Wikivoyage:Joke articles/Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a state founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger some thirteen years ago on January 15, 2001. It is the largest and most populous state of Wikimedia (country) as it has a population of over 30 million inhabitants and visited by nearly 500 million unique tourists every month, which makes it one of the top destinations in Wikimedia as well on the world wide web.

Understand
Wikipedia first emerged at the start of 2001 as a small enclave of the ascendant (albeit short-lived) Nupedia Technocracy which also appeared at the same time. This small region quickly ballooned in size and ambition, soon overtaking its parent state and becoming its own sovereign nation. In order to fund and regulate both it and its neighbour Wiktionary's expansion, Wikipedia was heavily involved in the creation of the Wikimedia Foundation of which the state itself would become a constituent part. Today, this democratic federation controls a large proportion of the sum of human knowledge, largely displacing the former Britannica Empire which had once stretched from A to Zymotic Diseases.

Eagle-eyed travellers may notice Wikipedia's lack of older architecture: a result of the state's comparatively lax planning laws and the continuous regeneration that takes place throughout this land. This process of constant renewal, combined with the occasional edit war (check with your embassy before travelling) can make Wikipedia a very exciting destination for the traveller, although some visitors have complained of difficulties integrating with the local community.

Today, Wikipedia sits at the heart of the Wikimedia Foundation; a thriving and throbbing state that is seen by many as the premier destination within the World Wide Web.

Fauna
Wikipedia is home to a wide variety of WikiFauna, including but not limited to Wiki Dragons, Elves, Gnomes, Gremlins, Fairies, Griefers, Ogres, PR agents, Platypi, Sloths, Trolls, Vandals, and Zombies.

Cities
There are some 286 big and small cities in Wikipedia. Wikipedia's biggest and most notable cities are:
 * English Wikipedia — the most populous, most diverse and multi-ethnic metropolis and de facto capital of Wikipedia
 * Dutch Wikipedia — second largest city of Wikipedia
 * Germany Wikipedia — third largest city of Wikipedia
 * Swedish Wikipedia — fourth largest city of Wikipedia
 * French Wikipedia — fifth largest city of Wikipedia

Other destinations

 * Wikimedia Commons — a picturesque open field where travelling photographers are invited to pause to allow their pack animals to graze.
 * Wikipedia 10 — A small town previously used for grand celebrations on the tenth anniversary of Wikipedia, now rarely visited.

Get in
Not by plane, by car or by train. The only way to enter Wikipedia is through the Internet. Anyone may enter and live in Wikipedia indefinitely. The major points of entry is English Wikipedia. You can simply enter the state as you can enter any other state or country in the web. Just type "www.wikipedia.org" and you are in. It is recommended to register (create an account) yourself if it is your first time to visit the state.

By plane
Wikipedia has upwards of 16,000 airports, although none are open to aviation.

By car
Some anecdotal evidence has suggested that Wikipedia is accessible by motor car, although this is not recommended. All attempts to replicate this result have ended in broken computers, insurance claims and bitter disappointment.

Get around
Wikipedia is big but travelling around is very easy and convenient. Cities of Wikipedia are linked with each other through a network of hyperlinks whereas while you're in a city, both links as well a search box is the most convenient and fastest way to roam around.

Local public transit within Wikimedia is based on a network of 64-bit buses which operate at high speed.

Additional modes of transport are available from Wikipedia's Transport Portal with frequent local and express departures.

Operation of vehicles within Wikipedia requires a free licence (CC-BY-SA) which may be obtained from any Creative Commons licence bureau. This free licence must be affixed in a prominent location at the front and rear of each vehicle. Vehicles bearing Uncyclopedia "puzzle potato" plates are turned back at the Wikipedia border because that nation uses an incompatible, non-commercial licence. Roadside assistance is available from WikiProject Route 66 in an emergency.

Talk
Wikipedia has 286 official languages. A good rule of thumb, each Wikipedian city = different language. English is spoken in nearly every city of Wikipedia, depending on education levels of the inhabitants of the city.

Be sure to cite anything you say within Wikipedia to independent, reliable sources and remain neutral at all times[ citation needed ].

A number of permenant, and semi-permenant residents of some cities, may be able to offer translation assistance, look for the babel boxes.

All pages have a separate talk page that can be used to discuss the content of the page (articles, policy pages) or the actions of a particular user (user pages).

Sign languages are not yet well represented within Wikipedia, but efforts are being made on an ad-hoc basis by the Foundation authorities.

See

 * English Wikipedia -- A majestic, well-developed city and the most visited part of Wikipedia. The Capital and the heart of Wikipedia; it is both advanced and historical city of Wikipedia with a population of over 2 million people.
 * Featured articles — English Wikipedia has 4,835 featured articles (attractions). Featured articles are the best articles English Wikipedia has to offer to its visitors so don't forget to take a look at some.
 * Portal of Current events — Interesting in current affairs and events? Head to this portal often remain crowded with plenty of news from all around the world.


 * Wikipedia Museum — There's a local museum (article on Wikipedia) in nearly every city where you can learn in detail more about the local city as well Wikipedia and Wikimedia.


 * The Arbitration Comittee - Located in English Wikipedia. This famous (and mostly respected) judicial entity, is the senior court of record and appeal for that city on extremely serious disputes, barring direct intervention by the Foundation authorities. An archive of published rulings is maintained.

Do

 * Editing: Caution, this activity may be habit-forming. It's easy to start by correcting a spelling error or two, then go on to updating or correcting information. Before you know it, you could be spending your holiday time with local Wikipedians to create substantive new content.
 * Vandalising and trolling
 * wikipedia:Category:Wikipedia games
 * Be generous — Wikipedia rely on donations so please try to donate a penny if you can afford to do so.
 * Nitpick trivial punctuation and formatting
 * Whack someone with a wet trout
 * Read and learn — if you don't feel like writing, there are plenty of interesting articles to read no matter what your interests are. This can become habit forming just like editing.
 * Wikiarcheology (?) — browse through the page history and see what articles looked like a month or a year ago or what the very first edit was. Who knows, you might discover an old edit war or some ridiculous instance of vandalism.

Buy
Wikipedia's economy relies mainly upon charitable donations and the sale of branded merchandise. Many different souvenirs are available from the state-operated Wikipedia shop.

Beware of touts who approach, offering to sell you an article about yourself, your business or organisation, your pet or your garage band. This sort of activity is illegal and heavily policed; crimes in progress may be reported to the New Pages Patrol (GSM: 1-1-2, emergency only) or to any local police station.

Eat
Don't expect food until you work and dedicate some of your time to contribute to prosperity of Wikipedia. Food and drinks often given to residents of the state.

Drink



 * Like most other places on the Internet where users can write and publish text, drinking alcohol and editing is not recommended.

Sleep

 * Do not disturb those who use Template:retired and Template:Semi-retired marked outside their homes (user pages) as they may be busy in sleeping and interrupting them may cause them irritation. You can too use any of the template and fall asleep and do not worry, nobody will gonna disturb you!! ZZZZZzzzz
 * Do not disturb those who use Template:retired and Template:Semi-retired marked outside their homes (user pages) as they may be busy in sleeping and interrupting them may cause them irritation. You can too use any of the template and fall asleep and do not worry, nobody will gonna disturb you!! ZZZZZzzzz

Stay safe
Beware of recent changes patrollers and admins. They work as police. They may kick you out of Wikipedia, can blacklist you and may permanently ban your travel to Wikipedia if you try to vandalise while in the state. Border Gateway Protocols tend to be strict, so attempting to sneak into the country is not advisable.

Crime exists in the state, and edit wars are common. When venturing into topic areas which have been battlefields for ongoing edit wars, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Crimea and the Palestinian territories, your own nation's high commission or embassy may only be able to offer semi-protection at best. This will protect you from attacks from anonymous IP addresses but will not guarantee the same level of safety which you take for granted at home. Unfortunately no article category is completely safe from edit wars, articles about pop artists, historical events or even dog breeds are places where they can take place. Many protected articles (identified by a padlock in the upper right corner) are former edit battlegrounds.

Stay away from any clandestine laboratories which you may encounter in the Wikimedian jungle; many of these are engaged in clandestine original research, which is prohibited throughout Wikipedia.

Beware of IDN homoglyph attacks, a trap set for the unwary; pt.wíkipedia.org (note the accent on the í) is not Wikipedia, but a parody. Unsuspecting travellers blundering into these domains have lost all of their neutral, reliably-sourced facts and been found years later under a brazillion pages of patented nonsense.

There's a Help desk where you can Ask questions about the state or otherwise go to "Wikipedia:Contact us".

Stay healthy
All major infectious diseases and dangerous animals are present in the form of articles. However editing and viewing said articles is completely safe.

Respect
Most Wikipedians are warm-hearted and welcome new visitors. Treat them with respect, follow local policy and guidelines and spread wiki love. Avoid personal remarks, personal attacks, vandalising, and anything that can hurt the local community.

Connect

 * Read Site news for Announcements, updates, and press releases on Wikipedia and the United Wikis of Wikimedia.
 * A weekly newspaper is published: Wikipedia Signpost.

Embassies and High Commissions
A handy list of embassies and High Commissions in each of Wikipedia's towns can be found here.

Go next

 * Special:Randompage