CZ Talk:Managing Editor/2010/004 - Simplification of application procedure

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.

1. 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.
2. We should use A/B testing to compare various versions of the signup page.
3. 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.
4. Just have a spot for people to dump in URLs.
5. 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)