User talk:Hannibal/Welcomecreation

Creation of user pages

If we are going to encourage new users to make userpages, can we please at the same time explain briefly what user pages are not for? I am worried by the number of new users on :en who set up User:XYZCompany and copy onto the user page the promotional spiel from their company website, and by people who think this is LinkedIn and put up a long autobiography and CV. A sentence or two on the lines of:

Please note that the userpage policy says that "you should avoid substantial content on your user page that is unrelated to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a general hosting service, so your user page is not a personal website". You should use it to say a little about yourself, if you wish, to help communication with the other volunteers who are here to help build the encyclopedia. It is not a place to post a full autobiography or CV, or to use for any kind of promotion.

would save them from unnecessary frustration and disappointment. JohnCD (talk) 23:04, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. You can be bold and add it onto a version where you think it fits.//SvHannibal (talk) 14:30, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Use the user's talk page for confirmation

Automagically put a warm welcome message as the first message on the newly registered user's talk page, with whatever useful info is now on the confirmation page – an idea that I'm sure has been proposed before – and then redirect the user to that page. An advantage is that the info remains accessible to the user in an easily found spot. And if we can use Mr. Wales' countenance in fundraising banners, then I suppose we can also have him (or his prompt and punctual twin brother Jimbot) sign these messages and make them feel more personal.  --Lambiam 03:04, 5 March 2011 (UTC)