Steve Bennett wrote:
If the semi-prot banner is removed for pages like GWB, I suggest we increase the friendliness of a user who does try and edit it. We do want new users, after all. Something like "Hi! Bet you thought Wikipedia was the encyclopaedia anyone can edit, right? Well, it is...but articles like this one are so popular that we've had to restrict it. On the other hand, there are over a million articles that need your help. Click here to find out which..."
Or something.
Yeah, I am liking this idea. Essentially the idea here it to move the notification from the page where you read to the page where you have attempted to edit but can't. In this way, when someone tries to edit, they get a friendly explanation of how to join the community. But if they are just trying to read, they don't have to see a notice that is probably fairly useless and bewildering to them.
By the way, just to let everyone know, many many reporters I talk to believe that we have permanently locked the George W. Bush entry from editing. The beleive this because of various bad reporting in the past, but also because a glance at the page to someone who knows nothing about Wikipedia leads them to think the page is locked.
--Jimbo