What are some interesting wikis on the web?
October 7, 2010 12:25 AM Subscribe
What are some awesome subject-specific wikis?
This thread on the blue has a bunch of links in the comments to different subject matter wikis, from the non-academic like Wookiepedia (Star Wars wiki) to more academic in the E. coli Wiki. What are some other ones I'm missing out on (serious ones, fandom-based ones, or any others)?
This thread on the blue has a bunch of links in the comments to different subject matter wikis, from the non-academic like Wookiepedia (Star Wars wiki) to more academic in the E. coli Wiki. What are some other ones I'm missing out on (serious ones, fandom-based ones, or any others)?
Best answer: TVTropes is extremely addictive, deeply funny, and endlessly fascinating. It documents the various conceptual devices, shorthand, cliches, and archetypes used throughout media. It all sounds very dry and academic, but check out a few random articles (or the page on your favorite movie/TV show) and you won't be disappointed.
The SCP Foundation is a fictional wiki dedicated to the creation of fake scientific reports on the creepy, terrifying, and impossible. Sort of like the X-Files if it were an after-action report. The detailed descriptions of the various gods, monsters, cursed objects, and Lovecraftian spaces the SCP catalogues, plus the accounts of experiments gone wrong and the unique containment measures necessary to make sure they never go wrong again, are very engrossing.
The Infosphere is a great Futurama wiki for catching up with all the little in-jokes and geeky references you missed. And the Homestarrunner wiki is insanely comprehensive for a web series I thought had long ago sunk into obscurity. The Muppet Wiki is a treat, too -- its 22,000+ articles (!) cover the Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, etc.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:00 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
The SCP Foundation is a fictional wiki dedicated to the creation of fake scientific reports on the creepy, terrifying, and impossible. Sort of like the X-Files if it were an after-action report. The detailed descriptions of the various gods, monsters, cursed objects, and Lovecraftian spaces the SCP catalogues, plus the accounts of experiments gone wrong and the unique containment measures necessary to make sure they never go wrong again, are very engrossing.
The Infosphere is a great Futurama wiki for catching up with all the little in-jokes and geeky references you missed. And the Homestarrunner wiki is insanely comprehensive for a web series I thought had long ago sunk into obscurity. The Muppet Wiki is a treat, too -- its 22,000+ articles (!) cover the Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, etc.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:00 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: MuppetWiki is a time killer on muppets.
Lostpedia is a time killer on the show Lost.
Marvelpedia is a time killer on all things Marvel Comics.
In fact it's been my experience that wikia has played host to basically every obsessive fandom wiki. True Blood and Dexter fan wikis are hosted by their actual stations though.
TV tropes is a time killer on tropes across all genres.
posted by beardlace at 1:08 AM on October 7, 2010
Lostpedia is a time killer on the show Lost.
Marvelpedia is a time killer on all things Marvel Comics.
In fact it's been my experience that wikia has played host to basically every obsessive fandom wiki. True Blood and Dexter fan wikis are hosted by their actual stations though.
TV tropes is a time killer on tropes across all genres.
posted by beardlace at 1:08 AM on October 7, 2010
Best answer: Appropedia
Appropedia is the site for collaborative solutions in sustainability, poverty reduction and international development through the use of sound principles and appropriate technology and the sharing of wisdom and project information. It is a wiki, a type of website which allows anyone to add, remove, or edit content. Registration is encouraged but not required for contributors.
posted by The Lady is a designer at 1:21 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Appropedia is the site for collaborative solutions in sustainability, poverty reduction and international development through the use of sound principles and appropriate technology and the sharing of wisdom and project information. It is a wiki, a type of website which allows anyone to add, remove, or edit content. Registration is encouraged but not required for contributors.
posted by The Lady is a designer at 1:21 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: A few more:
Uncyclopedia is a Wikipedia parody full of satire and nonsense. The quality of the average article is hit-or-miss, but the best-of lists contain some good stuff.
Encyclopedia Dramatica is an extremely NSFW wiki that nevertheless provides insight into the world of 4chan and its related sites. If you've ever wanted to understand the meaning of a strange new meme, or just get a caustic and vulgar take on a given topic, ED is the place to look. But again, it's peppered with sexually graphic images and vulgar language, so tread lightly.
Urban Dictionary is a wiki-esque user-generated dictionary. Primarily intended for slang, it also provides an instant crowdsourced opinion for just about anything you can think of.
Conservapedia is a disturbing window into the psyche of rabid right-wing fundamentalists. A self-styled "trustworthy" alternative to Wikipedia, it's a place where neutrality is frowned upon and where evangelical, creationist, and fiscally conservative thinking is mandatory. Check out the articles onBarack Obama "Barack Hussein Obama II (aka Barry Soetoro)", global warming, atheism, general relativity, their Conservative Bible project, etc., etc., etc. for a good laugh/cry. Just remember: millions of people actually believe every word of it.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:23 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Uncyclopedia is a Wikipedia parody full of satire and nonsense. The quality of the average article is hit-or-miss, but the best-of lists contain some good stuff.
Encyclopedia Dramatica is an extremely NSFW wiki that nevertheless provides insight into the world of 4chan and its related sites. If you've ever wanted to understand the meaning of a strange new meme, or just get a caustic and vulgar take on a given topic, ED is the place to look. But again, it's peppered with sexually graphic images and vulgar language, so tread lightly.
Urban Dictionary is a wiki-esque user-generated dictionary. Primarily intended for slang, it also provides an instant crowdsourced opinion for just about anything you can think of.
Conservapedia is a disturbing window into the psyche of rabid right-wing fundamentalists. A self-styled "trustworthy" alternative to Wikipedia, it's a place where neutrality is frowned upon and where evangelical, creationist, and fiscally conservative thinking is mandatory. Check out the articles on
posted by Rhaomi at 1:23 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Forgot to mention Teampedia is a collaborative encyclopedia of free team building activities, free icebreakers, teamwork resources, etc etc
posted by beardlace at 1:34 AM on October 7, 2010
posted by beardlace at 1:34 AM on October 7, 2010
Best answer: In the vein of Dwarf Fortress: Wikihack, the Nethack Wiki.
MathWorld and ScienceWorld. Those are probably curated by a single person rather than a community like most wikis, and they appear to be composed of flat HTML files rather than wiki software, but the site content and formats definitely fall within the the wiki spectrum.
posted by XMLicious at 2:10 AM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
MathWorld and ScienceWorld. Those are probably curated by a single person rather than a community like most wikis, and they appear to be composed of flat HTML files rather than wiki software, but the site content and formats definitely fall within the the wiki spectrum.
posted by XMLicious at 2:10 AM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best answer: The Tie-dye Wiki contains many tutorials for tie-dyeing fabric and clothing, including many specific folds, and good discussion of the dyes and chemicals.
posted by Ery at 4:27 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Ery at 4:27 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: IMDFB is a terrifyingly comprehensive wiki covering who used what gun in every film, TV show and video game imaginable. Ideal for those long nights spent tossing and turning, asking yourself "Did Martin Lawrence use an MP5 or an MP5K in Bad Boys?"
posted by dudekiller at 4:43 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by dudekiller at 4:43 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The Lostpedia will devour your soul.
I randomly got lost on the Bulbapedia (pokéwiki) the other day in the midst of a drunken internets argument about Jigglypuff.
posted by elizardbits at 5:54 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
I randomly got lost on the Bulbapedia (pokéwiki) the other day in the midst of a drunken internets argument about Jigglypuff.
posted by elizardbits at 5:54 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Memory Alpha is all things Star Trek.
posted by mmascolino at 6:05 AM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by mmascolino at 6:05 AM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best answer: The greatest thing on the Internet (IN MY OPINION) is the Destroyer Wiki! It's dreamy.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 7:18 AM on October 7, 2010
posted by RJ Reynolds at 7:18 AM on October 7, 2010
Best answer: Memory Alpha is all things Star Trek.
To be more precise, Memory Alpha is all things Star Trek canon (five live-action series and eleven movies, so far) and very-nearly-canon (the animated series), plus occasional brief real-world-perspective articles on licensed non-canon sources . But there's also Memory Beta for much more detailed (and in-universe) articles on licensed but non-canon sources (books, comic books, video games, etc.) Then there's both Memory Gamma and Star Trek Expanded Universe for non-licensed sources: fanfic, fan-produced series, etc. (And before you turn up your nose too quickly at that, a few of the fan-produced series have gotten some of the original Trek actors to reprise their roles and have reasonably good production quality.) I haven't explored the MG and STEU wikis enough to know what the difference between them (if any) is in their intended scope.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:48 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
To be more precise, Memory Alpha is all things Star Trek canon (five live-action series and eleven movies, so far) and very-nearly-canon (the animated series), plus occasional brief real-world-perspective articles on licensed non-canon sources . But there's also Memory Beta for much more detailed (and in-universe) articles on licensed but non-canon sources (books, comic books, video games, etc.) Then there's both Memory Gamma and Star Trek Expanded Universe for non-licensed sources: fanfic, fan-produced series, etc. (And before you turn up your nose too quickly at that, a few of the fan-produced series have gotten some of the original Trek actors to reprise their roles and have reasonably good production quality.) I haven't explored the MG and STEU wikis enough to know what the difference between them (if any) is in their intended scope.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:48 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Sensei's Library is an amazingly thorough and helpful Go/Baduk/Weiqi (the board game that is like unto chess as a war is unto a single battle) wiki.
posted by Eshkol at 8:02 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Eshkol at 8:02 AM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: A wiki for David Foster Wallace and Infinite Jest.
posted by mattbucher at 9:10 AM on October 7, 2010
posted by mattbucher at 9:10 AM on October 7, 2010
Best answer: Both on Wikia but both very different (and non-related) subjects: MST3K and John Peel.
posted by Webbster at 10:54 AM on October 7, 2010
posted by Webbster at 10:54 AM on October 7, 2010
I just found an actress's name on the Law and Order wiki that would have been a pain via IMDB.
posted by knile at 6:27 AM on October 13, 2010
posted by knile at 6:27 AM on October 13, 2010
Best answer: NetHackWiki, the NetHack wiki. It used to be called Wikihack, but it moved out from Wikia and got renamed.
Most NetHack players need it to win this roguelike computer-role-play game.
Orion's Arm Universe Project focuses on hard science fiction. It isn't strictly a wiki, but close.
posted by Tjr at 5:22 PM on December 2, 2010
Most NetHack players need it to win this roguelike computer-role-play game.
Orion's Arm Universe Project focuses on hard science fiction. It isn't strictly a wiki, but close.
posted by Tjr at 5:22 PM on December 2, 2010
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posted by londonmark at 12:35 AM on October 7, 2010