Illogicopedia time capsule: Editthis Illogico

Here's a brief glance at how the old Editthis Illogicopedia looked back in December 2008, courtesy the Internet Archive. At this point, ?pedia had been at Wikia for more than a year but the Editthis wiki remained as an archive of past misdemeanours glories for all to view up until its quiet closure at some point in late 2009/early 2010.

The snapshot above, recorded for posterity at the Internet Archive, is the final incarnation of Editthis Illogic's main page featuring that oh-so-famously cringeworthy chatlog riffing on Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. This was the final update at the Editthis wiki until 2008's Retro Week saw it re-open for seven days, during which time a number of articles were created and subsequently ported over to the new wiki the following week.

Happy New Beer, Illogicans

As Illogicopedia enters its sixth year of existence, we're ushering in a new era of nonsense and general madness with a bunch of cool stuff even the most hardened of Uncle Pete users would find mildly awesome.

To kick off the new year, we're seeing the return of that Illogicopedian institution, Big Brrother. The Hoose is now open, and even though you probably aren't allowed in there we can still discuss goings-on in the Illogicopedia common room. Make sure not to give away any happenings from the outside world, though, or we'll be forced to insert blunt objects cake about your person. Huh, I guess that particular bit of censorship won't work too well, but never mind.

It's not often we launch official votes for stuff, but ?pedia's fifth anniversary is as good a time as any. All Illogicopedians are free to vote in the People's Choice Awards, and you can do so up until 1 April, so by all means take a look. There are prizes for Best Article, Best User, Most Awesome Thing to Happen on Illogicopedia plus a bunch of other categories we haven't yet thought up. Oooh, it's all so very exciting!

Celebrations are already well underway, for now in place at the Illogicopedia is a super-special commemorative wiki logo (above right) courtesy The Happy Spaceman and a highly apt featured article. There's more to come, we're sure of it, so keep an eye on the Illogiblog for any as-yet unannounced TQ (that's top quality, incidentally) stuff.

Remember, Illogicopedia will be five years old in less than a week, so don't forget to buy cake and presents to the surprise party we're all planning. We'd appreciate if you kept it a secret from Illogico, however, otherwise it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?

Illogicopedia at 5: Eight Great Illogicopedian Feuds

Picking fights is supposed to be discouraged at Illogicopedia, but for one reason or another we all seem to love the associated drama. I'm not suggesting we change the site's name to flamefestopedia.com (we don't have the money for a start) but in its five year history, Illogicopedia has had more than its fair share of Richard Heads. Oh sorry, we're talking about feuds aren't we? Sorry about that, but it wouldn't be an Illogiblog post if I stayed on subject for more than a paragraph, would it?

1. Subbuteo vs. Super Japan. A war of words between Illogicopedia's greatest international superpowers, the Subbuteo-SuperJapanese conflict dominated the early years of the wiki. On the one side, the home of every superhero ever to exist. On the other, a nation of crazies whose greatest passion is roasted grilled marinaded bay leaves with sushi. A recipe for trouble, you would assume, but this particular battle fizzled out quicker than a particularly bad Korean firework. Though no peace treaty was drawn, apathy took over and the combatants went home for coffee and biscuits before a single physical blow was dealt.

2. Silent Penguin vs. Flameviper. Illogicopedia's single greatest exponent of vanity --oh sorry, I meant conflicts of interest-- was a source of much early Illogicopedian 'drama'. Perhaps the most memorable moment of this feud was a YouTube video featuring said serpent mocking Silent Penguin (amongst others) in a cod-British accent. The resultant 'Soylent Penguin?' comments could easily have been Illogimeme fodder, had the site cared for such things, but users were more engaged in post whoring on the ?pedia Proboards forum.

3. Illogicopedia vs. Uncyclopedia. Illogicopedia readily accepts its position as an Uncyclo 'spin off', but many at good old Uncle Pete regard the Nonsensical Encyclopedia as a childish experiment in monkey cheese and banana fish. This has, unsurprisingly, led to the odd Uncyclopedian crusade to destroy Illogico. None have been even moderately successful, though there was that time Silent Penguin's had his haddock stolen by drunks from the Departure of Fun. Oh, what a jolly jape that was!

4. Illogicopedia vs. Wikia. As long as Illogicopedia has existed, its users have had gripes with its host. The site first set up camp at Editthis, ran on a server in some guy's shed, which was highly prone to leaking rainwater-related downtime. When Illogicopedia persuaded wikihost big boys Wikia to take them under its wing, many rejoiced.

But time proved Wikimedia's newest bessie mate wasn't necessarily all it was cracked up to be. Cue bickering and complaining, which escalated into full-on rage when Wikia introduced forced skin changes in 2008. Illogico bid farewell to their host of more than a year, but not before a series of angry, unprintable exchanges with bigwigs as resolution talks completely disintegrated. Illogicopedia would have to leave, and in November found a new host in the form of Carlb, who to this day continues to provide Illogicopedia with a warm, welcoming home.

5. Illogicopedia vs. Avril Troll. A curious case, this. Avril Troll began his ?pedia career as a vandal expressing his extreme love for a certain Canadian songstress (no, not Alanis Morissette, you muppet) in no uncertain terms. In a moment of wiki-Stockholm Syndrome, however, he vowed to do good and join the ranks of Illogicopedia as a full paid-up member of the establishment... and then promptly went back to his old ways, terrorising the site like never before. Are we dumbos or what? In his time as a do-gooder, his best work was probably The Terminator, but a great many of his non-vandalistic contributions were actually top notch.

6. Athyria vs. Noob. During 2011, Poor Athyria had the unenviable task of mopping up the sticky mess left by countless spammers on their salt-fuelled rampages through the streets (and fridges) of Illogiland. What she didn't bargain for was Illogicopedia's latest noob, the aptly named Another n00b, Jumbly's newest arrival. In a protracted war, Athyria blocked n00b seven times for a variety of reasons including Arson, Fraud and littering. Though n00b is a largely reformed character, one senses this battle might spill over into 2012, so watch this space. Or Illogicopedia, whatever.

7. Illogicopedia vs. Roberto. Every Illogicopedian has, at one time or another, suffered at the hands of the evil Roberto. Nope, not that bloke off Fresh Prince of Bel Air --I think that was Alfonso Ribeiro-- but some unemployed hick from Texas with nothing better to do than vandalise a small-time, "backwater wiki only regulars care about" (Athyria). In his reign of terror, the faceless vandal everybody loves to hate has been responsible for 96% of all downtime since June 2008, and even brought Uncyclopedia and Wikipedia to their knees in the Great Wiki Crash of March 2010. As punishment, he was made to eat his own beard, but that didn't stop him - nothing can. Except perhaps... health food? Hand me my trusty banana...

8. The Member Coalition vs. Good Taste. 'Membergate': One man's own attempt to extol the merits of toilet humour, Cockbeast (named after a chicken, of course), ignited a huge debate over Illogicopedian taste standards in early 2010. Thankfully, this period of bickering didn't last too long, and served the important purpose of injecting activity into the wiki once more. If one looks closely enough, one can still see faint remnants of what was a short but intense altercation that truly split opinions.

Read more about some of these subjects in this Illogicopedia article on the subject of, erm, Illogicopedia.