Template talk:Welcome/Proposed version 1

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Note: Please leave your input here; also see relevant discussion at Template talk:Welcome.

This is a proposed version of the "Welcome" template, created by Oleg Alexandrov. It is a trimmed down version of the current template. Please leave your input about whether you think the template should be trimmed (and whether this "trimmed" version is appropriate), kept at status quo, or expanded. Thanks for voicing your opinion!

[edit] Differences with the default {{welcome}}

I just removed the link to Wikipedia:Topical index, that's too much an overload for beginners, and removed the following links:

which are covered in the Help:Contents page, which is the second link in my proposed version of the template. Wonder what people think. Oleg Alexandrov 19:58, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

I'd rather keep Wikipedia:How to edit a page. I like the proposed template otherwise. Superm401 | Talk 04:24, August 7, 2005 (UTC)
Sounds good. Thanks for the reminder on my talk page, I somehow missed your note. Oleg Alexandrov 05:20, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

There should be a link to Wikipedia:Help desk. — BRIAN0918 • 2005-08-7 20:35

I think in either the preamble or postamble, that the sandbox should get an explicit mention. It's made pretty clear when you edit, but I imagine it gets, uh, missed at times. -Splash 21:14, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

I would argue that it is enough to see the sandbox when editing a page. Well, if you do really wish to see it in the template welcome, let us see what link it may replace. Again, the very point of all this is to keep the welcome template short, so if we can agree on a very small set of links (hopefully the more important links) then the purpose will be accomplished. Oleg Alexandrov 17:53, 8 August 2005 (UTC)
Shouldn't there be a link to the Tutorial? The Help index is huge; nobody's going to find the Tutorial in that unless they're looking for it. Also, shouldn't the general tutorial take precedence over the picture tutorial? I mean, if you have to choose, I'd rather have newcomers aware of what NPOV is than know how to do a picture caption. Isomorphic 21:19, 7 August 2005 (UTC)
Fine with me to replace the picture tutorial with the Wikipedia:Tutorial. I would not agree though with a link to Wikipedia:Help desk, that one is very prominently linked from Wikipedia:Help. Oleg Alexandrov 17:08, 8 August 2005 (UTC)
I would recommend replacing the "village pump" link to "help desk"; after all, the help desk is more fit for asking help than the village pump. The village pump is mentioned in one of the links, am I correct? Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 17:40, 8 August 2005 (UTC)
Fine with me. Oleg Alexandrov 17:53, 8 August 2005 (UTC)
What about linking to Wikipedia:Ask a question? That helps people find the right place for their questions to be answered, which depends on the question type. Superm401 | Talk 03:32, August 14, 2005 (UTC)
Fine with me if that replaces some other link in the template. Again, my phylosophy is based on the fact that the welcome template can't teach newbies everything, so at least let us keep it short. Oleg Alexandrov
IMHO, I prefer the help desk to the ask a question page- one, it fits better (both gramatically and logically), two, most newbies didn't register an account to ask a reference desk question, and three, quite frankly, there are explicit instructions at the top of the help desk that should take care of all that. In addition, the ask a question place hasn't gotten much publicity... I will change the welcome template after you respond to this- thanks a lot for all your work! Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 20:16, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

Fine with me either way. All I care about is keeping the template small. :) Looking forward to your change. Oleg Alexandrov 20:34, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

Done. Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 20:51, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

Thanks! Oleg Alexandrov 21:27, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Image tagging

One thing I would like to see is a greater emphasis on image tagging. One of the big problems is new users not tagging images after they have uploaded them. I know there is a link to the image tutorial, but maybe something along the lines of:

…and remember to tell us about the copyright status of images you upload.

Evil Monkey∴Hello 21:50, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

I would say image tagging is out. :) Yes, I know this is important. But there are many important things, and poor newbies would have an information overoad to learn all of these things at once. I can say for myself after beeing here for 9 months that I learned mostly be example and trial and error rather than reading the welcome template. So, I'd say, let us keep the template simple, for maximum impact and least clutter. Oleg Alexandrov 23:16, 7 August 2005 (UTC)