# A new welcome, a short practice, then a walk around HOME

> The first time you open CommonYard now, a short story shows what you can do, a practice lets you try seven things, and a walk shows where the main buttons are.

Published: 2026-10-26
URL: https://commonyard.app/news/a-new-welcome/

CommonYard now welcomes you in three short parts before HOME opens. It shows once, and the simple HOME list that started on 24 October is gone.

## What's new

- **The story.** A few lines, one at a time, at an easy reading pace: *On social media, most you do is just watch, watch, watch. But on CommonYard, you join in* — by voting, signing a petition, giving your opinion, playing games and swiping left or right. Each line comes with a small example. At **Ready?**, tap **Yes**.
- **Practice.** Seven things to try, one after the other: swipe a post's pictures and tap the smiley, vote in a poll, pick a side, swipe a deck, hold the button to sign a petition, take a seat in a game, and make a yard for your people. The top says how many you have done. Nothing is posted. When all seven are done, tap **Open CommonYard**.
- **A walk around HOME.** It lights up one button at a time and says what it is for: **Benches**, **Games**, **Start something** (the **+**), **Profile**, **CommonYard**, **Find a yard**, **Create a yard** and **Alerts**. Tap **Next**, and **Done** at the end.

## Good to know

- Everyone sees this welcome once, also if you saw an earlier one.
- If you leave halfway, it picks up where you stopped. Once you have signed in, that is kept on your account, so it does not start over on another phone.
- A link someone sent you, or a notification you tapped, waits until the welcome is done, then opens.

See [Get started on CommonYard](/guides/get-started/).