Template talk:First article

Sig

Is there any reason for the four tildes? It seems to me like the other templates don't have the signature at the end, so you can add it yourself. Could it be removed from this template? --Lijnema 18:21, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

I agree with you here in principle, but my only reservation is that users will start to fail to sign the message, being used to the autosig previously, but it's worth a try Martinp23 13:25, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Use

I don't understand how to use the template. Mattisse(talk) 16:21, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Leave {{Firstarticle|Name of article}} on the talk page of the user you want to give the message to (and don't forget to put your signature after the template). --Lijnema 17:17, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

O.K. I tried it and it does work. That is very neat. Thanks! Mattisse(talk) 17:26, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi - it's best to use {{subst:firstarticle|name}}. The subst bit places the whole message into the talk page, makig it slightly more personal, puts less strain on the servers and makes it less prone to vandalism (if a vandal put an offensive image/text into this template, it would show up everywhere it was not subst'ed). Thanks Martinp23 17:30, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

That's absolutely right, I forgot to add the subst: thing, sorry about that. :) --Lijnema 17:35, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

No problem :) Martinp23 17:41, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Proposed change

Hi, I like this template and use it on new page patrol. I personally would like to see it have the name of the article in question show up in the text. I'm proposing changing the second sentence to read "Thanks for writing the article [[{{{1}}}]]." Any thoughts? Thanks, Darkspots 22:09, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Proposal

I think the word Please should not have been bold, it seems a bit too much for me. Greswik 17:24, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Yes, a bit much, I made the change. Darkspots 03:45, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

Glitch

Please look at the recent edit history. For some reason an attempt to post a comment on a user's talk page immediately after this template is used on that page, results in the edit being posted here. Is there something wrong, or are the last three of us to "edit" the Template doing something wrong? Kablammo 00:38, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Same style as existing templates?

Is there a reason why this isn't of the same style/structure as existing problem user welcome templates? I have created a draft of my suggested changes to bring this into line with the other templates.

---

Welcome!

Hello, Firstarticle, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Unfortunately, one or more of the pages you created may not conformed to some of Wikipedia's guidelines for page creation, and may soon be deleted (if it hasn't already).

There's a page about creating articles, you may want to read called Your first article. If you are stuck, and looking for help, please come to the New contributors' help page, where experienced Wikipedians can answer any queries you have! Or, you can just type {{helpme}} on your user page, and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Here are a few other good links for newcomers:

• The five pillars of Wikipedia
• Your first article
• How to edit a page
• Help pages
• Tutorial
• How to write a great article
• Manual of Style

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you have any questions, check out Wikipedia:Where to ask a question or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! 

---

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts. --Deadly∀ssassin 22:54, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Proposed Change

In order to keep from biting the newcomers, would anybody object to the addition of something along the lines of

"It's nothing to worry about - thousands of other new pages get deleted for this same reason."

immediately following the notification of deletion of the page? I feel it would be a nicer way to welcome a new user to the community, and let them know that theirs isn't the only page like that, and to keep them from thinking "I'm a bad editor" and not contributing. --Iamzork (talk) 01:22, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Another proposed change

I'd like to remove the "thank you for your contributions" from this template. It's a very useful and friendly line in many of the other welcome templates, but it's unhelpful here because this template's function is to tell people - albeit kindly, and in an encouraging way - that their only major contribution is inappropriate. It sounds odd thanking them for something that's being rejected, and also the bluelink on "your contributions" will become a redlink if their deleted article was their only contribution, making the whole message look even odder. I'd like the first para to read:

Hello, Firstarticle, and welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Unfortunately, one or more of the pages you created may not conform to some of Wikipedia's guidelines for page creation, and may soon be deleted (if it hasn't already).

Karenjc 23:23, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Wow, just came here to say the same thing, per this discussion (permalink). Anyway, I think there should be a parameter that removes the sentence -- like {{subst:First article|thanks=no}}. This is similar to {{subst:Welcome|newuser=y}}. Eman235/talk 17:04, 26 April 2015 (UTC)

I support this. Be bold and make the change! Otherwise this will more than likely sit here for another 7-year period... — This, that and the other (talk) 08:41, 27 April 2015 (UTC)

@This, that and the other: I would if I knew how :P I think maybe this:

{{#ifeq: yes |{{{thanks|yes}}}|Thank you for [[Special:Contributions/{{{{{|safesubst:}}}PAGENAME}}|your contributions]].|}}

would work. Not sure though. I can't figure out safesubst. Eman235/talk 18:07, 27 April 2015 (UTC)

 Done Now the "thank you" message only appears if you pass the thanks=yes parameter. I don't think we should stop there; there is a lot more room for improvement in the wording of this template. For example, I don't know if "I hope you like the place..." is really the best thing to include in this template, as it might sound patronizing or sarcastic. But those improvements can be achieved by regular editing of the template. — This, that and the other (talk) 10:24, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

I updated the documentation. Eman235/talk 21:08, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

@This, that and the other and Eman235: Hey guys, I've never edited templates before, and don't want to jump in and make a mess trying to do so here. However, I think having the link to their contributions somewhere in the template is desirable even if it's included in the list of links given to them, rather than in the actual wording. More than anything, it's an easy way for other users to goto the contributions page of that user and because these templates are primarily intended for new users, it's often desirable to check their contributions to see if they have a pattern of bad edits as a new editor. I often use the "contributions" link found in a welcome message to easily goto that users contribs, is there a way we could change this? -War wizard90 (talk) 06:04, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

What's the problem with using the "User contributions" link under "Tools" on the sidebar? Yes, you have to scroll near the top of the page to use it, but then you also have to scroll up to click links in the welcome template at the top of the talk page... — This, that and the other (talk) 09:54, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

There's also this script, which has a link to the user's contribs page (the link at "last edited <number> <time> ago"). It probably would be helpful to include a link anyway...but what wording would you suggest? "Here are your contributions"? "No thank you for your contributions"? Eman235/talk 19:21, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

Well I feel silly, I had never used the "User Contributions" link in the toolbox, I had always just assumed that link would take me to my own contributions, not the user who's page I was on. Learn something new everyday. -War wizard90 (talk) 23:15, 5 May 2015 (UTC)