Wikipedia talk:Help Project

message: Hello! I have started an RFC which may interest the members of this project. Please see Wikipedia talk:Refactoring talk pages#Is_fixing_dead_links_a_appropriate_form_of_refactoring? TheAwesomeHwyh 00:50, 2 January 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Refactoring 

message: Hi. the first section on the main page for Wikipedia:WikiProject Help reads as follows. I would like to help the problem stated below. 
Excerpt:
The trouble with help pages
The help pages of Wikipedia are a rabbit warren of various types of pages, written to differing levels of technical expertise and in widely varying styles. The effect can be quite overwhelming! The help system has also become bloated, and continues to grow: in redundancy, in wordiness, and via instruction creep.
This WikiProject provides an oasis of order amidst the chaos - a place where editors can meet up, share opinions, and support each other with the mammoth task of help cleanup. Many of the help pages have few, if any regular maintainers, so having a place to record ideas can ensure that good ideas endure.
Please join.  We can use all the help we can get.  (Pun intended). See also Wikipedia:Help desk patrol
As one option, I have created a new category, below. this is designed to help new editors to find, as stated below, an "oasis of order amidst the chaos," namely a central category that can enable and assist others in finding helpful pages more easily. 
*:Category: Wikipedia help overviews. 
However, this category is in danger of being DELETED. 
could you please go to this category, click the link for the deletion discussion, and then add your thoughts there? we greatly need a wider amount of input. We appreciate any input that you could please provide. thanks!! --Sm8900 (talk) 17:23, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Let's turn down the dramatization by a few notch here. There's a CFD going on. Just look at the CFD and evaluate the arguments. The world isn't about to end.  Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 19:59, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: ok, well said. I have revised the section heading. that's a good point. thanks. --Sm8900 (talk) 20:32, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Help category is up for deletion  

message: You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)#Proposal to streamline the welcome template.  Sdkb (talk) 06:57, 23 February 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion at [[Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)#Proposal to streamline the welcome template]]

message: I just went over the intro section at WP:About and made some tweaks, including updating statistics that were half a decade old. That the top section of such an important page (it's linked from literally every other WP page via the sidebar, and receives 300,000 views a month) contained statistics that stale really doesn't seem good, and there are lots of other issues on that page beyond that. If anyone has the inclination, please head over there and make some improvements (just keep in mind that it's a page for readers, not editors, and shouldn't duplicate our help pages for editors). Sdkb (talk) 09:17, 1 March 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Wikipedia:About]] badly needs some attention 

message: You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia talk:Task Center#Refining the tasks listed here.  Sdkb (talk) 01:04, 8 March 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Efforts underway to revamp the [[WP:Task Center|Task Center]]

message: It's interesting to compare the pageviews at the various different pages we have for new contributors. They're in what I would consider almost the exact opposite of the preferable order. At the top is Help:Getting started, a list of other help pages that's basically a product of us not being able to agree what the actual best place to get started is. After that is the outdated Wikipedia:Introduction, with a subset of those users making their way to the equally outdated Wikipedia:Tutorial. And only at the bottom do we get to the more helpful Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia (our best single-page intro), Help:Introduction (our best tutorial intro), and WP:Adventure (our best intro for kids). Is there any tool that helps us see where people are coming to a page from? I suspect a lot of it is the welcome template, but still, it'd be helpful to know so we can try to redirect users toward our better resources. (Of course, some of this will be mute if we're able to get our act together and start merging and using redirects.) (A sidenote: all of these pages are absolutely dwarfed by views of the non-contributor intro pages WP:About and Help:Contents, perhaps in part since those are linked from the sidebar.) Sdkb (talk) 06:56, 10 March 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Help:Getting started gets the most views as its the landing page for new registered users.  What we need to do is cuddle the old style module pages into one set. Despite multiple page modules being less valuable and an accessibility nightmare many old timers will be familiar with the old layout so we should keep one even if its overloaded with info with 67 pages. One Page Website vs Multi-Page Website.--Moxy 🍁 20:50, 10 March 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Comparing contributor introductory page views 

message: You are invited to join the discussions at Wikipedia talk:Introduction#Proposal: Redirect this page and WP:Tutorial to Help:Introduction and Wikipedia talk:Welcoming committee#Let's get rid of Wikipedia:Welcoming committee/Welcome to Wikipedia.  Sdkb (talk) 22:02, 12 March 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Proposals to redirect WP:Introduction/WP:Tutorial and the Welcoming Committee welcome

message: You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia talk:New user landing page/Archive 1#Where should the "start helping" button link?.  Sdkb (talk) 03:49, 26 March 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion at [[Wikipedia talk:New user landing page/Archive 1#Where should the "start helping" button link?]]

message: Sharing a request for feedback made by  of the WMF Growth team, who is working on features to increase new editor retention: 
Cheers,  talk 21:06, 19 May 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Good to see a post here....as your aware Miller a few of us from here have comment on the parent project page at the foundation. Joint venture will be the best way to get this implemented. We have been in touch with the design team  about how pages should be formated for screen readers and those with disabilities.--Moxy 🍁 21:21, 19 May 2020 (UTC)
replies: text:  This is just an FYI. Per WP:TALKFORK, please comment at the page MMiller linked.  talk 21:35, 19 May 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: lol...All good at main media page.--Moxy 🍁 22:38, 19 May 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  FYI: New WMF Growth Team features 

message: Hi there,
I just happen to like edit articles for better improvement and consistencies, and I tried to do so but hampered with time constraints. I earlier spoke to one of the editors User talk:Brojam, he replied, but he was busy, and so I tried experiement doing the article in inaugural American Idol season using the same table and colour scheme based on the ABC-era (season 16 onwards). I wonder if that is a success and other editors follow suit. That's why I sent this help request for help whenever possible.
The move is because that the colour scheme and template for the ABC-era Idol seasons is pretty good in terms on contrast and display and the fact it follow standards, compared to the FOX-era seasons, which use monochrome template and the wrong use of Bold typeface to indicate eliminated contestants.
Please comply. TVSGuy (talk) 11:04, 23 May 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Help request for American Idol color format 

message: I've just created Template:Simple help page, an editnotice for simple pages targeted at beginners (e.g. WP:Plain and simple conflict of interest guide). Please help spread it by adding it to appropriate pages!  talk 04:37, 6 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: If it is designed for pages in the Help namespace then Template:Editnotices/Namespace/Help might be the place to add it — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 17:42, 6 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: , my intention is for it to go only on pages that are simplified versions of more complex pages or designed explicitly for newer editors. Creep is certainly a problem beyond just those, but adding an editnotice for all help pages crosses into the realm of offering generic editing advice on pages that have shown no special need for it, and there might be concerns about that. I also think it's appropriate for some WP-space pages (another example is WP:Simplified ruleset), and while we'll hopefully someday better clarify which pages belong where, we're not there yet. Cheers,  talk 22:00, 6 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Okay that makes sense. I would prefer to see a bit more discussion before adding this edit notice to so many pages. I will post a link here from VPR to make sure it has consensus. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 19:11, 7 June 2020 (UTC)

text: Support - this seems like a good idea. It is unquestionably important that new editors understand policy, and to achieve that goal, we should be ensuring that our policies are (in some form or another) understandable to new editors. Naypta ☺ | ✉ talk page | 19:49, 7 June 2020 (UTC)

text: Oppose. WP:CREEP is a widely-recognized shortcut. Editors who are not affected by it will not be affected by an edit notice. I note the irony of fighting instruction creep with instruction creep. ―Mandruss ☎ 21:19, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

text: Oppose:  What ^^^ he ^^^ said.  Regards, GenQuest "Talk to Me" 21:38, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

text: I disagree with having this edit notice. Banner blindness is a significant problem and edit notices should be reserved for the most urgent concerns. Managing an appropriate level of detail on help pages can be done adequately with the usual editorial process. isaacl (talk) 21:46, 8 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text:  (and also  and ): this notice as proposed is only for pages that are simplified versions of more complex pages or designed explicitly for newer editors. These are the most urgent cases. Go take a look at WP:Plain and simple conflict of interest guide or pretty much any other supposedly simplified version of a help page — they are notoriously barely any simpler than the page they're supposed to help clarify; the usual editorial process has very much failed to keep them from becoming bloated. They all need to be trimmed, but without a more structural change to help them WP:ENDURE, they will just start expanding again. An edit notice is the best way to try to curb that cycle. Cheers,  talk 22:23, 8 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I understood your proposal for putting the notice on specific help pages; I just don't agree with your interpretation that it is an urgent matter requiring an edit notice. Also, in my experience, edit notices generally aren't very helpful at persuading editors not to make certain types of edits (banner blindness and people just not worrying about advice are the most likely reasons). isaacl (talk) 22:46, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

text: , yes, good thought! Since the template itself will appear on the editnotice page, we'll need to figure out how to get the category to apply to the right page, but there should be a way to do that somehow. Cheers,  talk 19:28, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Update: I've posted at Template talk:Editnotice#Adding |category= parameter.  talk 20:51, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  New editnotice to help fight [[WP:CREEP]] 

message: Should the template provide a category for the simple help pages? — Charles Stewart (talk) 14:55, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: , yes, good thought! Since the template itself will appear on the editnotice page, we'll need to figure out how to get the category to apply to the right page, but there should be a way to do that somehow. Cheers,  talk 19:28, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Update: I've posted at Template talk:Editnotice#Adding |category= parameter.  talk 20:51, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Category 

message: It looks like I'm talking to myself...would love to have others' perspectives.  talk 06:20, 11 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Two talk page sections at [[WT:Contact us]] 

message: Hi folks, there is a preliminary discussion at Wikipedia_talk:Template_index/User_talk_namespace around whether we should link to different warning pages in the most common warnings.Your input would be appreciated. Cheers, Darren-M talk 17:35, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Warning templates 

message: You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia:Village pump (idea lab) § Better designating the reader-facing and editor-facing areas of Wikipedia.   talk 07:48, 3 August 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion at [[:Wikipedia:Village pump (idea lab)/Archive 32#Better designating the reader-facing and editor-facing areas of Wikipedia|Wikipedia:Village pump (idea lab) §&nbsp;Better designating the reader-facing and editor-facing areas of Wikipedia]]

message: You are invited to join the discussion at Help talk:Contents § Small addition.   talk 18:46, 16 September 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion at [[:Help talk:Contents#Small addition|Help talk:Contents §&nbsp;Small addition]]

message: Hello, I have recently lost my password, and found the Special:ResetPassword page unhelpful. It did not send me an email.
I created a new account and only then realized that there is a Preference that requires that BOTH the email and the username be provided, and that my old account had this preference enabled. There was no mention of this on either the special page or the corresponding help page. Once I entered both fields, I was sent the email and able to access my account.
I think that either the Help page or the Special page needs to mention this caveat. If nobody cares to disagree in timely manner, I will edit the Help page myself, but I'm asking for comment now. Henstepl (talk) 20:11, 22 November 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I have edited the page with a note. Henstepl (talk) 18:44, 27 November 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  RFC on [[Help:Reset password]] 

message: Is there a tool that will show me who has viewed a particular page? REDMAN 2019 (talk) 13:06, 5 December 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't think this information is even recorded. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:27, 5 December 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: OK Thanks. REDMAN 2019 (talk) 11:35, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Pageview stats

message: I looked at Help:Citation tools but couldn't figure it out - is there a tool that allows me to point https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haltlose_personality_disorder to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haltlose_personality_disorder and have a bot grab the forty different  references filled out properly on Simple by comparing them to en? And is there a same/other tool that does it just between two articles on the same project? HaltlosePersonalityDisorder (talk) 22:02, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Import references from another article/project?

message: You are invited to join the discussion at :Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Help:Glossary.   talk 20:18, 11 April 2021 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion at [[:Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Help:Glossary]]

message: At the top of Wikipedia:Help Project, a banner says: . I could not find the remaining 0.1% of pages importance of which hasn't been assessed yet. So my question is: is assessment complete? And a follow-up to that: is the banner at the top of Wikipedia:Help Project still useful? —⁠andrybak (talk) 11:34, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: If that's what it says, I'd assume it is indeed complete; congrats! I have no issue removing the banner from the top. Our current collaboration ought to be perpetually improving clarity and reducing WP:CREEP on beginner pages—that's less measurable but far more important.  talk 17:13, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Is assessment complete? 

message: WP:Rater seems to be having difficulty recognizing this project's talk page banner.  talk 17:30, 17 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Project banner bug? 

message: Hello, I'm working on a wikipedia page about Salvatore Briguglio, and I want to add an image of him, but he's dead and I can't take a picture of him now, I thought I used the non-free biog-pic correctly but I'm not sure, and I don't think I can use any image unless I ask the website it came from for permission to use it, is that right? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks. --Sodapoppers (talk) 23:03, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Copyright help 

message: First time attempting to add a picture, using template from Help:Pictures#Links, and ran into a roadblock. Maybe I'm just wanting someone to hold my hand, but it seems that instructions could afford to be clearer. The admin who responded at the Help Desk recommended I go here to voice the concern. Please see Wikipedia:Help_desk#Adding map thumbnail using external link for details; my proposed additions to the instructions are at the end of the section I linked to.
Well...just stumbled upon WP:CREEP. Ouch. Instructions do have a way of always getting wordier over time, don't they? Still, I think the issue I raised needs to be addressed, and maybe someone can glean some ideas on phraseology from my suggestions, which for some novice users might be clearer than the text as it stands. -- 2603:6081:8004:DD5:6451:2AC4:EB73:1BE (talk) 14:47, 1 December 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry to hear you had such difficulty. I think the core issue here is that you were looking for Help:Introduction to images with Wiki Markup or Help:Introduction to images with VisualEditor rather than the more comprehensive (and regrettably overlapping) documentation help pages. I've added a green banner to Help:Pictures to make it clearer that there's a less technical page for newcomers.  talk 17:55, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inserting map thumbnail 

message: You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) § Directing users to VE or Wiki Markup help pages based on what they actually use.   talk 17:49, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: Raised again at Wikipedia:Village_pump_(technical)#Guiding_newcomers_to_editor-specific_advice.  talk 23:03, 25 January 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion at [[:Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Directing users to VE or Wiki Markup help pages based on what they actually use|Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) §&nbsp;Directing users to VE or Wiki Markup help pages based on what they actually use]]

message: You are invited to join the discussions at :MediaWiki talk:Cite-ve-dialogbutton-citation-educationpopup-text and MediaWiki talk:Visualeditor-linkinspector-educationpopup-text.   talk 00:07, 8 January 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Suggested changes to VE instructional popups

message: FYI  and  have been nominated for deletion -- 65.92.246.142 (talk) 14:41, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: User instruction templates up for deletion

message: Hi. We have a lot of introductory pages, and a lot of guides and central pages to help newcomers to find introductory pages. I felt that instead of adding another page to list the links, perhaps a nav box might be helpful to some newcomers. 
Below is what I came up with so far. Please feel free to comment, provide feedback, etc. this is Template:Introductory pages. thanks!
Thanks! ---Sm8900 (talk) 🌍 23:03, 30 January 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: This is unfortunately a pretty textbook example of the WP:BADBEGINNER problem. I've nominated the template for deletion.  talk 17:49, 3 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  New navbox, for pages that serve as introduction.  

message: You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals) § Changes to VisualEditor instructional pop-ups.   talk 21:36, 8 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion at [[:Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)#Changes to VisualEditor instructional pop-ups|Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals) §&nbsp;Changes to VisualEditor instructional pop-ups]]

message: You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia talk:New user landing page § Welcome link.   talk 20:02, 12 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion at [[:Wikipedia talk:New user landing page#Welcome link|Wikipedia talk:New user landing page §&nbsp;Welcome link]]

message: I would like to propose some changes to Template:Basic information. this would involve several changes to structure, and also to content, such as; 
*simplifying the titles for each group within the nav box, 
* consolidating some sections 
*renaming some links to be more clear, 
*adding a new line to link to the Library
*regrouping links within some  groups on separate lines, to make this easier for newcomers. 
the goal is to make this nav box simpler for new editors, as well as easier to read for existing editors. 
I would like to get some informal feedback here,. on this revised version. I am planning to formally propose these changes in the future, by visiting the talk page for this template. This post here on this page, is just an informal request for initial feedback on the draft version below. I appreciate any help. 
--Sm8900 (talk) 22:10, 1 March 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposal for changes to nav box 

message: FYI  has been nominated for deletion. Apparently this is supposed to help users navigate to the WP:5P pages? -- 65.92.246.142 (talk) 04:14, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: {{tl|Five pillars box}}

message: FYI,  has been nominated for deletion. Apparently this is related to the glossary help pages. -- 64.229.88.43 (talk) 03:03, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: {{tl|Glossary term}}

message: You are invited to join the discussion at MediaWiki talk:Signupstart § Moving username message to appropriate location.   talk 04:46, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion at [[:MediaWiki talk:Signupstart#Moving username message to appropriate location|MediaWiki talk:Signupstart §&nbsp;Moving username message to appropriate location]]

message: FYI WP:article wizard has been proposed to be renamed; see Wikipedia talk:Article wizard -- 64.229.88.43 (talk) 05:41, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Article wizard

message: Please see Wikipedia talk:Wikimedia sister projects#Soft redirects to sister projects which needs input from additional editors. Thryduulf (talk) 12:37, 1 October 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Discussion about soft redirects to sister projects 

message: There is a requested move discussion at Help talk:Introduction to policies and guidelines/1#Requested move 27 January 2023 that may be of interest to members of this WikiProject.  ASUKITE 16:10, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Requested move at [[Help talk:Introduction to policies and guidelines/1#Requested move 27 January 2023]] 

message: I noticed that Help:References and page numbers does not say how to add page numbers using the Visual Editor. Should I be bold and add these instructions, or is there a reason not to? Clayoquot (talk | contribs) 22:58, 31 May 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: That sounds like it'd be useful to me! A lot of our help pages are biased against the VisualEditor because the experienced editors who mostly write them tend not to use it as much.  talk 00:31, 1 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Visual Editor instructions 

message: Archived links from South China Morning Post using Wayback Machine no longer display text, is anyone else experiencing this issue? 🅶🅰🅼🅾🆆🅴🅱🅱🅴🅳 (talk) 11:07, 24 September 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  SCMP archived links 

message: Template:Double soft redirect has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the entry on the Templates for discussion page.
-- 65.92.247.90 (talk) 04:53, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Nomination for deletion of [[Template:Double soft redirect]] 

message: What's the plan with quality ratings on Wikipedia:Help Project/Assessment? Every help page tagged with  says "This page does not require a rating on the project's quality scale," even if it has been assessed. The new banner shell does not recognize non-WP:PIQA class ratings on help pages. There's also an A-class criteria with 8 members even though none of them have gone through a formal A-class review. I don't see that this is helpful. Schierbecker (talk) 04:36, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: At a bare minimum, A-class should be removed or renamed. Promotion to A-class requires two impartial reviewers on other projects. This isn't an area where an objective standard for A class could be agreed upon. Schierbecker (talk) 23:46, 27 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wikipedia:Help Project/Assessment ratings? 

message: Should Wikipedia:Help Project/Assessment#Quality scale be marked historical? 23:30, 27 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: At a bare minimum, A-class should be removed or renamed. Promotion to A-class requires two impartial reviewers on other projects. This isn't an area where an objective standard for A class could be agreed upon. Schierbecker (talk) 23:46, 27 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: RFC

message: It has just occurred to me that when searching the FAQ the results are horrendous ("edit main page" for example does not show "Why am I not able to edit the Main Page?"). One solution would be to move each question to its own subpage allowing a prefix search that should yield cleaner results (example). The problem is that there is no cascading Watchlist function that I am aware of, so short of watching every subpage a Related changes on the Category might have to be viewed regularly. I will cross-post to WT:FAQ. Thoughts? --Commander Keane (talk) 20:28, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Put each FAQ on its own subpage? 

message: There is a requested move discussion at Template talk:User access levels#Requested move 30 January 2024 that may be of interest to members of this WikiProject. ❯❯❯ Raydann(Talk) 17:33, 7 February 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Requested move at [[Template talk:User access levels#Requested move 30 January 2024]]