Suggestion: Coding Mentors

[Razasharp]

As we all know vB has one of the best hack communities for any forum platform - and that is largely down to the coders who spend so much of their time creating hacks.

To help perpetuate this, I was wondering if you could perhaps put this suggestion to the coders (maybe in the coders section)... how do some of them fancy becoming Coding Mentors?

Essentially, helping learner-coders get to grips with coding vB.

I think this would do two things; build even better relationships, and get more vB coders out there by speeding up the learning process.

Maybe coding Mentors can only be assigned to people actually serious about learning to code, perhaps to begin with a criteria is set where the learner coders must have already purchased a php coding book (or two) to show that they are serious, and can be tested they actually own the book by asking what word is on blah line on blah page etc. This would cut-out a lot of time-wasters.

You could make it clear that Coding Mentors will not write the hacks for us, but merely be on hand to help if we get stuck or to point us in the right direction.

If the Coders think this is a good idea, maybe we could start a thread where people interested in getting a Mentor could post, along with what books they have purchased, and perhaps the coders could decide between themselves who they might be interested in taking on? Coders should know they are never obliged to help and if they feel it's more time than they have, they can withdraw at any time - no hard feelings (I'm sure many will appreciae any help we got to whatever point).

I'm sure some people will say, well why not just start a thread with a question? Well this is a more pro-active way of handling this as in building a relationship Mentor and learner-coder get to know each other/levels of skill etc. And besides, threads often get overlooked, and this way a willing Mentor and a willing learner can go about things more effeciently.

I think this will also be good to help vB.org see which coders might be suitable for future openings on the admin side here and would be nice that Coding Mentors got a special badge in acknowledgment.

What does everyone else think?

[Adrian Schneider]

I've suggested this a few times and I think it's a great idea.

[Razasharp]

Sorry I missed your threads SirAdrian.

Glad coders like yourself are thinking along the same lines... if doesn't go ahead officially, can I put my name down to be first in line with you please? :knockedout:

[furst]

I would like to learn. It would save my so much time if I could help myself with custom hacks.

[Adrian Schneider]

I don't mind helping people over MSN, as long as they don't paste code there.

[furst]

What is a good book for someone who doesn't know a thing about php?

[Adrian Schneider]

a good read? :p

[furst]

lol naw, just something to get me started on the basics.

[Adrian Schneider]

Haha, kidding of course. :)

Back when I was learning, it was a real bummer to have to wait hours (at best) for a reply. If I had an answer within 30 seconds (okay, maybe a few mins with most people) it basically takes a day of waiting out of the equation.

Personally I already have a few people who constantly harass; er... ask me for help. As long as it's not every 30 seconds (ya I'm looking at you Cody) then it's not a problem. In most cases it's either quickly looking up a file, or a question you can answer off the top of your head.

But, as long as people find things out for themselves too, they'll learn. If you ask every time you are stuck, you'll never progress.

[Adrian.]

Well, i already am learning someone on my MSN.
Very slowly.

However, i would still help out some members here. :)

Adrian

[Marco van Herwaarden]

It is a great idea to have mentors, and it has been proposed a few times before.

The problem is that it will be almost impossible to get enough mentors for the amount of people needing them.

If someone could be a mentor, they are often already very busy themself, and will already help people at the moments they have some spare time. Sometimes a mentor-like relationship comes from this, but that would also require a "click" between the 2.

The problem with becoming an "official mentor" would be that you would loose control (or at least it will feel that way) over when you help others.

Until now all projects like this have unfortunatly failed.

[amykhar]

I think you are limiting yourself by asking that it be done over an instant message client. Many of us can't use them at work. Keeping things on the forums may mean you wait a bit to get your question answered, but it also means that somebody else benefits from your question and the answer.

[Razasharp]

Marco I think it's at least worth a try :) I know many people like me, eager to learn will really appreciate it (and that's never really forgotten ;) )

I propose, a new section is created along with a new usergroup (for Learner coders) - the permissions are set so that Learner Coders can only see the threads they post in that section, but all coders can see all threads in the section - that way Coding Mentors can subscribe to the threads of the people they are Mentoring to easily keep track of them.

Why not just make the section public? Because when learning, one of the best ways to learn is to modify an exisiting similar hack to do exactly what you want - and as the original hacks belong to someone it wouldn't be fair to post those changes on the public board without asking for permission first - remember, at this stage and this particular project, its about helping others learn to code vB hacks, only. In addition that privacy will also help build a relationship between Mentor and LCoder. You could even have a bunch of mentors helping a LCoder in that section... those details can be discussed amongst the Coders and they can decide which would be best for them.

With regards to demand meeting supply, you can do it on a first come first serve basis, and you'll probably find, as Learner Coders get better, they use less of the Mentors time who can then take on more people if they want to. Even if 5 people are helped in one year, that's 5 more than none :-)

What is a good book for someone who doesn't know a thing about php?

It will depend on what other knowledge you have, you will need at least the basics of HTML. If you have that then two books I think are pretty good are PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites (Visual QuickPro Guides) by Larry Ullman and PHP and MySQL Web Development by Luke Welling and Laura Thomson. Incidently - I asked for book recommendations here on vB.org before ordering :p

[Paul M]

I'm not sure the usergroup method you describe would work as well as you expect - because I think quite a few of the "learners" would be people who have already done a small amount, and maybe released a small mod or two - enough to already class them as coders on the forum.

The next question is how many peolpe would seriously be prepared to be a "Mentor", experience in the past has been that everyone thinks what a great idea, but then no one actually steps forward.

[Razasharp]

I think those coders, are probably already asking for help in the coders forum? Or at least thats what I imagined one of the purposes for that section would be. This is more for those just getting on the ladder, people who are starting to learn php and need to get into the little details with vB :)

Already SirAdrian and Adrian, have said they are happy to give it a go, Amy has replied so I guess is keeping an eye on it too... and how about you Paul? I think you'd make a good Mentor too :p

There'd be no harm in setting it up and seeing how it goes, we all know it may or may not work out - but we shouldn't let that stop us trying :)

[Adrian.]

Instead of having one mentor asigned to one "learner".

Why not make a forum like suggested, with usergroups, learners and mentors.
Then, the learners just post help, or what they would like to know, and any mentor assists them. ;)

Adrian

[KW802]

Instead of having one mentor asigned to one "learner".

Why not make a forum like suggested, with usergroups, learners and mentors.
Then, the learners just post help, or what they would like to know, and any mentor assists them. ;)

AdrianWouldn't that be the "Programming Discussions" forum then? :p

[Razasharp]

Instead of having one mentor asigned to one "learner".

Why not make a forum like suggested, with usergroups, learners and mentors.
Then, the learners just post help, or what they would like to know, and any mentor assists them. ;)

Adrian

That could work too - I guess in addition to each person having a specific Mentor, any mentors noticing they could help in one given situation/thread could post too.. hence having their permissions set so they can see all the threads and not just their students :) However, that's something that the Mentors could decide on themselves, as you might find some Mentors preferring to Mentor solely.

KW802, the way it will differentiate from the programming discussions section is the criteria and basis of the new section. That is people who are serious about learning will be offered a Mentor, and as Mentors will be giving some sort of commitment it will eradicate the current frustration - that is threads going unanswered.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

And who will be allowed to post a new thread in that forum?

[Razasharp]

The Learner Coders who have been assigned/found a Mentor (but they will only be able to see their own threads (which is easily set in Admin CP > permissions)).