4chan
4chan | |
Content is not officially archived, but some sites take up the effort. However, those very sites are often themselves in danger of collapse. | |
URL | 4chan.org |
Status | Online! |
Archiving status | Special case |
Archiving type | Unknown |
IRC channel | #archiveteam-bs (on hackint) |
4chan is said to be one of the most significant and "interesting" websites in existence. It has a unique anonymous imageboard posting system, and has a disproportionate influence on English-language internet culture.
The website eventually deletes threads after they reach a bump limit. However, numerous archive sites and wikis have taken up the task of saving threads and images. Numerous others have fallen. We need to keep watch on these fragile, community supported archives, since they can easily collapse without warning.
Scripts
Some scripts you can use to archive 4chan threads yourself.
- BASC Archiver - Python-based 4chan Thread Archiver for Windows/Mac OS X/Linux. Archives everything: Images, Thumbnails, Thread HTML, JSON, etc.
- FoolFuuka - Make your own 4chan board archiver website. Fuuka will grab every single thread from 4chan and save it for later public access.
Current Projects
Update: As of 04-08-2014, Moot is retiring the Filesharing search board (/rs/) and the Discussion boards (dis.4chan.org). The Discussion boards are being hidden from the main site, but kept in a read-only state; this could be a good Warrior/Wget side project.
- dis.4chan.org - 4chan's 2ch-style text boards. All posts from the beginning of the forum's existence are archived, unlike most of 4chan. Therefore, it gives a rare historic snapshot of 4chan's past.
- New posts can no longer be made, but the existing threads are still available. It is probably prudent to start slurping them down with wget; 4chan generally isn't archived on the Internet Archive.
- /rs/ - 4chan's filesharing link search board. All filesharing links ever posted to any 4chan board have been recorded here.
- Not sure if it is still available... Seems to be down with no archives ever made. Could have a few snapshots on the Internet Archive.
Wikis
- Encyclopedia Dramatica - The quintessential 4chan wiki.
- Insurgency Wiki - Once, it was almost equal to ED in power and influence. Now, thousands of collapses and failures have reduced it to a broken mess. It would have been gone entirely if it was not for the Bibliotheca Anonoma, which happened to be examining Partyvan.info 2 days before it's collapse.
- Bibliotheca Anonoma - A wiki designed to save the greatest treasures from around the internet. It strives to provide an index to the archives below to assess their value and display great works to the public. Because what good is a massive mess of information without a guide?
- Yotsuba Society - A place dedicated to studying the culture of 4chan. Maintains a wiki that strives to restore Wikichan to it's former state.
As of 1/16/14, the archival portion of the site is down.The archives have been moved in their entirety to the Stanford Digital Library. - Wikichan - The first major 4chan wiki, holding tons of important stories and content. It is the model for many 4chan archive projects to come. The entire wiki collapsed spectacularly several times without recourse, and is the prime example of the problems that occur when a major 4chan archive goes down.
- LURKMOAR Wiki
Sup/tg/
Suptg | |
URL | suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com |
Status | Online! |
Archiving status | Not saved yet |
Archiving type | Unknown |
IRC channel | #archiveteam-bs (on hackint) |
A site created by /tg/ members in 2009, it has a considerable community of its own, providing reviews and RPG materials. sup/tg/ has a uniquely crated archive with full image support. Unlike most other archives listed, moderators conduct routine purges of low-rated threads, a process they refer to as "graveyarding". The only other site that had a similar policy was Chanarchive, but they deleted threads while they were incoming.
4chandata/4chanarchive
4chandata | |
URL | 4chanarchive.net, formerly 4chandata.org |
Status | Online! |
Archiving status | Not saved yet |
Archiving type | Unknown |
IRC channel | #archiveteam-bs (on hackint) |
A considerably wide cross-section of 4chan's boards, starting at August 8 2012. Ironically, despite being an imageboard archive, the site itself is unwilling to host images due to the possibility of legal issues surrounding content. While there is content overlap with the Fuuka-based archivers, the site's good to include for the sake of completeness. 4chandata was supplanted by 4chanarchive.net, and both sites appear to be in a precarious hosting situation with archiving coming to a sudden halt on November 20th 2014.
4archive
4archive | |
URL | 4archive.org |
Status | Online! |
Archiving status | Not saved yet |
Archiving type | Unknown |
IRC channel | #archiveteam-bs (on hackint) |
Another site that saves threads on a unique platform, starting at January 17 2014. This site is notable as it is (currently) the only site archiving /b/. Images are stored separately through Imgur and Imageshack.
Fuuka-based Archivers
Fuuka is a special imageboard backend that allows servers to archive entire boards on 4chan. It would be a good idea to persuade them to upload database dumps to the Internet Archive, just in the very likely case that some disaster befalls them.
Archive.moe 4chan Board Archive
Archive.moe | |
URL | archive.moe |
Status | Online! |
Archiving status | Not saved yet |
Archiving type | Unknown |
IRC channel | #archiveteam-bs (on hackint) |
Archive.moe is the successor to Archive.Foolz.us, after the scanlation group decided to spin off their 4chan archival branch.
It inherited /a/, /biz/, /c/, /diy/, /gd/, /jp/, /m/, /out/, /po/, /q/, /sci/, /tg/, /tv/ (via 4plebs), /vg/, /vp/, /vr/, and /wsg/ from Foolz. They also assumed the boards formerly archived by The Dark Cave, InstallGentoo (/g/, /diy/, /sci/), and Deniable Plausibility.
Due to space constraints, Archive.moe tends to shed image dumps on a schedule. However, they always provide backups before they do this, so make sure to upload them to the Internet Archive.
Board | Date of Oldest Thread | Pedigree | Thumbnails | Oldest Full Image |
---|---|---|---|---|
/a/ - Animu & Mango | 2008-02-03 | ??? -> green-oval.net ->easymodo.net -> foolz.us -> archive.moe | Restored | ??? |
/biz/ - Business and Finance | 2010-10-12 (from birth) | foolz.us -> archive.moe | Yes | All |
/c/ - Cute Animu | 2012-04-02 | (???) -> archive.moe | Yes | ??? |
/diy/ - Do It Yourself | 2011-10-23 | installgentoo.net -> foolz.us -> archive.moe | Yes | ??? |
/g/ - Technology | 2010-02-07 | green-oval.net -> installgentoo.net -> rbt.asia & archive.moe | Not after 2014 (try rbt.asia) | No |
/gd/ - Graphic Design | 2014-07-12 | foolz.us -> archive.moe | Lost before 2014 | ??? |
/h/ Hentai | 2012-01-25 | foolz.us -> archive.moe | Lost before 2014 | ??? |
/i/ - Oekaki | 2011-11-05 | foolz.us -> archive.moe | Yes | All |
/int/ - International | 2013-01-08 | foolz.us -> archive.moe | Partially Restored | ??? |
/jp/ - Otaku Culture | 2008-02-20 (from birth) | ??? ->easymodo.net -> foolz.us -> archive.moe | Yes | ??? |
/k/ - Weapons | 2012-07-13 | heinessen.com -> foolz.us (???) -> archive.moe | Yes | ??? |
/m/ - Mecha | 2009-03-27 | easymodo.net -> foolz.us -> archive.moe | Lost, Partially Restored | ??? |
/mlp/ - Pony | 2012-03-27 (from birth) | heinessen.com -> foolz.us (???) -> archive.moe | Yes | Internet Archive |
/out/ - Outdoors | 2012-03-18 (from birth) | (???) -> foolz.us (???) -> archive.moe | Yes | ??? |
/po/ - Papercraft and Origami | 2010-10-20 | (???) -> foolz.us (???) -> archive.moe | Yes | All |
/q/ - 4chan Feedback | 2010-10-20 (from birth) | foolz.us (board closed 2013-09-18) -> archive.moe | Lost, Partially Restored | ??? |
/qa/ - (Formerly) Questions and Answers | 2010-10-20 (from birth) | archive.moe | Partial? | Partial |
/r9k/ - ROBOT 9001 | 2012-06-02 | (???) -> archive.moe | Yes | ??? |
/s4s/ - Shit 4chan Says | 2013-10-01 | (???) -> archive.moe | Yes | All |
/sci/ - Science | 2013-10-01 | green-oval.net + gentoomen -> installgentoo.net -> archive.moe | Yes | ??? |
/tg/ - Traditional Games | 2010-02-23 | easymodo.net -> foolz.us -> archive.moe | Yes | ??? |
/tv/ - Television and Film | 2010-02-10 | green-oval.net + gentoomen -> foolz.us -> archive.moe | Lost, Partially Restored | ??? |
/u/ - Yuri | 2011-06-04 | foolz.us -> archive.moe | Lost before 2014 | ??? |
/v/ - Video Games | 2012-02-12 | foolz.us -> archive.moe | Lost before 2014 | Partial |
/vg/ - Video Games Generals | 2012-02-16 (from birth) | foolz.us -> archive.moe | Lost before 2014 | |
/vp/ - Pokemon | 2013-03-13 | (???) -> archive.moe | Yes | ??? |
/vr/ - Retro Games | 2013-03-18 (from birth) | (???) -> archive.moe | Yes | |
/wsg/ - Worksafe GIF | 2012-06-05 (from birth) | (???) -> archive.moe | Yes | ??? |
rbt.asia/rebeccablacktech.com
Status: Online Saves Images?: Yes
A Fuuka archiver for /con/, /cgl/, /g/, /mu/ and /w/. /soc/ moved to fgts.
Board | Date of Oldest Thread |
---|---|
/qa/ Q & A | 2015-01-23 (from birth) |
fuuka.warosu.org
Status: Online Saves Images?: Partially (all boards except /g/)
A Fuuka archiver for /3/, /cgl/, /ck/, /fa/, /ic/, /jp/, /lit/, /q/, /tg/, and /vr/.
archive.4plebs.org
Status: Online Saves Images?: Yes
A Fuuka archiver for /hr/, /o/, /pol/, /s4s/, /tg/, /trv/, /tv/, and /x/.
archive.nyafuu.org
Status: Offline Saves Images?: No
A Fuuka archiver for /c/, /e/, /w/, and /wg/, provides full image archiving. /e/ is NSFW. Appears to be down as of 11-13-2014.
fgts.jp
Status: Online Saves Images?: Yes
A Fuuka archiver for /asp/, /cm/, /h/, /hc/, /hm/, /n/, /p/, /r/, /s/, /soc/, and /y/. All except /asp/,/n/, and /p/ are NSFW.
archive.loveisover.me
Status: Online Saves Images?: Yes
A Fuuka archiver for /d/, and /i/. NSFW to the core. Has assumed responsibility of boards formerly curated by archive.nyafuu.org /c/, /e/, /u/, /w/, /wg/, as of November 2014, and took in the archive.mawa.re /t/ archive (which starts from January 12, 2014)
imcute.yt
Status: Online Saves Images?:Yes
A Fuuka archiver that's resumed archiving all boards originally covered by Heinessen (/an/, /fit/, /gif/, /int/, /jp/, /mlp/, /out/, /r9k/, /sp/, /toy/) except /k/ and /x/.
Board | Date of Oldest Thread |
---|---|
/an/ - Animals & Nature | 2014-10-15 |
/fit/ - Fitness | 2010-10-12 |
/gif/ - Adult GIF | 2014-08-09 |
/int/ - International | 2014-10-18 |
/mlp/ - Ponies | 2012-08-08 |
/out/ - Outdoor | 2014-07-12 (from birth) |
/qa/ Q & A | 2015-01-23 (from birth) |
/r9k/ - ROBOT9000 | 2014-11-10 |
/toy/ - Toys | 2014-07-12 |
Boards not currently archived via Fuuka
- /b/ - Random
- /j/ - Janitor Team (staff board; not publicly acknowledged)
- /k/ - Weapons
- /sp/ - Sports (due to a troublesome CP spammer during the April Uprising)
List of Fuuka Archivers by board
(incomplete; always in flux)
- /3/ - 3DCG
- fuuka.warosu.org
- /a/ - Anime & Manga
- archive.moe
- /an/ - Animals & Nature
- imcute.yt
- /asp/ - Alternative Sports
- fgts.jp
- /biz/ - Business and Finance
- archive.moe
- /c/ - Anime/Cute
- archive.moe
- archive.loveisover.me
- /cm/ - Cute/Male
- fgts.jp
- /co/ - Comics & Cartoons
- archive.moe
- /con/ - Conventions
- rbt.asia
- /cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL
- rbt.asia
- fuuka.warosu.org
- /ck/ - Food & Cooking
- fuuka.warosu.org
- /d/ - Hentai/Alternative
- archive.loveisover.me
- /diy/ - Do It Yourself
- archive.moe
- /e/ - Ecchi
- archive.loveisover.me
- /fa/ - Fashion
- fuuka.warosu.org
- /fit/ - Fitness
- imcute.yt
- /g/ - Technology
- rbt.asia
- archive.moe
- /gd/ - Graphic Design
- archive.moe
- /gif/ - Adult GIF
- imcute.yt
- /h/ - Hentai
- nsfw.archive.moe
- fgts.jp
- /hc/ - Hardcore
- fgts.jp
- /hm/ - Handsome Men
- fgts.jp
- /hr/ - High Resolution
- archive.4plebs.org
- /i/ - Oekaki
- archive.moe
- archive.loveisover.me
- /ic/ - Artwork & Critique
- fuuka.warosu.org
- /int/ - International
- archive.moe
- imcute.yt
- /jp/ - Otaku Culture
- archive.moe
- imcute.yt
- fuuka.warosu.org
- /lit/ - Literature
- fuuka.warosu.org
- /lgbt/ - LGBT Discussion
- archive.loveisover.me
- /m/ - Mecha
- archive.moe
- /mlp/ - My Little Pony
- archive.moe
- imcute.yt
- /mu/ - Music
- rbt.asia
- /n/ - Transportation
- fgts.jp
- /o/ - Autos
- archive.4plebs.org
- /out/ - Outdoors
- archive.moe
- imcute.yt
- /p/ - Photography
- fgts.jp
- /po/ - Papercraft & Origami
- archive.moe
- /pol/ - Politically Incorrect
- archive.4plebs.org
- /q/ - 4chan Feedback
- archive.moe
- fuuka.warosu.org
- /qa/ - Question & Answer
- archive.moe
- /r/ - Request
- fgts.jp
- /r9k/ - ROBOT9000
- imcute.yt
- /s/ - Sexy Beautiful Women
- fgts.jp
- /soc/ - Cams & Meetups
- fgts.jp
- /sp/ - Sports
- archive.moe (no longer archiving)
- imcute.yt (not archived)
- /s4s/ - Shit 4chan Says
- archive.4plebs.org
- /t/ - Torrents
- archive.loveisover.me
- /tg/ - Traditional Games
- Suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com
- archive.moe
- fuuka.warosu.org
- archive.4plebs.org
- /toy/ - Toys
- imcute.yt
- /trv/ - Travel
- archive.4plebs.org
- /tv/ - Television & Film
- archive.moe
- /u/ - Yuri
- nsfw.archive.moe
- archive.loveisover.me
- /v/ - Video Games
- archive.moe
- /vg/ - Video Games - General
- archive.moe
- /vp/ - Pokemon
- archive.moe
- /vr/ - Retro Games
- archive.moe
- fuuka.warosu.org
- /w/ - Wallpapers/Anime
- rbt.asia
- archive.loveisover.me
- archive.nyafuu.org
- /wg/ - Wallpapers/General
- archive.loveisover.me
- /wsg/ - Worksafe GIFs
- archive.moe
- /x/ - Paranormal
- archive.4plebs.org
- /y/ - Yaoi
- fgts.jp
Lost Archives
Chanarchive
Chanarchive (formerly 4chanarchive) | |
URL | Chanarchive.org, formerly 4chanarchive.org |
Status | Offline |
Archiving status | Not saved yet |
Archiving type | Unknown |
IRC channel | #archiveteam-bs (on hackint) |
4chan's primary archive site. Since 2006, significant 4chan threads have been archived on the 4chanarchive, creating a database of over 500GBs.
On 10/3/2012, Chanarchive without warning, temporarily shut down (almost permanently though.) On a 4chan thread, the owner stated that the site was banned from paypal and had their funds frozen, making it impossible to pay it's massive expenses. However, the operators of Encyclopedia Dramatica stepped in, and offered to host chanarchive.org, which was accepted by the site's creator/then-owner, "Capsized."
The site is still online as of 2/26/13, but no backups have been made as of yet. As of 1/16/14 the site is down and ED has given no indication to it returning. Internet Archive has intermittent captures of the site.
Zaiger, one former mod, stated that a hard drive containing parts of the site got corrupted, and was irreparable. The Chanarchive Team was thus unable to restore the site, or even a backup.
The Bibliotheca Anonoma is attempting to resurrect some portions of the site through Internet Archeology, by sifting through the Wayback Machine's many snapshots of 4chanarchive/Chanarchive. Not everything will be saved, and images are mostly lost, but a significant portion of the threads can at least be read.