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Archive 1

What to include?

I've modelled this page after the French one to get in some more useful info for newbie registrants, but I want to make sure it doesn't become too messy while at the same time having a bunch of useful links in one spot after signup. What pages are the ones newly registered users look for or need the most? Here's the list of pages I find important to include:

  1. The introduction (perhaps the tutorial too) to give them a quick and easy introduction to searching and editing Wikipedia.
  2. The sandbox so they can test edits.
  3. Link to help page index.
  4. Link to policies and guidelines index and mention of some basic policies.
  5. Link to a simplified ruleset.
  6. Link explaining where to ask questions.
  7. Quick answers to the VFAQ (or a link). -- MacGyverMagic (talk • contribs) 12:26, 1 May 2007 (UTC).

This is far too much information and links that either no one is going to read or that is going to scare people away. In addition, whereas welcome messages on talk pages are given to people who have actually edited the encyclopedia, many accounts are created simply to have the preferences. Asking someone to read 9 policy pages is too much even for people gung-ho about editing Wikipedia and becoming integrated knowledgeable Wikipedians, and most people registering are not like that. —Centrx→talk • 15:52, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

ugly!

this is screwed up! I created this account and when i saw this page, the sidebar was way at the bottom left and almost everything else was gone! I had to reload the site! way to go screwing this up. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ifoughtme (talk • contribs) 01:58, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

While this user may not have put it nicely, it is true. I created an account and the screen was completely screwed up. I'll create another and upload a screen shot. - auburnpilot talk 03:23, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
Take a look for yourselves. I highly suggest unblocking that user: Image:AUScreenshot.jpg. Allalongtheriver 03:27, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
I just created an account, and yes something is wrong. But no, this user isn't getting unblocked. John Reaves (talk) 03:34, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
And people wonder why admins are so hated. The fact you extended this user's block is astonishing. - auburnpilot talk 03:41, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
It's not exactly the first time a block has been extended because someone called an admin a dumbass. John Reaves (talk) 03:45, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

I removed the div statements. It works now, though it does not look as fancy. —Centrx→talk • 03:52, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Larger welcome again

I've reverted back to a page that actually gives a potential editor some useful information and links directly to the user preferences. I'd like to see if this has any improvement on the behaviour of new editors for a few weeks or months before going back to a more basic message. Nick 22:35, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

Closing div tag

{{editprotected}}

Please remove the 3rd closing div tag (</div>) at the very bottom, which is needless and apparently causes some problems. Thanks! Korg (talk) 02:35, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

 Fixed - It was messing with the navigation pane on the left side of the screen, when used as part of the interface (as opposed to just the code here). Mr.Z-man 05:09, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

top

Does anyone know if this page supports wiki/html/or any markup? — xaosflux Talk 15:24, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I believe that it supports html, but don't quote me on that. alphaChimp laudare 11:51, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
Given that my most recent update uses a variety of wikitext and images, and that it displayed properly with a test account creation, it's probably safe to say that this page supports most wikimarkup. :) Nihiltres{t.l} 15:28, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

fr

{{editprotected}} 

<div style="width:{{{width|100%}}}"><div style="height:8px;border:1px solid #8898BF;-moz-border-radius-topright:8px;-moz-border-radius-topleft:8px;background:#C8D8FF;font-size:1px;"></div>
<div style="font-size:small;margin-bottom:1.5em;border:1px solid #8898BF;border-top:0;background:white;padding:5px;">
<div style="text-align: center;"><big>[[Wikipedia:Welcome|Welcome]] to [[Wikipedia]], '''$1'''!</big></div>
<<div style="text-align: center;">Your user account has been created.</div><br/>

{|
|[[Image:Wiki letter w.svg]]
|Wikipedia is an encyclopedia collaboratively written by many of its readers. Its sheer size means it's easy to get lost, so here are some pages to help you along. To learn about Wikipedia, see [[Help:Contents|the index to our help pages]]. To customize the site's appearance and other options, change [[Special:Preferences|your preferences]]. For more information, consult some [[Wikipedia:FAQ|frequently asked questions]]. You can test your edits in the [[Wikipedia:Sandbox|sandbox]].
|---
|[[Image:Crystal Clear app ktip.png|left|40px]]
|Don't forget to [[Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages|sign your posts]] on talk pages by typing ~~~~, but don't sign encyclopedic articles. 

Of course, you can't be expected to know all the [[Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines|policies and guidelines]] immediately, but you should still aim to learn the vital ones ([[WP:NPOV|neutral point of view]], [[WP:CITE|cite your sources]] to make articles [[WP:V|verifiable]], [[WP:N|notability criteria]] and the [[WP:MOS|manual of style]]) as soon as possible. 
|--
|[[Image:Crystal Clear app lphoto.png|left|40px]]
|You are welcome to [[Wikipedia:Uploading images|upload]] and [[Wikipedia:Extended image syntax|insert images in articles]], but it is imperative you follow the strict [[Wikipedia:Image use policy|image use policy]] and [[Wikipedia:Copyright|respect the rights of the image's creator]].
|--
|[[Image:Crystal Clear app amor.png|left|40px]]
|If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask them. [[Wikipedia:Questions]] tells you the most appropriate place to post them.
|---
|[[Image:Crystal Clear app ktip.png|left|40px]]
|If you still need help after that you can place {{helpme}} at the bottom of [[Special:Mytalk|''your'' talkpage]].
|}
</div>

<div style="clear:right;padding-top:1em"></div>
<div style="background-color:#ff9;border:1px solid #fc0;padding:.3em;font-size:140%;text-align:center;">[[Wikipedia:Introduction|'''Go to the Introduction and learn the basics about Wikipedia''' >>]]</div>
</div>

This will be a great improvement. Thanks to MacGyverMagic and Kyle_the_hacker– i123Pie biocontribs 17:23, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

That code produces the below (in the subsection). It looks like there are a couple of formatting problems. Would you fix them first please? Nihiltres{t.l} 17:56, 26 March 2008 (UTC)
 Done – i123Pie biocontribs 08:21, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
Y Editprotected done with some minor changes by me; I changed some text slightly and changed a duplicate image. Nihiltres{t.l} 15:26, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
Thank you. – i123Pie biocontribs 17:04, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Example rendering

Your user account has been created.

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia collaboratively written by many of its readers. Its sheer size means it's easy to get lost, so here are some pages to help you along. To learn about Wikipedia, see the index to our help pages. To customize the site's appearance and other options, change your preferences. For more information, consult some frequently asked questions. You can test your edits in the sandbox.
Don't forget to sign your posts on talk pages by typing ~~~~, but don't sign encyclopedic articles.

Of course, you can't be expected to know all the policies and guidelines immediately, but you should still aim to learn the vital ones (neutral point of view, cite your sources to make articles verifiable, notability criteria and the manual of style) as soon as possible.

You are welcome to upload and insert images in articles, but it is imperative you follow the strict image use policy and respect the rights of the image's creator.
If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask them: Wikipedia:Questions tells you the most appropriate place to post them.
If you still need help, you can place {{helpme}} at the bottom of your talkpage with a question.

Not something that posts to user talk pages

I just did a google search on "but it is imperative you follow the strict image use policy" (some language from the message that I thought was unusual); the only result (with results limited to the en.wikipedia.org site) was the MediaWiki page itself. So it looks like the message is not being posted to user talk pages: it's either transitory (seen just once, somehow) or not in use at all. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 16:19, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

It's not meant to be posted on talk pages. It is seen just once—immediately after a user registers. And then never seen again. Gary King (talk) 16:23, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
There's a proposal at the village pump to make this stick around longer so people have a chance to use it. ϢereSpielChequers 16:24, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

Brevity

For the sake of making this shorter and more relevant, I think that "Your user account has been created." can go as that is a bit obvious at this stage. Also the photo bit is unnecessarily intimidating. ϢereSpielChequers 16:24, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

Maybe we should include a link to Wikipedia:Article wizard 2.0 somewhere prominently on the welcome page to get new users to use the wizard to create new articles rather than hope they read the instruction pages? Regards SoWhy 12:44, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea to me. --ThaddeusB (talk) 01:34, 20 November 2009 (UTC)
Putting it prominently in Wikipedia:Introduction is probably a better step. I for one would rather not encourage new editors to jump straight in and create articles until they've edited and read a few. You don't tell a teenager with a new driver's license "here's a map with all the city's highways on it highlighted for you, enjoy" - you encourage him to get familiar with driving slowly, at his own speed. I WOULD be in favor of more prominently showing this link any time a user tried to read a non-existent article. As it currently stands, when a user visits your first article he sees something like this:
Start the your first article article, using the Article Wizard if you wish, or add a request for it.
Simply bolding Article Wizard and de-bolding Start the your first article would help a lot.
davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 02:20, 20 November 2009 (UTC)
But that requires us to assume that they actually read the Introduction. I think, from my experience at CAT:CSD, it's safe to assume that many create accounts because they notice they cannot create articles as an IP but they will probably not bother reading more than the Welcome message. It would be something of a "hey, you are new. If you want to create an article, why not try the article wizard?". I agree with placing it prominently on the "no such page" message. :-) Regards SoWhy 07:05, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm all in favour of pointing users to the wizard from wherever it may be helpful to do so, as prominently as we can put up with. So both here and in the Introduction. Users often create accounts to be able to create articles, so better they're directed to the Wizard (which has links to YFA and admonition to learn stuff first), than that there's nothing and they jump into creating articles without help. By the by, T23318 would make this notice more effective (currently users only see it once, immediately after creating their account) - so why not vote for it? Rd232 talk 21:16, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

Why have I never seen or heard of this thing? I now notice it there when I go to create a new article, but it can be missed VERY easily. It should be in bold. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ τ ¢ 20:48, 21 November 2009 (UTC)
If this stuck around a little longer then I would agree with adding the create an article bit, but the problem at the moment is that it goes before you realise how useful it might be. ϢereSpielChequers 22:16, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Make it look better

I think. That to make the Thing look better is if you had, the Welcome to WikiPedia, {{{1}}}! If you had it in the purple box thats at thetop of it, as it would look neater than having a blank purple box/section in the thing, and like make it bolded. --Clarkcj12 (talk) 00:31, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Encyclopedia

{{editprotected}} This article uses "encyclopedia" and "encyclopaedia". It should pick one and stick with it. AFAICT Wiki's official policy is to not use the ae, so encyclopaedia should be replaced with encyclopedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amalloy (talk • contribs)

 Done. Thanks for the suggestion. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 22:23, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

Wrong advice?

The page welcomes the new person to edit, but then it says : "If other people haven't yet covered a topic, then we probably shouldn't either."

In simpler words, "You are welcome to edit, but please don't."

That's a contradictory message.

Maybe it would be clearer to replace the "If other people haven't yet covered a topic, then we probably shouldn't either"

with

"Before creating a new article, please read our Notability policy."

Evolved Monkey (talk) 19:25, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, I sort of agree with you on this one. Perhaps "Before creating an article, please read our notability policy, which explains which topics are appropriate" ? Claritas § 19:41, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
While that is true, do we really want to put off new users by directing them to such a long read? —Ed (talk • majestic titan) 04:46, 18 June 2010 (UTC)
Not all new users are going to start by creating an article. It's probably worthwhile as it might deter some self-publicists and so forth. Claritas § 07:14, 18 June 2010 (UTC)
"You are welcome to edit, but please don't." is not what the message currently says, its more "You are welcome to edit, but please don't start by creating new articles." I'm of the view that creating new articles is best left to experienced editors and we should be encouraging newbies to improve our existing articles first. I suspect that I'd get howled down if I suggested that new article creation be restricted to editors who've demonstrated that they know how to write referenced material on notable subjects, But it would solve a lot of problems if we did so. ϢereSpielChequers 15:08, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Account survey

Hello,

In the Account Creation Improvement Project we are right now trying to look at what new users expect when they create their accounts. To this end, we have created a survey on Surveymonkey. It's one question only, and can give us some very good indicators about what we need to change. The survey has been linked to from the Welcomecreation page on German, Swedish, Spanish and Bengali Wikipedia (so far, but French and Bahasa Melayu are also on the way) but we would very much like to do it on English Wikipedia as well. Would you mind very much if we added the text: "We need your help in making Wikipedia better. Please take a minute to answer this very short survey." and linked parts of that sentence to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YWWJSXL? Best wishes, SvHannibal (talk) 13:17, 25 January 2011 (UTC) (new Fellow of the Wikimedia Foundation)

Seems reasonable; I'm curious to see the distribution of answers for new accounts. I notice there is no "because my other account is blocked" option ;) . I'll add the survey link now. How long are you wanting this to stay up for?--ragesoss (talk) 15:16, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
Thank you for putting this up. The results are already pouring in. We would like to continue until the 4th of February. I will remind you then.//SvHannibal (talk) 22:19, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
As I said, the numbers are coming in very fast. In fact, we already have more than 1400 responses, and we will need to get a bigger account on SurveyMonkey if this keeps up, which means more money... So I was wondering if we could remove the link here pretty soon.//SvHannibal (talk) 22:20, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
And now, we have a second survey that we would want to run for a few days. Is that okay?//SvHannibal (talk) 18:58, 31 January 2011 (UTC) (PS, see this page for some preliminary results)

VERY IMPORTANT ADVICE

My first instinct is to delete this page and block those who created it.

That said, this page needs to have instructions to first read about what Wikipedia is not, as well as Wikipedia:Guidance for younger editors, Wikipedia:SPAM, Wikipedia:GARAGE, and a few others I haven't thought of just now. And I, expect everyone who participated in creating this page to go patrol 1000 userpages, right now. DS (talk) 23:26, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

There has been a very high increase recently in misplaced posts by new accounts at Wikipedia talk:Cheatsheet. We suspect it's very likely coming from the link at this page. I'm not proposing that the link be removed, it's good that new accounts get exposure to such help pages, and there's bound to be a few misplaced edits, but I think there would be a noticeable decrease in such edits if we changed the wording of the link, as I can see how "Make your first edit in this article:" can mislead new users into thinking it's instructing them to make their first edit at that page. That wording should probably rather lead them to the Sandbox instead. Else, we can change the wording to something like, "See Wikipedia:Cheatsheet for quick-reference". -- Ϫ 02:49, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

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