 | There are hundreds of thousands of users without any edits. It is widely accepted (but not required!) that users with no editsshould not be welcomed because most templates start with "Thank you for yourContributions" (or similar). Furthermore, until edits are made, it's impossible to determine if the user has bad intentions andcreated the account purposely to vandalize Wikipedia. |
Welcoming committee members welcome new users who havealready made good-faith edits and help them get started in various ways. There are no requirements for joining us except a good attitude and a willingness to help newcomers get started on Wikipedia.
Our main activity is to welcome new users who havealready madegood-faith edits. To do that we post a welcome message on their talk pages (if they do not have a talk page yet, create one for them!). It is best to post a personalized greeting written by you, but to save time you can use a welcome template.Always check their edits first (see below).
You can go toWikipedia:Welcoming committee/Welcome templates for a full list of welcome templates, or toWikipedia:Welcoming committee/Welcome templates/Template gallery for a visual gallery of welcome messages.
There is no standard template, but the most commonly used are{{subst:Welcome}},{{subst:W-basic}}[dubious –discuss] and{{subst:W-graphical}}. To use them, type one of these on a new user's talk page:
To view these templates as well as others to see how they compare, check out theTemplate Gallery.
These will make a section titled "Welcome!" and place the welcome message under it. Be sure to place greetings on each user'stalk page, not theiruser page. This will ensure they will receive the "You have new messages" automatic alert. Also please remember that all welcome templates must besubstituted, nottranscluded.
Twinkle also has a welcoming option.
To use Twinkle, go to the preferences and then the gadgets area. Then, look down for "Twinkle", and click the checkbox next to it. Save the settings, and you have a TW item.
To welcome with Twinkle, click the TW, then click 'wel' and click the template you want to use.
Your edit summary should simply say "Welcome!", with the edit not marked as minor.
Checktimestamps of their edit history. If their edits are older than a few months, welcoming the user may not be worthwhile.
Click the link to see what this means. Bot accounts (a common nickname forsoftware robot) is an automated or semi-automated tool that carries out repetitive and mundane tasks to maintain the64,648,697 pages of the English Wikipedia. Bots are able to make edits very rapidly and can disrupt Wikipedia if they are incorrectly designed or operated. For these reasons, abot policy has been developed. It is unnecessary to thank a bot for their edits or to welcome them to Wikipedia.
Before you welcome users, it is recommended that you check their recent contributions. Some new usersuse their accounts solely to vandalize or break the rules in other ways. If the user has vandalized a page, you should add awarning template, such as{{subst:uw-vandal1}}, to their talk page. If they vandalise but also contribute constructively, you can welcome them with{{subst:welcome-unconstructive}}. Pleasedo not thank vandals for their contributions.
Click the link to see what this means. Some new users use their accounts solely to promote themselves, their company, or their music. Pleasedo not thank spammers for their contributions. You may need some degree of experience to recognise such work. If they spam but also contribute constructively, you may welcome them with{{subst:welcomespam}}.
Click the link to see what this means. SPA refers toSinglePurposeAccount. Many of them are 'drive-by' editors who have no intention of returning to Wikipedia to edit it again. You may need some degree of experience to recognise such work.
If you notice unintentional mistakes in the new user's contributions, you may wish to bring it to their attention in your welcome message.
The best way to show someone that they are really welcome is by being open to their needs. Look at their contributions, and personalize your message accordingly. Examples:
A great way to attract new editors to Wikipedia is by welcoming users that are in the same area as you. If a new user sees that there are Wikipedians in their own community, they are more likely to interact as well, especially if it's a small town. This of course only applies if youself-identify on your userpage where you are from, but you can also personalize your welcome message by telling the user where you are from on their talk page.
How can I know where a new account is located geographically you ask? Well, unless they self-identify themselves on their own userpage, you can't. But you canwatchlist the city and/or neighbourhood you live in, and if you spot a new user making substantial edits to that article, it's usually very likely the user is from that same area. Imagine how pleasantly surprised they may be to see a welcome message from a 'Wikipedia representative' from their own community!
Don't overdo it — use the welcoming system with discretion. Contributing new content, repairing obvious grammatical errors, or reverting blatant vandalism are more important than anything else you can do here.
If the new user responds to the welcome message on your talk page, follow up with more help. You may wish to suggestadoption, ormentoring.
Most welcome templates instruct users to place a{{Help me}} request on their talk page if they need assistance, so it may be beneficial to checkCategory:Wikipedians looking for help frequently.
In addition to greeting new users, we also design and help maintain pages specifically to assist newcomers in various ways. The pages we help operate and/or maintain are:
As an active team, we discuss and implement new projects from time to time. We also discuss new users in general and try to keep in touch with the experience a typical new user is likely to be subjected to upon discovering and participating in Wikipedia. Sometimes the treatment they receive from veterans can be confusing or even traumatic, so we try to come up with ways to prevent this sort of thing. To participate, please see thetalk page.
A great way to find new users who might be in need of a welcome, is to check help forums like theWP:Teahouse which targets new user questions, and theWikipedia:Help desk. Many more methods of finding new users can be found atWikipedia:Welcoming committee/Finding newbies.
To become a member of the welcoming committee, please seeWikipedia:Welcoming committee/members.
 | This user is a member of the Welcoming Committee of Wikipedia! |
{{WP:Welcoming committee/Userbox}}
| This user is a member of theWelcoming Committee of Wikipedia! |
{{WP:Welcoming committee/Userbox (linked)}}
{{WP:Welcoming committee/Topicon}}