Wikipedia:First contact

The difference between a successful career on Wikipedia and an unsuccessful one oftentimes comes down to the first post on a user's talk page. Editors should remember that Wikipedia is a community and that a new editor's opinion of this community will be formed at that point. The first comment a user receives should not be about teaching them right from wrong, it should be an invitation. Let the editor know that all are welcome here and that we appreciate their decision to donate their time to this project. The questions on policy will come later.

Guidelines for greeters

Objective

To encourage, support, and motivate new Wikipedia editors.

Tasks

• Leave a friendly message for a new editor:
  • State you are available for questions and guidance, and point to other places where guidance can be obtained, such as Wikipedia's adopt-a-user program.
• Place the editor's talk page on your watchlist for a period of time (1 week?) and be willing to provide clarifications of Wikipedia practices or offer encouragement if necessary. Some examples: [1], [2], [3]
• Check the Recent changes page (found in the left-hand side bar under the "Interaction" menu) for new editors with red-linked talk pages that may have hit a roadblock. Take the time to assist. Show them what works and what will lead to success: communication instead of confrontation.
• (more tasks to meet the objective...)

Helping an editor involved in a dispute

• If necessary, offer a softer, more congenial explanation of the situation. More honey, less vinegar.
• Motivate them to get past the hurdle: "There is so much more than this minor predicament. Hang in there,"
• Encourage them to stay calm and develop a collegial editing style. "Don't take it personally."
• Support their potential, not necessarily their stance. They may be way off base but their potential is what is important–to them and to Wikipedia.
• By example, show how to collaborate rather than confront. This will provide an example of how the new editor can partner with established editors rather than argue with them.
• Emphasize, in your messages, co-operating and working with other editors. This creates the feeling of a collaborative environment that should offset any sense of competition that may be prevailing. Don't take sides in a disagreement of opinion.

Writing style

• Avoid using bare shortcuts to Wikipedia policy pages, such as WP:N. Instead, use a descriptive phrase, such as, "Please refer to Wikipedia's guidance on what makes a topic notable for inclusion in Wikipedia."
• Don't abbreviate Wikipedia user names, as it can cause confusion, and is akin to calling someone by a diminutive nickname, which may not be welcome.
• When pointing out problems, consider the following technique for the initial feedback message: start with an encouraging message, pointing out something done well, or welcoming the editor's contributions, then point out the issue, and conclude with another friendly message. This structure is called the "praise sandwich". Note the positive portions of the message must be genuine, not trivial or perfunctory; don't aggrandize something small just to fit this format. Subsequent messages can be more succinct, but strive to keep the tone as inviting as possible.

Why have greeters?

Buster7 made the following comment, which led to this essay:

The New Wikipedia Editor senses the Wikipedia Community and they want to be a part of it. They reach out to shake hands and that first handshake should be friendly. Reciprocity. It's why Wal-Mart has a greeter stationed at the front door of ALL their stores. They create a bond with their customer. It makes good business sense. Using the Wal-Mart greeter as an example, the First Contact Veteran Editors (FCVE) should not be there to help the New Editor decide on a red hat or a blue hat (or which aisle to shop in) but merely to point out where the HAT department is. The FCVE is the face of WikiPedia; a warm smile, a friendly greeting, assisting, re-assuring. The First Contact that the new editor has with a real live fellow editor should be smooth and real and it should create an opening for the new editor to "walk" into. Reciprocity. The First Contact should never be an attack. "You broke the rules. You walked on the grass. You left the assigned area and dared to think you could edit. You need to be reprimanded and, perhaps, placed in detention, until you read the 57 page manual and learn right from wrong"! The focus of the First Contact should never be about rules. It should always be about "Welcome to Wikipedia"!

It should be obvious that the majority of new editors do not come to do harm. And yet it seems that is not the assumption that many veteran editors envolved in the "early life" of a New Editor have. Many New Editors are casual, probably single-issue, users that will either "sell" or condemn Wikipedia (in RL) based on their early experiences here. We should do everything possible to make that experience a good, fertile, enjoyable one. POINT: Every New Editor should be specifically, and with a determinite effort, be referred to as EDITOR not user or newbie or n00b or whatever. They are editors at their first "Save". WE (Wikipedia Editors) need to change the conversation, the 'meme', that is prevelant about New Editors. We need to respect them right from the start as equals.

FCVE's need to let New Editors know, right from the start, that they are not alone; that they are part of a community, part of a partnership. WE will walk alongside them, a short way down the path into WikiWorld. Sounds sappy but is necessary to counter the less than savory moments they will definitely experience. They don't know it yet but there are Grenades (Toxic Editors,as Jimbo has called them) on the path. If they pick one up...and pull the pin....POW! We need to let them know there is a friend they can call to soften the blow.```Buster Seven Talk 05:33, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Recall your first impressions at Wikipedia

It would probably do us all a WikiWorld of good to remember (each on our own) our individual early days at Wikipedia. How bright-eyed we were. How exciting the place was. OMG...The challenge of your first edit. Probably just a minor edit...punctuation more than likely! But you were hooked. You had joined a World-wide phenomenon. As you wandered around the changing landscape of WP, your sense of the enormity and value of the place grew. You got a taste of what a free-flowing, ever-changing, stimulating project it was. And you wanted to be involved.

Often experienced users have heightened expectations of how quickly a newcomer should learn Wikipedia's community norms, forgetting that many new editors just started by wanting to fix something they thought was broken, and are not interested in learning about notability guidelines, verifiability, reliable sources, or any number of other Wikipedia policies. The existing community must be tolerant of the gradual learning curve many editors will follow, rather than chastising editors that have inadvertently run afoul of a detailed point in a Wikipedia guideline (gone "up the down staircase"), which may drive them away before they can realize their full potential.

From Wikipedia:Wiki Guides

All Wikipedians had a "New User experience" - they all had to start somewhere!

Many have kindly given us their stories of those early, tentative days of how it felt to be a new user on Wikipedia. If you are already an editor, please go to the talk page to add your own section and tell us your story.

You can view those stories on the talk page (click here), but here are a few teasers!

• Wilhelmina Will: "Even after I started editing with my account, I only felt comfortable doing the simplest of edits; I remember thinking it would be a huge time-consuming task to add in an external link ... I've managed to gain a pretty decent understanding of how the different fields of editing in Wikipedia operate. A considerable amount of this comes from interacting with other users"
• Carcharoth "It may never be too early to ask people what exactly they want from their Wikipedia experience, and tailor things to help them that way."
• Jsayre64 "I definitely did not enjoy the first several weeks after I created an account here on Wikipedia, in July of last year. I was annoyed and puzzled by image problem notices and I felt as if I were a burden on everyone else. But then I signed up to join the friendly editors at WikiProject Oregon and I began to realize how I could actually help an encyclopedia."
• Pfly "I was telling her about a possible ancestor-cousin of mine who was a pirate captain, and how a recent book had used his hanging as a kind of milestone, an end to the "Golden Age of Piracy". She said, "let's see if he's on Wikipedia". He wasn't, so she created a page in less than a minute. I was surprised and amazed."
• The_Interior "My first real interaction with another editor was my requesting some Czech translation, which was replied to almost immediately and in great detail(the reply can still be seen at the top of my talk). I have to say this was my "pivotal" moment which led to further editing adventures."
• Anna Frodesiak "New editors and prospective editors should know loud and clear, that Wikipedia is composed of others just like themselves -- that there is no government that audits and approves their edits."