Mentorship on Wikipedia is a program of the Wikimedia Growth Team that[a] automatically assigns a mentor to each new editor (called mentees). Mentors are experienced Wikipedia editors who volunteer to answer new users' questions about editing Wikipedia.
Mentors are a key factor in order to onboard new users and encourage them to edit Wikipedia.
Newcomers are made aware of their mentor at the newcomer's homepage.
Mentors can visit the mentor dashboard to see a list of editors assigned to them.
All user accounts created since February 2025 have the mentorship feature enabled.[b]
You can find out who your mentor is and view a brief introduction in section §Your mentor on your User homepage.
Do I have to apply for a mentor?
No. You are assigned a volunteer mentor automatically.[c]
How do I ask my mentor a question?
Look for the "Your mentor" module towards the bottom right of your homepage, and click "Ask your mentor a question about editing". (If the button is missing, it is a bug; 1, 2.)
My mentor hasn't answered my question for a few days. What should I do?
Mentors do their best to answer question in a timely manner, but sometimes questions don't get answered for one reason or another. You can ask questions at the Teahouse, which can get faster answers as there are many experienced editors there answering questions.
What if I don't want a mentor?
You can opt out of mentorship by going to your homepage and clicking the three dots at the top of the mentorship module. Then select "Opt out of mentorship".
You will be able to opt in again later, but you might end up with a different mentor.
How can I get a different mentor?
You can get a different mentor by opting out of mentorship as §described above, then re-opting back in. If you have a specific mentor in mind, you can also ask them on their talk page to claim you as their mentee.
What if I can't see my homepage?
Type Special:Homepage to get to your Homepage
You should see a 'Homepage' tablink top left on your User page. You can also get to your Homepage by typing Special:Homepage in the search bar on any page in Wikipedia.
If your homepage is not available, go to the User Profile tab of your preferences, scroll down to Newcomer editor features, and click the checkbox to enable "Display newcomer homepage" and save the changes. This will enable the homepage tablink next to your User page tablink at the top of your screen. You can disable the homepage at the same location by unchecking the box.
How can I request a mentor?
All accounts created since February 2025 are assigned a mentor unless they have opted out of the program, and many more have one assigned, though they might not yet be visible. To find yours, you can visit your homepage (or see the §instructions above if it is not visible). If you have §opted out of mentorship, you should be able to opt back in at that mentorship module, at which point you will be assigned a mentor.
Can I get another mentor for my work on other Wikipedias?
Yes, in most cases, but only the first one is automatic;[c] you have to request the other(s) at wikis that have enabled the mentorship system.
If you contribute to more than one language Wikipedia, and if the community you plan to join decided to enable the mentorship system, you automatically get one volunteer mentor assigned to you at the Wikipedia where you created your account.[c] You do not automatically get one at other Wikipedia(s) where you also contribute, but you can request one to be assigned automatically by enabling your User homepage in your Preference settings at the other Wikipedia.[c] (See also, §How can I check if my Homepage is enabled?)
For example, at Spanish Wikipedia, go to es:Special:Preferences, and in the first tab (Perfil de usuario, 'User profile') scroll down to the bottom of the page and find the checkbox Mostrar página de inicio para usuarios nuevos ('Display newcomer homepage'), check the box, and click the blue Guardar button ('Save'). A mentor should be assigned to you on Spanish Wikipedia within a few hours.
You may repeat this process for each Wikipedia where you contribute and wish to have a volunteer mentor assigned to you.
If you go to your User page, you should see a "Homepage" link top left.[d]
In order to be assigned a mentor, or to §request one, your User homepage must be enabled. Go to Special:Homepage, and if you don't have access to your Homepage, an error message is shown, along with instructions on how to enable the Homepage.
If I change my username, do I get to keep my mentor?
Yes. If you change your username by a successful username change request, then you keep the same mentor.
You can find a list of your mentees by following the "Mentor dashboard" link at the top of any Wikipedia page (near the "Contributions" link), or just go to Special:MentorDashboard.
Please check the resources available at best practices, and then introduce yourself as a mentor.
Should I say hello first, or wait for mentees to contact me?
This is entirely up to you. Some mentors contact new users as soon as they appear on their dashboard; others wait for mentees to contact them. If you would like to welcome your new mentees, the Welcoming committee Wikiproject has several templates designed especially for this purpose: see WP:Welcoming committee/Welcome templates#Mentors.
How do I introduce myself?
When you sign up to become a mentor, you are asked to explain to newcomers how you can help them.
If you don't write this description, then a placeholder is used: "This experienced user knows you're new and can help you with editing."
Admins can edit your description using Special:ManageMentors (see MediaWiki documentation). You can view other mentor's introductions at Special:ManageMentors for inspiration.
Mentors are randomly assigned to multiple newcomers, but not all of them contact their mentor. On average, a mentor receives between 0 to 6 questions each week from newcomers.
Can I view the latest contributions of all my mentees?
Yes. Look for the link below the dashboard, under the heading: "Recent changes by your mentees". The link shows a filtered view of Recent Changes by your mentees only.
How can I tell if a user is one of my mentees?
If a user is one of your mentees and have at least one edit, they should be listed on your Mentor dashboard. You can search for them using the search box at the top of the dashboard. For a brand new user who has edited and just registered within the last few hours, it is possible they will not be listed yet.
To be certain if someone is your mentee or not, you can always use the #mentormagic word to determine their status: add {{#mentor:user name}} to a sandbox or to Special:ExpandTemplates to find out who someone's mentor is. If the output is empty, they have no mentor; either they opted out, or they are a user who registered before the Mentorship program was created and never opted in.
How do I pause my mentorship activity?
Options displayed when someone edits the mentor profile using the MentorDashboard
You can go to Special:MentorDashboard and pause your activity.
You can define a duration for your pause.
You can return as active or shorten or extend this duration anytime.
No new newcomer will be assigned to you. Newcomers already assigned to you will be informed of you being away. They will have a different mentor name to contact.
However, newcomers who had already started a conversation with you, or contact you by directly visiting your user talk page, may still leave you a message.
If you plan to be off for more than a few weeks, please consider quitting mentorship instead (and returning!).
All newcomers who had your username as their mentor are reassigned to other mentors automatically. They get a notification about this reassignment. You could still get questions from newcomers who had you as their mentor, if they contact you like any other user would do.
If they have §opted out of menteeship altogether, then your attempt to claim them will fail, and "Username opted out of mentorship" will be displayed as the error message.
How can I select mentees, instead of having them randomly assigned to me?
Any mentor listed can be assigned to any new account. However, some event mentors would prefer to only have event participants assigned to them.
You can go to Special:MentorDashboard and select "None (I claim them manually)" in the "Number of mentees assigned to me" menu.
No new mentee will be assigned to you, but you can still claim mentees.
Please note: this feature has been implemented for workshop hosts or campaigns organizers. We expect regular mentors not to use it, as it would change the number of mentors assigned to mentees.
Can I change the number of newcomers assigned to me?
On the MentorDashboard, you can increase or lower the frequency that newcomers are assigned to you.
This setting will increase or decrease the frequency of new accounts assigned to you.
However, we can't predict the volume of questions from assigned users.
You might increase the frequency of newcomers assigned to you, and not end up getting many questions.
Conversely, you might lower the frequency of newcomers and be randomly assigned newcomers who have lots of questions.
I am getting mentee messages from users not on my dashboard
There can be three reasons for this.
When someone's mentor is away, the system forwards their mentee questions to an active mentor, and you may receive one of them. In this case, the mentee question will be topped with a hatnote showing the name of their mentor, so that you know that is not from one of your own mentees.
If a mentor is blocked, they are treated as away, so the situation looks just like #1. An admin may decide to remove them from mentorship entirely, and then all their mentees are automatically reassigned.
There is a delay filling the dashboard that can be up to several hours long. Sometimes, a newly registered editor may ask a question through the Mentorship module on their user homepage as one of their very first edits, before your dashboard has had a chance to list the new editor.
You can always tell if a user is one of your mentees, even if they are not listed on your dashboard, using the mentor magic word: if {{#mentor:SomeUsername}} yields ⟶ YourName then they are your mentee, irrespective of whether they are listed on your dashboard or not.
Please note that messages sent by newcomers using the Growth Mentorship system are formatted like this: Question from user on article (timestamp) or Question from user (timestamp). However, any newcomer can contact you outside of the Growth Mentorship system, using the same system any user would use to contact you. Treating their questions like you would for any newcomer assigned to you is expected, but you can remind them that they already have a mentor. If you start collaborating frequently, consider §claiming them.
I am still receiving mentee messages although I am not a mentor anymore
This has been observed (e.g., here), and is a bug that is being looked into. If this has happened to you, please post at the Phabricator ticket, or at mw:Talk:Growth with the details of your situation.
Type the magic word {{#mentor:Foo}} in a wikitext page, replacing "Foo" by the username, and preview. This will display the name of User:Foo's mentor.
This magic word can be used in a template: welcome message, user talk page messages, userbox, etc.
If the mentor changes, then the magic word picks the new mentor's name.
You can "subst:" this message if needed: {{subst:#mentor:Foo}}. User:Foo's mentor will then be saved as wikitext.
↑This feature was made available in 2019 for the earliest wikis. The English Wikipedia started experimenting it in 2021, and, after a progressive increase, assigned a mentor for all new account in February 2025
↑Accounts created before February 2025 may ask a mentor on their Talk page to claim them; see mentor list.
1234On Wikipedias where Growth features have been deployed, as they are on English Wikipedia, and on all these Wikipedias.
