Extension:GettingStarted

The GettingStarted extension adds a Special:GettingStarted page which can present introductory content and tasks to newly-registered editors.

Features
The extension makes the final "your account successfully created" step of creating an account into a separate page that users can return to.
 * It restyles the page, removing/hiding some elements (such as CentralAuth logins) and changing others (such as the returnto link from account creation).
 * On English wikipedia the gettingstarted page content incorporates a list of introductory article editing tasks.
 * If the user clicks on one of these "onboarding tasks" it sets up a Guided Tour that explains how to edit that article.

Installation
Install Extension:EventLogging and Extension:GuidedTour.

GettingStarted uses Extension:EventLogging to log and Extension:GuidedTour to provide tours and tooltips. As of January 2013 they are required.

Customization
The Special:GettingStarted page is shown to new users immediately after the account creation process completes. Users can visit Special:GettingStarted at any time and you can link to it. You change what the page displays by editing the MediaWiki:Gettingstarted-msg system page.

Do take a look at the English Wikipedia's message to see how the message is customized and how the resulting page appears, as well as the list of messages used.

The extension has CSS to style a set of tasks a certain way, and JavaScript to initiate a Guided Tour when the user clicks on a task. HTML 'id' attributes and CSS styles in the wiki's gettingstarted-msg trigger this styling and behavior. The details are in flux.