When should this overhaul be complete and what do you suggest we do in the meantime seeing as I'm not sure ow well things would go if we pointed new Trainees to new-but-unfinished Wiki pages for BT and the like

Always good to know

Just thought I'd go ahead and post my new welcome message here as an example for you all:


Greetings Crewman [Insert Crewman Callsign/Name here] and welcome to the Vast Empire Naval Academy on the Naval Platform Cappadocious.

I am First Lieutenant Rorran 'Slasher' Gorma, Ship Captain of the Imperial II Class Frigate Fearless, Commander of Task Force Besh in the Second Fleet, and the Chief of Naval Training here at the Naval Academy.

Soon you will be joining one of our active duty squadrons, and eventually, you might be accepted into the Capital Ship Service Training, and eventually, given the opportunity to train to command a ship.

Before we can get to that stuff however, there is some basic work that needs to be done. First, you'll need to complete Basic Training and Flight School, and then we'll have you on your way to the many adventures that await you as a member of the Vast Imperial Navy. The following are a list of links that will be helpful for you:

Basic Training/Flight School:
http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/Basic_Training

Chapter 1 of Flight School:
http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/Character_Development


Current Stories:
[Links here to current stories which are underway]

-1st Lieutenant Slasher
TFC:B 2nd Fleet
SCAP Imperial II Frigate Fearless
CNT Platform Cappadocious
SC S:137 'Raptor'

OOC:

The following messages are 'standardized' responses for completion of chapters 1, 2 and 3 to help guide them through the program, and facilitate their movement as fast as possible.

Chapter 1 Completion:

Congratulations Crewman [Callsign/Name], you have passed Chapter 1 of Flight School. [I have also sent you a message with some pointers on how to improve your wiki page and biography. Please PM me if you have any questions regarding my recommendations.] Please continue to Chapter 2 of Flight School.
Chapter II:
http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/Pilot_Procedure

-1st Lieutenant Slasher

NOTE: The portion in brackets will only be included should we wish them to do some additional work on their wiki page or biography.

Chapter 2 Completion:

Congratulations Crewman [Callsign/Name], you have passed Chapter 2 of Flight School. [I have also sent you a message with some pointers on how to improve your post, please PM me if you have any questions regarding my recommendations.] Please continue to Chapter 3 of Flight School.
Chapter III:
http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/The_Squadron

-1st Lieutenant Slasher
Chapter 3 Completion:

Crewman [Callsign/Name], has completed Flight School, and in recognition of their efforts are promoted to [Leading Crewman/Senior Crewman]. Please await placement in an active duty squadron.

-1st Lieutenant Slasher

That should be the general model of our welcome messages. before you put a new welcome message into use, please post it here and send me a PM alerting me that you have posted it, and I will check it out.

Those're great, Slasher.  Anything we can do to standardize is good, I think... streamline the process.

the Warden Class Light Cruisers Duty, Honor, and Loyalty have been added to the Academy roster for SCTP purposes.

Don't add guilt, Ellie!  RL first, and we'll see you when you can make it back.  No worries! 

Yay, new Wardens to play with!  Thank you so much, Commodore, and I dig the naming convention! 

if you added the url somewhere on there, we'd prolly be able to use those for ads on places like fb or other places.

Sounds like a plan!

As always, great work Tryk!

If I can make a suggestion, Tryk, we might want to use www.VastEmpire.com/main on those posters and for our other recruiting. Just straight www.VastEmpire.com leads to an essentially blank page that doesn't actually link to anything we use. It'd be a stumbling block for anyone checking out the club due to the recruiting posters.

-Drac

I would agree with Drac - even if some of the info on there is outdated, not all of it is and I'm pretty sure we can fix to have the outdated stuff removed if we asked the right people. And  directly linking to the main page would show them everything that the  VE has to offer right off the bat via the links already provided.

Here's my welcome post, I decided to not add the Wiki links in this post in particular because I figure we all know  them and so I'll include those when I'm training a new Trainee.

Hello and welcome to the Vast Empire Naval Academy, Crewman [insert Crewman callsign]!

I am Petty Officer 2nd Class Ellesmere, one of the Trainers of the Vast Empire Navy. Some people call me ‘Ellie’ so feel free to do the same.

Now that you have posted your welcome message, we shall move onto the next step in Basic Training, or as we more commonly call it; Basic Training.  It is mostly referred to as Flight School around here and its purpose is to prepare you for life in a squadron.
Your first step is to complete Chapter I which can be found here . Once you have completed this step please post it here for review.

Our method of writing here (in the Navy and the Vast Empire as a whole) is in the third person, please do so. If you have any questions, feel free to reach me via ComNet PM or hop onto IRC and join #VENA, if for some reason I am not present one of the Academy Staff should be on hand to answer any questions or concerns you may have.

Due to heavy recruitment for the Fleet Command, our Starfighter Corps have dwindled to extremely low numbers.

Until further notice, all Fleet Command recruitment is to be suspended. New members are to be directed into the Starfighter Corps.

This doesn't mean a new member can't join Fleet Command, they will need to take a run through the SFC to get acquainted with our rules, writing, and members for them to have immediate success within the FC.

Vice Admiral Stormz
Naval Commander in Chief

Thanks Stormz.

I was actually worried about it, but anyway...

Hey guys...

I guess I'm part of VENA staff, and that I have been for awhile, I just didn't know.

I'm an academy consultant and if Trykon follows through, soon to be a trainer as well.

Welcome me aboard.

First lesson, Ech: when you're posting as a member of the VENA Staff, exercise decorum at all times.  We don't ask for respect; we get it, or we fail the student. 

Very well: welcome aboard.

Now, use this space to work out your welcome message for new recruits, why don't you?  I know I gave you some development projects to occupy your time, but it can't hurt to be prepared for when Command School reopens to new students, too.