Growth/Communities/How to configure the mentors' list

You are interested in becoming a mentor? Thank you!

Mentors are experienced users, ready to help new users. They are a key factor in order to onboard and encourage new users to edit the wikis.

Please check our resources about and then introduce yourself as a mentor.


 * In short
 * In order to become a mentor, please add your name to the list of mentors that exists at your wiki, if any.
 * If not already done, you may have to create the list of mentors at your wiki.

Presentation of mentors on the Homepage


The is designed to help newcomers on their first steps on Wikipedia. The Homepage will randomly assign your name to a newcomer: you will be their mentor.

On the Homepage, there is a space that displays your introduction to your mentees. By default, the presentation is: " ".

How to add yourself to the mentor list
The mentor list for your wiki is listed on Wikidata. If this page doesn't exist, you have to create it first.

Some wikis may have defined some local rules about the conditions to become a mentor. These conditions are usually displayed on or linked from the mentors list.

Add your username (not a redirect to your username) to the list, using the following syntax:

Example:

The description's length is 240 characters maximum. If it is longer, the system will cut the description.

Do not add wikitext (no link, no template), HTML and CSS to the description: it will break it.

Do not alter the link to your userpage, by adding anchors, or by changing the target. It will break as well.

Examples
( Due to translations, the examples below may exceed the 240 characters limit. )

You can introduce yourself with something very neutral:


 * "I am here to help you navigate Wikipedia, please feel free to ask!"

You have enough experience to reply to any question. Don't let people think you can only help them with something specific.
 * Don't write "I edit articles about football." Newcomers may think that they can't ask you about anything else than football.
 * Prefer to write: "I'm mostly contributing to football-related topics, but I can help you with any other topic, as far as I can."

You can invite people to contact you:


 * "I can help you with your questions about editing Wikipedia. I'm mostly contributing to football-related topics. What would be your area of contributions?"
 * "I was as confused as you are now. But asking questions to experienced users helped me. Please feel free to ask me any question!"

Please shortly introduce yourself: 240 characters max. That limitation is set to avoid lengthy text that would overload the information already visible on the Homepage. Wikitext will not be rendered for the same reasons. To know more about you, newcomers can visit your user page, linked from the Homepage.

Your username will already be displayed on the Homepage. No need to remind newcomers who you are in your presentation.

Create a list of mentors
First, you need to check if the Growth tools are deployed at your wiki. If it is not yet the case, please see how to get the features.

Then, you have to find some other mentors to volunteer. We encourage you to start a conversation at the relevant places at your wiki, in order to decide if this mentor list should be created. This is also a good way to recruit mentors.

The Growth mentorship system can replace or complement an existing mentoring system.

If your community agrees on, create a new page. This page can be located anywhere at your wiki. This page must list each mentor name and description, as described in the previous section.

At your wiki, an interface admin has to add the mentor list to the configuration page. The list goes to the " " field. Don't forget to turn the mentorship feature on.

Based on our observation, we advise to have one mentor for each group of 500 new users your wiki gets per month. For instance, if your wiki has 2,500 new accounts per month, your should have at least 5 mentors. We recommend to have at least 3 mentors.

We recommend to protect the mentor list, so that only experienced users can sign-up. The usual protection is: more than 500 edits made and an at least 90 days-old account. Your community can define some specific rules on who can be a mentor (age of the account, how many edits made, number of edits made on main space, etc.).

Claiming mentees
Sometimes mentors quits and needs to be replaced, or a mentor can redirect a newcomer to another mentor, more specialized about a given topic. It is then possible for mentors to claim a mentee.

A separate list for workshops hosts
By default, only one list of mentors is available. Every mentor listed on this list have their name being randomly assigned to newcomers. Some wikis asked to have a way for experienced users who host workshops to only claim mentees they know.

It is possible to create a separate list, where people who wish to claim mentees without being assigned to unknown mentees can sign up.

To create this list, create a page using the same syntax as the regular mentors list, link it to the matching Wikidata item. Then edit to add the page link in the "  " field. This special page is editable by interface admins.