Mark Gallagher wrote:
G'day Guy,
On Mon, 15 May 2006 11:44:28 +0100, you wrote:
[This has been bothering me for a while. Do you think you could maybe change this to refer to the person you're talking to? Sometimes it's obvious --- like when you're replying to geni (sorry geni), or Yours Truly, or a message that has stuck in the brain. But often I'll have no idea who said what.]
That doens't make them official.
It implies a degree of endorsement. I don't see any problem with emphasising the difference between those things which are encouraged as helping the building of an encyclopaedia, from those which are tolerated but recognised as not doing so, and in some cases actively impeding the process.
During the heyday of the userboxen, I saw people --- you may have, as well --- actually welcoming newbies with "and here are some Wikipedia templates you can use to decorate your userpage". Couldn't have been less subtle if they'd tried to clobber us with one of the damn things.
Oh, sorta like:
"Welcome to Wikipedia! Before you can do anything else, please fill in your userpage to let us know how much of a {left|right|up|down|in|out|Klein bottle}-wing looney you are."
Am I on the right track?