Talk:Growth/Communities/How to interact with newcomers/2023

I do not like the official language used in examples. "Do you have sources we can use?" can be replaced with "Do you have sources than can be used?". "We respect copyright laws, so we can't accept every image on Wikipedia." can be replaced with "Wikipedia respects copyright laws, so it can't accept every image on Wikipedia.". "Hello and sorry for the bad experience you had."; it sounds like an employee replying to an dissatisfied customer.

Thank you for the suggestions. I changes the two first sentences.

Concerning "Hello and sorry for the bad experience you had.": it is a way to deescalate a potential clash with the user. It is a way to acknowledge that there is an issue. Then it is easier to explain why things went wrong.

Changed for a better sentence.

What did you mean here? We changed this phrase to "Even if something seems obvious to you, it may not be clear to a newcomer. Approach every question as if answering to yourself." Is that the right meaning? If isnt, feel free to revert it :)

The meaning of the initial sentence is more details that matters, like the article, the editor used, what is the impact of the change, etc.

An example may make things being clearer: a user asks to add an image on an article. You could provide a reply like "go to Commons, upload the image, get the image title, paste it between brackets and save". It could be tempting to have the same reply for everyone. However, it won't cover all cases. What if the image has to go into an infobox, a gallery? What is the image is not accepted on Commons? This is why every question is specific.

The sentence was clearly unclear and I would be very happy to know your ideas to improve it!

Oh, I get it, thanks :) Then it can be something like this: 'Do not answer with general phrases, ask clarifying questions. Each user may have their own problem, which is different from similar ones.'

Yes! I like a lot the way you wrote it. Can I use this sentence on the help page?

Of course, if my English is suitable for this :)

The guide and examples are comprehensive and useful. The problem is that it's too long and none of it seems important.

1. experienced editors coming to this page will not read each line, and then pause to internalize its meaning. Nor will they be able to store all of that in their memory, so as to recall it when interacting with newcomers.
2. the visual presentation doesn't highlight or emphasize key points

This is a way to make something stand out.

We are currently working on a training, that would be nicer to read and interact with.

Side note: your message is hard to read, because of the big red box that catches my eye every time I move to the next word in the sentences you've written. Was it the purpose of your point 2?