Do we really need {{userspace}}?

M

Magikrazy

Donkey Kong
For the most part, our policy on handing out warnings is consistent. Users who violate the Wiki in any way will get a reminder, a warning, a last warning, or a block depending on the severity of their actions, and we have official templates that stay on their talk page for good (barring an appeal). But then we have a completely separate template for userspace-related violations.

Why?

What point does this separate pseudo-reminder get across that a plain old reminder wouldn't? What purpose does this template serve beyond "reminder but only for those who edit userspace too much"? If it's that much of a problem, we should be handing out reminders. If a reminder sounds too severe, then maybe it doesn't warrant an official permanent notice, not at the first offense at least.

Not to mention this notice is needlessly wordy, which when compared to the shorter and simpler notices sticks out like a sore thumb.
Hello, User!

The Super Mario Wiki sure is a great place, huh? We strive to have the most comprehensive articles and best resources available about our favorite plumber. This is done by having a nice mix of quality editing and a supportive community. Which brings us here. It has recently come to our attention that...
Click to expand...
Do we have to beat around the bush so much? Before this notice could even begin to discuss the infraction, the other warnings have stated their entire point and what the user needs to do. And that's not even a quarter of the text.

It just seems incredibly unnecessary to me, and I think we should remove it and just use our best judgement on whether or not to issue a reminder or just talk to the user in question.
 
My general problem with this reminder is that it's been abused for quite some time. From my experience as a new user far back in the past, I've made a lot of edits to my userspace mostly because I wanted to experiment with how other users constructed their page and I wanted to do the same as they did, and I had luckily avoided the template for one reason or another, but if I had received the template, I would have been angry. Many new users don't want to be hit with a userspace reminder as soon they want to experiment around with the wiki via editing their userspace, it pretty much would discourage them from editing. I mean, ideally, the user should be told first if they are editing their user page in a very excessive manner but as it stands right now, anyone can hand the template out without any repercussions if the new user makes only ten sole userspace edits which I hardly count as excessive because the usage of this template is very vague and allows for abuse because of its vagueness; if they DO make 10 consecutive userspace edits in a small amount of time, telling them that the Preview button exists is more helpful than slapping this reminder on their talk page.

Sure, if they made ONLY userspace edits in a span of several days or so, then I guess that's where the issue comes in. But for completely new users who are just finding their way around the wiki? They're just as valid targets as people who care only about stroking their egos because of how abused this template is.

Also, I think that what this template provides is an attempt to make mention of other facets of the wiki to socialize like linking to the forums or the chatroom but that's pretty much it (something already covered by the Welcome template anyway). The first paragraph is just a self-serving "we're awesome" pretty much.
 
Also, before anyone points out {{aboutfile-reminder}} and {{Imagecategory-reminder}} being separate, these templates are actually useful and serve a clearer purpose. Both of those templates explains you what the coding exactly means, because many new users probably have no clue how to format it when it's their first time uploading and it gives a visual example of what to do and a more detailed explanation of what to fill in.
 
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