Hi all,
I'd like to quickly point to the good practice of thanking contributors for their photos, and using that opportunity to give them some more information on how else they can contribute to Wikipedia. This might increase the number of people that stick around for longer than just the competition. After submitting a (rather poor) few photos to the US competition myself, I received this message: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk: Effeietsanders#Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2016_in_the_United_States_-_Thank_You.21
This kind of message can probably be sent automatically. The text I pasted below for your convenience.
Best, Lodewijk ----
Hi there! Thank you for contributing to Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 in the United States. We're excited to see people uploading thousands of photos from all over the country! You and others have collectively uploaded 4,929 photos so far, all of which are viewable at Category:Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 in the United States (sorted by state).
We encourage you to continue contributing through the rest of the month. Uploading your photos of monuments isn't the only way to contribute, however. If you're interested, we have compiled a list of auxiliary ways to contribute - which include improving Wikipedia's coverage of historic and cultural sites, as well as finding existing free photos that can be shared on the Commons. While these contributions don't count towards the contest, we are still keeping track of them and they are great ways to contribute to the spirit of the project.
If you are interesting in contributing to Wikipedia, WikiProject National Register of Historic Places is also great place to start. The WikiProject showcases the work that has been done so far in covering NRHP sites, and can also help you find articles that need improving.
If you're on Twitter, give us a follow Twitter Logo Mini.svg @WLMUnitedStates for updates, news, and more.
If you have any questions between now or the end of the month, feel free to leave a message on my talk page. Thank you! ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 09:28, 21 September 2016 (UTC)