This was reported by @Dyolf77_WMF.
Context
At workshops, you usually have one mentor who hosts the event. As a new comer, you have a special connection with this person, as they are the one you know, and you are more likely to recontact later.
Current situation
- a newcomer creates an account at Wikipedia. They are assigned a random mentor
- the workshop host has now to claim this newcomer so that they can follow up with them later
This creates one extra step during the event (usernames collection) and getting a random mentor can be confusing ("who is that person who claims to be my mentor?" "How can I have the host as a mentor?")
Preferred situation
- before the event, the host creates a link to special:CreateAccount with a special parameter that will force them as the mentor of anyone who uses this link
- during the event, a newcomer creates an account at Wikipedia using this link. They are assigned the selected mentor.
Observations
- The parameter could be something like special:CreateAccount?forceMentor=Trizek
- in some cases, several mentors can host the workshop. Could it be possible to have multiple names as a parameter? special:CreateAccount?forceMentor=Trizek,Dyolf77
- There is one possible case of abuse, where someone would edit the link on a global page (help page, event page), and force a mentor to receive all newcomers.
Acceptance criteria
- When ?forceMentor=User A is passed to Special:CreateAccount and User A is a mentor (automatic or manual), User A is assigned to the newly-created user.
- Behavior of forceMentor is analogical to the previous point when more than 1 username is specified (format: ?forceMentor=User 1|...|User N), ie. one of the users is assigned to the newly-created user.
- Document how this feature works.