Okay then, let me ask how do you intend to measure "start them editing"? Raw edit counts? Over what period of time? Will what namespace matter? Frankly I'm not as interested in getting new people *started* editing as I am I in *keeping* them editing. Many new editors get frustrated because they don't understand basic rules like proper sourcing and citation. Many are not good at reading our written rules - that's why I was excited to see those tutorial videos. I really think they can bridge the gap for the majority of people who don't do well with just RTFM. That's why I say that at least a link to those videos should be on *every* version of that landing page. Sent from my Droid2 Elias Friedman A.S., CCEMT-P אליהו מתתיהו בן צבי elipongo(a)gmail.com On Feb 20, 2011 6:33 PM, "Lennart Guldbrandsson" <wikihannibal(a)gmail.com> wrote:

I'm not usually one for graphic design, so this could probably do with improving and relevant links adding. I've added a version that could be helpful at http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Account_Creation_Improvement_Project/Tes… What I'm hoping to address are: 1. Layouts "original version" and "redesign" are too close to "wall of text" for many newcomers. Even though they are simple short bullet lists with icons, I'm concerned they'll skip it. A better layout and a few brief bullets may do better and also be more informative. 2. The audience is people who want to get involved, so an overview they can come back to might be helpful. I have assumed this page is linked from the toolkit so they can always find it. 3. It might be better to have a link for "editing", and save the mention of policies there. At the start a user needs to know the basics, that some stuff will be ok and some won't, and "click here to find out which". Then they are reading it *by choice* and it'll probably be more "sticky" as a result. Words like "policies" may tend to overwhelm or frighten many of those we want to engage. 4. The section for "readers" also includes* "Reading, or want to make improvements and corrections?" *The *unstated thought *is that a reader will also be someone who might want to make a small correction. Gut feel says that a major route is readers who are then tempted to make their first correction, or who need to know they *can *think of it. I'd like to see the effect of including "making a small improvement or correction" *as part of info for end-users*, not just keeping it separate. Not technically accurate but may be effective this way, as "editing" could be felt as overwhelming (initially) where "make a small correction" may be perceived as empowering. Many people may think "someone should fix that" and despite all our pages, not fully realize the "someone" is allowed to be *them*. 5. *I have not put links in yet.* I would not make individual words, lines, or sentences a link. Link proliferation is a distraction, we found that out in the record 2010 fundraiser. Make each section (except the last) to be *one* link clickable anywhere. Unfortunately (bug 18640<https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=18460>) the <a href...> html tag can't be used yet in markup, otherwise I'd make the entirety of each cell a single link to some (short) relevant subpage. I'd actually like it done via a popup, that appears when you click a cell for information. That's more classy and suited to the richer interface of other modern websites, but outside my skills. Anyone else know where I can find a basic "click this and get a dismissible popup" DIV class? :) 6. Should contain something interesting and engaging too :) Feedback and any design-related questions welcomed! Not sure where to link this from/to though. FT2 _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l

http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Account_Creation_Improvement_Project/Tes…

Since it's a WMF holiday and I can do whatever I want with my time, I made one too. ;) http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Account_Creation_Improvement_Project/Tes… Like FT2, I welcome any edits to make it look better. And feedback about the content is of course welcome too. I can always do more takes with revised scripts. -Sage On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 9:16 AM, Lennart Guldbrandsson &lt;wikihannibal(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Account_Creation_Improvement_Project/Tes… lists they mention Then a we reader feel see correction" found make cell of

On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 3:30 PM, David Gerard &lt;dgerard(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote:

> The person in the video frame that comes up in my browser (Firefox > 4.0b11) looks very dismayed :-) > http://oi51.tinypic.com/9zufsy.jpg

I did a quick fix, setting the thumbtime to a second later when I'm smiling.  I'll upload a different version that starts with smiling frames when I get a chance.

On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 9:06 PM, David Gerard &lt;dgerard(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote:

> YOU ARE SO YOUNG. WHY U SO YOUNG.

Was that a way of auditioning for the next video, David? :-)

I like what's been done so far. My day job is actually for a publisher selling computer help for beginners, so thought I'd share a few things we've learnt: * Address people personally, and try to make them feel included. This is why {{helpme}} is a great invention. * Bullet points are useful, but prose is engaging too. If you make prose interesting and relevant, believe it or not people *will read it*, even if it's relatively long. * Screenshots (especially labelled ones) are great for newbies. It's remarkably easy to overlook parts of the interface. * Videos are even better, plus they can have a more personal touch :-) * Easily readable text is more important than fancy design. That usually means black, and of a reasonable size. Too many bluelinks in a passage make it harder to read, and can be distracting. Short line lengths are nice too. And thoughts on what we've got so far: * Redesign: Seems pretty good, improves on the original which itself has already had quite a lot of work. * Polish version: Not sure it's a huge help really, throwing them into creating a userpage without much guidance. If this is used it might be a good idea to prefill the edit page a bit to help them. * Options: To be honest I found it rather confusing. Some boxes to separate the options better would be nice. * Video1: This is nice, good to see something a bit different. * Easy steps: I definitely prefer this to the Options one * Bookshelf: The idea of having a book intro is great, and it provides the opportunity to do some really nice design. But there are parts of the text in this which are almost unreadable. * mod2 (FT2's version): The overall design is nice, and it's laid out logically. I'd fix the header colours though. * Video walkthrough: I think this is my favourite. Good job Sage. Anyway I'll have a crack at making my own version tonight. Pete / the wub _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l