Tag Problems Making it Hard for Guests to Volunteer? [closed]

Question

As a Greeter and Mentor, I sometimes hear about guests who get stuck when they try to volunteer, but their tags aren't accepted by the system.

If this happens to you, the first thing to do is to try logging out of WikiTree, and then logging back in.

If that doesn't work, contact the WikiTreer greeter who sent your welcome message, or post an answer on this G2G thread. Then someone will help you volunteer.

We don't want you to be left out in the cold!

Carole Partridge, Greeters Project Co-Leader

Comments

Perhaps a link to this thread should be included in the email sent by the Greeter, and in the Greeter's public comments posted on the Guest member's profile?

A redesign of the orange/yellow-bordered/highlighted section below the Guest badge might also be helpful.

Additionally, screenshots of the pages encountered in the sign-up process would be useful for veteran members (as well as the new members) to consult when giving (or seeking) assistance.

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Hi, Lindy --

Unfortunately, we have only 800 characters to communicate with new guests and new members. We try to pack as much as we can in there right now, but we also don't want to overwhelm new people with too many instructions. So, our greeters act as a personal contact point and are always available to direct new people to the help they need.

I'm not sure what section below the Guest badge you're referring to. Are you talking about the box where a guest is confirmed?? Can you be more specific?

I'll look into the screenshot suggestion, but most of these questions are fielded by Greeters and Mentors since they're going to have the most up-to-date information on changes or additions to the process. The best thing a veteran member who is not involved with one of these projects can do is to direct a guest to contact the person who greeted them.

Thanks. :-)

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The emails wouldn't be restricted to 800 characters, and additional public messages could be made to overcome the character limit of the that area.

The section below the Guest badge is probably the Bio/Sources editing section. I feel this section does not provide clear instructions to new members regarding their current status or the remaining steps to take. Also the colors used are too similar; new members may not realize that this section contains the instructions to "upgrade" because of the hard-to-see star that is used (rather that simple numbers). (basically, unclear and cluttered)

I don't know what types of training or resources are available to Greeters (beyond what the average member can access), but I think some sort of visual aid or flow chart would help some new members (and maybe some current and future Greeters, too) to understand the steps to joining, the differences among the membership levels, and to determine current status to see what to do next to "upgrade" to full membership status.

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Lindy --

Hmmm ... I'm having a hard time responding to this because what you're saying doesn't really fit in with the way the greeting/new member process works. 

The orange section below the badge isn't something that the Guest sees. They have a checklist on their profile page that walks them through the process of volunteering, uploading a GEDCOM, adding DNA tests, etc.

You might be interested in the new series of pages we're giving to new members: New Member How To

As I mentioned before, every guest is greeted personally by a Greeter who acts as a contact point. They're prepared to help guests/new members find the help they need when they get started. We've been evolving this process for about 4 or 5 years now. 

There are also links to all of the membership information in the Help Index and Help Category (both are linked on the Help menu), and when necessary, we'll direct people there.

I'm happy to answer any other questions you have about the process. :-)

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Just ignore my comments, Julie; I misread the intent of Carole's post!