This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.
File source problem with File:Dohrn userbox sm.jpg
Latest comment: 14 years ago3 comments2 people in discussion
File Copyright problem
Thanks for uploading File:Dohrn userbox sm.jpg. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged.
If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Wikipedia:Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after 04:00, 10 September 2009 (UTC). If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Salavat (talk) 04:00, 10 September 2009 (UTC)
Added as much source info as I could gather! Please let me know if this is good enough (preferably, before deleting the image).Jtmorgan (talk) 01:21, 13 September 2009 (UTC)
Replaced the controversial image with File:Researcher_userbox.jpg, which has been meticulously sourced by yours truly. I hope I got the process more or less right this time. Let me know if this image is appropriate--in which case I will not object to the original being deleted. Jtmorgan (talk) 03:44, 6 October 2009 (UTC)
File source problem with File:Dohrn userbox.jpg
Latest comment: 14 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
File Copyright problem
Thanks for uploading File:Dohrn userbox.jpg. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged.
If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Wikipedia:Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after 04:00, 10 September 2009 (UTC). If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Salavat (talk) 04:00, 10 September 2009 (UTC)
Copyrighted images on userboxes
Latest comment: 14 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
A non-free image was recently removed from one or more of your userboxes. Please be advised that Wikipedia takes copyright very seriously. Wikipedia policy does not allow templates (which includes userboxes) or user pages to contain any copyrighted content not under a free license; so, for example, claims under "fair use" are explicitly rejected. This clause is to be interpreted strictly and without exception, for legal reasons. You can research Wikipedia's non-free content policy for more details.
I hope this does not discourage you from creating more userboxes; your contributions to Wikipedia are greatly appreciated. For images and other media that are freely available for use in userpages and userboxes, check out Wikimedia Commons. Thank you. -FASTILYsock(TALK)21:15, 24 October 2009 (UTC)
College of Santa Fe
Latest comment: 13 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi Jtmorgan,
We're currently busy designing some new tests, and we need your feedback/input!
ImageTaggingBot - a bot that warns users who upload images but don't provide adequate source or license information (drafts here)
CorenSearchBot - a bot that warns users who copy-paste text from external websites or other Wikipedia articles (drafts here)
We also have a proposal to test new "accepted," "declined," and "on-hold" templates at Articles for Creation (drafts here). The discussion isn't closed yet, so please weigh in if you're interested.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
I saw that you did some usability work for Textifier and I wanted to chat with you about what you found. Even though I found you by Googling for DiscoverText and Mechanical Turk, I'm an informatics undergrad at UW. Oddly enough, I actually did some coding for one of Mark's grad students and I may have even sat in on a session regarding QBox!
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi WP:UWTEST member, we wanted to share a quick update on the status of the project. Here's the skinny:
We're happy to say we have a new round of testing results available! Since there are tests on several Wikipedias, we're collecting all results at the project page on Meta. We've also now got some help from Wikimedia Foundation data analyst Ryan Faulkner, and should have more test results in the coming weeks.
Last but not least, check out the four tests currently running at the documentation page.
Hello, Jtmorgan/Archive 1. Your question has been answered at the Teahouse Q&A board. Feel free to reply there! Please note that all old questions are archived after 2-3 days of inactivity. Message added by 05:05, 22 February 2012 (UTC). (You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{teahouse talkback}} template).
Teahouse updates
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi Jonathan! A few updates for you about Wikipedia:Teahouse, since you're one of our awesome Teahouse hosts!:
The host lounge is open! Please take time to review the materials in the space and start contributing to the how-to pages. Your input is valuable. Not only is it great practice to get our minds thinking like hosts, but, you can also provide easy to understand instructions and sound bites for fellow hosts!
Join the conversation by participating on the host lounge talk pages[1][2]. We also have an IRC channel now for hosts to get to know one another, develop your skills, and eventually the channel will serve as an additional help space for new editors!
To visit the IRC channel: #wikipedia-teahouseconnect (Feel free to ask me for help if you're having trouble connecting!)
Let new editors get to know you by creating your Teahouse profile. Contribute your profile on the host page at the Teahouse! This serves as a fun way for new editors to get to know the people behind the usernames. You can post a photograph of yourself or an avatar, add a quote about yourself or something you enjoy, and share projects and activities you participate on wiki (with wikilinks).
Very exciting things are taking place, and we'll be opening the Teahouse no later than Monday. Feel free to ping me on or off wiki, and I can't wait to work with you to welcome new editors with a warm cup of tea :) SarahStierch (talk) 03:34, 24 February 2012 (UTC)
The Teahouse is Open!
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Hi Jonathan! Great news: The Teahouse is open for business! We're ready to start inviting new users, answering questions and inspiring one another. If you haven't already taken a look at the links provided in the most recent Teahouse update, posted on your talk page, please do! Don't forget to add yourself to the Host page if you haven't already. What's next? Inviting hosts and reporting your invitation information.
Please familiarize yourself with this brief rundown of your responsibilities as a Teahouse host.
Use the invitation guide to invite new users and report your invites.
Make sure you have the Q&A page on your watch page and dive in when answers get asked! Feel free to ask your own questions - either seeking help or inspiring others to share their projects, ideas and inspiration for editing.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
This is for your assistance to new editors at the tea house. Thank you for helping newbies like me and making wikipedia a better place. (You mentioned you enjoyed tea in your description so i thought i'd give you a cup) :p Cais1 (talk) 23:13, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
A barnstar for you!
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
The Technical Barnstar
For all your awesome tech-savvy stuff you've done for the Teahouse! It's really great being on the Teahouse staff with you =) SarahStierch (talk) 18:55, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
Non-free images
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion
Metrics are out from week one. Week one showed that the need for Teahouse hosts to invite new editors to the Teahouse is urgent for this pilot period. It also showed that emailing new users invitations is a powerful tool, with new editors responding more to emails than to talk page templates. We also learned that the customized database reports created for the Teahouse have the highest return rate of participation by invitees. Check out the metrics here and see how you can help with inviting in our Invitation Guide.
A refreshed "Your hosts" page encourages experienced Wikipedians to learn about the Teahouse and participate. With community input, the Teahouse has updated the Your hosts page which details the host roles within the Teahouse pilot and the importance that hosts play in providing a friendly, special experience not always found on other welcome/help spaces on Wikipedia. It also explains how Teahouse hosts are important regarding metrics reporting during this pilot. Are you an experienced editor who wants to help out? Take a look at the new page today and start learning about the hosts tasks and how you can participate!
Introduce yourself and meet new guests at the Teahouse. Take the time to welcome and get to know the latest guests at the Teahouse. New & experienced editors to Wikipedia can add a brief infobox about themselves and get to know one another with direct links to userpages. Drop off some wikilove to these editors today, they'll surely be happy to feel the wikilove!
You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here. Sarah (talk) 16:05, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
Daily Database reports
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Hey, I proposed the idea of a bot which searches the database report userpages throughout the day and marks them as 'invited' if the word Teahouse is present on the page. Would that be possible to make? It would improve invite efficiency and collaboration significantly. Ocaasit | c00:41, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
Ocaasi: it would certainly be possible to make. But I'm not the best person to make it. Are there other bot-builders you know who might be interested in throwing their dev muscle behind Teahouse? cheers,J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me01:43, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
Miszabot on Teahouse page
Latest comment: 12 years ago8 comments2 people in discussion
Hey, Jtmorgan, I saw your manual archiving on hte Teahouse page. Now, I'm *far* from an expert on this, but per Wikipedia:Bot_owners'_noticeboard#Misza13's bots seem to be down, it seems that Miszabot was being run as a cron job on the nightshade toolserver, which, per the toolserver wiki, is still down (and has been since February). I *think* it's being run manually every now and then, but it's not running automatically, so it's not gonna archive things on time reliably. Writ Keeper⚇♔20:57, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
Thanks, WritKeeper! I've known that Nightshade had been down, actually, but I'm not sure why that's affecting MiszaBot. There's another login server, Willow, which works just fine for me (I have a database report script that runs as a daily chron on Toolserver). Perhaps Miszabot has some additional dependencies I'm not aware of? In any case, I should probably be asking them, not you :) Thanks again for the update, tho. And thanks for your engaged, friendly answers on the Q&A board. Feel like making yourself even more available to newbies, and creating a host profile? - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me16:36, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
I've been tossing around the idea of making a host profile, but tbh, I don't think I could commit to the other requirements for an "official" host, particularly the inviting 20 people/week thing. And, to be honest, I don't think that having such a requirement is the right way to go about spreading the word; I've seen some people send invites to already-blocked vandalscan't find a diff for this, so can't assert it as true. Admittedly, I don't have a better idea of how to increase awareness, especially amongst newbies and especially for a pilot project which might turn some people off of putting references to it in "official" pages. I *do* have a good picture of my JRT that I want to use, though... Writ Keeper⚇♔17:22, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
Ha! Let your terrier shine. Well, you're doing a lot of great question-answering on the Q&A page, so I think you 'deserve' a profile, FWIW. Feel free to make one even if you don't intend to invite newbies. Mostly, the 'requirements' are to emphasize that we don't want Teahouse to be a place for 'driveby' question answering by Wikipedians (though they're probably GF), who don't want to bother with understanding what we're trying to do, and just giving overly terse or downright unfriendly answers (though, to be honest, I haven't seen that much of this yet). Regarding the invitation strategy, you're probably right that there are other ways to be doing this. We're actually working on setting some of those up. For now, though, we at least know that some of the invitation techniques/locations seem to work better than others. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me17:59, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
I might make one later today, then. :) Also, that's some interesting data; I wonder in general how many new users enable email? Also also, it occurs to me that the reason we might miss people who would want to ask questions is that they might not see the links we provide them, especially if they don't know about their talk page (after all, who doesn't get inured to page-top banner ads? People might not give it a second glance.) Is the "new account registration complete" page something we have control of as far as content goes, and would it make sense to put a link there? Although, on reflection, I don't actually remember what that page looks like... Writ Keeper⚇♔18:12, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
Looks like about 50% of new accounts enable email, so it's a pretty hefty cohort of newbies. I know that I always notice the "you have new messages" banner, but I have no idea whether it's something a new user would pick up on. Also, I was talking with Dario about the possibility of putting Teahouse link somewhere in the account creation process last week! Other possible opportunities would be places like the Feedback Dashboard response process and the welcoming committee's welcome templates. If I have my way, all of these will happen eventually--but we're probably going to stick to individual invites primarily for a few weeks, since (the hope is ) that gives things a more personal touch. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me18:35, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
Hey, for my picture, should I upload it to Commons or what? It doesn't seem to fall under their scope (although they do say that a small number of pictures for personal use is okay). Writ Keeper⚇♔19:50, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
Latest comment: 12 years ago9 comments5 people in discussion
Hi JT,
I noticed on WP:BOTREQ that Ocassi wanted to grep potential Teahouse guests' talk pages for the word "Teahouse" and exclude those who have already been invited (or otherwise know about it) from the database report. If you are generating this report, or know who is, I think this should be an easy thing to add to the SQL, but I don't know the field names involved. Otherwise if that is not an option, please let me know and I will explain how to use the API to annotate the table with information on whether the word "Teahouse" appears.
nice to get some more input on this. Here are my thoughts:
I'd love to get a little more tutelege on API querying, so if you want to chat, Npmay, let's do it! I'll be in #wikipedia-teahouse most of the day tomorrow, so you can hit me up there (goes for you too, John)
we don't actually have revision text accessible in the database I use (nor in toolserver, I believe), so grepping 'teahouse' would have to be an API query too. Unless it's in the edit comment, which I don't believe it is.
the pagelinks table in the wikipedia database is actually freakishly slow to query. However, calling up WhatLinksHere via API, and looking for the invite template page would work! But I would love a little help building that into a script. I'm using MZMcBride's wikitools toolkit right now, which is set up to query the API in a specific way that's good for generating reports, but I haven't yet played with other ways of scripting API queries (and then possibly writing the results to a wiki page and/or to the sql db).
ultimately, there's still the fundamental problem of how frequently the table needs to be updated. the Teahouse db report is currently run daily as a chron job (I'm not on toolserver, so my script isn't dead in the water right now like a lot of 'bots currently are with Nightshade down). I don't really want to hog resources and run any scripts more frequently than that, until I know what impact that has on my server. But what Ocaasi is asking for, I believe, is a script that automatically refreshes the Wikipedia:Teahouse/Hosts/Database_reports page very frequently: one that writes "invited" in a single cell every time the script is called, possibly even at the click of a button. That sounds resource intensive to me, since the API query would have to be run afresh every time, right? Or am I missing something? Once again, your advice and assistance is appreciated. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me03:23, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
Oh! I just saw this. I will hop on IRC to talk to you, but first I wanted to show you how to do it from the unix command line with cURL if you use that:
If I don't reach you on IRC, and this doesn't work for you, let me know what operating system you use and ping me with a talkback. My watchlist has exploded recently due to my experiments. Npmay (talk) 23:06, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
Thanks!
Thanks for your work on this. It's clear it took some digging and careful implementation. I look forward to my work being even more efficient, thanks to you! Ocaasit | c16:11, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
Thanks, Ocaasi! And thank you for your work. Keep suggesting new ideas (to me, and the other hosts) about ways we can make Teahouse run more smoothly. For my part, I'm going to start the process of making an official 'TeaBot' account which can be used to run the reports and performa a variety of other housekeeping tasks. I'll keep you all in the loop, and will be soliciting your input. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me20:24, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
Script for the db report
Hey, J-Mo, I've run out of ideas for scripts on the talkback front (although, really, I'm pretty happy with the setup I have now). I saw in the host lounge a mention of making a Twinkle-like functionality to automatically invite a user to the Teahouse. I was thinking of adding a column to your db report table that would contain a link to autoinvite, as well as a tab similar to Twinkle's that appears on a user: or user talk: page that gives an option to either invite or post a talkback. Thoughts? Do you mind me monkeying around with your reports? Writ Keeper⚇♔16:07, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
What values do you put into the "Invited" column? Is it basically that if there's anything there, they shouldn't be invited, and if it's blank, then maybe they should? Also, is it manually filled in or automatically generated? Writ Keeper⚇♔16:43, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
I don't mind monkeying! I could always use the help. But let's talk about this a bit first, to make sure I know what you're talking about. I'll be on Teahouse IRC all afternoon, and most of the day tomorrow (I'm trying to make a habit of being logged in there during 'working' hours, but my attendance is still spotty sometimes). Hit me up there when you get a chance. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me19:19, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
Bot stuff
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
I'm running my bots from clematis now (submit.toolserver.org). You could try that, although there's no telling how long it will be until they change it to something else. I've heard they're moving back to Linux since there's no one at WMDE that administers Solaris any more, so maybe things will be more reliable once they switch back. Kaldari (talk) 02:18, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
Tea House
Latest comment: 12 years ago4 comments3 people in discussion
Hehe. You're certainly not. Sorry for the spam, Jim. I tried to screen out all non-newbies before sending out the survey, but I must have missed you. Again, my apologies for cluttering up your talk page! - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me16:17, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
You did manage to not spam the disgruntled, and that should help with survey results. I see, though, at the survey, I would have had to get an answer to my question to give feedback. I was as ignored by the teahouse, though, as by main page editors. Sgsfdhd (talk) 19:21, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
Lol. "Don't Spam the Disgruntled" sounds like the title of a Wikipedia essay that needs to be written. On a more serious note, I was actually in the process of responding to your question when you deleted it. What I posted on your talk page is, verbatim, what I was writing on the Teahouse Q&A board. Sorry we didn't get to you before you hit the frustration threshold. If you would like to take the survey, Click here to be taken to the survey site. We're interested in all feedback, however disgruntled. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me21:36, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
Invitation to blocked sockpuppets
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
I just noticed this edit and wondered if you intended to send the invitation to take part in the survey to blocked sockpuppets.
There may be good reason to do this, but sockpuppets might skew the results of a survey, and the closue with "Happy editing" appears a little inappropriate for blocked users. --Boson (talk) 19:50, 20 March 2012 (UTC).
Thanks for the heads-up Boson. I tried to screen out blocked users, but apparently this one slipped through. If you see anything else that's odd, please let me know! - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me21:20, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
There is a question at the Teahouse you might have interest in...
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi Mathew! Sorry, I assumed from the way you'd asked that you already knew the page. They're here: Wikipedia:Teahouse/Host_lounge/Metrics. Cheers, 14:53, 27 March 2012 (UTC)
Editing
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Hi Jonathan, I was wondering if you could take a look at the page I have been working on and if you have any ideas to make it better. I have only put some information on the page but just want to see if I should be doing anything different. Here is my page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Hartwell
Thanks, Hamm9 (talk) 17:31, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi! Welcome to the second edition of The Tea Leaf, the official newsletter of the Teahouse!
Teahouse celebrates one month of being open! This first month has drawn a lot of community interest to the Teahouse. Hosts & community members have been working with the project team to improve the project in many ways including creating scripts to make inviting easier, exploring mediation processes for troubling guests, and best practices regarding mentoring for new editors who visit the Teahouse.
Springtime means fresh tea leaves...
First month metrics report an average of 30 new editors visiting the Teahouse each week. Approximately 30 new editors participate in the Teahouse each week, by way of asking questions and making guest profiles. An average of six new questions and four new profiles are made each day. We'd love to hear your ideas about how we can spread the word about the Teahouse to more new editors.
Teahouse has many regulars. Like any great teahouse, our Teahouse has a 61% return rate of guests, who come back to ask additional questions and to also help answer others' questions. Return guests cite the speedy response rate of hosts and the friendly, easy to understand responses by the hosts and other participants as the main reasons for coming back for another cup o' tea!
Early metrics on retention. It's still too early to draw conclusions about the Teahouse's impact on new editor retention, but, early data shows that 38% of new editors who participate at the Teahouse are still actively editing Wikipedia 2-4 weeks later, this is compared with 7% from a control group of uninvited new editors who showed similar first day editing activity. Additional metrics can be found on the Teahouse metrics page.
Say hello to the new guests at the Teahouse. Take the time to welcome and get to know the latest guests at the Teahouse. Drop off some wikilove to these editors today, as being welcomed by experienced editors is a really nice way to make new editors feel welcome.
You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here. -- Sarah (talk) 21:41, 5 April 2012 (UTC)
WikiProjects
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hello! Jtmorgan,
I noticed your article was declined at Articles for Creation, and that can be disappointing. If you are wondering or curious about why your article submission was declined please post a question at the Articles for creation help desk. If you have any other questions about your editing experience, we'd love to help you at the Teahouse, a friendly space on Wikipedia where experienced editors lend a hand to help new editors like yourself! See you there! Sarah (talk) 01:43, 14 April 2012 (UTC)
Teahouse barnstar
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hello! Jtmorgan,
you are invited to join other new editors and friendly hosts in the Teahouse. An awesome place to meet people, ask questions and learn more about Wikipedia. Please join us! - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me23:32, 14 April 2012 (UTC)
Hello, Jtmorgan. Please check your email; you've got mail! The subject is Subject Line. It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Our Teahouse conversation is in Archive 8, "8 My first article was rejected. Is my current, pending version more appropriate" and I couldn't find a way to add my response so I resorted to email.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi. When you recently edited Open science, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Bird flu (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Thanks for giving the interview in the Signpost. I will write you soon, but just a quick note - there is a long history of discussing high school notability, some of which is here at Wikipedia:High Schools. What you were saying in your interview seemed to indicate that high school notability is often dubious, when actually on Wikipedia any high school confirmed to exist even with poor sources is an almost always an article which meets special school inclusion criteria. Awesome interview - congratulations! Blue Rasberry (talk)14:40, 15 May 2012 (UTC)
See? This is why we need people like you at the Teahouse, Lane! (in your copious free time, no doubt). Thanks for the good wishes. Hope you're settling in well on the other coast. As you can see from Pharos' message above, I seem to have been defaulted into the meetup organizer role, so this coffee will come in handy. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me18:14, 15 May 2012 (UTC)
The Tea Leaf - Issue Three
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi! Welcome to the third edition of The Tea Leaf, the official newsletter of the Teahouse!
Teahouse reaches two month mark. The Teahouse has been live on English Wikipedia for two months now and evidence of the project's impact is beginning to show. Thank you to the hosts and Wikipedians who have helped make the Teahouse the valuable place for new editor's to seek help and feel welcome.
Many guests are repeat visitors: the average guest asks 1.5 questions and 22% of guests ask more than one question.
Reports show that the Teahouse is having a positive impact on editor engagement! Comparing a sample of 75 new editors who participate in the Teahouse with a control group (of equivalent size and similar first-day editing activity) shows:
New editors who participate in the Teahouse edit 10x the number of articles than the uninvited control group.
New editor participants also make an average six times more global edits.
Average Teahouse participants add 26 times more bytes of content that survive on Wikipedia (meaning content that isn't reverted or deleted) than the uninvited control group.
More Teahouse participants remain active on Wikipedia at least 10 days later. Among the 224 editors in our three experimental groups, 28 percent of new editors who participate in the Teahouse were still active on Wikipedia at least ten days later, compared with 12 percent who received an invitation but didn't actively participate in the Teahouse, and only 5 percent from a similar uninvited control group.
Teahouse visibility is a challenge, as we try to make the Teahouse visible to new editors, invitation has been the the main way of informing new editors about the Teahouse, and while that is a powerful tool, many new editors go uninvited. Input on Teahouse link placement is welcome! (Join in on the conversation here.)
Want to know how you can lend a hand at the Teahouse? Become a host! Learn more about what makes the Teahouse different than other help spaces on Wikipedia and see how you can help new editors by visiting here.
Say hello to the new guests at the Teahouse. Take the time to welcome and get to know the latest guests at the Teahouse. Drop off some wikilove to these editors today, as being welcomed by experienced editors is a really nice way to make new editors feel welcome.
You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here. Sarah (talk) 15:35, 15 May 2012 (UTC)
All editors are special...
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hello fellow Wikipedian, the hardworking hosts and staff at WP:Teahouse would like your feedback!
We have created a brief survey intended to help us understand the experiences and impressions of veteran editors who have participated on the Teahouse. You are being selected to participate in our survey because you edited the Teahouse Questions or Guests pages some time during the last few months.
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Just FYI, I never got a survey invite. Don't know if it's just a random sampling or not, but I thought I read somewhere that we should let you know if we didn't get one. Thanks! Writ Keeper⚇♔04:23, 23 May 2012 (UTC)
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
JT,
Thanks for the survey- glad to reply!
Any favorites among philosophers? It's been among my university loves as well; of late I've been picking cherries from the Stoics to share with my daughter. The disciple's a bit like poison ivy; some are immune, and it makes others just itch...
Hey Onundtreefoot! Glad to have your input on the survey. On the philosophy tip, I'm a big Plato/Socrates fan. And among (relatively) recent thinkers, I'm a sucker for Rousseau, Tocqueville and John Dewey. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me19:33, 28 May 2012 (UTC)
I am not sure what I could do to support you on this, but if you had any interest at all in being one of the organizers for this I would support you online. Blue Rasberry (talk)14:40, 15 May 2012 (UTC)
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Hi1 I just wanted to say I hope you'll let all of us at the Teahouse know when the survey results are available. I'm very interested in what kind of feedback you get. (I'm a big fan, myself.)Tlqk56 (talk) 19:46, 29 May 2012 (UTC)
Oh yeah, for sure :) I should have results up by early next week. They'll go up on the metrics page, and I'll post an announcement too. I can say that the response rate was really high, and the responses are pretty overwhelmingly positive! Cheers - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me21:14, 29 May 2012 (UTC)
New message from Gareth Griffith-Jones
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi! Welcome to the fourth issue of The Tea Leaf, the official newsletter for the Teahouse!
Teahouse pilot wraps up after 13 weeks After being piloted on English Wikipedia starting in February, the Teahouse wrapped up its pilot period on May 27, 2012. We expect this is just the beginning for the Teahouse and hope the project will continue to grow in the months to come!
Thank you and congratulations to all of the community members who participated - and continue to participate!
What you've all been waiting for: Teahouse Pilot Report is released! We look forward to your feedback on the methodology and outcomes of this pilot project.
....and if a pilot report wasn't enough, the Teahouse Pilot Metrics Report is out too! Dive into the numbers and survey results to learn about the impact the Teahouse has made on English Wikipedia.
Teahouse shows positive impact on new editor retention and engagement
409 new editors participated during the entire pilot period, with about 40 new editors participating in the Teahouse per week.
Two weeks after participating, 33% of Teahouse guests are still active on Wikipedia, as opposed to 11% of a similar control group.
New editors who participated in the Teahouse edit 10x the number of articles, make 7x more global edits, and 2x as much of their content survives on Wikipedia compared to the control group.
Women participate in the Teahouse 28% of Teahouse participants were women, up from 9% of editors on Wikipedia in general, good news for this project which aimed to have impact on the gender gap too - but still lots to be done here!
New opportunities await for the Teahouse in phase two as the Teahouse team and Wikipedia community examine ways to improve, scale, and sustain the project. Opportunities for future work include:
Automating or semi-automating systems such as invites, metrics and archiving
Experimenting with more ways for new editors to discover the Teahouse
Building out the social and peer-to-peer aspects further, including exploring ways to make answering questions easier, creating more ways for new editors to help each other and for all participants to acknowledge each other's efforts
Growing volunteer capacity, continuing to transfer Teahouse administration tasks to volunteers whenever possible, and looking for new ways to make maintenance and participation easier for everyone.
Want to know how you can lend a hand at the Teahouse? Become a host! Learn more about what makes the Teahouse different than other help spaces on Wikipedia and see how you can help new editors by visiting here.
Say hello to the new guests at the Teahouse. Take the time to welcome and get to know the latest guests at the Teahouse. Drop off some wikilove to these editors today, as being welcomed by experienced editors is really encouraging to new Wikipedians.
You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here. Sarah (talk) 16:44, 13 June 2012 (UTC)
TeaLeaf response
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Jt, I just read the latest Tealeaf and the reports. Well done! (My DH was a programmer who sometimes did things like this for the Navy -- writing and evaluating computer based training, in his case. So I have some idea how much time and energy a report like that takes.) The most interesting part to me was under "Other Experienced Editors: What didn't work". What they didn't like was "bluntly informing them that this wasn't how things should be done and asking them to learn more" and "using a template instead of a custom message to convey the same info". Interesting that this is exactly what WP does to new editors every day, and they are supposed to not mind. But these experienced editors were treated the same way and it made them unhappy and they felt unwelcome… Hmm, don't you just love irony? LOL Anyway, I love Teahouse and wouldn't have survived here without it. We all appreciate the human touch. Thanks for all your work. Tlqk56 (talk) 18:14, 13 June 2012 (UTC)
Totally awesome. Thanks for the feedback, Tlqk. I agree that it can sometimes be illuminating to find yourself in a different role than the one you're accustomed to. :) Anyway, I look forward to continuing our work together. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me19:19, 13 June 2012 (UTC)
User name appears in Teahouse Metrics report
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Regarding the report at Wikipedia:Teahouse/Host lounge/Metrics, in the High Level Findings section you've got a hidden response listed under "Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?" Unfortunately, it looks like you included the user name of the respondee. Since it appears to be the only user name included in this survey, I'm guessing that this was a mistake. Should it be removed? Viriditas (talk) 22:35, 14 June 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for pointing that our, Viriditas. It's probably a best practice to remove stray usernames like this, especially since they're rare (safety in numbers!). I've removed the one you mentioned. Definitely shoot me a message if you see any other errant data. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me22:52, 14 June 2012 (UTC)
Thank you so much
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
First, I thought you might be interested in checking out Wikipedia:WikiProject Editor Retention. Second, with the project, I'm working with the New Editor Retention team and I was wondering if we could have hostbot create a similar list to what it does for the teahouse. I haven't run it by the group, but here are some thoughts. First, we could technically use the Teahouse list; however, that would mean some editors are getting a lot of assistance and others are getting none. I am imagining similar requirements for the list, but possibly requiring more initial edits to be included. This is because the process would involve one-on-one adoption/mentorship so the new editors should already be somewhat committed. Sorry for the confusing nature of this comment, I'm mostly wondering if it is possible. The specifics would need to be thought up and run by the group later. RyanVeseyReview me!19:50, 12 July 2012 (UTC)
Yes! And this should be relatively easy to set up, as long as EdRet only needs the report to display new editors who match a different set of criteria (More complete answer & clarifying questions to follow). - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me20:48, 12 July 2012 (UTC)
BAGBot: Your bot request HostBot 2
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Hey, J-mo, I see that HostBot's templates are using an underscore instead of a space in the usernames that get attached to it. Any easy way to fix that? Writ Keeper⚇♔03:33, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
For sure. Those names are just stored in a list, so it's an easy fix. I'll make it today, and all host usernames should appear without underscores on tomorrow's batch of invites. Thanks for the heads-up! - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me14:28, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
HostBot not checking user pages?
Latest comment: 12 years ago5 comments2 people in discussion
Hey, J-Mo, another issue with HostBot: check out User talk:RedBullWarrior. Does HostBot not check whether a user has already been invited to the Teahouse? My scripts do it just by checking whether the page has a wikilink to the Teahouse (to catch non-template invites); perhaps HostBot should do something similar. Writ Keeper⚇♔16:34, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
HostBot does check whether a user has been previously invited to the Teahouse as long as that user was invited using a transcluded template. The reason this user was doubly invited is that the automatic invite script ran too soon after the new report was generated. The quick fix for this is for me to re-set the cron job so that the automatic invite script runs ~45 minutes after the new invitee report, allowing a helper script (which checks who on the report has already been invited and updates the relevant db tables) to run in the interim. Checking for substituted invites would require a query to the enwiki.pagelinks table (which could take a while, since you have to search by strings) and/or an API query--which I'm guessing is the method you use? That's a good suggestion anyhow,--I'll log is as a feature request, but I won't be able to get to it this week. In the meantime, could you point me to one of your scripts which queries the API for wikilinks? I'll need to brush up! - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me19:27, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
Oh, I think I made it before I even knew about the API...it just looks at all the anchor tags in the html source and checks if any of them go to the Teahouse. :P Writ Keeper⚇♔02:32, 25 July 2012 (UTC)
Okay, the proper request URL is /w/api.php?action=query&prop=links&format=json&plnamespace=4&pllimit=1&pltitles=Wikipedia%3ATeahouse&titles=User%20talk%3AWK-test, with my test account's talk page as an example. Now I need to go add this to the scripts; the lot of them are overdue for rewrites anyway... Writ Keeper⚇♔02:42, 25 July 2012 (UTC)
Woot! Thanks. Yeah, most of my scripts are do for overhauls too. Lets just say that when I first started writing HostBot scripts, I hadn't figured out how to do functions in Python, or arrays. Yeah... it's not pretty. - J-MoTalk to MeEmail Me19:12, 25 July 2012 (UTC)