[Wikipedia-l] "tap on the shoulder" to newbs

[tarquin]

I've been noticing a number of IP users making mistakes on their early 
edits, such as plural names.
Not all of them are RecentChangesJunkies like us, and some may not even 
be familiar with RC, so they may not notice notes we leave them in the 
RC log.

I gather that when we ban a user, they get a message when they try to 
next edit, explaining why.
However, in many cases, users are not causing malicious damage, they are 
just making minor blunders, which old hands have to clean up after them.

Would it be helpful if we could give new IPs a "tap" if we spot a mistake?
By that, I mean a *friendly*, *welcoming* message that would appear at 
the top of their next edit box. Hopefully, that may reduce the numberof 
things we have to clean up.
Something like this:


Hello, IP {IP NUMBER} Thank you for your recent contribution to the 
Wikipedia.

Another user has noticed your edit, on the {ARTICLE} article, and wishes 
to alert you to the following point:
{INSERT MESSAGE}

You can respond on the {TALK PAGE} for that article.
You might also want to read up on {naming conventions, etc}
We hope you will {REGISTER} a user name and join the other active 
wikipedians.