From Wikitravel

[edit] Protecting joke articles?

What I'm about to suggest is really un-Wiki, but...

While April Fool's articles get polished to a high sheen before and during the big day, they tend to attract edits afterwards that are marginally if at all funny and detract from the overall quality. I don't think this is fixable: writing collaborative humor is hard, and it's even harder to filter out "good" from "bad" edits. And, except for that one special day a year, it's not Wikitravel's goal to write humor.

So I'd suggest that, on April 2nd, the articles get permanently locked. That way they stay funny (or at least as funny as they ever were) and users' and admins' time is not wasted. Opinions? Jpatokal 09:39, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

Bump? Jpatokal 23:03, 24 April 2007 (EDT)

Un-wiki it may be, but the number of Hell edits is getting a bit ridiculous... -- Bill-on-the-Hill 23:30, 24 April 2007 (EDT)

Agree. Edits to joke articles like Arial are still ongoing, and serve no project purpose. -- Colin 00:03, 25 April 2007 (EDT)

Disagree, mostly on the principle that reverting damage is better than blocking. Arial's hardly a hotbed of edits (one batch of decent jokes added in a whole year), and even the edits to Hell have tapered off in the last week. Before taking the step of protecting them, I'd like to try putting a disclaimerbox at the top of these articles asking people not to edit them (and take the "plunge forward" invitation out of the status box at the bottom) to see if that helps. - Todd VerBeek 00:26, 25 April 2007 (EDT)

Agree with Todd... changing the plunge forward would probably help tremendously. And change "this IS an April Fool's joke" to "this WAS an April Fool's..." may help a little too. We could just put that box at the top of the article. How about:

This was an April Fool's Joke article, we amused ourselves tremendously in making it. Please refrain from dragging out the sillyness and plunge forward on some real articles! – cacahuate ^talk 02:24, 25 April 2007 (EDT)

I went ahead and changed the template as above, and moved the notes to the top of the pages... but if you've got a better idea on the wording for the template, go for it... – cacahuate ^talk 02:40, 25 April 2007 (EDT)

I think this probably makes sense. What if we move them out of the main namespace and into a new namespace, "Joke:", "Archive:" or "Historical:"? That would make it clear why we're protecting them. --Evan 11:16, 26 April 2007 (EDT)

So, I'm in support of protecting these articles. It's been over a month and hell is still getting edits, we should strongly discourage edits and the reformed template isn't doing that. I vote protect. -- Sapphire • (Talk) • 22:53, 8 May 2007 (EDT)

Werd, protect. Jordanmills 01:00, 9 May 2007 (EDT)

Asking nicely isn't working as well as I hoped. - Todd VerBeek 11:24, 16 May 2007 (EDT)

Well then, I went ahead and protected them since I'm completely out-voted... though I really don't think they were getting all that many edits anymore, and it isn't difficult to keep reverting them. But I guess it's not a huge deal, and now we don't have to think about it anymore  :) – cacahuate ^talk 18:48, 16 May 2007 (EDT)

[edit] April Fool's 2008

Swept in from the pub:

After checking with a few admins, I've plunged forward and created You as our April Fool article for 2008. Please chip in! Jpatokal 16:40, 21 March 2008 (EDT)

Well, this seems to have been a remarkably unpopular idea? Looks like we aren't going to have anything this year unless people get to work and/or come up with something better in the next two days... Jpatokal 01:55, 30 March 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Next year

An idea for next year: ape Wikipedia and do both DOTM and OTBP for actual places with improbable names, like Dildo, Fucking or any of the many Hells. Jpatokal 02:35, 2 April 2009 (EDT)

Kanto from the Pokemon games might make a nice destination article, as well. ChubbyWimbus 18:58, 12 December 2009 (EST)

[edit] Swept from the pub

[edit] April 1

Hey folks, it's March! Anyone have any good candidates for an article to feature on April 1? Perhaps a tie-in to this month's big blockbuster, with an article called Wonderland? Alternatively, maybe it's time to feature a travel topic, like Traveling with mothers-in-law, or an itinerary like Around the world in 80 days? LtPowers 11:06, 5 March 2010 (EST)

I gotta admit, I really like the idea of a Wonderland article, I think there could be potential there. Although I'd rather not think of it as a tie-in to some recent incarnation of it (I'd hate for us to seem too trendy) but a reference to the classic story. PerryPlanet ^Talk 13:01, 5 March 2010 (EST)

Just some other suggestions: any of the islands from Gulliver's Travels or an itinerary through all of them could be fun. Good fake travelogue. --Peter ^Talk 14:37, 5 March 2010 (EST)

Oh, I was also thinking of Narnia last year; there might be too much to cover there, but the "Get In" section would be interesting at least. LtPowers 18:06, 5 March 2010 (EST)

Mordor? Andyfarrell 18:58, 5 March 2010 (EST)

Mordor would have been my suggestion as well. Indeed some might argue that Brussels does a good impression ;). --Burmesedays 22:47, 5 March 2010 (EST)

If we did Mordor, perhaps include "It has been proposed that this article be merged with Brussels. If you have an opinion, please discuss on this article's talk page". Andyfarrell 09:00, 6 March 2010 (EST)

I'd also vote Mordor, provided Andy's suggestion is implemented :) -- Ryan • (talk) • 01:19, 16 March 2010 (EDT)

Oz? - Andyfarrell 09:04, 6 March 2010 (EST)

Shouldn't that be a redirect to Australia? =P Jpatokal 07:20, 15 March 2010 (EDT)

I'll repeat my suggestion from last year: we should take a page from Wikipedia's book and feature actual but improbably named destinations like Dildo, Fucking or Hell (articles brought up to guide level, of course). Add in news entries about eg. Kawasaki's Iron Penis Festival (plenty more like this in the Discover archives) and it should be pretty funny. Whaddaya think? Jpatokal 06:56, 9 March 2010 (EST)

How about BumFuck Egypt? TomNativenewYorker 14:06, 13 March 2010 (EST)

There's nothing like re-inforcing a stereotype.--Burmesedays 23:49, 15 March 2010 (EDT)

Or Bam Fa'aq (Egypt). Texugo 01:11, 16 March 2010 (EDT)

Actually, my vote is for Mordor as well.Texugo 01:21, 16 March 2010 (EDT)

Is that a bandwagon I hear? I'm on! Mordor. --Peter ^Talk 03:21, 16 March 2010 (EDT)

I like Mordor too x), K I'm on Mordor. -SnappyHip - 11:23, 16 March 2010 (GST)

Um, no offense, but really? Compared to Oz or Wonderland, there's really not much to write about, is there? LtPowers 08:00, 16 March 2010 (EDT)

Hop on the bandwagon Lt, it's heading to Mordor! PerryPlanet ^Talk 13:24, 16 March 2010 (EDT)

Look, if you guys can whip up a nice guide, go for it. Maybe there's more material available than I realize. LtPowers 13:52, 16 March 2010 (EDT)

"Eat" and "Drink" will clearly be a bit sparse, but "Stay safe" should more than make up for it :) Does anyone have an off-site wiki available where this could get started? Typically the April 1 article isn't rolled out until, um, April 1. -- Ryan • (talk) • 14:09, 16 March 2010 (EDT)

It calls for creative recipes for Lembas bread. A special crusty travelers version. As you might find served in Vang Vieng or Gili Trawangan.--Burmesedays 22:02, 16 March 2010 (EDT)

Are you ready guys? Tomorrow is the 1st of April! jan 05:46, 31 March 2010 (EDT)