On 03/22/12
1:37 AM, En Pine wrote:
First, has anyone thought about automatically adding a welcome message to the user’s talk
page when they first register, not only for EN but also for Commons, Simple, and other
projects? Currently we require a human to do this, which means that lots of people seem
not to get welcome messages which could contain useful information, and perhaps a link to
the Teahouse for EN users. Could we implement an automated post to a user’s talk page that
gives the user links to WP:WELCOME, WP:HELP, the Teahouse, and/or other similar resources
as soon as the user has registered?
This is a terrible idea, on a par with automated telephone messages
which ask you to make selections by number.
The other point is that many new registrants never edit at all, or they
may be vandals or spammers. Let them make their intentions clear before
welcoming them. The welcome should show that we are aware of exactly
what they have done, and thank them for doing so even if it's only a
simple spelling correction.
Ray
Why would you not want to provide people guidance before they've made their first
edit, and why not provide them some encouragement to edit in a welcome message?
I think the idea that automated telephone messages are going to stop is unrealistic, just
as the idea that every new user will be personally welcomed with a customized message is
unrealistic. It seems to me that we should take advantage of technology where it's
useful.
Pine