=== modified file 'modules/help/help.admin.inc'
--- modules/help/help.admin.inc	2008-12-06 09:01:58 +0000
+++ modules/help/help.admin.inc	2009-01-09 00:51:37 +0000
@@ -74,3 +74,85 @@
   return $output;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Menu callback returns getting started help page.
+ */
+function help_getting_started_page() {
+  $message = array(
+    '#theme' => 'help_getting_started_page',
+  );
+  $message['title'] = array(
+    '#markup' => t('Welcome to your new Drupal website!'),
+    '#weight' => -10,
+  );
+  $message['subtitle'] = array(
+    '#markup' => t('Please follow these steps to set up and start using your website:'),
+    '#weight' => -5,
+  );
+  $message['list']['configure'] = array(
+    '#weight' => -10,
+    'title' => array(
+      '#markup' => t('Configure your website'),
+      '#weight' => -5,
+    ),
+    'body' => array(
+      '#markup' => t('Once logged in, visit the <a href="@admin">administration section</a>, where you can <a href="@config">customize and configure</a> all aspects of your website.', array('@admin' => url('admin'), '@config' => url('admin/settings'))),
+      '#weight' => 5,
+    ),
+  );
+  $message['list']['enable'] = array(
+    '#weight' => -5,
+    'title' => array(
+      '#markup' => t('Enable additional functionality'),
+      '#weight' => -5,
+    ),
+    'body' => array(
+      '#markup' => t('Next, visit the <a href="@modules">module list</a> and enable features which suit your specific needs. You can find additional modules in the <a href="@download_modules">Drupal modules download section</a>.', array('@modules' => url('admin/build/modules'), '@download_modules' => 'http://drupal.org/project/modules')),
+      '#weight' => 5,
+    ),
+  );
+  $message['list']['customize'] = array(
+    '#weight' => 0,
+    'title' => array(
+      '#markup' => t('Customize your website design'),
+      '#weight' => -5,
+    ),
+    'body' => array(
+      '#markup' => t('To change the "look and feel" of your website, visit the <a href="@themes">themes section</a>. You may choose from one of the included themes or download additional themes from the <a href="@download_themes">Drupal themes download section</a>.', array('@themes' => url('admin/build/themes'), '@download_themes' => 'http://drupal.org/project/themes')),
+      '#weight' => 5,
+    ),
+  );
+  $message['list']['start'] = array(
+    '#weight' => 0,
+    'title' => array(
+      '#markup' => t('Start posting content'),
+      '#weight' => -5,
+    ),
+    'body' => array(
+      '#markup' => t('Finally, you can <a href="@content">create content</a> for your website. This message will disappear once you have promoted a post to the front page.', array('@content' => url('node/add'))),
+      '#weight' => 5,
+    ),
+  );
+  $message['footer'] = array(
+    '#markup' => t('For more information, please refer to the <a href="@help">help section</a>, or the <a href="@handbook">online Drupal handbooks</a>. You may also post at the <a href="@forum">Drupal forum</a>, or view the wide range of <a href="@support">other support options</a> available.', array('@help' => url('admin/help'), '@handbook' => 'http://drupal.org/handbooks', '@forum' => 'http://drupal.org/forum', '@support' => 'http://drupal.org/support')),
+    '#weight' => 5,
+  );
+
+  drupal_alter('help_getting_started', $message);
+
+  drupal_set_title('');
+  return drupal_render($message);
+}
+
+function theme_help_getting_started_page($message) {
+  $output = '<h1>'. drupal_render($message['title']) .'</h1>';
+  $output .= '<p>'. drupal_render($message['subtitle']) .'</p>';
+  $output .= '<ol>';
+  foreach ($message['list'] as $list_item) {
+    $output .= '<li><strong>'. drupal_render($list_item['title']) .'</strong>'. drupal_render($list_item['body']) .'</li>';
+  }
+  $output .= '</ol>';
+  $output .= '<p>'. drupal_render($message['footer']) .'</p>';
+  $output = '<div id="first-time">'. $output .'</div>';
+  return $output;
+}
\ No newline at end of file

=== modified file 'modules/help/help.module'
--- modules/help/help.module	2008-12-06 09:01:58 +0000
+++ modules/help/help.module	2009-01-12 08:10:18 +0000
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@
     'access arguments' => array('access administration pages'),
     'weight' => 9,
   );
+  $items['admin/help/getting-started'] = array(
+    'title' => 'Getting started',
+    'page callback' => 'help_getting_started_page',
+    'access callback' => TRUE,
+  );
 
   foreach (module_implements('help', TRUE) as $module) {
     $items['admin/help/' . $module] = array(
@@ -42,5 +47,17 @@
       $output = '<p>' . t('The help module provides context sensitive help on the use and configuration of <a href="@drupal">Drupal</a> and its modules, and is a supplement to the more extensive online <a href="@handbook">Drupal handbook</a>. The online handbook may contain more up-to-date information, is annotated with helpful user-contributed comments, and serves as the definitive reference point for all Drupal documentation.', array('@drupal' => 'http://drupal.org', '@handbook' => 'http://drupal.org/handbook')) . '</p>';
       $output .= '<p>' . t('For more information, see the online handbook entry for <a href="@help">Help module</a>.', array('@help' => 'http://drupal.org/handbook/modules/help/')) . '</p>';
       return $output;
+    
   }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Implementation of hook_theme().
+ */
+function help_theme($existing, $type, $theme, $path) {
+  return array(
+    'help_getting_started_page' => array(
+      'arguments' => array('message' => NULL),
+    ),
+  );
+}

=== modified file 'modules/node/node.module'
--- modules/node/node.module	2009-01-08 09:00:13 +0000
+++ modules/node/node.module	2009-01-12 08:13:51 +0000
@@ -1916,21 +1916,15 @@
     $feed_url = url('rss.xml', array('absolute' => TRUE));
     drupal_add_feed($feed_url, variable_get('site_name', 'Drupal') . ' ' . t('RSS'));
     $output .= theme('pager', NULL, variable_get('default_nodes_main', 10));
+    drupal_set_title('');
   }
   else {
-    $default_message = '<h1 class="title">' . t('Welcome to your new Drupal website!') . '</h1>';
-    $default_message .= '<p>' . t('Please follow these steps to set up and start using your website:') . '</p>';
-    $default_message .= '<ol>';
-    $default_message .= '<li>' . t('<strong>Configure your website</strong> Once logged in, visit the <a href="@admin">administration section</a>, where you can <a href="@config">customize and configure</a> all aspects of your website.', array('@admin' => url('admin'), '@config' => url('admin/settings'))) . '</li>';
-    $default_message .= '<li>' . t('<strong>Enable additional functionality</strong> Next, visit the <a href="@modules">module list</a> and enable features which suit your specific needs. You can find additional modules in the <a href="@download_modules">Drupal modules download section</a>.', array('@modules' => url('admin/build/modules'), '@download_modules' => 'http://drupal.org/project/modules')) . '</li>';
-    $default_message .= '<li>' . t('<strong>Customize your website design</strong> To change the "look and feel" of your website, visit the <a href="@themes">themes section</a>. You may choose from one of the included themes or download additional themes from the <a href="@download_themes">Drupal themes download section</a>.', array('@themes' => url('admin/build/themes'), '@download_themes' => 'http://drupal.org/project/themes')) . '</li>';
-    $default_message .= '<li>' . t('<strong>Start posting content</strong> Finally, you can <a href="@content">create content</a> for your website. This message will disappear once you have promoted a post to the front page.', array('@content' => url('node/add'))) . '</li>';
-    $default_message .= '</ol>';
-    $default_message .= '<p>' . t('For more information, please refer to the <a href="@help">help section</a>, or the <a href="@handbook">online Drupal handbooks</a>. You may also post at the <a href="@forum">Drupal forum</a>, or view the wide range of <a href="@support">other support options</a> available.', array('@help' => url('admin/help'), '@handbook' => 'http://drupal.org/handbooks', '@forum' => 'http://drupal.org/forum', '@support' => 'http://drupal.org/support')) . '</p>';
-
-    $output = '<div id="first-time">' . $default_message . '</div>';
+    if (module_exists('help')) {
+      $_GET['q'] = drupal_get_normal_path(variable_get('site_empty_frontpage', 'admin/help/getting-started'));
+      $output = menu_execute_active_handler();
+    }
+    else $output = t('You have not posted or promoted any content to the front page yet. Enable the Help module to see more information on getting started here.');
   }
-  drupal_set_title('');
 
   return $output;
 }