Wikipedia talk:Welcoming committee

Old discussion archived at Wikipedia talk:Welcoming committee/archive1

Bootcamps

Please take a look at Wikipedia:Bootcamp and comment on its talk page. The first one was very successful; they are currently running every night at midnight. And consider adding {{Bootcamp}} to your welcome messages!

I just came across this and I think it's a great idea - adds a whole new dimension to the Wikipedia Experience™ for new users. Are there or will there be any chatlogs, to get an idea of what goes on without being a n^th wheel at the real thing? T.PK 05:39, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Reworking the introductory pages?

We currently have a small network of pages (Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers, Wikipedia:Introduction, Wikipedia:About, and Wikipedia:Tutorial) that serve in one way or another to introduce new folks to Wikipedia. There have been two recent attempts to redirect Welcome, newcomers to Introduction, and one attempt to similarly redirect the Tutorial frontpage.

With that in mind, I think it's time to have a full discussion of what the purpose of each of these pages is, what each should contain, and how they should work together. If we really don't need one or more of them, we need to decide how to merge it without losing anything important. Isomorphic 18:37, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I propose consolidating the pages into two: Wikipedia:Introduction, which would remain exactly as it is as a quick and easy primer on editing (so as to avoid scaring off newcomers with excessive detail) and the full editing tutorial. Redirect Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers to the intro. User:Rdsmith4/Sig 00:36, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, we need two pages. Wikipedia:Introduction page for all newcomers (including non-editors) and Wikipedia:Tutorial (an editing tutorial for new editors). utcursch 06:25, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)

There is overlap, but I don't find them particularly redundant, as they are aimed at different target audiences, and any merging will put a bunch of info the reader is NOT looking for in amongst what they ARE looking for. "About" should be kept for people seeking info about Wikipedia, that probably aren't interested in using it as a resource, or becoming an editor; eg journalists. The Tutorial should be kept for people wanting to know how to edit and behave, without having to sift thru the hundreds (thousands?) of Wikipedia documentation articles--MoS, Policy, etc. "Welcome, newcomers" specifically targets people who register, which generally means they intend to become editors (whether that means new contributions or other forms of 'housekeeping'), so a more general intro is less helpful. I'm not a big fan of Wikipedia:Introduction (high glitz to substance ratio, eye-searing color, and overly focuses on talking people into editting, at the expense of behavior guidance and all the other ways to help Wikipedia, eg 'housekeeping'), but since most of the editors wanting to condense these seem bent on pushing it, there probably isn't much chance of getting that train off its tracks. Also, until the Paging feature is added to 'what links here', I'd be reluctant to redir any page with more than 500 incoming links (as all four of these have) because of the risk of undetectable broken redirects. Niteowlneils 21:47, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Don't forget Wikipedia may currently be the most visited "introduction" page, as it is linked to in a way that suggests it's an introduction page from the main page. It is, however, not intended as an introduction page, and that is reflected in it's writing.Nectarflowed 04:11, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Has this happened to other people?

I started welcoming newcomers less than a week ago, but since I started my Welcome message template has been blanked twice by people whom I'd welcomed: once by Anderdons and once (last night) by Chadbryant. Neither gave any reason, either by leaving me a message or by giving an edit summary. I've contacted both of them, but received no answer.

I'd had no other contact with either user – had edited no pages that they've edited, etc. – so, unless they have other user accounts, I assume that it's not personal.

Any ideas as to what's going on? Mel Etitis (Μελ Ετητης) 10:16, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Never happened to me. Some thoughts. You could use ((subst:welcome)) to include the message. And your message is very big and colourful, perhaps something less would be more appealling — Zeimusu | Talk 12:11, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

You're probably right about the the last point — I originally thought that the splash of colour would be more welcoming, but I'm beginning to think that it could also be overwhelming. I still don't see why two people, apparently independently, would blank my template, though. Mel Etitis (Μελ Ετητης) 13:16, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I came across your template on a new user's page. Yikes! Just a *tad* overpowering!!! I mean, the welcome message is nice, but for those not understanding recent changes, watchlists, etc., it must seem a bit big-brother-ish and/or stalking. Don't get me wrong, I think the welcome message is good, but I think a sedate plain text welcome with the useful links is enough.

Mel - I would be feel quite imposed upon if as a new user that loud template was dropped on my page! Plus I think putting a template can confuse new users. Subst is a much better idea (they can even then amend, shorten tidy up the links and even use on userpage for reference).

zoney ♣ talk 13:39, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I've changed it; is this OK now (Welcome)? (The failure to use 'subst:' was a mistake caused by my simply imitating someone else rather than reading the relevant Wiki-pages carefully; I've started doing it properly). Mel Etitis (Μελ Ετητης) 13:50, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)