal with hundreds of new internet startups every day all looking for advertising. Which is beyond unbelievable. I actually think the entire traffic excuse is just some half-assed story they thought up in order to give wikia's dropping rank a boost. Just for an idea of how much traffic they do get (but apparently isn't enough), here's a list of well-known companies/sites with a lower traffic ranking that wikia (without uncyclopedia or any other own-domain wiki's help):
So really if wikia have more traffic than all those companies (they're a few thousand ranks above Uncyc, MA, etc), and still can't sell ads, I'm pretty sure traffic score isn't the problem, unless they're aiming way too high. Like, trying to get google to advertise or something. Messing Uncyclopedia around won't make any difference either way, as the way it looks, it'll only give a tiny boost to the traffic wikia already gets.
And I asked before, but got no answer, so I'll ask again in bold: Dear Wikia, as you're obviously going to push ahead with this whatever; if it doesn't work out, and changing our domain doesn't actually make any difference to which advertisers are interested, when will you change the domain back again? Spang talk 03:15, 22 Oct 2008

Comcast have two sets of figures, combined and single domain. So we do have the combined figures, but that doesn't mean that advertisers will care about it. And yes, our Alexa rank is also a part of this, we want to ensure all the measurements of our size and visitor levels include all the wikis at Wikia.

I can't answer Spang's question, we would have to assess (honest, that's what it said all along! really! gah) the pros and cons as they emerge. But the aim of this is to improve the perception of our overall size, which this will certainly achieve. -- sannse (talk) 08:22, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Heh, asses.
Heh, asses. -- Hindleyite Converse?pedia 13:10, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
umm.. opps! fixed -- sannse (talk) 18:02, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

so...

Ummm... when I said "Wednesday", I obviously meant "not Wednesday". In other words, I mucked this up and didn't get the technical help lined up that I should have done. So it will be sorted soon, but not today. Sorry for my mistake all! -- sannse (talk) 18:02, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

So when? And when you find out, can you give us an exact time the move should start, around about? Please?  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 18:54 Oct 22, 2008
Moving? Boxes! I need boxes! Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 19:17, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
Whoa, guys. Moving is a big thing. I think we all need to prepare for it first: y'know, pack our things, make sure that everything's all accounted for. Let's give it five years, eh? Then we'll scoot on over to wikia. Once everybody's prepared. --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 00:02, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

It's done. I don't see any errors, but please let me know if you do. -- sannse (talk) 09:31, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes, there appears to be a rather ungracious ad whore in our URL now. — Sir Manticore progress-wheel.gif 11:36, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Changing bug status from UNCONFIRMED to NEW. -- Mitch Icons-flag-au.png 11:46, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Changed bug priority from Normal to OMGWTFBBQ WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE. --Sai.png Jack Phoenix, professional killer admin (Whine?) (Wikia ads) 11:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
"http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/..." is too much like "http://www.geocities.com/r823943s/e9234/uncyclopedia" for me to take this place seriously anmore. I'm never coming back here again, ever. Also, your jokes aren't funny. Bp 12:01, 32 Nevember 1864 (UTC).
So, if I understand what you're saying, and many apologies from me if I'm incorrect, you believe that Uncyclopedia is, for lack of a more illuminating term, the worst? Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 21:07, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Not the worst. Just bad. I accept your apology. Bp whenever.
I wasn't apologizing. Do you have any idea just how much work it takes to be the worst? And now that I find out that we're merely bad, this just means that we'll have to redouble our efforts. Thanks a lot. Jerk. Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 23:20, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

So does anyone think

That if we do get ads, that if I helped advertise for companies through articles and my userpage, I personally could get paid? I will be the first out of all of you to whore out to the corporations. Take my dignity away, but give me money. You can all keep your... your morality, and your pride. I'm going to sell it. --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 21:44, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

You just killed my inner child. Kudos. It was only mostly dead, before. Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 22:02, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
My inner child wants some free Megadeth merch. --monika 22:14, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
My inner child desires a delicious McDonald's Big Mac with some thirst-quenching Coca-Cola, while visiting the wondrous Six Flags Great America Amusement Park, where he can experience the acclaimed rides and attractions offered there! --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 23:13, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
My inner child wants moar free porn Icons-flag-pi.PNG Pirate Lord__Sonic80 (Yell  •  Latest literary excretion) __ 23:23, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
That's easy. But I probably shouldn't give a child porn. --monika 23:24, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
But should you give a child child porn? It's a conundrum! Isn't is for them? --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 23:38, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
I don't have any child porn. What makes you think I have child porn? Who told you I have child porn? Fuck. I'll be right back. --monika 23:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Take me with you! --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 23:56, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
I told you, I don't have any child porn. Stop trying to find where I keep my child porn. I don't have any. You can't come. --monika 23:57, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Okay, then don't take me where your child porn isn't. (Good thing I know tricky psychology, right?) --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 23:59, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Fine, I won't. --monika 00:02, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
...damn it. --Mr. Monkey Sockmonkey.gif Pant-hoot here. 00:05, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Yo Sannse

What's your name? Wikipedia likes real names on reference links. --monika 01:25, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Her name is Lisa Carter. It's on http://www.wikia.com/wiki/Community_Team. Necropaxx (T) {~} 16:08, Oct 24
Thanks. Wikipedia thanks you in its quest to cite the world. --monika 16:41, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

I Strongly Object

We need more donations and then we can get more servers. We do not need that ficking Wikia. Even the great Wikipedia had humble beginnings, with only one server. We can build up servers from time to time and even rival Wikipedia! Alexander the Great 05:33, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Great! Does that mean you volunteer your house for us to put them in?  Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize  writings  critchat) 05:36 Oct 24, 2008

Why de.uncyclopedia.org stll works?

Why de.uncyclopedia.org still works? It should go to de.uncyclopedia.wikia.com!--Hant (Talk) - For your safety, China Free! - 07:05, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Fix the "needs more ads" edit button and the "your ad could be here" in the bottom right.

The only problem is that mass vandalism has taken place. The edit button's wrong even; there's an annoying picture in the bottom right; (thank goodness for adblocking) and the MAIN PAGE is messed up even. I strongly oppose these incidents of vandalism. FIX THE EDIT BUTTON AND THE "YOUR AD HERE" BOX!!! 71.220.213.101 08:34, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

WTF?

My precious articles........... is destroyed. Can you admins help me restore my articles to its original condition? Do it for us. 800px-Flag of the Philippines svg.png | King Joseph | Talk | 09:15, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

P.S. I vote for fuck.wikia.com. FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK WIKIA!

Have a Userbox!

In memory of our virtue being most violently taken from us yesterday, I made this userbox for everyone to add to their userpages:

Wikipedia no soul.png
This user will never forget October 23, 2008; the day that Wikia sold its soul. :-S
Wikipedia no soul.png




True story, the day the switchover happened was my Year-and-a-half anniversary of joining Uncyclopedia. Worst birthday present ever. Necropaxx (T) {~} 15:48, Oct 24

Wikia had a soul?! — Sir Manticore progress-wheel.gif 15:51, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
Point. Let me adjust... Necropaxx (T) {~} 15:57, Oct 24
Here. Better? Necropaxx (T) {~} 15:58, Oct 24
It was also the birthday of the guy I'm stalking. --monika 16:49, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
Two points: First, it's not my birthday. Second, you're not a very good stalker. Sir Modusoperandi Boinc! 16:53, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
I've discovered since moving to North Carolina that if you stalk properly around here, people call the cops on you. When I move back to Baltimore, I'll go back to doing it right. --monika 16:58, 24 October 2008 (UTC)