Admin Forum:Have you customized your Welcome Message yet?

Happy Monday everyone! :) Recently over on the MLP Wiki as well as few other wikis I participate in, we've been working on customizing our welcome message. When any user stops by and leaves a comment or makes an edit it's important to thank them for contributing to the wiki and hopefully encourage them to return. I’ve noticed that each wiki's admin team debates the same things over what the best way is to go about creating a welcome message: What tone should we use when welcoming a new user? What links should we include? How can we showcase how awesome our community is?

One of my favorite welcome messages that I've seen was over at the Left 4 Dead Wiki and at the Call of Duty Wiki. I love them both as they keep in with theme of their wiki and reflect a friendly tone for those who are new to the community. They make me feel welcome and encourage me to post more.

How have you customized the welcome message on your wiki?

What are some important links to include in the message? '''Did you choose to keep your welcome message simple, or make it flashy with images and borders? Which way do you feel is best and why?'''

Please share with us your welcome message below or offer your own feedback on what you think is important to be included in a welcome message.

If you're lost or curious as to what the Welcome Tool is (or simply need a refresher course), be sure to check out the help article at Help:Welcome_tool.

--Trellar http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb32675/wikia/images/e/e9/WikiaStaff.png (help forum | blog) 00:47, September 20, 2011 (UTC)
 * Here are two examples of customized templates:


 * on Star Wars Fanon,
 * on Wookieepedia.
 * Cheers! 19:03, September 22, 2011 (UTC)
 * Oooo, great examples! I love all the links Wookieepedia showcases! It seems like it would be a great start for not only users who are new to the wiki, but for those who are new to wikis in general. Thanks for sharing! --Trellar http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb32675/wikia/images/e/e9/WikiaStaff.png (help forum | blog) 23:48, September 22, 2011 (UTC)
 * Exactly! Also, Wookieepedia disabled automatic welcoming by User:Wikia, so the user who gets the message also gets a link to the welcoming user's talk page (first parameter). It's also a good idea to use an image with a transparent background for messages with custom backgrounds. Thanks! 14:58, September 23, 2011 (UTC)

I've customized the Welcome Message at Pokémon Wiki. It looks pretty decent. My next stop is on Video Game Wiki since our welcome message is the basic one since we're still picking ourselves up. –  Jä zz  i  20:18, September 22, 2011 (UTC)


 * Oh wow, I love the look of the Pokemon Wiki welcome message! It's nice how the image matches your work mark. Awesome job, Jazzi! :) --Trellar http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb32675/wikia/images/e/e9/WikiaStaff.png (help forum | blog) 23:43, September 22, 2011 (UTC)


 * Not changed much, but the Welcome template on Aion has a CHOICE tag added to randomize the image shown on each cache of the page. Rappy 23:50, September 22, 2011 (UTC)
 * It's, no? 14:21, September 24, 2011 (UTC)