Wikipedia:WikiProject Editor Retention/Retain new editors
Note: There is no "Retain new editors" team. It never met. Discussions were not held. ```Buster Seven Talk 07:12, 8 April 2013 (UTC)
Members list
[edit]Ongoing projects
[edit]- Snuggle - A Huggle-like tool for visualizing newcomer activity designed to ease the identification of good newcomers.
Brainstorming
[edit]Feel free to add, move or completely change. This is just some early mental "stretching"
Reasons why new editors do not stay
[edit]- 1) Lack of support
- 2) Inability to understand the work or the rules or the notifications
- 3) Absense of a sense of belonging
- 4) They get "tagged" BEFORE they are welcomed. (NOT a good idea for us to "wag our collective finger" in their face BEFORE we even say "Welcome. Have a seat. Let's discuss your recent edit.....")
Some solutions
[edit]- A WARM welcome/greeting
- This should be a two step - targeted field or area of interest specific greeting.
- Step one, welcome - how are you? what's your specific interest?
our current welcome templates don't contain any questions directed at new users. Starting a discourse is essential. The first person who greets them should be willing and eager to engage in conversation, not just junk mail them with welcome links
- Step two, reply - Ah so you are interested in raising tropical fish, we have a group dedicated to that - links, introductions etc
This is a great step, it means the people who edit their first article and guide them are more likely to be peers in their field. This is really important because the current flow often looks like this:
- Step one, welcome - how are you? what's your specific interest?
- This should be a two step - targeted field or area of interest specific greeting.
- Welcome template posted
- User submits article
- Hacking, tagging and/or deleting by someone disinterested in tropical fish
- New user goes over to the tea house and complains
- An already disenfranchised and pissed off Wikipedia user "adopts" the new user and they grizzle and moan together
- Then the new user either stays (as a grumbly curmudgeon) or leaves (in a huff)
- What we want is for someone who loves tropical fish to hack up their article and tag spam it instead, because in all likelihood they will be more receptive to having that done to their work if a) The person editing their work is also contributing a little and b) They are in the same field and are more likely to have a mutual respect for each other.
- Adroit coaching. No hand holding. Mentoring?
- Convey importance of understanding the Rules of the Game, ((maybe Wikipedia:The newcomer's manual, User:Tony1/Beginners' guide to the Manual of Style, WP:Cheatsheet, User:Persian Poet Gal/"How-To" Guide to Wikipedia, or WP:New contributors' help page))
- Get them to accept a strategy to succeed (assuming longevity is their desire
- Turn SPAs into real Wikipedians whenever possible. Many (most?) newbies come with an objective, to create or fix an article about someone or something. Befriend one and show her or him how they can contribute.
- Instead of Speedy Delete, how about "Speedy Sandbox" / Userfy all deleted articles.
- Speedy Delete is too aggressive, to damaging to their fragile psyche.
- Speedy Sandbox is just a minor delay until they work out the bugs.
- Indoctrination
(See welcoming step 2, above)
- ...convince new editors to work respectfully with established editors.
- ...convince established editors to work respectfully with new editors.
An analogy of conversations that some editors have with our new brood after they have made an innocent novice mistake......If you park your car here, it will be towed to the junkyard and turned into scrapmetal--at your expense. Have a nice day!
- Please volunteer at WikiClaus.
WP:NEO-------> New Editor Orientation
[edit]Step One.....Can we get the shortcut for WP:NEO changed?
- A solid Orientation program sustained by effective training.
Ease, not dis-ease
[edit]- They are proud of their work so don't degrade it. It may be completely trash, but it's their trash. And if someone else rightfully degrades it, help explain to the newbie why.
- What's their first impression of how they are treated?
- "Get to work"
- "Get out of town"
- This is an encyclopedia, not Facebook
- Welcome Wagon.... barnstars, userboxes, WikiLove, Meet-N-Greet....Teahouse, etc.
- Help them set up a User Page. They learn some of the basic editing skills, hands-on training. Have them do the work. Setting up a User page creates a place that they belong, a place that they create. If nothing else, a user page might be the "hook" that keeps them involved. ,.