User:Ritchie333/How newbies see templates
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article or a Wikipedia policy, as it has not been reviewed by the community. |
One of the significant problems I've seen is with templates. I don't really think rewriting them will help, as there's a more innate problem with comprehension, which happens anywhere people come across a new subject. I read something similar to this in a user interface design book once, and it's stuck in my mind. While we see the text in {{db-meta}}, a new user might well filter it through to meaning something more akin to this:
| Ding! Thanks for playing Wikipedia. Unfortunately, you just got pwned because you're a boneheaded moron. See Wikipedia:Complete bollocks. GAME OVER. Sorry, you lose, homeboy. Better luck next time You probably aren't reading this part, so it really doesn't matter what we say here. More to the point, if you haven't bothered to read every single policy and essay on Wikipedia, including the ones that contradict each other, then it is really your own fault and you should be ashamed of yourself. We don't have time to explain; it is up to you to find and read them all. And if you ever create the article again, then we will smack you with our banhammer and make you put big orange boxes all over your user page while you beg for your "edit this page" button to start working again. Face it, everyone will know you were caught and are a loser. Don't even think about it.
If you've had this nice red box slap you in the face, feel free to go and tell all your friends that Wikipedia is full of killjoy nazis. Hey, why not set up an attack page or two, while you're at it? |