Forum:Uncyclopedia is, by definition, a "funny place"

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But, for whatever reason, we don't really interact with other "funny places/people/things" on the internet. Why is this? What is that whatever reason? We, and the online humor community in general, could greatly benefit from some synergizing. How come we don't hang out with other funny people on the internet? Are we really that awkward or intimidated by their shapely curves? We should do something. Just to throw a few ideas of what we can do:

• Feature the artwork of some actual cartoonists for the UnNews funnies section, or perhaps in a new designated section linked to prominently from the main page (a la Wondermark and Red Meat being featured on the AV Club. Relationships like this are symbiotic, and we should definitely have at least one associated comedy artist/writer. More traffic for both parties involved, and perhaps our reputation as the "cool humor wiki" (that's our reputation right) would be cemented.
• Ryan North, an awesome fellow and founder of Dinosaur Comics, also started this thing called Project Wonderful. It's advertising (wait keep reading) but it's really cool, clever advertising. Project Wonderful provides the ad space, then advertisers bid on the space for the placement of their ad, with the highest bidder claiming the spot in real time. As a humor site, we would draw a likeminded audience of comedians bidding for ad space. Should the occasion arise that we disapprove of an ad, we can cancel the transaction and yield the spot to the next highest bidder immediately; essentially, we'd have control over what we advertise. Extra advertising, from a well-structured grassroots publisher run by arguably the awesomest person on the internet, could gain us some cloud with our sporadically neglectful parents. Plus, we could use some of the extra cash for this other great idea:
  • Bring back cash prizes. PLS used to have a cash prize. Now, good work on Uncyclopedia is only rewarded by templates. A template is nice and all, but we also happened to have insanely competitive contests and a growing community back when tangible rewards existed. Flash gaming website Kongregate has a system where the Top 3 games of the month, as voted by the users, are rewarded proportional amounts of cash. Hmmmmmmm... I wonder where we could implement a similar model...
  • Since the actual fiscal returns would not be astronomical (the webcomic Dr. McNinja, which averages slightly less than us per day pageviews-wise, currently has a bid of $30 per day), this is mostly a tool of goodwill. Project Wonderful is used, by and large, by aspiring comedians and cartoonists like North, who run the gamut from small potatoes to Internet Big Time. Lodging Uncyclopedia in the same pool alongside a name like Kate Beaton sounds real nice to me, and is an association that wouldn't hurt anybody.
• People love photoshops and funny pictures, so we should focus on making photoshopping an integral part of Uncyclopedia again. We always talk about a press for more writers, but we can't approach Uncyclopedia from a single dimension. Funny writing is great, but reading takes time and effort. We need more snappy things to draw people in. Therefore, we need to focus more on finding talented photoshoppers, becoming talented photoshoppers, and making hilarious stand-alone photoshops if you are already talented.

So I think I drifted about from my initial gripe just to suggest and point out some other things that could help the site. Because Uncyclopedia could always use help, and there's a bunch people other funny people on the internet who can help it. -- T​K​F​​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​CK 16:06, February 18, 2012 (UTC)

All good ideas, except for carrying advertising. Once that door is opened a little, the tenth step is the site "Cracked". Where would the ads go, in the articles - almost everyone here formats their page for looks, and the first ad in mainspace will throw off the looks of each and every page on uncyclopedia. Vandalism in the first degree. We are a wikipedia parody, and when wikipedia starts putting ads in mainspace, or in their templates, or running across the top of the page, that would be a time to raise the issue. All the other things you mention, thoughworthy and a good way to connect with other writers and photochoppers. Aleister 16:16 18-2-'12

You're stabbing a straw man; no one is saying we place ads directly in articles, because that is simply a terrible idea that nobody had. We can put small, harmless ads in the following spaces, off the top of my head: that part of the sidebar occupied by nothing, that spot on the very bottom of the page next to "Contact Wikia" and "Advertise" currently occupied by nothing, that thin bar at the very top of the page currently occupied by nothing, or even in the Editing screen, where it would be essentially harmless. Again, with Project Wonderful we'd have more or less complete control over who we decide to publish in that small, unobtrusive ad space, and the benefits it would give to the site far outweigh the "We can't do this because Wikipedia doesn't do it" purist approach. Whenever we stick to that approach stiffly as rigor mortis, it gets us nowhere. A little advertising (and the best possible avenue for advertising - do I have to keep saying how awesome Project Wonderful is?) gives us a lot of wiggle room for site growth. -- T​K​F​​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​CK 16:29, February 18, 2012 (UTC)

When the door cracks open, it leads to "Cracked". In the editing screen, thin line at the top of the page? Ads in the editing screen. Why would we want to look at ads when we edit? I've never pushed on an ad on any site, and won't start if they show up here. Wikipedia doesn't do it, that should take care of any ad discussion, it's one of their steadfast principles. And I tried to search through project wunnerful and just kept running down empty avenues of "Wow, we are the best thing since sliced water". Why not discuss the other ideas and leave the ad discussion to another time (2025). Aleister 16:42 18-2-'12

What's wrong with Cracked, besides the content of their articles? Absolutely nothing. They're incredibly successful because they have tons of partnerships with similar websites. Replace the frat-pandering lists with whatever-thing-that-sometimes-still-resembles-actual-satire and you have two very similar sites, except one is stagnant and the other actually doesn't have many outside advertisements because of how incredibly successful they've been for the last four years.

Also, you must have tried very hard not to actually read the Project Wonderful site to say something so close-minded. -- T​K​F​​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​CK 16:46, February 18, 2012 (UTC)

Incidentally, what you're using is a logical fallacy, the slippery slope argument. There are plenty of sites who do advertising very well, with interesting ads in non-intrusive places. Webcomic authors are an example of this balance - they make their living off of ads (and merchandise, for that matter) but they keep their sites clean and ensure that no focus is lost on the art. That's what Project Wonderful was originally designed for - advertising that makes money, but doesn't look ugly.

Here's a direct link to an explanation of Project Wonderful. And if you dig a bit you can find their advertisers and publishers listed on the site, so you can look at how the ads are used. – Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize • writings • SU&W) 16:58 Feb 18, 2012

You know, Doctor, that very page you linked says the following:

"This type of argument is by no means invariably fallacious, but the strength of the argument is inversely proportional to the number of steps between A and Z, and directly proportional to the causal strength of the connections between adjacent steps. If there are many intervening steps, and the causal connections between them are weak, or even unknown, then the resulting argument will be very weak, if not downright fallacious."

Now, Aleister's slippery slope isn't the slope between having ads and having a rape-machine pop out of your browser and fuck you in all your holes. His slope is the slope between "tasteful" ads...and "ick" ads. Does the definition of "tasteful" vary from person to person? Yes it does. Hell, to my taste, an ad is an ad (is an ad...), and all advertisements may suck my tremendously-oversized lily-white American dick, because they sap my ridiculously limited bandwidth. So, I assert that Aleister's concerns may be slightly overblown or perhaps even Communist (!), but as they do not qualify as being fallacious, you haven't the grounds to dismiss them out-of-hand. :D ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Sat, Feb 18 '12 17:37 (UTC)

Plus, from the points outlined on this page, we can also use Project Wonderful as advertisers, putting up notices on other sites to draw in some potential writers or 'choppers. Unless we want to pay for these out of pocket, we can use Project Wonderful as a revolving door of income to fund contests and attract new members. -- T​K​F​​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​CK 17:30, February 18, 2012 (UTC)

These ideas are likely to succeed primarily because of the quality of our content over their generally weaker stuff (cracked.com and other mentioned are similar but lack the depth or quality of our best stuff) - thus they'll be keen to have our 'soul driven' enterprise on their sites. I'm pretty sure that that their contributions will not really be as reciprocal as advertised by TKF here. It's very difficult to guarantee and unwise to promise ads are not commercial long term, or easily abused by our host once the 'proverbial door is opened' as Aleister puts it.--Sycamore (Talk) 23:06, February 18, 2012 (UTC)

Just took a horrible trip, horrible. For the second time ever I went to Cracked.com, took a good look at their main page, horrible, then clicked on a category on top, "Tv and movies" I think, and had a look at what it gave me. The horror. Then I clicked on an article, and couldn't even start to read it from all the distracton. I ran back here as quick as my skeleton could carry me. I have seen not the future of the web for sites that sell out, but the present. Cracked is not a reader friendly websitel, not by anything approaching it from a distance imnho. Please go see it to and hunt around. Should we take the first step, or let our site act as an opposite, as reader and writer friendly as it can be. People who write here love to write here, and that's one of the reasons. Funding contests may just make us worse if it comes down to arguments about things like this. Would be nice if Jimbo Wales would talk to us (doesn't he own Wikia?) about funding and promotion of the site. He's got to be convinced by this time - seven solid years of writing and editng on one wiki - of the value of uncyclopedia, and how interesting and creative it is acting as a parody of his better known wikipedia site, and that he could be a little more involved.

and maybe I'm missing something. What do you mean, they could put a small tiny itty-bitty ad between the "terms of use" and "contact wikia" things way on the very bottom of the page, is that all an ad would be sized down there? Seems very unusual if that's how it works. Another website I visit a lot, Above Top Secret, is loaded down and smashed in with ads, a little bit less if you go on a thread as a signed-in member. But still intrusive ads everywhere and it seems they get more every month. Aleister 1:37 19-2-'12

Agreed. Firstly, we might be a satire of Wikipedia, but they are to be admired for their non-ad status. And why not let the ad-hungry websites come to us rather than us to them? We're the ones who are writing the peer-reviewed quality features. --Knucmo2 02:55, February 19, 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, we've got the top-shelf shit, bro. Nothin but the best. Cracked would murder hookers to have the quality we got. I mean, murder more hookers than their usual quota. ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Sun, Feb 19 '12 4:21 (UTC)

Er, no. Don't think you can straw-man VFH like that. There's plenty of good stuff that gets through. --Knucmo2 23:00, February 19, 2012 (UTC)

I hate to be a downer, but...

In regards to the ads, nevermind whether or not we would even want to go down that route, Wikia couldn't even be bothered to put in ads that would provide them with money; why would they put in ads to give us money? And yes, they would have to do it since we have no access to the interface.

And as for the other stuff, who wants to do the work? In terms of money, don't rule out donations and them shop thingies and whatnot, as these did work before, and the other stuff might also be doable if someone would just bother. 1234 ~ 06:27, 19 February 2012

This isn't entirely true; we have access to our own javascript. Javascript can be used for ads! Granted, some folks have JS turned off, but who cares? The majority don't!  ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Sun, Feb 19 '12 11:47 (UTC)

The majority don't have much incentive to turn it off, which such a thing might be. But the javascript here is already frankly unstable. Do you really want to write that, on top of everything else? I ask because you seem to be the only one here who even knows any js.

1234 ~ 15:53, 19 February 2012

"Unstable"? It's a massive pile of crap. But that wouldn't make it hard to add banners from http://somedodgysite.pron/viruses  ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Sun, Feb 19 '12 16:23 (UTC)

Small suggestion then I'll shut up

Most sites on the internet have links directing users to other sites of a similar nature. What to people think about coming up with a list of popular comedy sites (key word being popular and not necessarily good and not necessarily other o-pedias) and sticking them under the site menu under an affiliates section or something. I imagine we’d strike up a deal where both sites have links and can benefit from increased exposure. We don’t have to war with everyone, if we make friends we could parade around a daisy filled meadow holding hands and sing the entire score of The sound of music. Sha la la laaaaaaaaa.RegularUndies . 11:22, February 19, 2012 (UTC)

Links to other sites for traffic reasons - possible - but no pretence this is a money making website for anyone. Those who write, edit, patrol, administer do this for wanting to be involved in a collective project. And all those questionable articles that still lurk around here would have to go. See what happened to ED Version 1 when their founders sold the site to commercialism. I see Uncyclopedia as a nursery for potential talent, not a money spinning exercise in it's own right. I am sure wikipedia has inspired others to write/edit etc for the same reason. --RomArtus*Imperator ® (Orate) 16:33, February 19, 2012 (UTC)

Hear, hear. It's a laboratory for humour (an astonishingly diverse one at that), and some very good results come out of it. I daresay even some of the features would have to go if it commercialised. --Knucmo2 22:50, February 19, 2012 (UTC)

Romartus' view here totally represents mine as well and my feelings towards the site. Couchsurfing is an example of a website that went "corporation b" and the impact has been nausiating to say the least. It has seriously, utterly and totally destroyed what it once was. I havent even hosted anyone for months cause I can't stand it anymore. Please don't do that to uncyclopedia. --ShabiDOO 03:12, February 20, 2012 (UTC)

TKF is rockin

The killer froggy...you are totally utterly right. We really ought to branch out, connect with the humour comminity. Any real link with other sites (especially if it involves links to each others' sites...will be great. Two comments though

• No ads. Zero ads. ZERO!
• Unless we find completely outside independent judges, there really ought NOT to be cash rewards for competitions. We have become a much closer community over the last 18 months, the same people rubbing against each other in forums, talk pages and competitions. It is incredible that there is actually as little drama as there is. I shudder at the thought of users making judgements for something that = cash. I don't think this will encourage anyone to put any real extra effort into the competition, it could be a very sore point between users if they feel unfairly judged...and to be honest, having a template awarded by my uncyclopedia buddies is way more meaningful to me than $30. Use the $30 to set up a best of the worst internet order publication or something like that or send the winner some rediculous prise by mail or something. But cash, seems like a really dangerous can of worms considering how small and intimate the community has become.

That being said...TFK is totally right about making more connections with other sites. We ought to do it this week...contact them and see if they are interested and if they have any ideas (or links with other sites and what those links are like and how they work). --ShabiDOO 02:58, February 20, 2012 (UTC)

One thing about ads - we already have them. I surf here mostly on a smart phone, which pops me into a mobile version whenever I clean out my cookies, and there is advertising there. We have ads on the base of each page that direct people to other Wikia sites - none of which are humour related. When using a different skin (than vector or monospace) there are ads that dominate the main page. Yeah - these are on the periphery, but it's advertising that is completely out of the control of the community. It is a pain in the bum, but it's outside of our control. I hated ED v1 because the interface was dominated by ads. The Uncyclopedia shoppe was an experiment that failed drastically - I still haven't seen where any of that "profit" has gone. Uncyclopedia is unlikely to be an income earning operation, unless we change to be profit driven.

<rant>And I have worked in soul-destroying corporate roles for years. I have rubbed shoulders with the highest income earning members of this country, and hated every moment of it. I watched as Mad magazine went from an advertising parody magazine to a parody magazine littered with advertising, and lost it's soul. I come here to not be part of that ugly fucking world.</rant>

But for the most part, I come here because I love what we are. Yeah, we're a small community of regular contributors, but we've built to one of the best comedic websites in the world, and we've often been used as the example of how to create a comedic wiki. Some of our regular users have gone on from here to become professional comedic writers. We're still attracting a large base of web traffic. Why on Earth should we start trying to turn up-side-down the very thing that brings us all together?

There was a point to all that, but I've forgotten it. Pup 12:31 20 Feb '12

tl;dr

• I'm not gonna bother to read most of what everybody has said under TKF's original posting. Just wanted to say that I totally support us using ProjectWonderful ads. Bring back cash prizes for the PLS! -- Brigadier General Sir Zombiebaron 21:11, February 20, 2012 (UTC)

  Also, just wanted to add, for those of you who don't remember, Uncyclopedia used to have ads. When? Well when the site was first created. We used to have Google Ads. So, really, ads are part of our history. -- Brigadier General Sir Zombiebaron 21:17, February 20, 2012 (UTC)

I'm not going to bother reading what Zombie just wrote here. Could someone tell me what he said? --ShabiDOO 21:19, February 20, 2012 (UTC)

Except you obviously did read what I wrote. -- Brigadier General Sir Zombiebaron 21:51, February 20, 2012 (UTC)

He got you there Shabidoo. Now you must swallow shame and must flagellate yourself with a whip and then masturbate to orgasm simultaneously.--Sycamore (Talk) 21:58, February 20, 2012 (UTC)

Now someone will have to give a summary of two posts by Zombiebaron and one by Sycamore. --ShabiDOO 22:04, February 20, 2012 (UTC)

I can't be bothered to read anything here.--fcukmanLOOS3R! 12:50, February 22, 2012 (UTC)

Real quick-like

So I, of course, expected all of you to shoot down the ad idea without even taking it into consideration. The most salient point made against the idea is Lyrithya's, but can't we just talk to Wikia about getting permission for stuff like this? Whatever happened to that mediator person, Tristessa? In any case, even if we were to negotiate a small space for Project Wonderful with Wikia, it seems that most of our vocal community is against it. But I hope that you realize, in time, how much your opinion is driven by irrationality and apocalypse. -- T​K​F​​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​CK 16:36, February 21, 2012 (UTC)

I'm no numbertiton but we seem to have a roughly equal amount of users on either side (I am interested in trying the Project Wonderful thing, it'd be really nice to have funny ads if it's feasable). The lack of photo/potatochoppers is something that's concerned me for a while too. A cash-prize for good images might lure and trap some new 'choppers (or convince us lot to do more). --Black Flamingo 17:25, February 21, 2012 (UTC)

I'm willing to consider it, personally, but only under the condition that the Wikia ads at the bottom are gone. I can't stand the idea of having both. Also, I want to see (a) how damn big they would be, and (b) WHERE they would be. TKF mentioned "under the navbar" and "at the bottom of the page". But I want dimensions. And also (obviously) a vote. And a trial period, at the end of which would be another vote on whether to keep 'em, or tell 'em to piss off. ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Tue, Feb 21 '12 17:42 (UTC)

That could be a good compromise, if wikia lets us have one of the ad spaces at the bottom that they seem intent on filling with garbage. When I look at uncy as an IP it has wikia soup all over the left side, the top, and the bottom. They make us look like a site for friendly morons. Another point if this occurs (wikia lets us have one of their bottom spots), no moving gifs! Nothing flashing or moving to distract the eye from the page. And reading this forum, I see good arguments for no money paid to any user, that would start something which could grow into things which wold hurt the site. And if this guy who created wonderful is so wonderful, is he a user here or does he just work on things which will bring him another dollar? I don't know, I'm already feeling uncomfortable with saying we could open the door a crack - thinking about Cracked or crack again.Aleister 18:15 21-2-'12

Al: Hilarious story: I use Opera's ad/content blocker, so right up until this moment, I had no idea there were any other ads on the site. ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Tue, Feb 21 '12 18:23 (UTC)

P.S. Could you gimme a screenshot? Also, I took a look at some sites with Projectwonderful ads on them; I haven't see any blinkers, yet. ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Tue, Feb 21 '12 18:27 (UTC)

That Oprah has her muddy paws into everything. Yes, lots of little ads, when an IP logs in they sometimes even block the search bar and the navigation template. And they are all for wikia related wikis. One recently shows that kid who seems drunk in the car after taking nitrous oxide - one of the worst drugs ever invented (seriously, it's a brain knockout. I've never had it but when I was going to raves the people running them would practically get in fistfights to kick out the assholes trying to balloon people with nitrous, folks "in the know" about the good druggies hate that stuff). Aleister 21:29 21-2-'12

p.s. if I knew how to do screenshots I could upload off site pics. Can you link to one of the wunnerful ads, I haven't been able to find any.

Al: if you're using Windows, you do a screenshot like this: you press "PrtSc" or "Print Screen", run Paint by pressing Win+R and typing "mspaint" and then hitting Enter, then hit Ctrl+V, and then save as a .PNG. Mac OS X? Command+Shift+3 will save it to your desktop. Linux? There are several different apps for that sort of thing, but I believe PrtSc/Print Screen also works in Gnome.

As for a link: here's an ad from smbc-comics.com. ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Tue, Feb 21 '12 18:47 (UTC)

I don't think users are outright rejecting any idea without considering it or reading the proposal. Some users are just against it, just as at least one user clearly approved your idea without considering any of the responses. I think it would be good to know, not only how much someone agrees or disagrees with it...but also how important it is to them. This issue, is more important to me as a user than VFH, VFD, VFS, UOM, WOM, PLS and the Happy Monkey Competition combined. I think there really is a real danger in implementing these ideas.

That being said, if adds are introduced, even in a non-obtrusive and tasteful manner, I think users against the idea in the first place, would feel more comfortable knowing that there was some way to keep the adds unobtrusive and tasteful and that their so called "slippery slope fallacy" is not in any way a likelihood. Is there a way...that we could not only agree on a new policy, but ensure that any changes, (even small ones) or modifications (even small ones) would also have to undergo a comprehensive and careful assesment and agreement by the whole community? --ShabiDOO 19:45, February 21, 2012 (UTC)

With Project Wonderful ads, we have complete control over which bid we display, and the placement and dimensions of the ad. As for the ad itself, we would make it as subtle and modestly placed as is possible. It would be the only such ad we display; I am opposed to adding any more from PW and even more strongly opposed to adding any other ads from any other site. If we were to discuss with Wikia the possibility of adding a PW ad, that would be one condition mandatory in any agreement made. This is assured.

Also, in defense of Zombiebaron, he and I have discussed the pros and cons of this idea extensively in the past. -- T​K​F​​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​CK 10:28, February 22, 2012 (UTC)

• I'd like to point out that if we ever introduce ads to Uncyc, users will be able to add code to their css and js files to hide those ads. Like how we can currently hide the Wikia spotlights. -- Brigadier General Sir Zombiebaron 20:12, February 21, 2012 (UTC)

That's handy to know - but obviously articles written would appear to the outside world with these ads.--Sycamore (Talk) 20:32, February 21, 2012 (UTC)

Is there code to keep the ads and hide the pages? Sir Modusoperandi ^Boinc! 07:53, February 22, 2012 (UTC)

Modus: yep. $( "#content" ).hide()  ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Wed, Feb 22 '12 12:16 (UTC)

It really makes my day when people give Modus serious answers. --Black Flamingo 11:50, February 22, 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Wed, Feb 22 '12 12:16 (UTC)

Ads on net pages and little baby sages, these are a few of my favorite things. BB linked to one the Wonderful ads, and even though we could determine the size, the ad linked seemed massive to me. It would sit there with colors and size all along a large section of the left side of the page, and would grab more of the reader's attention than even the smallish wikia ads. Why am I getting the feeling that this is a bad idea. I don't think anyone wants ad money for contest payments, slippery slope (although Shabidoo did send all the contestents in Happy Monkey a whore yesterday, I think mine was named Suzy). Way above I mentioned Jimbo Wales, who could help promote the site if he had a mind to, does anyone know him enough to yank his attention to uncyclopedia for a few days? As for fellow comics getting interested in the site, they first have to be tolerant satirists and second we will sooner or later attract lots of them here when they realize - full circle - how adfree we are. What a rarity on the innernests not to have obtrusive ads, and how lucky we are to play here. Why tinker with that? Aleister 11:46 22-2-'12

I personally don’t like the idea of advertisements or paying writers but the money gained could instead be used to gain independence from the evil overlords (Wikia) who seem to fuck up a lot o’ shit round here by buying a domain name and paying for a server or host or whatever happens. I’ve got no idea how these things work. We could also have free weekly ice cream and Mexican hat Tuesday, but just for me and no-one else.RegularUndies . 12:12, February 22, 2012 (UTC)

There'd be an awful lot of ads needed to bust us off the Wikia teat. ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Wed, Feb 22 '12 12:16 (UTC)

Just how many adds and merchandising and donation campaigns and what not would it take? --ShabiDOO 12:19, February 22, 2012 (UTC)

It'd take (lowballing with absolutely zero knowledge) tens of thousands of dollars in server costs (this site is huge and would need tons of dedication to keep it running smoothly on independent servers), domain name purchases (Wikia has zero reason to ever let these go), and other complications (legal shit, Uncyc is more than just a community, but also part of a private enterprise) to make a clean break from Wikia. That said, it's still more likely than delusions like getting Jimbo Wales to lend a magical helping hand. -- T​K​F​​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​CK 16:51, February 22, 2012 (UTC)

So...we are stuck with wikia. And...we are trying to raise money to what? Pay a few professional choppers and award one of our online buddies with a small check after we vote once a year who had the best article in a competition we design, write, and vote on? Is there any other needs? For example? (p.s. no need to defend Zombie, I found the whole thing helarious.) --ShabiDOO 20:50, February 22, 2012 (UTC)

What about a reward for the user who does the most quality pee reviews each month? What about an award for a competition where only new registered users can participate? --ShabiDOO 20:54, February 22, 2012 (UTC)

Can we backdate that idea about reviews to include February 2012? Pup 12:24 01 Mar '12

Yes.

How are ads any different to the spotlight placements, except they generate money and I may be more inclined to visit them if they are based on past Google searches? American Sports wiki? Easy Crafts wiki? Both are about as useless to me as a Skyrim ad. The mobile skin already has annoying pop up ads, I can't see how passive ones on the side will hurt if the money is reinvested in the community.

PLS is slightly too narrow for cash prizes in its current form. With three judges and few articles, one can be shot down if - for some reason - one judge hates the article and two love it. I'd say a cash prize for top three of the month is better if you limit voting to registered users over three months old. Still, back in the day people would whore on IRC and drag past users in to sway votes, I trust the people here now, but who is to say new users might get their buddies with ancient accounts to vote? Cracked works because all the people on their forums who write work of a quality to be published, they all get cash. No democratic pissing contest, just an objective line to cross.

We have plenty of semi-active users who don't write, so every month we could rotate the positions of three 'disinterested' judges - strictly WotM or WotY - who hold more voting power, or something? This would exist on top of VFH if we took that route.

I can see this working only if we keep stuff on the main page for a while, and somehow generate enough turnover to pay the writers of every feature, but that would mean cutting the number of features to one every 2 or 3 days. There are already 1000+ featured articles, and I haven't read like even 5% of them, why not get some of them back on the main page to replace the piss in anniversaries etc.? --Nikau 02:55, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

Advertising, advertising! And Joe's Guidelines for Ads

We should have a ten-point plan for ads, and payment, provided that we break away from Wikia:

1. Porn ads reduce traffic, non-porn ads increase it.
2. NSFW pages be marked with NSFW warning tags to increase traffic
3. Ads must be revenue generated
4. Our current ad template may need modification
5. Put up a parody page, Uncyclopedia for Sale! Advertise now!
6. Have companies sponsor competitions. Hey, maybe I can imagine my Uncyclopedia Summer Extravaganza being sponsored by Coca-Coli!
7. Have an option for users and admins to unsee ads.
8. Admins must be paid. Hence our mantra, "We know where you live"
9. Uncyclopedia Store must be advertised on homepage to generate revenue.
10. Create a for-profit organisation bearing the Uncyclopedia name.

I think that's all.

|Si Plebius Dato' (Sir) Joe ang Pinoy CUN|IC Kill | 04:47, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

Uhhhhhhhhh ... lets go with the killer froggy thing.

My lord...the last two suggestions by the most respected of uncyclopedia users, are so scary, it makes TKF's idea seem utterly lovely. I don't recall TKF suggesting admins get paid (or was that somewhere on some forum) and I'm not sure there was anything about rotating features every three days or taking things seriously when we were comparing ourselves to cracked. Where...in this process did we go from checking out the posibility of adding modest non ugly advertisements and a small cash reward for PLS to incorporating the wiki into a professional style non-pornographic advertisement encyclopedia dramatica? When did anyone say anything about restricting voting to current users or people getting old friends to vote for them so they could cash in a cheque? Yikes! --ShabiDOO 05:02, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

If a website with the mediocre quality of say, Oh Internet can be commercial, we certainly can! Mattsnow 05:41, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

Double yikes!! --ShabiDOO 06:01, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

We need accountants! Jewish or non-Jewish, who cares! We need finance to make commercial viability! Imagine this: Cheezburger Uncyclopedia! |Si Plebius Dato' (Sir) Joe ang Pinoy CUN|IC Kill | 10:47, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

I think the wide array of suggestions regarding possible income and their accompanying regulations (as valid as they may or may not be) just proves how complicated any advertisments would be. There can't possibly be a unanimous consensus with so many options. Surely there are easier ways to improve the site. Like copious amounts of porn. RegularUndies . 11:36, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

The problem with this forum topic is that advertising was included in it, which drove it all to hell and back. TKF would like to make more contact and connections with other internet comedians. Why don't we have a new forum, without the ads discussion, so we can focus on those interesting topics. Aleister 12:16 23-2-'12

Where is the profit from the uncyclopedia store?

Given that there was supposed to be regulation, transparency, and profit on sales, and none of which have come up for that, I don't see how any advertising will be different. Oh, and are we leaving Wikia? I don't recall that forum. Pup 01:05 23 Feb '12

The Uncyc store was a side project started by non-administrators without much discussion, approval, promotion, or actual sales. I will guarantee a concentrated effort from the community, if the community is willing, with Project Wonderful. -- T​K​F​​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​CK 15:40, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

Animal Farm?--Sycamore (Talk) 19:12, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

Pretty sure e|m|c runs the store. Ask him. -- Brigadier General Sir Zombiebaron 00:38, February 24, 2012 (UTC)

Is he still active? Oh, and as for the rest of it, I am happy to support the bulk of TKF's suggestions above. I have some reservations, so I'd like to move in baby steps, and have a revisit in a month's time to ask Is it working?, but I can see the logic, and the thought that has gone into it, and the potential for growth as a result. I am also concerned that we may see a sudden resurgence of 2005 cruft if it works, but we'll burn that bridge while we're on it. Pup 12:04 24 Feb '12

2008cruft is fine for me. |Si Plebius Dato' (Sir) Joe ang Pinoy CUN|IC Kill | 04:17, February 25, 2012 (UTC)

Last time I checked we had only $27, even after Printfection gave us our own specific discount code. I then dropped all the commission prices to zero (for three reasons: 1. to make the merch more affordable; 2. because I figured that everyone stopped caring; 3. because any money we made would sit there idly being unused by anyone, especially since we don't give $ prizes for the PLS anymore). That was at least nine months ago and I have not checked our store since. This topic actually came to my mind a few weeks ago and I thought it would be a good idea to update our shirts with the new logo (which I asked Lyrithya for a larger version of but did not get) but I'm not even able to do this as I don't remember the password to our store account nor the password for the e-mail address I made for it (they are likely the same). Jocke Pirat designed the store so it's possible he may remember (and I think I gave the password to Dr. Skullthumper as well?) If you want to talk moar about the store or Uncyclopedia's social media accounts just hit me up on my talk page. And I thought we had plenty of discussion, approval, and promotion for the store, but I digress. In fact, this is all a big digression. TKF has a good idea which is trying to address one of this website's serious problems: Uncyclopedia will die if we do not make a conscious effort to expand our presence on the internet, thereby reaching a wider audience and attracting more contributors. I know it sounds shitty, but if we want Uncyclopedia to live/thrive/survive for our children, grandchildren, and Morlock-like great-great-great-great-grandchildren to enjoy, then we are going to need to delve into marketing and promotion sooner or later. --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 00:15 Feb 28 2012

Also POTR, this. It's not the most recent report but it's all I have. Sorry. --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 00:18 Feb 28 2012

Cool. I remember the discussions at the time we put it together. I honestly am surprised that we have had as much profit as we have. I was using the example of the store to demonstrate that although we may start profit-making activities, we can't expect to suddenly be rolling in the cash. But we do need to promote the site outside of the site itself to grow it. We probably also need to keep as much decent content here as possible, which leads back to the huffing conversations we've had recently. Thanks for the info. (Hope you eventually remember the password.) Pup 12:51 28 Feb '12

Yeah I hope so too. Uncyc's YouTube, Facebook and Twitter all share that same e-mail address. That password might really come in handy some day. --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 01:10 Feb 28 2012

Thanks for coming through with the store details, EMC. I don't remember that discussion and always assumed it was more or less unofficial, since we ended up more or less disowning it for whatever reason. I strongly recommend putting more focus on it, and maybe switching up merch providers/hosts/whatever. I have had a few ideas for merch that could reach wider audiences than an ICU shirt. -- T​K​F​​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​CK 10:29, February 28, 2012 (UTC)

This sounds like what I would say

Sounds like what I would say. We need to stop deleting articles, get back to work making them, and probably advertise us as a whole. If we as a community want this glorious website to survive, then we need to take action. We need to advertise heavily and buy the advertising spots at the top websites. We need to get more people buying our merch. We need to establish relations with other humor websites, starting with Smosh, then we work up to Cheezburger, and Cracked.com. Yes, it's a fucking pipe dream. But we will fucking do it. |Si Plebius Dato' (Sir) Joe ang Pinoy CUN|IC Kill | 10:21, February 28, 2012 (UTC)

I'm not going to bother reading past the very first section.

But I love all your ideas. The only one I'm not crazy about is the advertising one. But I could get hip with that one as long as the advertisements were only below pages and below the side bar. No where else, especially above pages. -- 04:25, March 1, 2012 (UTC)

Actually, rethinking that, seeing them while editing wouldn't be that bad, either. But like I said before, atop pages should be out of the question. -- 04:28, March 1, 2012 (UTC)

Pop-ups! We need popups! Ads on either side! Bottom! Top! And for members only! |Si Plebius Dato' (Sir) Joe ang Pinoy CUN|IC Kill | 05:21, March 1, 2012 (UTC)

No, wait, what was I thinking? That side part would be too much! Just the bottom and the editing screen. -- 06:58, March 5, 2012 (UTC)

Make an internet meme. Simple.

For God's sake, do you know why the comedy sites are successful? Because of memes! If we make the memes first, then spread it across like wildfire, then... |Si Plebius Dato' (Sir) Joe ang Pinoy CUN|IC Kill | 05:23, March 1, 2012 (UTC)

"Making" memes is hacky and temporary. Connections last forever (or at least until you sleep with someone's girlfriend) -- T​K​F​​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​U​CK 05:33, March 1, 2012 (UTC)

Ha hah, hah! "Girlfriend". Sir Modusoperandi ^Boinc! 06:29, March 1, 2012 (UTC)

Ha ha ha! "Ha hah, hah!" -- 06:38, March 1, 2012 (UTC)

I slept with a friend's girlfriend once. It helped us stay in touch. We're constantly running into each other at the VD clinic. Pup 12:21 01 Mar '12

I have two girlfriends. |Si Plebius Dato' (Sir) Joe ang Pinoy CUN|IC Kill | 06:50, March 5, 2012 (UTC)

What, you only have two fingers? Ba-ZING! ~ BB ~ (T) ~ Mon, Mar 5 '12 9:31 (UTC)

A confession

Uncyclopedia has already been in an ad. A little over a year ago, Facebook gave us two vouchers for a total of $100 worth of free advertising at a rate of $0.16 - $0.57 per click. A quarter of a million people in a very specific demographic were exposed to our ad on Facebook which featured our logo and read, "Like satire and comedy? Like encyclopedias? Like encyclopedias full of satire and comedy? Us too." Scold me if you like but I think it was a good thing to do. Also, I know that Encyclopediadramatica.ch is looking for advertisers. I think it'd be hilarious if we advertised on their site. Just a thought. --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 17:55 Mar 5 2012

That's fantastic. It would be nice to get any ads out there, as well as media stories about the site. Does anyone at wikia work on media contacts? If we had a Bill Gates among our users you'd bet they'd pump in tens of thousands of dollars publicizing uncy. Nice work. "Scold me" would be a great name for a sadomach user, or a horse. Aleister 18:00 5-3-'12

On the idea of media stories, I remember how we got the article about Sioux City, Iowa (my town) in the local newspaper: a bunch of us wrote e-mails to the paper saying how disgusted we were with the article. They did a piece in the paper and the response from readers was great -- they loved the article and it was a total win. I see no reason why this couldn't be done again. --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 18:04 Mar 5 2012

Going to blow my own horn, which I try to do daily but just can't quite do it, and say I'm very proud of the James Bevel article because it's probably in the top three most accurate historical portrayals of the guy - and he is likely the most underappreciated historical figure in the 20th century. Patting myself on the back. Anybody who wants to try and publicize that fact, that'll be nice and would help the site as well. Besides that, the feature collection here alone has likely reached the point where it is news itself - the site has survived seven years, satires wikipedia, has (basically) no ads (a rarity on the innernest), and we all do it for free. There's news in there someplace. Aleister 18:11 5-3-'12