Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-08-05/Blog: Difference between revisions

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What if there were a gathering place on Wikipedia for newer editors to find a mentor? What if we could match these editors to mentors based on their needs and goals? And what if we could do more to help editors beyond pointing them to documentation? This was the motivation behind developing a recently piloted mentorship space called '''[[WP:CO-OP|the Co-op]]''' on the English Wikipedia.

Funded by [[m:Grants:IEG/Reimagining_Wikipedia_Mentorship|an Individual Engagement Grant]], myself and [[WP:Co-op/About#Who.3F|our team]] assessed the current state of help spaces on the English Wikipedia and created the Co-op, a mentorship space informed by our research. For instance, we noted that newer editors are often familiar with some guidelines and policies, but are unsure of how they are implemented in practice. Consequently, we ensured that editors using the Co-op could be matched with mentors to focus on conventions and best practices in editing that are not always easily found in documentation.

Another common theme was that newer editors seeking help were initially overwhelmed by the sheer number of help pages and felt lost. In building the Co-op, we created a system to design mentorships based on concrete topics or problems, rather than leaving them too broad or unfocused.