Open your list's settings with the sliders icon, tap Greeting card, write your message and pick a card style; guests see it when they open your list.
Your note is set in handwriting on the card that greets guests in the "Who's opening this list?" window, signed with your first name. After that, the card stays pinned to the list, so guests can read it again while they choose. You and anyone with Full Access can write or change it, on any list, even one made without an account.
Steps
Open your list and tap the sliders icon at the top, next to Share (the share icon on a phone).
In List settings, tap Greeting card. On a phone it opens on its own screen.
Type your note in Message. The hint has ideas: a size, a budget, a thank-you.
Tap a swatch under Card style: Plain, Night, Kraft paper, Garden, Sunshine or Berry. On a computer, point at a swatch to see its name.
Tap outside the message box to save. You'll see "Saved".
The preview at the top of the section shows the card the way guests will see it.
What do guests see?
Your card comes first, in the window that asks who's opening the list: your note in handwriting, signed "— [your first name]". A long note gets smaller writing so it still fits.
Once they're past the window, the card stays pinned to the list: a small gift tag in the color of its style, with the first two lines of your note and "— [your first name]". On a phone it sits in the middle, below the list's details. On a computer it sits next to Share, and on a list with a cover photo it hangs halfway over the bottom of the cover.
If your note runs longer than two lines, Read all opens the whole note right there on the card, so friends can reread a size or a budget while they choose. Show less folds it back.
Friends who answered the window before, or reserved something, go straight to the list, and see the pinned card.
A list made without an account shows the card unsigned.
You and the people helping run the list don't see the pinned card; the preview in settings stands in for it. Answer the window with Browse without spoilers or Show what's reserved, and you see it as guests do.
Who sees the window at all, and why, is in "Why does a list ask who's opening it?".
Who can read my greeting card?
Everyone who can open the list, the same people who see its description. Keep your home address and anything private off it: gifters can ask you where to send a gift (see "Does Wishpicks deliver the gift?").
What do guests see without a greeting card?
A card made from your list: its name, how many wishes it has, your name, its date if it has one, and photos of its first wishes.
How do I change or remove it?
Open Greeting card again and edit the message, or tap another swatch, which saves straight away. To remove the card, clear the message box and tap outside it; the row in List settings then reads "Not set". A swatch you tap before writing anything waits until there's a message.
Tips
Put the hints people ask you about: sizes, a budget, "no clothes, please".
Make the first two lines count: they're the part the pinned card shows.
A couple of short sentences read best on the card.
Changed your mind? The card always shows the latest text, so there's no need to resend the link. For the rest of List settings, see "How do I edit or delete a list?".