Redundant spoilers are a type of spoiler tag on the One True Thread that often follow images uploaded directly onto the forum. The content of the spoiler tag is usually the original uploaded attachment. It has become a tradition on the thread to also include a bonus image in this spoiler.
Instructions[]
- Upload your attachments (in my case I usually have two, the ottification and the redundakitty).
- Your attachments will appear in "Posted Attachments" under the body of your post. Click "place inline" on both of them. They will look like
[attachment=3]Image.png[/attachment]. - Put these two attachment modules in a spoiler tag - these are faulty and cannot be quoted.
- Preview your post. Open your spoiler and right-click on your attached image. If your image is already full-sized, click "Copy Image URL." If your image is not full-sized yet, click "Open link in new tab" and copy the image url from there.
- Paste your image URLs in the body of your post and put
[img]tags around them. I usually put the redundakitty image into the spoiler at this point, where it can stay as a quotable duplicate. Your post will look something like:
Here is the text of my post, check out this image I made:
[img]http://forums.xkcd.com/download/file.php?id=11111[/img] <--Ottification [spoiler] [img]http://forums.xkcd.com/download/file.php?id=22222[/img] <--Redundakitty [attachment=0]Ottification.png[/attachment] <--Faulty Ottification Attachment [attachment=1]Redundakitty.png[/attachment] <--Faulty Redundakitty Attachment [/spoiler]
Reasoning[]
Readers of the thread found that images uploaded on external hosting sites often got caught by filters on work or school computers, and therefore were not visible to those OTTers. It was noted that by using the forum itself to upload attachments, all viewers of the thread should also be able to view these attachments.
However, uploaded attachments on the forum sometimes render oddly (particularly if they're gifs). A ghosting effect or side-scrollbars may appear, and the image might only show as a clickable thumbnail instead of full-size. Other posters also cannot quote attachment tags (all that survives is the original filename of the uploaded image). The workaround is to take advantage of the new url of the uploaded attachment and wrap that in [img] tags. This secondary image behaves like all others on the thread: it appears full-size, is quotable, and does not ghost.
This method therefore leaves the original poster with two "images" in the post: the proper [img]-wrapped url, and the uploaded attachment, which cannot be removed because the url redirects to it. In early newpages of the thread, posters would sometimes leave the two images together, one on top of the other. Some found that visually disconcerting, and chose to hide the original attachment in a [spoiler] tag below the proper image. To dissuade OTTers from opening a spoiler that contained no new material, the practice of labeling such spoilers "Redundant" began.
Redundakitties and Bonus Images[]
- See also: Redundakitty Collection
Many readers of the One True Thread have the desire to read it all, and that means also checking spoiler tags for hidden information. One such reader, BlitzGirl, grew tired of seeing only redundant images when she opened these spoilers, and began the practice of adding "bonus material" to redundant spoilers - entertainment for those who chose to click on them.
The very first redundakitty.
BlitzGirl's most common redundant easter egg became an image of a black cat (a nod to the raptorcat that appeared in the comic), captioned lolcat-style. The caption reads, "i told u was redundant. y u no believe me?" These cat images became known as "redundakitties", a term coined by yappobiscuits in his first redundakitty (the first not to be made by BlitzGirl) which parodied BlitzGirl's idea. Since then, the bonus material has expanded to include all sorts of images, and sometimes text.
As of Newpage 1214, BlitzGirl had uploaded fifty different "classic" redundakitties.