Wikipedia:Newcomer onboarding
This page provides an overview of the ways that newcomers are welcomed, trained, mentored, supported, and integrated into the Wikipedia community. This includes initial outreach, automated tools, personal mentoring, software features, discussion forums, educational programs, social events, and community-wide retention initiatives.
Welcoming
editThese involve the first contact with a user, with the goal of making them feel noticed by the community, and welcomed to the project.
There are various methods of initial contact with a brand new user, including: Welcome templates, individually written personal welcome messages, invitation bots, Teahouse invitations, and Articles for creation invitations.
Welcome messages usually are placed only after an editor has made at least one edit. A majority of newly registered accounts
Users who wish to welcome new users can find newly registered accounts with their first edits using the Special:RecentChanges feed (see Help:Recent changes). Filter the feed to only show new users by checking the boxes next to "Newcomers" and "Learners".
Temporary accounts are generally not welcomed, as they are assigned randomly by Wikimedia software, and expire after ninety days.
Help and Q&A
editA major avenue for on-boarding newcomers is through community discussion between newcomers posing questions at popular venues such as the Wikipedia:Teahouse and Wikipedia:Help desk. Another such forum is the Wikipedia:Reference desk—although that is not about editing Wikipedia per se, newcomers sometimes show up there.
There are also the Wikipedia:Education noticeboard and the Wikipedia:Mentorship noticeboard, but these are primarily peer-to-peer boards used for communication among more experienced Wikipedia editors, or between them and members of Wiki Ed or WMF.
A WikiProject is a group of editors who want to work together, and many of them are willing to help new editors.
Mentoring and individual guidance
editSince 2021, the Growth Team WP:Mentorship program has become a major source of one-on-one support for newcomers from experienced Wikipedians.
The independent Wiki Ed program has Wikipedia experts that monitor students and answer their questions sent via the Wiki Edu dashboard or asked individually.
Legacy avenues included WP:Adopt-a-user,
Training and education
editThere are various forms of training offered to newcomers. One is the Wikipedia:Adventure, a step-by-step learning game.
The Wiki Education program is an independent non-profit initiative that links up students in university classes in the U.S. and Canada that edit Wikipedia as part of their university course classwork. Wiki Edu offers formal training modules to students in Wiki Edu-enrolled courses.
Edit-a-thons and other editing events often provide training.
Former efforts: programs like Wikipedia:Education program/Ambassadors (a.k.a., 'Campus Ambassadors').
Interactive live help
editLive, interactive chat is available for anyone at the #help channel at Wikipedia:Discord or IRC chat at the #wikipedia-en-help connect channel.
Software features
editVarious software features are aimed at encouraging newcomers to make their first edits at Wikipedia, or to continue making them. Many of these are projects of the Wikimedia Growth team.
- Newcomer homepage – newcomer tasks, and other modules that help kick-start brand new editors
- Newcomer tasks
- Suggested edits
- Impact module
- Help panel
- Wikipedia:Edit check
Social events
editSocial events offer newcomers the opportunity to meet Wikipedians in person. Some events offer on-boarding, training, or support to newcomers including some meetups, edit-a-thons, and workshops.
| July 2026 +/- | |
|---|---|
| Iriga 2 | July 11, 2026 |
| London 230 | July 12, 2026 |
| San Diego 136 | July 18, 2026 |
| Christchurch 47 | July 19, 2026 |
| Chicago Wiknic 2026 | July 25, 2026 |
| Portland, Oregon | July 25, 2026 |
| Oxford 124 | July 26, 2026 |
| Wikimedia Café: Governance reform | July 26, 2026 |
| Brixton 17 | July 27, 2026 |
| San Francisco Wikisalon | July 28, 2026 |
| August 2026 +/- | |
| San Diego 137 Wiknic | August 1, 2026 |
| San Diego 138 edit-a-thon | August 2, 2026 |
| US Mountain West online | August 11, 2026 |
| Christchurch 48 | August 15, 2026 |
| Bay Area Wikisalon | August 18, 2026 |
| Full Meetup Calendar • Events calendar on Meta For meetups in other languages, see the list on Meta | |
Tbd; incorporate some/all of:
- Category:Wikipedia meetups
- meta:Meetup – includes editathons, and meetups by language, e.g., French-speaking meetups, Esperanto meetups, German-speaking meetups, etc.
- m:Category:Wikimedia meetups
- m:Special:AllEvents
- outreach:Education/Get involved
- outreach:Education/Ambassadors
Retention
editStatistics show that many users leave after their first few edits. After initial § Welcoming and other on-boarding initiatives, or even during it, recognition and encouragement play a role. In the longer term, other retention efforts come into play. WikiProject WP:Editor retention is focused on retaining editors (and not only new editors).
Recognition and encouragement
editAvoiding or mitigating negative experiences
editTbd: about warning templates, especially when they occur as a user's first editor interaction.
Outreach
editOutreach wiki serves as a home for several outreach and collaboration initiatives. Their goal is to recruit and support new Wikimedians and to build strong relationships with cultural and educational partners, like GLAM.
- outreach:Education/Get involved – Wikimedia Education programs
- outreach:Education/Community/Countries – a by-country listing of what WM Education programs are available where
- outreach:Education/Ambassadors – campus ambassadors, online or present (still exist?)
Surveys and polling
editResearch and discussion of future initiatives
edit- Commmunity wishlist
- Growth team discussion forums
- WMF research papers
- A/B tests
- editor retention analyses