Wikipedia:Humor

Outside of the article namespace, full pages or sections can be marked with indicators before lead paragraphs or under the section header such as {{humor}}.

No one wants to be the skunk at the garden party, but Wikipedia is no longer the fledgling experiment it was back in the 2000s. It's now the world's foremost repository of humanity's collective knowledge, and with that privilege comes some custodial responsibilities. The benefits of humor in helping boost

• Humor is sometimes misinterpreted – Sarcasm is hard to convey in writing that lacks the cues of verbal communication. Many editors and administrators have spent hours resolving disputes arising from this.
• Irresponsible humor damages Wikipedia's credibility – We've all worked hard to cultivate the reputation for trustworthiness Wikipedia enjoys. Readers come here expecting information, and when they find jokes instead, they lose faith in our reliability.
• Not everyone is looking for humor – Sometimes, an editor is engaged in a serious task and just wants to focus on it. Clear disclosure gives them the option to do so, whereas undisclosed jokes often draw attention and take time to figure out.

Think of the disclosure requirement not as an obstacle, but as a challenge. Humor can still be funny even when it's disclosed — try reading WP:Sarcasm is really helpful with a straight face — it just needs to be, well, good.

There is no clear

If humorous content is included in an article, it must be done in such a way as to meet all the usual article requirements, including:

• Verifiability
• Neutral point-of-view
• No original research
• Reliable sources

Writing an article about humor or humorous subjects is not the same as adding humor to an article. One can write "dry" articles on humor, should that be considered appropriate. This concept is somewhat analogous to the style guidelines for

How humor can be included

When a humorous work on a subject has attracted enough attention to be

• Sometimes Wikipedians just highlight the humor — in articles or other areas — without intending to criticize at all. For example, Wikipedia:Unusual articles, which generally considers the humorous nature of the listed articles to be a positive thing.
• Sometimes Wikipedians create humor for its own sake in out-of-the-way places where readers are unlikely to find it. For example, see
  WP:END or the AfD for Vowel
  .
• Humor is often used in attempts to "lighten the mood" in an active discussion, with varying degrees of success and failure.
• Irony is often used to illustrate a point. For example, Wikipedia:BOLD, revert, revert, revert provides an example of how not to behave.
• Humor is sometimes used to illustrate a point without irony. For example, the list of the
  Lamest Edit Wars
  may serve to curtail edit wars by providing examples of just how absurd they can become.
• Wikipedians often make jokes about the Wikipedia community, and/or which are intended for the Wikipedian community. These may sometimes qualify as "in-jokes", as without community experience, the humor will be lessened or lost. For an example, see the 1 April 2018 RfA for SineBot.
• Wikipedians sometimes voice the opinion that other Wikipedians are taking a given issue too seriously, and will create "spoofs" of the issue, which many find humorous.

Humor tends to be very subjective. One should remain aware that what one finds hilarious, another may find offensive. The use of humor does not override such core policies as

Many pages which at least some

• Wikipedia:Silly Things
• Wikipedia:Rules for Fools
• Wikipedia:Department of Fun
• Category:Wikipedia humor
• "A Little Fun Goes A Long Way", a Signpost op-ed about humor on Wikipedia

• Uncyclopedia:How To Be Funny And Not Just Stupid
• Wikidata:Humour