[WikiEN-l] Userboxes: A radical proposal

[Jimmy Wales]

Stephen Bain wrote:
> On 2/18/06, Steve Bennett <stevage at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>Nicely put. So how do we go about telling people that they're welcome
>>here, but they are guests, and have no rights whatsoever?
> 
> Include a big picture of an open door in the welcome message, and
> gently remind them that it's just as easy for us to kick them out
> through a big open door as it is for them to walk in (prize for
> someone who can put this in a non-biting way?).

The Germans have a nice way of putting it on the front page:

"Gute Autorinnen und Autoren sind immer willkommen – die ersten Schritte
sind ganz einfach."

This means:

"Good authors are always welcome - the first steps are quite easy!"

Contrast with the English:

"Welcome to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit."

I am not advocating a change (nor opposing it); I am just making an
observation.



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