History Website / Wikipedia

Wikipedia is [[TropeCodifier the most famous wiki out there]], and is mostly responsible for inspiring the creation of other wikis ([[OlderThanTheyThink although it was not the first]]). It presents its information as an encyclopedia and focuses mainly on real-life information.

* WhamLine: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Ignore_all_rules "If a rule prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, '''ignore it'''."]]

* StraightManAndWiseGuy: It's basically the Straight Man to the Wise Guy that is Wiki/ThisVeryWiki. Wikipedia is mostly matter-of-fact, while [=TVTropes=] is TheSnarkKnight by comparison.

* WikiVandal: Overt vandalism is reverted rapidly, but more subtle vandalism has been known to last months or ''years'', particularly on less-traveled pages. As such, this is one of the common complaints about Wikipedia. Some really outrageous claims in articles are often supported by nothing but the "citation needed" tag.[-[[superscript:[''[[SelfDemonstratingArticle citation needed]]''[=]=]]]-] In fact, hoax articles have stayed up for as long as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wikipedia#Extant_for_10+_years fifteen years]].

* {{Conlang}}: Wikipedia has 9 editions written in constructed languages[[note]]Esperanto, Ido, Volapük, Interlingua, Kotava, Interlingue, Lingua Franca Nova, Novial, and Lojban[[/note]]. Most notable is the Esperanto edition which has over 300,000 pages, more than many natural languages that have tens of millions of speakers.

* {{Omniglot}}: With editions in over 300 languages, Wikipedia is one of the most translated websites on the internet. In fact many linguists consider Wikipedia [[https://linguapath.com/wikipedia-for-language-learning/ a valid source for language learning]].

%%I don't think the following example an actual example of the trope.
%%* OurFounder: Jimmy Wales is considered to be the father of Wikipedia. No statue though.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: In 2020, it was discovered that the Scots Wikipedia had silently been undermined for years by an editor who meant well but unfortunately didn't know what the hell he was doing. User [=AmaryllisGardener=], a self-described teenaged "Christian, a North Carolinian, a furry, and an [[UsefulNotes/MyersBriggs INTP]]", had contributed [[https://www.businessinsider.com/scots-wikipedia-page-american-scottish-accent-2020-8 the vast majority of the site's articles]]. His ''modus operandi'' was to write articles in English, [[https://slate.com/technology/2020/09/scots-wikipedia-language-american-teenager.html finger through a Scots language dictionary and replace choice words with the first one he could find that was a match - regardless of context or current usage]]. The damage done to the Scots Wikipedia by [=AmaryllisGardener=] over the course of seven years is nothing short of disastrous, to the point he was accused of committing "cultural vandalism". As a result, the very existence of the site was brought into question, as some felt it better to simply tear the Scots Wikipedia down and start again. Fortunately, it survived, and is subject to an ongoing cleanup effort.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: In 2020, it was discovered that the Scots Wikipedia had silently been undermined for years by an editor who meant well but unfortunately didn't know what the hell he was doing. User [=AmaryllisGardener=], a self-described teenaged "Christian, a North Carolinian, a furry, and an INTP", [[https://www.businessinsider.com/scots-wikipedia-page-american-scottish-accent-2020-8 had contributed the vast majority of the site's articles]]. His ''modus operandi'' was to write articles in English, [[https://slate.com/technology/2020/09/scots-wikipedia-language-american-teenager.html finger through a Scots language dictionary and replace choice words with the first one he could find that was a match - regardless of context or current usage]]. The damage done to the Scots Wikipedia by [=AmaryllisGardener=] over the course of seven years is nothing short of disastrous, to the point he was accused of committing "cultural vandalism". As a result, the very existence of the site was brought into question, as some felt it better to simply tear the Scots Wikipedia down and start again. Fortunately, it survived, and is subject to an ongoing cleanup effort.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: In 2020, the administrators of the Scots Wikipedia discovered that their site had silently been undermined for years, by an editor who meant well but unfortunately didn't know what the hell he was doing. User [=AmaryllisGardener=], a self-described teenage "[[UsefulNotes/MyersBriggs INTP]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Brony]]" (paraphrased) from North Carolina, had contributed the vast majority of the site's articles, but had done so in a mixture of horrendously mangled Scots, Standard English, and complete gibberish. His ''modus operandi'' was to write articles in English, finger through a Scots language dictionary and replace choice words with the first one he could find that was a match - regardless of context or current usage, and when he couldn't find a word he thought worked, he'd simply make one up. The damage to the Scots Wikipedia done by this one teenager over the course of seven years is nothing short of disastrous; [=AmaryllisGardener=] had contributed ''over 20,000 articles'' to the site in this mangled style, averaging out at about nine edits every day. With his work described as [[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/wikipedia-boy-butchers-scots-language-with-years-of-errors-m7fl29w0t "cultural vandalism"]], the very existence of the website was brought into question, as some felt it better to simply tear the Scots Wikipedia down and start again. Fortunately, it survived, and is now subject to an ongoing cleanup effort.

** Wikipedia has had several infamous cases of this causing purges of articles dealing with various forms of new media. The late 2000s saw this primarily happen with webcomics, as was covered [[https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikimedia_fundraiser_highlights_webcomic_community%27s_frustration_with_Wikipedia_guidelines by Wikinews]] and [[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/apr/10/wikipedia.internet an editorial]] at ''The Guardian''. Articles on games, gaming history and culture [[https://www.raphkoster.com/2009/01/05/losing-mud-history/ are also]] common targets. The 2010s saw this happen more commonly with Website/YouTube personalities and their channels. It's ''especially'' been the case with video game and anime/manga characters, which are likely to be deleted if they don't have several sources discussing the characters themselves in detail, ideally full-page articles on them.

* TakeAThirdOption: Most deletion discussions are closed as "keep" or "delete". There is, however, a third option: merging; taking the information in an article and moving it to a subsection of a larger article on the same subject. The introduction of subsection linking has meant that despite claims that Deletionists rule Wikipedia, in many ways it was the Mergists who won. Some deletion discussions can end up closed for other reasons: either the page qualifies for a speedy deletion, so a discussion is redundant; the nominator withdraws without objection; no clear consensus in either direction is formed after several weeks; or the nomination is obvious {{Troll}}ing.

* LostInTranslation: The Wikipedia Project has become so ubiquitous that [[TheWikiRule fans have made their own wikis for specific subjects]]. Sites such as Teletraan 1 (which then became Wiki/TFWikiDotNet) for ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' , Wookieepedia for ''Franchise/StarWars'' or Memory Alpha for ''Franchise/StarTrek'' have become the go-to places for specifics on these franchises. Some cultures have even devoted entire wikis to a ''single person''. In fact, the Japanese equivalent to "Google it" roughly means "check out its wiki".

* PlayingSick: On Wikipedia, there's a humorous essay referred to as '[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:ANI_flu ANI flu]]'', where '[=ANI=]' refers to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents Incidents section of the site's Administrator's noticeboard.]] It dryly notes that on many occasions, when summoned to the [=ANI=] to explain themselves, or if caught in the act misbehaving, some users may feign falling ill to try to cover their backside and hide from their actions coming back to bite them.

** Wikipedians have long battled over notability and the appropriate range of topics Wikipedia should cover, resulting in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deletionism_and_inclusionism_in_Wikipedia two schools of thought]] called Inclusionism and Deletionism. Deletionism is usually the dominant philosophy in Wikipedia, even against the wishes of its founders. Just look at the flame war that erupted when founder Jimbo Wales [[https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-webscout30sep30-story.html tried to start an article about a South African restaurant]], only to have it deleted almost immediately. Ironically, after the article was restored, it ultimately became a good article years later.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: In 2020, the administrators of the Scots Wikipedia discovered that their site had silently been undermined for years, by an editor who meant well but unfortunately didn't know what the hell he was doing. User [=AmaryllisGardener=], a self-described teenage '[[UsefulNotes/MyersBriggs INTP]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Brony]]' (paraphrased) from North Carolina, had contributed the vast majority of the site's articles, but had done so in a mixture of horrendously mangled Scots, Standard English, and complete gibberish. His ''modus operandi'' was to write articles in English, finger through a Scots language dictionary and replace choice words with the first one he could find that was a match - regardless of context or current usage, and when he couldn't find a word he thought worked, he'd simply make one up. The damage to the Scots Wiki done by this one teenager over the course of seven years is nothing short of disastrous; [=AmaryllisGardener=] had contributed ''over 20,000 articles'' to the site in this mangled style, averaging out at about 9 edits every day. With his work described as '[[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/wikipedia-boy-butchers-scots-language-with-years-of-errors-m7fl29w0t cultural vandalism]]', the very existence of the website was brought into question, as some felt it better to simply tear the Scots Wikipedia down and start again. Fortunately, it survived, and is now subject to an ongoing cleanup effort.

* {{Doorstopper}}: Wikipedia has over 6 million articles, and that's just in the English edition. In printed form, Wikipedia has over 7,400 volumes. Each volume has 700 pages.

* LostInTranslation: The Wikipedia Project has become so ubiquitous that fans have made their own wikis for specific subjects. Sites such as Teletraan 1 (which then became Wiki/TFWikiDotNet) for ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' , Wookieepedia for ''Franchise/StarWars'' or Memory Alpha for ''Franchise/StarTrek'' have become the go-to places for specifics on these franchises. Some cultures have even devoted entire wikis to a ''single person''. In fact, the Japanese equivalent to "Google it" roughly means "check out its wiki".

If you have trouble hopping between the markup on Wikipedia and the markup here, then you're a WikipediaSyntaxer!

* WikipediaSyntaxer: The original and trope namer.

* WikiWalk: While not [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife as big a problem as with us]], you can still go on especially long walks there, since it is the largest wiki out there. There's even a website that turned this into a game, ''VideoGame/TheWikiGame''.

* PlayingSick: On Wikipedia, there's a humorous essay referred to as '[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:ANI_flu ANI flu]]'', where '[=ANI=]' refers to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents Incidents section of the site's Administrator's noticeboard]]. It dryly notes that on many occasions, when summoned to the [=ANI=] to explain themselves, or if caught in the act misbehaving, some users may feign falling ill to try to cover their backside and hide from their actions coming back to bite them.

* {{Fancruft}}: [[https://xkcd.com/446/ Referenced]] by ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' (again), and occurs in reality on some pages. The page for Earth used to have "DO NOT REPLACE THIS PAGE WITH '[[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Mostly harmless]]' EVER." hidden in the markup. It still has "[[SeriousBusiness Humorous references to the Douglas Adams novel 'Mostly harmless' as inappropriate content for this article]]" on the talk page, and is semi-protected so that only registered users can edit it (for several reasons).

* DeadpanSnarker: Although most such examples get deleted sooner or later by a humorless editor, a few instances manage to survive. For example, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plonk_(wine) page]] for "plonk" features a picture of two covered clear plastic cups with straws filled with wine captioned "Wine (a White Zinfandel) in drinkware befitting plonk."

* DubNameChange: {{Enforced}} on the UsefulNotes/{{Latin|Language}} Wikipedia, where all humans must have their first names translated into Latin.

Wikipedia has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia an entry on itself]] and its history, for further reading.

* DubNameChange: Enforced on the UsefulNotes/{{Latin|Language}} Wikipedia, where all humans must have their first names translated into Latin.

* WikiCurator: On some pages, you will find overzealous curators. One minor, innocuous edit to a page and it's reverted ''fast''.