New Poster Mentor/Shadow Program

Started by PenelopeQ, May 15, 2011, 05:56:10 PM

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PenelopeQ

I don't know where to put this topic, so I will try here.

I have 2.0 RC5

I have a forum that is a support group for people whose spouse's are leaving them. Infidelity is often as factor. The intention of my people is to remain married.

My moderators are starting to feel a bit overwhelmed as newbies come in. We don't want to miss a thread, but there is a lot to read.

So we would like to start a mentoring program where we shadow a new poster for the first 3 months. Many lurk before posting, so we don't want them to be assigned until starting a story thread--rather than replying on someone else's thread. The 3-month shadow doesn't mean a person will stop mentoring after that period, but rather we are hoping it will help the newbie with the initial stages when they tend to be in extreme panic. It's a jump start to make sure that they receive advice.

So I'm just rying to brainstorm some ideas and would like help or input. Sorry if it seems confusing, but I'm still in the idea stage.

I can use the subscription feature to assign each new poster and it can then be set up to expire automatically.

Other than the subscription feature, I don't think there is a mod or feature that can help me with this system as a whole. So I am looking for organization ideas. Or various mods that may help with pieces of the system.

Some people lurk for months, can I set up to be notified when someone starts a thread for the first time?
But then what about those who start, post once, leave for months and come back? They may get missed, can I be notified when someone with under a certain number of posts returns after a long absence--or does someone have a better idea?

To get started I am going to search my members list and assign those who registered since March and have posts. But that means I am missing a new poster who registered in June but only posted last week! Any ideas for catching those posters?

Is there a way for each mentor--all moderators and possibly a few volunteers with regular (non-mod) privileges--to view everyone in their mentor group? I think I will name the groups by using the Mentor's display name in the group name.
Right now my mods can view the member list, but no one else can view it. What are the advantages and disadvantages of making this viewable to all registered posters?

I also have PMs turned off to anyone with less than 25 posts. Could I turn customize that so a newbie could PM their mentor before they have 25 posts--but no one else?

Ideally I would love a subscription system where I could have one type of subscription but several different groups a subscriber could be assigned to within that subscription--randomly assigning a mentor-group to insure each mentor had the same number to follow. I'd also like it if the system could automatically assign a newbie when they first post--by starting their own thread. I know that is a lot and not really a mod that someone would create for free...so I'm just asking for some ideas to organize such a thing without the fancy features.

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