[WikiEN-l] kelvSYC's take on userboxes

Sun Jan 15 20:24:01 UTC 2006

On Jan 15, 2006, at 2:41 PM, Geoff Burling wrote:

> One useful clue, in fact, to the intents of a new user is how many  
> edits
> pass before she/he does create a userpage. If a new user makes more  
> than
> a few (say 10 or 20 edits) without creating a userpage, it raises  
> doubts
> in my mind whether that person wants to be part of a community devoted
> to creaing an encyclopedia -- or has just dropped in to agitate for a
> specific POV, or to cause trouble.

Or perhaps they've just decided to create an account to make edits to  
the encyclopedia, and are (Probably very wisely) uninterested in  
getting sucked into the black hole of community. Or just doesn't know  
what to put on their userpage.

Which is to say that the redlink userpage is a sign of newbieness,  
but is absolutely not a problem, and shouldn't be taken as a  
requirement at all.

-Phil