Template talk:W-basic

Auto-signature
I'd like the option of suppressing the signature, or dispensing with it altogether. I find myself adding other templates, such as edit summary reminders, to the end of welcome messages, and it just doesn't work well with the auto-sig. I now have to break out the edit summary reminders in a separate, unnecessary section. Other templates don't do this, either. Otherwise, great template. Xiner (talk, email) 20:32, 26 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Done. I also suppressed "Again, welcome!" with this option, as it indicates the closure of a message. -Audacity 00:01, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

I seem to be having trouble with the auto-signature. It's not leaving a time-stamp, just the signature. What am I doing wrong? See User talk:MaryLEEinc. I used the following:  Вasil  | talk 21:32, 23 May 2007 (UTC)


 * That's bizarre. It works fine for me. My only idea is that the | in your signature somehow interferes with the template code. Anyway, you can use Again, welcome! ~ for the same functionality and use a JavaScript welcoming tool so you don't have to type that out each time, or, change your signature.  Λυδ α cιτγ  01:05, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Вasil | talk 19:19, 7 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Audacity! It was a problem with the pipe in my signature. After adding a simple nowiki wrapper, it works fine now. Thanks again!

The six bulleted items
Can they be set up in two columns? The list leaves a lot of empty space that prevents it from being compact. Xiner (talk, email) 20:34, 26 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't think everyone would want to use this, and I can't figure out how to do it without messing up the formatting of certain options. Perhaps ask someone with better HTML/wikitable experience. -Audacity 00:27, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

W-anon?
I would like to see a "W-anon" template in the same style (with ~, without border) appear, is a lot of typing to do everytime I welcome an anonymous user (a few each day, from different computers). I'd be happy to make one, if there is sufficient interest. -- oKto siTe  talk  10:13, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I replied at Wikipedia talk:Welcoming committee.  Λυδ α cιτγ  17:50, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I'll stop double posting now... ;-) Thanks for the useful reply. -- oKto siTe  talk  10:07, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Icon alignment
Me again.Here in Mozilla Firefox on Gentoo Linux the "The five pillars of Wikipedia" list item is misaligned if the "icons=true" switch is used... I'm not good at building templates, but perhaps you can look into it? -- oKto siTe  talk  18:41, 11 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Fixed.  Λυδ α cιτγ  00:53, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks! -- oKto siTe  talk  14:37, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Table of contents inside border
Hello. When the border for this template is turned on, and there are enough sections on the talk page to create a Table of Contents, the TOC ends up inside the border of the welcome template; User talk:Smitsaini is an example of this. Thanks for this versatile new template, have you thought of posting it in the grid at WP:UTM? &mdash;Elipongo (Talk contribs) 20:24, 4 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Fixed and added; thanks.  Λυδ α cιτγ  21:34, 4 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks! &mdash;Elipongo (Talk contribs) 21:41, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Problem when a header is selected
Hi again. I've run into an interesting phenomenon. When heading=true is selected, and then subsequent header sections are added later, the section edit links stop working properly. It seems as if even though the header in the template shows up in the table of contents, the software isn't counting it as a section when you attempt a section edit. When an section edit link is clicked, the software opens the section *after* the one that was selected, and if the final section is selected the software returns an error. For an example of what I mean, see User talk:Czimborbryan. Cheers! &mdash;Elipongo (Talk contribs) 14:35, 10 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I think this is a result of the section header being inside the ParserFunction that decides whether the header is included or not depending on whether the header option is used. I don't think there's any easy way to fix it. Either we can leave it be, or we can get rid of the header option, either making it mandatory or leaving editors to include a header on their own.  Λυδ α cιτγ  04:52, 11 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Actually, this problem has been reported and may soon be fixed.  Λυδ α cιτγ  04:58, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Article wizard 2.0
Well I added a reference to the Article Wizard, which was reverted with a slightly harsh edit summary. The request to discuss first at talk:friendly follows "If you are planning to make major changes to this template...". It's a matter of opinion whether adding a boxout is a major change. Anyway, would it be possible to add a reference to the wizard in some form? Rd232 talk 21:37, 6 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Sorry if I sounded harsh. The idea of the basic template is to give the very bare necessary information to the new editor to reduce the clutter on his/her talk page.  No newbie is going to read everything before they start editing and a whole heap of code on their page as the first thing they see can be very off-putting.  More than once I have come across newbies who are too frightened or confused to edit their own talk page because of all the welcome template clutter on it.  I would say a box that increased the real estate taken up by the template by around 50% is certainly a major change in this context and you certainly do need to consult the "Friendly" users.  The question to me is is there anything essential for the newbie in this wizard?  If the answer is no it should not be on the template.  There are many other welcome templates people can use if they want something more intricate where your wizard would be more appropriate.  Another possibility is to put a link to it on a page that is linked by this template, something under Help:Contents such as Help:Contents/Getting started or Help:Contents/Resources and lists. Sorry, ti should not be here, at least not by default.  Sp in ni  ng  Spark  00:04, 7 September 2009 (UTC)
 * OK, thanks. I think perhaps later on when people are more used to the wizard it'll be easier to make a case to add it here. For now I've added it to Help/Getting Started. cheers, Rd232 talk 01:01, 7 September 2009 (UTC)

Complete substitution
Does anyone mind if I add complete substitution to this template? Basically, add 'subst:' before the '#if' and '#switch' statements. This would result in a much cleaner substitution without all the parser functions being pasted into someones talk page. Thanks! Plastikspork ―Œ (talk) 17:58, 25 March 2010 (UTC)


 * That sounds good to me, one of the reasons for using a simple template is not to frighten the newbies, ideally, they should see nothing in edit mode they do not see on the page. But can you please test a copy of it with all the possible settings you can think of before going live?  Sp in ni  ng  Spark  23:36, 3 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Sure. The only downside is that it would then be mandatory to substitute the template, which means you couldn't transclude it.  This shouldn't be a big problem since there is only one transclusion (currently).  The reason why I brought this up is that some of the stuff inside the case statements is negative in tone, and there is no reason to have that visible in the source when it's not intended.  I had one IP complain about it after editing his/her talk page. Plastikspork ―Œ (talk)  20:03, 4 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Okay, I made complete substitution option, and updated the documentation to make it the "thing to do" in the examples. If you don't use the  parameter, then it will function just as before. Plastikspork ―Œ (talk)  20:06, 9 April 2010 (UTC)


 * There seems to be something wrong with the first example in the table above.  Sp in ni ng  Spark  20:12, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * What's wrong with it? The  were there before. Plastikspork ―Œ (talk)  20:16, 9 April 2010 (UTC)


 * None of the examples are working, I suspect due to this new subst=subst: thing. But I don't know a thing about templates. Read them all through and you'll see. {&#123; Sonia &#124;talk&#124;simple}&#125; 07:22, 26 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Are you talking about the table above? They are all working as far as I can tell.  The first example was a bit off due to some edits to WelcomeTemplateTable, but even that one is fixed now.  Could you be more specific about what isn't working? Plastikspork ―Œ (talk)  19:49, 26 May 2010 (UTC)  This should be fixed now.  Thanks! Plastikspork ―Œ (talk)  20:40, 26 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Too long ago, I can't remember what my original complaint was (I seem to remember the first example was completely mangled text) but it all looks good to me now. Maybe it is some kind of caching issue? Sonia, try clearing your browser cache.  Sp in ni  ng  Spark  07:08, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

No it wasn't a caching issue ( I don't think) but it's fixed now, in any case. {&#123; Sonia &#124;talk&#124;simple}&#125; 07:12, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Inclusion of the Teahouse?
Hi everyone. Those of us involved at the Teahouse pilot are interested in seeing a link to the Teahouse placed in this welcome template. This will be able to help us drive new editor traffic to the Teahouse during this pilot period, and allow us to continue to assess the pilot to the best of our ability. The welcome template is a great and powerful tool for new users, and it'd be really valuable to give new editors the choice to visit the Teahouse for assistance and community experience. I do hope that you will support this and then we can reach out to an admin to make the change. Thank you for your consideration :) Sarah (talk) 23:23, 2 April 2012 (UTC)
 * There is already one "help" link in the template. The idea of this template is to keep it as simple and uncluttered as possible.  Spinning  Spark  01:20, 3 April 2012 (UTC)
 * See discussion on Template talk:Welcome. KillerChihuahua ?!? 22:27, 12 April 2012 (UTC)