Wikipedia:Adopt-a-user

The Adopt-a-user program is designed to support relatively new, yet committed Wikipedia editors who want to gain a deeper understanding of how things work here. It brings together relatively inexperienced users and lets them pair up with more experienced Wikipedians. These editors "adopt" newer users, answering questions or guiding them along the way as they learn more about the many aspects of Wikipedia's policies, its editing and its maintenance.

If you are a completely new editor, we're sorry, but Adopt-a-user is not really best-suited to your needs. Instead, you will get speedier answers and help with specific editing problems if you ask a question at The Teahouse (which is intended to help new editors) or at the slightly more technical Help Desk. Information on creating a new article can be found here.

The Adopt-a-user project aims to support relatively inexperienced users and help them gain greater insight into the ins and outs of Wikipedia, and to help and encourage them to continue editing. Over the years, more than a thousand users have been involved in the program at one time or another.

So, if you're not very experienced, but are nevertheless committed to sticking around and learning more, and would like to ...


 * ask questions about editing, contributing to Wikipedia and creating your first article;
 * learn to navigate processes and policies and guidelines;
 * understand how best to stop vandalism or to upload your images, or any other complicated activities on Wikipedia,

... then an adopter should be able to help you. Adoption is not a quick-fix process. It lasts as long as the adopter and adoptee want to continue, so you can stop any time if you feel you've learned enough, or you'd like to take a break.

Adoption is for any user who intends to be a long-term contributor and member of the editing community. It is not for someone who simply wants to create or edit a single article and then disappear forever. For those needing quick help with one-off problems, the Teahouse question forum, the Help desk, or a Help me request might be better ways to get quick answers.


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Participation
Being adopted can be rewarding, but it takes a commitment of time and effort from both parties. As someone wanting to be adopted, you will need to select an adopter from the list of adopters and contact one of them directly. Read their profiles and try to find an adopter who is both currently active and most closely shares your interests.

View the list of adopters!

We no longer advise anyone to just passively add the template to their userpage in the hope an adopter will see it; they probably won't! So, it is up to you, as someone who wants to be adopted, not only to find and approach an adopter, but also to explain your editing interests and your hopes for what their input will bring to you. They will probably look through your own edit contributions to gauge your editing interests and commitment to date. They might accept you, or they may turn you down for various reasons. Please don't approach more than one potential adopter at a time. Wait a few days before asking someone else.

Once you've found a matching person who is willing to 'adopt' and support you, you might wish to add a userbox to your page to indicate your involvement, and they might do the same.

For more information, visit the Adoptee's Area and the Adopt-a-user talk page. (If you are interested in becoming an Adopter yourself, please visit the Adopter's Area.)


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Is adoption right for you?
Adoption needs a commitment of time and effort from you! You are expected to stick around, practice and learn to work with others, and have already shown a willingness to contribute across some of Wikipedia's many activities. Adoption isn't for getting short-term assistance with a particular problem, or to create a single article. There are other help forums for that.

If you're inexperienced and would like a single point of contact to: ...then finding an Adopter could be just the thing for you!
 * guide you through understanding our key policies and 'how to' guidelines
 * discuss a range of questions about editing, contributing to Wikipedia and possibly create your first article
 * receive guidance on interacting with other editors, article creation, image uploads and a host of other activities on Wikipedia, like help out by preventing-vandalism or doing routine maintenance tasks

Whilst many adopters take a structured, step-by-step approach to guiding new editors through the various elements of working on Wikipedia, others are more informal. They may prefer to simply steer you through key areas you're having difficulty with, and answer questions whenever you encounter problems.