First pass first post improvements. See #11008 props demetris.

git-svn-id: http://svn.automattic.com/wordpress/trunk@12212 1a063a9b-81f0-0310-95a4-ce76da25c4cd

wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php

@@ -162,11 +162,34 @@ function wp_install_defaults($user_id) {
 								'post_author' => $user_id,
 								'post_date' => $now,
 								'post_date_gmt' => $now_gmt,
-								'post_content' => __('Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!'),
+								'post_content' => sprintf(__('
+<p>Welcome to WordPress!  This post contains important information.  After you read it, you can make it private to hide it from visitors but still have the information handy for future reference.</p>
+<p>First things first:</p>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="%1$s" title="Subscribe to the WordPress mailing list for Release Notifications">Subscribe to the WordPress mailing list for release notifications</a></li>
+</ul>
+<p>As a subscriber, you will receive an email every time an update is available (and only then).  This will make it easier to keep your site up to date, and secure from evildoers.
+When a new version is released, <a href="%2$s" title="If you are already logged in, this will take you directly to the Dashboard">log in to the Dashboard</a> and follow the instructions.
+Upgrading is a couple of clicks!</p>
+<p>Then you can start enjoying the WordPress experience:</p>
+<ul>
+<li>Edit your personal information at <a href="%3$s" title="Edit settings like your password, your display name and your contact information">Users &#8250; Your Profile</a></li>
+<li>Start publishing at <a href="%4$s" title="Create a new post">Posts &#8250; Add New</a> and at <a href="%5$s" title="Create a new page">Pages &#8250; Add New</a></li>
+<li>Browse and install plugins at <a href="%6$s" title="Browse and install plugins at the official WordPress repository directly from your Dashboard">Plugins &#8250; Add New</a></li>
+<li>Browse and install themes at <a href="%7$s" title="Browse and install themes at the official WordPress repository directly from your Dashboard">Appearance &#8250; Add New Themes</a></li>
+<li>Modify and prettify your website&#8217;s links at <a href="%8$s" title="For example, select a link structure like: http://example.com/1999/12/post-name">Settings &#8250; Permalinks</a></li>
+<li>Import content from another system or WordPress site at <a href="%9$s" title="WordPress comes with importers for the most common publishing systems">Tools &#8250; Import</a></li>
+<li>Find answers to your questions at the <a href="%10$s" title="The official WordPress documentation, maintained by the WordPress community">WordPress Codex</a></li>
+</ul>
+<p>To keep this post for reference, <a href="%11$s" title="Click to edit the content and settings of this post">click to edit it</a>, go to the Publish box and change its Visibility from Public to Private.</p>
+<p>Thank you for selecting WordPress.  We wish you happy publishing!</p>
+<p>PS.  Not yet subscribed for update notifications?  <a href="%1$s" title="Subscribe to the WordPress mailing list for Release Notifications">Do it now!</a></p>
+'), _c('http://wordpress.org/download/','url for release notification mailing list subscription.'), admin_url(''), admin_url('profile.php'), admin_url('post-new.php'), admin_url('page-new.php'),
+admin_url('plugin-install.php'), admin_url('theme-install.php'), admin_url('options-permalink.php'), admin_url('import.php'), _c('http://codex.wordpress.org','url for codex documentation.'), admin_url('post.php?action=edit&post=1')),
 								'post_excerpt' => '',
-								'post_title' => __('Hello world!'),
+								'post_title' => __('Welcome!'),
 								/* translators: Default post slug */
-								'post_name' => _x('hello-world', 'Default post slug'),
+								'post_name' => _x('welcome', 'Default post slug'),
 								'post_modified' => $now,
 								'post_modified_gmt' => $now_gmt,
 								'guid' => $first_post_guid,