CZ Talk:Managing Editor/2010/004 - Simplification of application procedure
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My thoughts
Daniel has invited me to chime in on this.
I think the signup procedure currently is too convoluted and is probably putting off applicants.
With generalist wikis, a lot of people sign up just to correct a very minor mistake or as a one-off thing. They spot a comma out of place and just want to fix that. We ought to encourage this.
- We should get a copywriter to rewrite the text to make it shorter, more encouraging and so on. Change the language from "requirement", "you are required to do this" etc. to a less strict tone.
- We should use A/B testing to compare various versions of the signup page.
- We shouldn't ask people whether they are authors or editors at initial signup: once they are signed up, offer them the chance to upgrade their account to editor if they are qualified.
- Just have a spot for people to dump in URLs.
- We should do some "guerilla user testing" to see where in the form we can improve it.
That seems like it might get us on the right track. –Tom Morris 17:14, 23 November 2010 (UTC)
We currently also require that the new user appear to have a good command of the english language. D. Matt Innis 01:24, 11 April 2011 (UTC)
- I notice in Tom's list above the suggestion that people be able to join to make a small change in something that they read. I agree this is probably the single biggest feature that might get us more applications, and more users that will stick around. D. Matt Innis 01:30, 11 April 2011 (UTC)