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Hi everyone, it’s Delilah - Rae!

So I want to be in the Welcome Wagon, and I know I have to be on wikiHow for a month, and I’m going to wait, but I have some questions. 

1 - Where can I fill in the Welcome Wagon test/survey thing?

2 - Do you think I’m good enough for this? Should I wait more than a month?

3 - Do I have to post the same welcome message each time, or  do my own?

I’ve started sending new contributors kind messages, but what next?

Thanks if you can help me.:slight_smile:

-Delilah - Rae, Monday 23rd December

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You may want to check out this article , it should answer some of your questions.

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  1. Link above by r2

  2. If you got the hang of it, definitely- go girl!

  3. It’s best to personalize your message to the user. Don’t post the same welcome message.

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@R2_d2000 @FlowerPower555 thanks so much! Very helpful and Merry Christmas to the both of you! xx

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I’ve literally just taken the welcome wagon test too… I think  I made a couple mistakes, but we’ll have to wait. Fingers crossed!

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In answer to your second question, I would say take the test when you are confident in welcoming people. If you don’t have much experience around wikiHow / welcoming it will be harder to pass. Ask yourself these questions:

  1. Will I be able to answer new user’s questions?

  2. Am I a experienced editor on wikiHow?*

  3. Have I welcomed people before?

I think these tips might help you!

*What I mean by this is do you have enough experience around the site so that when you have people ask you questions, you can answer them?

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You don’t have to obsess over not being able to answer each and every question or, really, any questions. All you have to do is point them to a resource where they can get a reliable answer. It might be a link to @JayneG , to an experienced user, to the Help Team , or to an article. It is more important to be friendly and supportive.

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@Alabaster Question- when I was welcoming I didn’t refer them to anyone in the first message. Probably in the second/third message I told them about resources. I did the same on the welcome wagon test… is that ok?

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That is perfect. With the first message, just make them feel at home, comment positively on their edits, and offer to further help, should they feel the need.

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Ok, thanks!

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When I did the Welcome Wagon test, I was told that adding too many links or asking too many questions could be overwhelming. I didn’t have to redo the test but I had to submit a further two. Also, try not to make your welcomes too generic. Try to find something personal if you can. For example one user I welcomed a while ago got a stub/promote on an article about Geometry Dash, so I asked them if they played Geometry Dash. It might just be a simple thing for example if they fixed a typo you could compliment their skillful eye. I wouldn’t advise copying from a template. Getting an idea off a template is fine but do not copy it. For example, I sometimes see users (usually non-welcomers) adding the {{welcome}} template to users’ talk pages. This should only be used if a new user didn’t get a WelcomeBot message from an admin or booster. Remember: try not overwhelm new users. If a user seems to be a bad-faith editor or is clearly advertising, skip them. I read somewhere that if two welcomers skip a user, they get removed from the Welcome Wagon tool because it usually mean they have bad intentions. My last piece of advice would be to not be too critical. If a user made a mistake but has good intentions, welcoming isn’t the correct place to coach them. Instead of saying “You made a few mistakes in patrolling”, say something like “Patrolling can be a hard task, even the best of use make mistakes.”

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@RubyRoseRain Thanks for the advice :D. Still waiting to get my results back… dot dot dot. Jayne said she’ll email next week so now i’m impatient… dot dot dot.

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@FlowerPower555 oh wow, I’m sure you’ll get in though.

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Still waiting… *groans

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@FlowerPower555 oh no… it’ll come soon.

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It’ll probably be on Wednesday or tomorrow as that’s a week.

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The best approach here is probably to not bother her and be patient.

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Jayne is offline and will have a lot to catch up on when she comes back online. I am sure that your submission will be processed in due time. In the meantime, please try to be patient.

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@Alabaster I know. It’ll take a while… Thanks for reminding me to be patient though :D.

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Well, I got my badge. Also @Delilahlulu good luck on your submission!