Uncyclopedia ("the content-free encyclopedia") is a satirical website that parodies Wikipedia. Founded in 2005 as an originally English-language wiki, the project currently spans over 75 languages. The English version has over 30,000 pages of content, second only to the Brazilian/Portuguese Desciclopédia, which has over 34,000 pages of content.
Various styles of humor and cursing are used as a vehicle for parody, from earnest attempts at sophisticated satire to straightforward uses of sarcasm, along with structured in-jokes and occasional non-sequiturs. Like Wikipedia, Uncyclopedia has guidelines regarding what is and is not acceptable content and these guidelines have become progressively stricter as the site expands over time. The site has garnered media attention for its articles on people and places.
Some of the articles on Uncyclopedia contain templates providing a link to the corresponding Wikipedia article. It generally uses the quotes "For those without comedic tastes, the so-called experts at Wikipedia think they have an article about (a link to the article)."
Uncyclopedia was launched on January 5, 2005, by Jonathan Huang, known online as "Chronarion", and a pseudonymous partner called "Stillwaters". Though it started as an independent project, Uncyclopedia quickly outgrew its original webhost, leading Huang to search for a new host. On May 26, 2005, Angela Beesley, Vice President of Wikia, Inc., announced that Wikia would host Uncyclopedia. On July 10, 2006, Huang transferred ownership of the Uncyclopedia.org domain name to Wikia. The majority of Uncyclopedia-related projects in other languages remain hosted under their own localised names, either as fully independent domains or as subdomains of Wikia.com.
25% (or 20 out of 79) of the Uncyclopedia collection is hosted by Wikia; there are also six dedicated non-Wikia servers which host "Uncyclopedia Babel" project content in various languages. To coordinate these projects (collectively, the "Uncyclomedia Babble Project") an Un-Meta wiki was created in 2006.
