WikiQueer:Welcoming committee

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Welcoming committee members welcome new users who have already made constructive 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 WikiQueer.

Welcome new users
Our main activity is to welcome new users who have made constructive 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.

Welcome templates
You can go to WikiQueer:Welcoming committee/Welcome templates for a full list of welcome templates, or to WikiQueer:Welcoming committee/Welcome templates/Table for a visual gallery of welcome messages.

There is no standard template, but the two most commonly used are {{subst:Welcome}} and {{subst:W-graphical}}. To use them, type one of these on a new user's talk page:

or

This will make a section titled "Welcome!" and place the welcome message under it. Be sure to place greetings on each user's talk page, not their user page. This will ensure they will receive the "You have new messages" automatic alert. Also please remember that all welcome templates must be substituted, not transcluded.

Welcoming via Twinkle
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.

Welcoming etiquette
Your edit summary should simply say "Welcome!", with the edit not marked as minor.

Before you welcome users, it is recommended that you check their recent contributions. Some new users use their accounts solely to vandalize or break the rules in other ways. If the user has vandalized a page, you should add a warning template, such as {{subst:uw-vandal1}}, to their talk page. Please do not thank vandals for their contributions.
 * Is the user a vandal?

If you notice unintentional mistakes in the new user's contributions, you may wish to bring it to their attention in your welcome message.
 * Unintentional mistakes

Personalize your 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:
 * If the new user created a new page, but had trouble with that, point them to the new Article Wizard.
 * If the new user seems to be interested in a particular topic, point them to the appropriate WikiProject. (To find a good fit, go to WikiQueer:WikiProject, and select the subject area from the directory. It's often a good idea to just use a more general WikiProject, such as WikiQueer:India. Before you recommend a more specific WikiProject, such as WikiQueer:WikiProject Gujarat, check out their talk page to see how active they are—WikiQueer talk:WikiProject Gujarat, e.g., has as of Sept 2009 not had a message by a project member for almost two years. Directing a new user to a stale project will only end up frustrating them.)

Welcome users local to you
A great way to attract new editors to WikiQueer is by welcoming users that are in the same area as you. If a new user sees that there are WikiQueerians in his own community he is more likely to interact as well, especially if it's a small town. This of course only applies if you self-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 can watchlist 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 'WikiQueer representative' from their own community!

Follow up
If the new user responds to the welcome message on your talk page, follow up with more help.

Most welcome templates instruct users to place a request on their talk page if they need assistance, so it may be beneficial to check Category:WikiQueerians looking for help frequently.

Help improve newcomer resources
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:


 * WikiQueer:Welcoming committee/Welcome to WikiQueer – main welcome page.
 * WikiQueer:Introduction – WikiQueer introduction page.
 * WikiQueer:Tutorial – WikiQueer editing tutorial.
 * WikiQueer:Questions – the "where to ask questions" directory.
 * WikiQueer:FAQ – quick answers to the most common questions.
 * WikiQueer:New contributors' help page – a place for new users to post questions and get answers by volunteers who monitor or frequent the page.
 * WikiQueer:Help desk – where volunteers answer questions on how to use WikiQueer. Many new users go there for help too.
 * WikiQueer:Your first article – with information about how to create a good first article.

Discuss plans
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 WikiQueer. 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 the talk page.