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197:. The team has been working since July 2018, and primarily pilots experimental features in four Wikipedias: Czech, Bengali, Arabic, and Vietnamese. In 2021, we are continuing to iterate and develop the feature set, but we also know that we have already developed features that have a positive impact on new editors. For that reason, we are planning to deploy to more wikis during 2021. (Note: when we say "new editors" or "newcomers", we're talking about users who have newly created accounts – not anonymous editors.)
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590:. The Growth team advises to make configuration changes after a community discussion. Also, please inform us of your discussions when they happen, because we can help you on the issue you found, or assist you with the configuration. It is also very useful for us to know that you have that discussion, so that we can improve the features.
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The homepage controlled experiment showed that the homepage increases the number of newcomers who have confirmed email addresses. It also showed that newcomers tend to follow calls-to-action, such as the call to create their userpage or contact their mentor. It did not, however, show an increase in
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In an experiment with Arabic, Czech, Vietnamese, and Korean
Wikipedias, we've seen that this set of experimental features prompts newcomers to be more engaged in the wiki and make early productive edits. Importantly, in addition to the statistical results below, communities have been having positive
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Once we started to expand to more wikis, we wanted to start talking about these features with
English Knowledge and ask for input. As said above, we are constantly iterating and developing. We hope English Knowledge will take on these features fully, but before any deployments happen, we will make
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This special page hosts the newcomer tasks workflow, and contains other modules that give newcomers access to the most important things they need to see on their first day. After creating their account, newcomers see a popup (and some other notifications) encouraging them to visit their homepage,
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We are most excited about this feature, because it is prompting newcomers to make productive edits. This is a workflow that suggests articles to edit, shown to users via the "suggested edits module" on the newcomer homepage. Newcomers are able to choose from different types of edits (based on
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The WMF Growth team has built a set of features to encourage newcomers to make edits and to participate by improving the project. These features are now the default on-boarding experience for new users, with 100% of them encountering this feature after they register a new account. The work is
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Research has shown that newcomers struggle to edit and continue editing
Knowledge because of three main challenges: technical, conceptual, and cultural. They currently do not have access to the resources they need to surmount those challenges. To give these things to newcomers, the
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The help panel appears in both the wikitext and visual editors. When we deploy this feature, we make sure that a wiki's existing help desk (or
Teahouse) will work with the features, and that experienced users watching the help desk are willing to receive the incoming questions.
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In order to understand the impact of Growth features, and specifically "newcomer tasks", we deployed the features in a controlled experiment. Some newcomers received the features (the treatment group) and some did not (the control group). The experiment lasted for six months.
295:). They then can choose from a feed of articles to work on. Once on an article, the help panel will provide guidance on how to complete the edit. Communities will be able to choose whether this workflow nudges newcomers toward the visual editor or the wikitext editor.
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As of March 2022, the features are deployed to all
Wikipedias, with most of those wikis having 100% of new accounts receiving the features. On English Knowledge, 100% of new accounts receive the features, with 50% of those also receiving the mentorship feature.
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In
November 2020, we published results from a controlled experiment that showed that the Growth features statistically improve newcomer outcomes. Because of these results, we believe that all Wikipedias should consider adopting these features.
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sure that we have built something that will work on this wiki, and that all deployments will be in line with the community's preferences. We know that
English Knowledge has many existing efforts to help newcomers, like the
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The help panel on its own did not show increases in newcomers editing or returning, but we have retained this feature because we will be using it to provide guidance as part of the promising newcomer tasks flow described
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102:: a feed of task suggestions that help newcomers learn to edit. Newcomers have been making productive edits through this feed! Structured tasks are a potential new type of task that the team is considering.
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to four
Wikipedias (Arabic, Czech, Vietnamese, and Bengali). In it, an algorithm suggests to newcomers words or phrases that could be good wikilinks. We are also considering a structured task around
412:→ User profile → Newcomer editor features → Display newcomer homepage. Though the team is still experimenting with different modules, here are modules that may appear on the homepage:
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In 2021, the Growth team is building new editing workflows that are meant to be smaller and easier for newcomers to accomplish, especially from mobile devices. These are called "
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NB: this is an analysis from 2020 that the Growth team has not yet posted in public. The team will likely prioritize posting more recent analyses before catching up on this one.
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158:. All of the features are available on both desktop and mobile. Though primarily built for newcomers, it is also possible for experienced users to turn them on and use them.
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We believe that these results confirm that the Growth features, in particular newcomer tasks, lead newcomers to edit more and lead newcomers to stay on the wiki for longer.
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About 13% of these edits on
English Knowledge are reverted, which is substantially lower than the usual revert rate of about 28% for newcomer edits on the wiki.
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431:: assigns each newcomer an experienced user, and gives an easy way to post questions to the mentor's talk page. Mentors volunteer to take part by signing up.
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Growth features increased activation (making a first article edit) and constructive activation (making a first unreverted article edit)
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which is accessible through the link to their username along the top of their browser window. Editors can toggle this feature at
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In general, the analysis showed that the Growth features improve outcomes for newcomers. Below are the most important points.
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Mentorship features are a set of tools to match newcomers looking for advice, with experienced editors ready to help them.
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experiences with these features. No wikis that have begun using the Growth features have requested to turn them off.
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The majority of newcomers visit their homepage, and many of them return to visit their homepage on subsequent days.
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About 20% of newcomers who see the help panel open it up, and about 50% of those who open it up interact with it.
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and automated welcome messages. We would be sure to make sure our team's features work well alongside those.
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419:: encourages users to do a tutorial, add or confirm their email address, and create a userpage.
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Mentorship is activated at
English Knowledge. Volunteer mentors can sign up to be a mentor at
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135:: a set of tools to match newcomers looking for advice with experienced editors ready to help.
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As of December 2021, 10,739 edits have been made through this workflow on English Knowledge.
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They are making copyedits, adding links, and sometimes adding new content with references.
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177:. You can also join in more detailed discussions of the features and plans on Talk pages
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As of January 2022, 1,022 mentor questions have been asked so far on English Knowledge.
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about how to proceed with this work. You can also leave thoughts about the project on
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108:: a special page that hosts the "newcomer tasks" and the ability to ask questions to a
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This is a box that newcomers can open while they are editing. It does four things:
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437:: shows newcomers the number of pageviews on each of the articles they have edited.
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This page gives a quick outline of the work of the WMF Growth team, which aims to
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As you read this page, please leave any questions, ideas, or reactions on
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the number of newcomers who edit or return (this experiment was analyzed
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Some features are also available for experienced community members:
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being deployed to 100% of new accounts created on English Knowledge
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maintenance templates) and filter to topics of interest (based on
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Communities can change how the Growth features work by editing
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Allows newcomers to search for other help and policy pages.
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Screenshot of newcomer homepage feature on Czech Knowledge
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8% of these users make suggested edits on 3 or more days.
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Screenshot of suggested edits module in Czech Knowledge
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Screenshot of suggested edits module in Czech Knowledge
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Screenshot of help panel (closed) on Czech Knowledge
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Allows newcomers to ask a question to their mentor.
553:Screenshot of help panel (open) on Czech Knowledge
498:For more information about the newcomer homepage,
386:33% of these users make 3 or more suggested edits.
261:For more information on these experiment results,
181:. You can also sign up for our team's newsletter
468:Screenshot of prompt for asking a mentor question
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308:adding images from Commons to Knowledge articles
515:Guides newcomers while they do newcomer tasks.
222:11.6% more likely to make a first article edit
425:: lists links to commonly visited help pages.
147:for instructions on how to try the features.
573:For more information about the help panel,
518:Lists links to commonly visited help pages.
394:For more information about newcomer tasks,
600:Knowledge:Growth Team features/Mentor list
227:Newcomers who get the Growth features are
220:Newcomers who get the Growth features are
366:Prototype of "add a link" structured task
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249:(i.e. number of edits) without reducing
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154:The features are currently available on
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617:configure their mentorship preferences
283:For a tally of eligible articles, see
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229:26.7% more likely to make a first
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671:User Growth Team features mentor
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354:Screenshot of difficulty filter
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575:see this page on mediawiki.org
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396:see this page on mediawiki.org
263:see this page on mediawiki.org
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139:These features are currently
89:three interconnected features
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342:Screenshot of topic filter
316:the talk page on this wiki
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240:more likely to be retained
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285:Special:NewcomerTasksInfo
238:We believe they are also
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52:This page in a nutshell:
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613:Special:MentorDashboard
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127:Community configuration
634:for more information.
609:Special:EnrollAsMentor
441:Suggested edits module
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189:Background and results
173:. You can also check
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64:Special:EnrollAsMentor
701:Knowledge Growth Team
312:join discussions here
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70:for more information.
304:for adding wikilinks
247:increase edit volume
410:Special:Preferences
156:over 300 Wikipedias
133:Mentorship features
245:The features also
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145:mw:Growth/FAQ#test
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270:Deployment
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116:Help panel
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638:Userboxes
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621:on pause
164:Teahouse
654:userbox
632:our FAQ
748:mentor
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568:above.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
