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Wikipedia’s mission of becoming an Internet-based user-edited encyclopedia is looking pretty grim, as its article count is shrinking by the bulk. They give you the deletion page to look at, where you can see that the decisions are made by a democratic process run by obvious teenagers. If you thought Wikipedia was inaccurate before, it’s quickly becoming an encyclopedia solely for registered Wikipedia users, not an encyclopedia for the general public.

Here are some Web sites to make up for the credibility Wikipedia had their chance of having:

1. Urban Dictionary Need to know the definition of a word or phrase which isn’t notable (or family-friendly) enough for Wikipedia? Urban Dictionary has very little prohibitions on submitted content, and rule violations frequently get past the volunteer “editors” (they log on to a chat room and vote on submissions in real time.) Visit UrbanDictionary.com and see the English language taken to its fullest extent.

2. The Phrase Finder If you want a step up from Urban Dictionary, check out The Phrase Finder (www.phrases.org.uk) for detailed historical and background information on popular phrases. Visit The Phrase Finder to get the whole story.

3. Deletionpedia This site contains, as of the time of this writing, “63,099 pages which have been deleted from the English-language Wikipedia” and the justification for their deletion. A Wikipedia article on Deletionpedia was almost deleted prior to the mainstream press picking up this censorship attempt. Visit Deletionpedia.dbatley.com to comb through the bulk deletions of Wikipedia articles that occur every day.

4. Wikia Ever want to look up something, except that it’s way too detailed and above the head of Wikipedia’s editors, and they refuse to carry it under made-up words (like “fancruft”) which Wikipedia “bans” editors from using in public? Wikia contains loads of mini-Wikis (and allows you to create your own) which let you get into the finest detail of your video game level or TV character. Visit Wikia.com and get all the information you could want.

5. Know Your Meme Internet pop-culture phenomena springs up all the time. Very little of it makes it to Wikipedia. The most notable case was the Brian Peppers fiasco, where Wikipedia founder Jimbo Wales picked a random date (one year later) to make a final decision for inclusion on the site – this turned out to be a sarcastic joke when “Brian Pepper’s Day” came along. For information too relevant to society outside of Wikipedia, visit KnowYourMeme.com.

6. About.com Predating Wikipedia by years, this New York Times-owned site is run by “experts” from the top down. There’s lots of articles and links on anything from “80s music” to “Italian food“. Visit About.com for information backed by experience.

7. Conservapedia.com If you come from the other side of the spectrum, you might want to check out Conservapedia. Run by Phyllis Schlafly’s son Andrew, the site comes from a religious conservative viewpoint, and is very strict on discerning “quality edits” by a “90/10 rule” and requiring usernames to contain a real name and last initial. Conservapedia was founded due to frustration with Wikipedia’s liberal bias finalized in a paper Andrew Schlafly received from a student using BCE/CE dates. It is notable for its articles in support of creationism over evolution. There are also discussion threads, contests, and seminars. Recently they were in the news for the Conservative Bible Project, an attempt to re-translate the King James Bible with a capitalist and anti-feminist viewpoint. Visit Conservapedia.com for a view from the other side.

The 7 Sites To Make Up For Wikipedia’s Shrinking Article Count by X-Cop Fly Company, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at xcopfly.com.