Mentors and Welcome PMs

This was sort of developed from an idea I saw on another site.

Basically, people can sign up to become 'mentors'. When a new user joins, they are automatically assigned one of these mentors, and both the user and the mentor are PM-ed. The mentor can then help the new user settle into Mibba, navigate their way around, answer general questions, etc. This also means that the user will always have someone to speak to and will know someone. I know I'd have loved to have something similar to this when I joined.

I also thought about having an automatic PM sent when you sign up, basically welcoming you to Mibba, telling you about Dujo, maybe linking you to a few good threads or giving you rules. This would also have helped me.

Does anyone else think these would be good ideas?

I'm actually pretty fond of this idea.
I've thought of it before, just not mentioned it.

It would help out a lot, and I know that it would have helped me a ton in the beginning, when I first joined Mibba.

There would either have to be a lot of those mentors, or the mentors would be
in contact with a huge amount of users, because the site has been growing
steadily over the past few months, and I feel as if some of the mentors might
be a bit overwhelmed. That's the only downside that I can really think of.

I really like the idea of a welcome e-mail.
I'm not sure about the mentor idea because most new users' questions get answered.
But I don't think it's a bad idea. Certainly a good one. I'm just not sure if it's necessary.

The automatic PM idea is one I like.

I also like the mentor idea, I just don't see it working out - we could never have enough people available for each new member that joins up, even if we gave multiple people to each mentor. And it would be an overload for the mentor eventually, too.

I'm completely on board with the 'welcome PM' idea. Most websites I've joined have that kind of thing and it wasn't until now that you made me realise Mibba didn't actualy have one.

As for the mentors, as the others have said, there are way too many new members joining each day - too much for the mentors to handle, I would think. Because new members can either ask for help in the Help forum or in the Introduce Yourself forum. Perhaps those two could even be mentioned in the welcome message to point new members in the right direction.

How about a link in the email/PM with something like ask a mentor or talk to a mibba mentor?

That way, not all of them are getting a mentor (I know that most of the people that join are probably casual, and won't pay much attention), but the ones that are really interested, or have no idea what's going on, can get some help without venturing into the scary forums. As well, it'd be super cool to have someone you already know after joining the site.

I actually really like both of these ideas.

I remember how lost I was when I first joined, a mentior would have been very helpful. I mean, I'd say most people who've been here for a few months or more would offer their services so I don't think it would be that hard..

That would've helped me a lot. I really like this idea.
My friend recently joined, and I spent a lot of time filling her in on certain things… links to CSS and BBCode tutorials, useful threads…

I LOVE THIS IDEA <3
I think people should be able to choose if they want to be a mentor, but n00bs should just be assigned one :)

I was recently thinking about getting a PM when you sign up, I think it would be a great idea. :) I think what would make it useful would be that it would contain links to threads in the forums for Story help and questions, profiles and all those kinda things. I think it would be such a great help. :)

acorna's not there:

How about a link in the email/PM with something like ask a mentor or talk to a mibba mentor?

That way, not all of them are getting a mentor (I know that most of the people that join are probably casual, and won't pay much attention), but the ones that are really interested, or have no idea what's going on, can get some help without venturing into the scary forums. As well, it'd be super cool to have someone you already know after joining the site.

That's an awesome idea.

@ The Rumor
::agrees:

I find this a bit troublesome (I think this is the right word) and I know for sure that after awhile the mentors will get bored or not have enough time. Just my opinion.

I like this idea, it would've helped me a lot knowing someone who knew how to use the site, better than I did at the time.

I think a welcome PM or email would be a great idea. Maybe not a mentor or anything, just an automatic message that'll get sent to you when you sign up, with a link to the basic rules on the site and help threads on layouts and bbcode and stuff. It would have helped me when I first started, took me a couple of months to start being active on here because I had no clue what I was doing.

@ Carpe diem;

Carpe diem;:

I think a welcome PM or email would be a great idea. Maybe not a mentor or anything, just an automatic message that'll get sent to you when you sign up, with a link to the basic rules on the site and help threads on layouts and bbcode and stuff. It would have helped me when I first started, took me a couple of months to start being active on here because I had no clue what I was doing.

That's the best solution. It has come to my attention that most new users don't even know how to reply to the comments they receive on their profile's comment page.

Your idea Carpe diem; should just happen.