A confident editor navigating the waters of Wikipedia after graduating from his adoption course.
Wikipedia can be a very confusing place, and I'm here to help you understand how it works. My goal as a mentor in the Adopt-A-User program is to make sure that you know how to contribute to the Free Encyclopedia constructively. The adoption program will help you understand a lot of the rules on Wikipedia, how to edit using the basics of Wiki Markup, and much more! As your mentor, I will answer all your questions to the best of my ability, and if I don't know the answer, I'll direct you to someone who does. Please visit User talk:Missionedit to make an inquiry if you are interested in joining this program as an adoptee/mentee.
Yes, I was adopted by User:Brambleberry of RiverClan, and successfully graduated in June 2013. She was a wonderful mentor (thanks, Bram!), however, she is currently not active on Wikipedia.
How will I know if you go on holiday?
If I take a break from editing (longer than a few days), I will place a big notice on this page in addition to notifying all of my active adoptees personally. I hope that if you go on a break, you will notify me as well.
What if I want to take a break from lessons?
If you need to take a break from editing Wikipedia, whether for personal reasons, or you just want to try to recover from Wikipediholism :), that's fine with me! Everyone needs a break once in a while. However, please leave me a message on my talk page and/or in your adoption classroom to let me know if you're leaving for a long period of time.
What happens if I forget about lessons?
If you forget your lessons [which sometimes happens, real life can be distracting :) ], after a week, I will send you a reminder. If you still don't respond, I'll continue to send you gentle reminders. If you don't respond within a month to my reminders, you'll be listed as inactive on this page. However, you are still welcome to start up your lessons again anytime.
What do you do on Wikipedia?
Rather than being a writer of articles, I work more in the area of maintenance tasks, such as cleaning up spelling and grammar, reviewing new and changed articles for problems, and fixing poor reference formatting. I also enjoy helping newer editors at places like the Teahouse and Articles for Creation. I usually don't edit articles of a specific topic, like some editors do, instead, I usually just hack away at backlogs, which are lists of articles with the same problem.
Is there a specific adoption course plan?
Yes and no. There are some necessary subjects that need to be covered when learning how to edit Wikipedia. However, instead of using a strictly laid out course, I try to play to the interests and strong suits of my adoptees.
When will I graduate?
You will graduate when I feel that you have learned all you need to know to justify graduation :) An adoption course usually takes between 4 and 12 months of work to complete. Don't be afraid to graduate earlier or later than originally estimated, however: everyone learns at a different pace, and we all have different schedules. Your exact graduation date is up in the air depending on how much time both you and I commit to your lessons.
What if I'm graduated and still have questions?
My door is always open to adoptees, current or graduated. Like I always say, if you have questions about anything, I'll do my best to answer, and if I don't know the answer, I'll try to direct you to someone who does :)
