Wikipedia:WC

Our main activity is to welcome new users who have already made constructive edits. To do that we post a welcome message on their talk pages (if they do not have a talk page yet, create one for them!). It is best to post a personalized greeting written by you, but to save time you can use a welcome template. Always check their edits first (see below).

You can go to for a full list of welcome templates, or to for a visual gallery of welcome messages.

There is no standard template, but the two most commonly used are {{subst:}} and {{subst:}}. To use them, type one of these on a new user's talk page:

or

This will make a section titled "Welcome!" and place the welcome message under it. Be sure to place greetings on each user's talk page, not their user page. This will ensure they will receive the "You have new messages" automatic alert. Also please remember that all welcome templates must be substituted, not transcluded.

Twinkle also has a welcoming option.
To use Twinkle, go to the preferences and then the gadgets area. Then, look down for "Twinkle", and click the checkbox next to it. Save the settings, and you have a TW item.
To welcome with Twinkle, click the TW, then click 'wel' and click the template you want to use.

Your edit summary should simply say "Welcome!", with the edit not marked as minor.

Before you welcome users, it is recommended that you check their recent contributions. Some new users use their accounts solely to vandalize or break the rules in other ways. If the user has vandalized a page, you should add a warning template, such as {{subst:}}, to their talk page. Please do not thank vandals for their contributions.

Click the link to see what this means. Some new users use their accounts solely to promote themselves, their company, or their music. Please do not thank spammers for their contributions. You may need some degree of experience to recognise such work.

If you notice unintentional mistakes in the new user's contributions, you may wish to bring it to their attention in your welcome message.

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