Wikipedia talk:Adopt-a-User

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To-do list for Wikipedia:Adopt-a-User:	edit · history · watch · refresh
Ongoing: Adopters please add your details here. For Adopters and Adoptees to share their experiences. Discuss the proposal for an adoptees tracking page.

Archives

1, 2, 3

Contents 1 New award 2 Watch page 3 Lectures 4 Redesign implemented 5 Someone who really needs help 6 Help on criteria 7 Getting adopted 8 Question 9 Adoption Question 10 Question 11 Co-adoption - legal? 12 Block in the last 6 months? 13 Adoption critera regarding blocks 14 Merge with help desk? 15 Harassment 16 Oversight and "private" adoption programs 17 (unnamed adopter) 18 rename the program?

[edit] New award

Can you all please contribute at here Thank you F9T 18:46, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Watch page

Good evening,

I've created a script to track new users seeking to be adopted.

Every 20 minutes, my bot queries In category since and edit the page if needed.

So, adopters can watch this page to immediately (well... with at more 19 minutes 59 secondes lag) know there is someone to adopt.

• The page on the French Wikipédia fr:WP:NEW
• The demo page User:Dereckson/AdoptMeList
• The {{User...}} template documentation
• The code used

Do you want I also maintain this page here?

If yes, what the {{User}} template do you prefer?

--Dereckson (talk) 20:04, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Some suggestions:

• I can't see anyone opposing this proposal; if so, they can do so at Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval. I suggest you just go ahead and post a request for approval at that page.

• Unless your bot offers additional value, other editors may ask why the link to the category page isn't sufficient. After all, that will have the same names as the list that your bot creates. I suggest that you add, to the new subpage, that date that the adoption request was made (that is, the date that the bot copies the name from the category to the page); this would give editors a sense of who has been waiting the longest to be adopted, which is something the category page does not do.

• I suggest that you put the list of editors seeking to be adopted on a subpage, such as Wikipedia:Adopt-a-User/Adoption requests, with a link from the page Wikipedia:Adopt-a-User to that subpage.

• It's not clear why you're asking about a User template; the short answer is that it's not clear why anyone has to change anything that they're doing right now. So any templates now in use will continue in use. No new templates should be needed (if I'm missing the point as to why a new one is needed, please specify.) -- John Broughton (♫♫) 15:22, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually, the category does tell you who has been waiting longest; it's ordered by date the template was added, so the people at the top of the list have been waiting longest. --Sopoforic (talk) 06:27, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, didn't read the fine print. One reason I didn't was because there are inconsistencies - not all requests are listed under the number "2", so not all requests are in fact being chronologically listed. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 20:48, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Look User:Dereckson/AdoptMeList, it's very useful to have the link to the Special:Contributions, so we can immediately see what kind of contribs the newcomer makes. There is no need for a new template, I ask what the ideal format to print the user.

Mdnavid (talk • contribs • count • logs • email) (since 2007-12-15 18:27:10) seems great but maybe too long? --Dereckson (talk) 17:30, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lectures

Kim Bruning has proposed doing some lectures on various topics on IRC to help out the newer users. Adopters, you might consider giving a lecture, and you might want to let your adoptees know about them once a date is set in case they'd like to attend. Planning is happening at Wikipedia:Lectures (and in IRC in #wikipedia at the moment). --Sopoforic (talk) 06:07, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Redesign implemented

I've finally gotten around to implementing the redesign I proposed ages ago. The affected areas are the main page and the adoptees' area. My single goal was to simplify everything so that the potential adoptees could more easily see what they needed to do to get adopted, and I think that I've made good progress for that. Certainly the old main page was a terrible mess of userboxes and too-long instructions.

Anyone who thinks they can improve it should of course feel free, but I do ask that you try to keep down on the clutter. --Sopoforic (talk) 06:24, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Someone who really needs help

Florentino floro could really use some help, and I think adoption might be the only way he could be a constructive member of Wikipedia. A quick look at his talk page and his bio here on Wikipedia should help explain. Beeblbrox (talk) 03:13, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

I have also dropped by his talk page and suggested he ask to be adopted Beeblbrox (talk) 03:21, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Help on criteria

Hello,

I wish to adopt somebody. I exceed all the criteria on the home page of the Adopt-a-user project, except one: I was blocked for 2 days for personal attacks on 4 February this year, breaking the criteria for blocks. However, I feel that I have reformed, and I do not have any more issues (I think, but most of you would too, I suppose) with this. Can I be allowed to adopt? _contribsSTYROFOAM☭1994^TALK 00:45, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Of course! We've all made mistakes in the past, goes the cliche. And I'm sure you'd make a wonderful adopter. Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 22:57, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Getting adopted

I put a notice on my user page seeking adoption, but no one has responded. Do I have to actively seek out someone to adopt me, or do I just wait until I get noticed? Ecoleetage (talk) 18:09, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

I think it's better to wait passively, because other people might get annoyed. Someone is bound to come by you. STYROFOAM1994^{Don't age bias me!} 19:24, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

i am willing to adopt Grandoldman (talk) 13:23, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm afraid you're probably not ready to adopt yet. You have less that 25 edits in mainspace and talk, and most of your other edits are to user pages and user talk pages. You should probably wait a little while to familiarise yourself with with Wikipedia a little more. There are a large number of processes and situations that can come up, which your adoptees might need help with, but that are rare enough that you won't necessarily encounter them right away. For this reason, we prefer that editors have at least 500 edits before adopting other users. If I may, I would recommend joining a wikiproject and working with them on some articles--that will help you to get experience both with the collaborative aspects of editing and the processes that typically come up--e.g. AFD, GA and WP:FA. Once you've got a little more experience, feel free to come back here and adopt. We'll be happy to have you, when you're ready. --Sopoforic (talk) 21:14, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

• Actually, I wasn't looking to adopt -- I was looking to be adopted. Please go back and re-read my original posting from March 10. Ecoleetage (talk) 22:19, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

My reply wasn't to you, it was to User:Grandoldman. He removed his comment, though, which made my comment seem out of place. I've restored it. --Sopoforic (talk) 22:42, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Question

When you put a notice on your userpage to get adopted, is your name put on a list somewhere, or do you just hope someone stumbles upon your userpage?

Youre dreaming eh? (talk) 23:07, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes, you're automatically placed in Category:Wikipedians seeking to be adopted in Adopt-a-user. CattleGirl ^talk 23:46, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Adoption Question

My User Id: Crimson Red Fox, I am new to Wikipedia and have been adopted! Yeah! One problem, I don't know how to locate users on Wikipedia. I have been adoped by Steve_Crossin, please tell me how I can locate him. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Crimson Red Fox (talk • contribs) 19:52, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

You can reach his user page by typing User:Steve Crossin in the seearch box or his talk page by changing "User" to "User talk". It looks like based on his talk page that you already found him so hopefully he will be able to give you more useful tips on navigating the wiki. Good luck. Stardust8212 20:27, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Question

I would like to adopt a user but I was blocked back in january for having a multi-user account. Can I still adopt? RC-0722 ^247.5/1 20:10, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi, the guidelines state that nobody should have had no blocks in the last six months, but I don't see that it should really stop you. You seem to meet all of the other criteria. Also, the guidelines suggest that if you choose to nominate a co-adopter then this would definitely not be an issue. Hope this helps. Reece (Talk) (Contributions) 17:45, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Co-adoption - legal?

Is co-adoption legal? I know there was a page a while back that User:RyRy5 was using to run his own adoption program and hire other "teachers", which got deleted. But I'm still not sure if that makes co-adoption illegal or not. - DiligentTerrier (and friends) 18:58, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure it's ok, I remember even seeing a note that you can seek a co-adopter if your adopter is busy often, or something. I'll try and find where I saw that. xenocidic (talk) 20:21, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Here: Wikipedia:Adopt-a-User/Adopter's Area

“

If a user does not meet the above criteria but still adopts, then the adoptee should be informed of the situation and they should have a co-adopter.

”

I also thought I saw it somewhere else, but can't find that right now. cheers, xenocidic (talk) 20:23, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Co-adoption should be fine, at least I don't think i've ever seen it written that it isn't legal. I can't see why there would be any problem with it. Reece (Talk) (Contributions) 17:53, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Co-adoption is fine. In general, anything which can help adoptees is fine, whether we have anything codifying it or not. --Sopoforic (talk) 18:23, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Block in the last 6 months?

I would like to adopt User:Supeyman, but I did have a minor 12 hour block almost 4 months ago, when I was a newbie. I have completely reformed, and I now have 4,000 total edits, 3,000 in the mainspace, a featured article, 10 DYKs, and I am a rollbacker. I'm just wondering if I can go through with this. Editorofthewiki^{review my edits here!} 14:29, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

I'd say go for it, especially if you are going to be a co-adopter with Bark. xenocidic (talk) 14:36, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

You'll be fine. Malinaccier (talk) 14:39, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Adoption critera regarding blocks

[edit] Merge with help desk?

[edit] Harassment

Hey! I think what Ya Boi Krakerz wrote to my adoptee's guestbook, is considered to be a harassment. I'm not sure what to do in this situation. Can you people enlighten me? EliAS 20:46, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

I wouldn't call it harassment, per se. Tasteless, yes. If she doesn't want the comment in her guestbook, it can be deleted. xenocidic ( talk ¿ review ) 20:52, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for clearing things up. I wasn't sure about that. EliAS 15:27, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Oversight and "private" adoption programs

Wondered what the folks involved with this think about people running adoption programs independently from this. In the few times I've noticed them, it's concerned me because the "adopter" has been an obviously clueless editor. It's more a case of the blind leading the blind than anything else. Is there some amount of oversight that goes into "official" adoptions done via this page to help prevent this? Certainly, if someone is obviously clueless, we don't want them running amok leading newbies astray. How does this program prevent this, and should adoptions done outside of this program be discouraged? Friday (talk) 15:08, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

I've been observing what prompted this, and I'm really not sure how to address it. Technically, free-lance adoption programmes are not supposed to be run per the RyRy et. al MFD, but the one you're talking about is purporting to be involved with WP:AAU. If you look at my adoption subpage, I make it quite clear it's not its own adoption program, as should others. as for the oversight issue, I simply don't know. xenocidic ( talk ¿ review ) 15:18, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't know which particular people you're talking about, so I'll speak generally: in the case of one user offering to help another in a way similar to what we do here, but not as part of the AAU program, this just isn't our concern. People are free to act as they choose, after all. As for people claiming to be adopters in the AAU program who don't fulfill the requirements, that is a little more of a problem. For the most part, we have to rely on people not to lie about themselves and hope that we catch people who do.

I don't know how common it is for unqualified people to claim to adopt as part of this program--I'm sure I've seen two or three instances of it over the last year and a half, but unless there are lots of people doing it who aren't caught, it's probably not too big a deal. I expect it'd be fairly trivial to throw together a program to scan over all the people in the adopters category to check whether they meet at least the edit count requirement. This would only catch people using the userbox/category, though, but there's no way for us to monitor everyone.

Regarding your final question: I don't think we should attempt to discourage people from helping one another. The value of this program is that it provides an easy way to connect new users with experienced users, and, in theory at least, ensures that the 'experienced users' really are experienced. I don't see any reason that we should wish to prevent people from 'adopting' or 'mentoring' or what-have-you on their own, though. This program is far from perfect, after all, so people should feel free to work outside it as well, just as long as it's clear that's what they're doing. --Sopoforic (talk) 18:56, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] (unnamed adopter)

[edit] rename the program?

I prefer simple "mentorship" as the name of the program or, if it is going to be restricted to new users, "mentorship of new users." "Adopt" implies a parent-child relationship that I do not think is apropos here. Bwrs (talk) 18:39, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

• Seems like an awful lot of work for a slight semantic change. "Adopt" has a lot of easy modifiers... "Adopting" "Adoptee" Adopter" "Adopted" - mentorship not as much. xenocidic (talk) 18:43, 11 June 2008 (UTC)