If we could have a membership publication, what would it be like?

This is for @bec_hawk, @klukoff, and everyone else interested in a membership publication.

I had floated the idea of a publication but withdrawn it after learning it might somehow conflict with plans to improve the look and functionality of the forum. It has occurred to me, though, that we could discuss what we would like such a publication to be if we could have one. This might be valuable to the admins and moderators as they work on changes to the forum.

So here goes with some ideas:

  1. It would be nice to learn about the moderators: who they are, what their experiences and concerns are, where they envision this forum going.
  2. Similarly, it would be good to hear from the admins: what their philosophies are, what their goals and hopes for the forum are, what ways we can help them attain their goals and realize their hopes.
  3. Ways we can be better members. I am guessing that some members have not read the rules for posting and commenting. Can we have some sort of refresher course for those of us who might need it?
  4. What kinds of things should we be wary of? Spam, for example: how can we recognize it, and what should we as members do about it?
  5. Forum tools: for example, does everyone know they can get email notifications of new topics and posts if they haven’t been on the forum for a while? What other tools are there that people might not know about?

I’m sure there are many other things that could be listed here. I welcome your ideas.

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Yes, sorry to not make that clear. I was thinking of an online magazine or some kind of e-newsletter.

So these points are content topics for various publications?

I agree with @frrrst that 3-5 better be either a pinned topic, or a link from a header statement, or a page link in the dropdown menu (where you can also find the FAQ). But posting this in a first edition of the newsletter would be a good idea.

With regards to 1 and 2… Forum mods (and also admins like me) are just regular members. So it would be better to have, say, 2 separate column series, like e.g. Member Talks and Center Views, the latter one for information on core team activities and insights and the first column highlighting members’ own experiences and interests, reason for joining, etc…

About…
3) Ways we can be better members.
I think there could be clear link on every page that invites to read rules. It is not easy to find them once you are in.
5) I would add information about tools to the same page.
And if the forum software supports some kind of semirandom collection from recent posts, I would add that to the same place too (I haven’t checked really what discourse can do - this is using discourse, right?). To support “glimpsing over content while having coffee” sort of. Some planning of layout of course needed (including if some things like rules are collapsed as default for members who have already read them - one more technical thing I’m not sure is easy to do in discourse).

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Yes @Mikko, this is using Discourse. We’ll look into ways to provide easiest access to rules/guidelines. As for the recent posts. Each topic now has a list of Suggested Topics that are related to the current one (as determined by the forum software).

This is more like a theoretical discussion. If we could have N, then XYZ would be its characteristics.

I think this is a chance for members to say what, in addition to what the forum already provides, they would like to have as a consequence, expression, or benefit of their membership. That is, what information, guidelines, etc. would help them contribute more to the forum—and get more.

We are all curious about what lies ahead. Perhaps this discussion could help us shape the future to some degree.

P.S. It’s always good to be reminded of the rules of civil discourse. Even though I’ve read the rules twice, I’m sure I could benefit from reading them again. The principles of engagement are the important element, and we should always keep them in mind when posting or commenting.

I love these ideas. Can you admins make this happen?

Thanks for referring us to Tristan’s message, as quoted by @aschrijver. I just reread it, and it is indeed wonderful and inspiring. It revives the spirit of participation, reminding us why we came here in the first place.