Wikipedia talk:Welcoming committee/Welcome templates

Template:Welcome-back is marked as always substitute (which I agree is correct) but the code is not subst-protected, and parser conditionals like #if: get placed on the user talk page, rather than getting substituted. Mathglot (talk) 10:01, 21 December 2025 (UTC)

Please add your feedback at Template talk:Welcome-unregistered#Proposal to deprecate param ipname. Mathglot (talk) 03:42, 17 February 2026 (UTC)

Your feedback would be appreciated at Template talk:Welcome-unregistered-unconstructive#Change the template wording instead of the title. Thanks, Mathglot (talk) 07:37, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

I would like to suggest that we add a caveat about the use of LLM to most of the Wellcome templates. I am posting here for comments with a cross-post to WT:NPP. It is not going to stop the use, but could be a small step. N.B., I realize that this may need to also be discussed at the different templates with some specific wordage; that can come later if I see some consensus developing. Ldm1954 (talk) 17:04, 7 April 2026 (UTC)

Personally, I would prefer a banner for non-autoconfirmed users. If nothing else, this removes one step in the "I wasn't told" -> "I only use it to fix grammar" -> "but MY AI doesn't have hallucinations" -> "Going forward, I would like to focus on the content. If you have any specific issues with the content, please feel free to raise them with me" -> AINB -> ANI pipeline. Fermiboson (talk) 17:46, 7 April 2026 (UTC)

• I approve of this, we are having terrible problems with new articles with hallucinated or inappropriate references or that simply say nothing over a massive number of AI generated words. Wider measures are necessary, but this is a start.--Boynamedsue (talk) 18:37, 7 April 2026 (UTC)

• Strong support — and similar clarifications in relevant templates project-wide. /Augmented Seventh (talk) 19:54, 7 April 2026 (UTC)
• Strong support, by far the largest issue we're dealing with, and definitely something we should inform newcomers about. Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 18:57, 8 April 2026 (UTC)
• Strong support as a way to set core expectations early and prominently. Btyner (talk) 21:44, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

Um, can I be the first one to ask which templates everybody is thinking of? {{Welcomelaws}}, {{WelcomeCOI}}, and {{Welcome-spam}} are templates which I think a note about LLM use would be useful; {{welcome-copyright}} is something I want to keep relatively short and punchy to make sure editors actually read it fully. Stuff like {{Welcome cookie}} or {{Welcome-belated}}, likewise, I don't feel the need to start plastering warnings on; I tend to give it to people I see making genuinely constructive edits, and I don't want to WP:BITE them off by making it seem like I'm warning them for a behaviour I'm not even concerned about. And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, if the person I'm giving {{Welcomevandal}} to hasn't realized you can use ChatGPT to create subtle vandalism, then I'm not going to provide some very fun looking beans. GreenLipstickLesbian💌🧸 06:58, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

I don't necessarily think warnings are the best way to word this. Something like "When not to use AI" as a bullet point alongside the others in {{Welcome cookie}} could help without being BITEy. Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 18:48, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

That is true; but, also, speaking of the cookies template if the editor actually clicks on any of the links, then they're directed to WP:YFA -- which has a message about not using LLMs front and centre. (Though such a note could probably also be added to Wikipedia:Article development) And if they aren't clicking on those links, then adding more links just risks information overload, they click on no links, and the only thing they kind of sort of remember is that using AI is okay, sometimes. Which.... even in the cases where it's allowed, I advise people to stay well away until they're experienced enough to double check its output.

Personally, my favourite activity to people who copy-paste text onto Wikipedia, and insist it's okay, is to point out the small print, on ever edit screen, which says "By clicking "Reply", you agree to our Terms of Use and agree to irrevocably release your text under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License and GFDL". But I'm not under any illusion that it actually stops people from copy-pasting text, it just feels satisfying to pull it out on admins or other experienced editors who have gotten on their high horse about "well, copying from other Wikipedia articles is Ok, where does it say I can't do that?". It's been my experience that, although banners and blanket text like that can feel quite nice, they aren't that effective. It may come as a surprise to anybody who has seen me write, but I favour very quick and to the point welcome templates/warnings, so people don't get overwhelmed reading them. It's why I stick to the cookies template; the others welcome templates (like {{Welcome graphical}} are a bit bloated with every possible sin a newcomer could commit, and I haven't seen evidence that this actually helps.

Both my parents are teachers, so part of this "keep things simple and to the point", with very clear "do X, don't do Y" not "Y is okay... sometimes", bright colours, large text, ect, philosophy comes from them; I figure if they used this philosophy to teach thousands of children how to read and write, and how to balance chemical equations, and how to sit down in class for longer than five minutes (Dad worked in Special Education), then it's good enough for me.) GreenLipstickLesbian💌🧸 19:12, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Alternatively, maybe instead of bombarding them with links, we could give them the key points in the template itself? Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 19:14, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Source yes, llm no, civil yes, edit war no, fun yes, too much fun no. CMD (talk) 19:57, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

@Chaotic Enby When I feel the need to do that, that's when I use {{Welcomelaws}} . Which I do support adding a warning about LLM generated text on, just to be clear, and have for a while -- it's just template protected, and I can't think of good enough wording to summon an admin/TE to add for me. GreenLipstickLesbian💌🧸 20:36, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Well, I'm here if you want me to add it! Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 20:51, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

@Chaotic Enby Oh, thank you! I might go and ping you there now (But also, full warning, you've just signed yourself up to hear about three different ideas from my indecisive self lol.) GreenLipstickLesbian💌🧸 21:13, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Anything to distract me from Lua! Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 21:14, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

@Chaotic Enby, are you the relevant template editor for this -- it sounds like you are from your email. (The consensus seems to be strong, I was going to create specific language.) Ldm1954 (talk) 21:56, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Well, I certainly don't own this template, and I don't think I can enact the consensus here as I'm involved in the discussion (courtesy ping to @GreenLipstickLesbian as that probably also applies to the other template I signed up for, although I can very much help workshop it), so the best thing to do is to use {{edit request}} for someone uninvolved to enact it! Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 22:03, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Workshopping from somebody who actually knows what they're talking about (ancient template magicks) is brilliant for me. GreenLipstickLesbian💌🧸 22:05, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

But I'm not under any illusion that it actually stops people from copy-pasting text is one of the reasons I would prefer a big warning banner for non-autoconfirmed users rather than welcome templates - in the same way we have this banner for CTOPs and BLPs, it doesn't stop all the disruption, but it certainly gives people pause and the feeling that they're doing something wrong. This also means we can skip one step in the escalation ladder, in the same way we don't bother having extended discussions with people constantly introducing BLP violations before bringing them to BLPN/ANI. As to the beans concern, prompting a chatbot is probably already one step of effort above what most casual vandals are willing to put in, imo. Fermiboson (talk) 21:33, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

@Fermiboson The "By clicking "Reply", you agree to our Terms of Use and agree to irrevocably release your text under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License and GFDL." is the equivalent of a banner, imo. It works better than CTOP/BLP edit notices too, because they actually show up. (CTOP banners don't for me; well, not consistently, because I'm on an older skin). It just falls victim to banner blindness.

And you don't actually skip steps in escalation; I will move quickly for egregious BLP issues/vandalism, but, otherwise, I do actually need to talk with the other editor before escalating. Copyright issues, for an example as something you can also be blocked for with very little warning, and for which every editor is already getting the warnings you're asking for, I either go for three warnings in close succession before escalating, and five warnings over a longer period of time. This mirrors the advice in User:Moneytrees/Copyright blocks#When to block. GreenLipstickLesbian💌🧸 21:48, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

We've made a big overhaul to Template:Welcomelaws (adding the LLM caveat, trimming down a lot of unnecessary/confusing links, and reorganizing for readability), any feedback is welcome! Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 09:53, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Clean, not aggressive, functional. Augmented Seventh (talk) 16:50, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I would like to propose we add a new parameter to some welcome templates that optionally adds a sentence suggesting a WP:WikiProject that may be of interest to a new user. So, you could code {{welcome foo|project=Ships}}, and get this line added to the message:

Based on your contributions, you might want to consider joining WikiProject Ships.

While the WP:Task Center is already mentioned in many welcome messages, it is a generic link, like all the other welcome message links. By taking just a moment to scan their contributions (they are newbies, it will be quick), we can customize the message in a way that makes them sit up and take notice, 'Hey, somebody noticed and cares what I am doing!', instead of just leaving them a bog-standard generic welcome. On the plus side, this has been part of the welcome mentee templates for some time; on the down side, it is difficult to measure the impact of using it, but I believe it helps retention. Mathglot (talk) 21:21, 17 May 2026 (UTC)

• Listed at: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Editor Retention. Mathglot (talk) 22:58, 17 May 2026 (UTC)
• Support It never hurts to add ways of customizing these otherwise-bland templates with personalized details. Cats and cookies, nice as they are, are only so helpful to newcomers. And this is a mundane enough change that, even if it only positively affects a small portion of newcomers, that's still a win to me. As a bonus, if consensus suggests wrapping temporary account templates, this property will be made available to those templates as well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kodning (talk • contribs) 03:10, 18 May 2026 (UTC)