[WikiEN-l] Preloading template in new articles

[Steve Bennett]

On 1/24/07, Mets501 <mets501wiki at gmail.com> wrote:
> Would anyone object to preloading a references section in every new article?
> For example, when a user searches for a topic and clicks the big "Create
> this article" link, the user will be shown a page like this:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Testing...testing...testing
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Testing...testing...testing&actio
> n=edit&preload=Template:Article+starter>
> &action=edit&preload=Template:Article+starter.

This has been proposed before, several times. Can I suggest that if we
do this, we put a lot of thought into the template, *before*
inflicting it on everyone. It should be really intuitive and
self-explanatory, and *not annoying*. Also, disablable (opt-out or
opt-in) for registered users.

If you want to see how well the "provide wikitext to a new user and
get them to customise it" thing really works out, just look at the
crud that newbies at WP:AFC generate.

Steve