View source for UDWiki:Open Discussion/Welcome templates

{{Protect}}
[[Category:Discussion|Welcome templates]]
'''Please keep all comments, including suggestions, to the [[UDWiki talk:{{PAGENAME}}|talk]].''' 

The templates {{[[Template:Welcomenewbie|Welcomenewbie]]}} and {{[[Template:Welcomenewbie?|Welcomenewbie?]]}} are the most useless potentially useful templates on the wiki. The reasoning for this should be obvious - they are bloated and unwieldy, having general advice that newbies will either never read, or will find useless and redundant. The {{[[Template:Welcomenewbie|Welcomenewbie]]}} is by far the worst in this regard, although {{[[Template:Welcomenewbie?|Welcomenewbie?]]}} could also do with a lot of streamlining too.

So to summarize, both templates are too big, too wordy, and too useless.

===Fixing this mess===
The best course of action is to streamline and simplify the templates. Cut out all the crap that isn't relevant to newbies or not. I propose that we move away from the complex and heavy templates seen above, to something more like the welcome templates used on Wikipedia. These templates aren't too demanding on the reader's time, are simple, and provide a lot of hyperlinks for further help. [[wikipedia:Template:Welcome|Here's]] the template at Wikipedia. [[User:Linkthewindow/Making WN Useful|Here's]] how I propose adaptation for the UD Wiki.

'''In other words, we go from this:'''

{{Welcomenewbie}}

<hr>

'''and replace it with this:'''

Hello and [[Project Welcome|welcome]] to the Urban Dead Wiki. I hope you enjoy your time here. Here is some information and links which you may find useful:

*[[Help:Basic Formatting|Basic formatting]] and [[Help:Images and other Media|media]] is a good start with formatting if you are unfamiliar with the Wiki software.
*The [[Suggestions]] system is the place to go if you want to suggest an improvement for the game. Please use [[Developing Suggestions]] before you submit your suggestion.
*Talk pages are places for discussion about a page, group or event to take place. Users also have a talk page, where they can be contact. Your talk page is [[User talk:{{PAGENAME}}|here]]. Talk pages can be accessed by clicking the "Discussion" tab at the top of your screen.
*Please sign your comments by clicking the [[Image:Button sig.png]] button or by typing four tides (<tt><nowiki>~~~~</nowiki></tt>). Please do not delete any comments that are not yours off a talk page.
*If you wish to have a page of your own deleted, use [[A/SD|speedy deletions]]. If you want to have a page moved, use [[A/MR|move requests]]. 

Again, welcome to the Urban Dead Wiki. Further help is avalable by contacting me, on my talk page, or any of the members of [[Project Welcome]] or [[Project Mentor]]

{{User:Linkthewindow/Sig}} 11:45, 10 July 2010 (BST)

Please keep all comments on this to the [[UDWiki talk:{{PAGENAME}}|talk]]. {{User:Linkthewindow/Sig}} 11:49, 10 July 2010 (BST)