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Skinner

(63,645 posts)
Tue May 22, 2012, 11:23 AM May 2012

New forum: Welcome & Help

We've created a new top-level forum called "Welcome & Help." The purpose of this forum is to welcome new DU members, to let members get to know one another, and to provide DU-specific help and support.

The Welcome & Help forum can be found here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1256

...and the forum's Statement of Purpose is:

Introduce yourself here! Meet and greet other DUers, share tips about DU, and get help in a positive, supportive environment. No whining about DU. People who create an unwelcoming atmosphere will be blocked from this forum.

Meanwhile, we have made some slight changes to the Help & Meta-discussion forum. Help & Meta-discussion has been renamed to Meta-discussion and it is now only available to logged-in members. We have also changed the Statement of Purpose slightly. The new Statement of Purpose for Meta-discussion is:

Discuss Democratic Underground policies and procedures. Second-guess decisions by Juries, Hosts, and Administrators. Work through problems between members. Discuss the DU Community Standards. Bemoan the current state of DU.

Thanks for your patience while we continue to work to improve DU.
33 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
New forum: Welcome & Help (Original Post) Skinner May 2012 OP
Excellent forum sharp_stick May 2012 #1
excellent idea maddezmom May 2012 #2
Great! William769 May 2012 #3
Awesome. nt TBF May 2012 #4
A MOST welcome change! Stinky The Clown May 2012 #5
Excellent! pacalo May 2012 #6
Excellent decision. n/t PoliticAverse May 2012 #7
Great move, imo. H & M is not exactly the most welcoming place for new members. cbayer May 2012 #8
Not exactly welcoming?That's an understatement! Gormy Cuss May 2012 #12
Please tell me where to find the Glossary! ms liberty May 2012 #9
We may need to re-create it. Skinner May 2012 #11
Although somewhat outdated, the DU2 one can still be found: Make7 May 2012 #27
Fantastic! Thanks, Skinner. NRaleighLiberal May 2012 #10
"Bemoan the current state of DU." Haha! wildeyed May 2012 #13
"People who create an unwelcoming atmosphere will be blocked from this forum." cbayer May 2012 #14
Alert on a thread in the Hosts forum. Skinner May 2012 #16
That should work well. MineralMan May 2012 #19
I read.. Welcome and Hug Viva_La_Revolution May 2012 #15
Skinner..I strongly urge Admn to consider making call outs verboten, as in DU2. dixiegrrrrl May 2012 #17
I think that juries will hide callouts if they feel they are inappropriate. Skinner May 2012 #18
Very Good idea DonCoquixote May 2012 #20
Kudos. Great changes on the forum set-ups. pinto May 2012 #21
Great idea! swimboy May 2012 #22
Huzza! We're all newyorker99 now. Lars39 May 2012 #26
Outstanding! This is an excellent development! scarletwoman May 2012 #23
Thanks skeewee08 May 2012 #24
Puuuuuuuuuuuurfect. Rex May 2012 #25
Will this forum get a clearly-visible place on the home page? JHB May 2012 #28
"Brilliant Idea" I say, "Brillliant". grantcart May 2012 #29
Sadly new people can’t post to say hi until they get enough posts. posteroftruth7 May 2012 #30
Well it's a small check against potential disrupters Paulie May 2012 #31
Ironic, isn't it? uppityperson May 2012 #32
Don't ya think? Just like the song. Heh Paulie May 2012 #33

Gormy Cuss

(30,884 posts)
12. Not exactly welcoming?That's an understatement!
Tue May 22, 2012, 12:25 PM
May 2012


Separate Help and Meta forums are a much needed improvement. Thanks, Skinner.

ms liberty

(9,825 posts)
9. Please tell me where to find the Glossary!
Tue May 22, 2012, 12:09 PM
May 2012

I tried to find it a month or so ago in order to direct a newbie to it...they were advising another member about their misspelling of "moran" - and I couldn't find it anywhere! I was quite dismayed!

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
14. "People who create an unwelcoming atmosphere will be blocked from this forum."
Tue May 22, 2012, 12:44 PM
May 2012

As the hosts only responsibility is to lock threads that don't meet SOP, how should we best alert you if someone is violating this part of the SOP?

dixiegrrrrl

(60,011 posts)
17. Skinner..I strongly urge Admn to consider making call outs verboten, as in DU2.
Tue May 22, 2012, 01:16 PM
May 2012

It seems to me, from my peeks at H&M, that a LOT of contentious posts and subsequent alerts concerned callouts.
the "new" Meta is sure to have the same problems unless callouts are addressed.
What do you think?

Skinner

(63,645 posts)
18. I think that juries will hide callouts if they feel they are inappropriate.
Tue May 22, 2012, 01:18 PM
May 2012

And I think the members in the Meta-discussion forum will make clear when they feel a call-out has crossed the line.

I think that is enough.

DonCoquixote

(13,710 posts)
20. Very Good idea
Tue May 22, 2012, 02:45 PM
May 2012

One that we have needed for a long, long time. frankly, I thought THIS is what DU 2.0 should have done.

swimboy

(7,307 posts)
22. Great idea!
Tue May 22, 2012, 04:53 PM
May 2012

Now I'll take just a moment to doff my fez to remember the remarkable work of newyorker99 who welcomed me and so many others.

Lars39

(26,232 posts)
26. Huzza! We're all newyorker99 now.
Tue May 22, 2012, 10:01 PM
May 2012
I don't know how on earth she managed to find them so quickly, but it was comforting to see her in a newbie's thread.

JHB

(37,414 posts)
28. Will this forum get a clearly-visible place on the home page?
Wed May 23, 2012, 09:11 AM
May 2012

Some years back I set up something similar on a wikia on which I have admin privileges. No one ever used it, largely because you'd have to already be familiar with the place to know it was there (I lost the argument with other admins for better placement on the landing page).

This isn't one of those "if you build it they will come" sorts of things. You need to point people to it.

 

posteroftruth7

(2 posts)
30. Sadly new people can’t post to say hi until they get enough posts.
Sat May 26, 2012, 06:53 AM
May 2012

Kinda pointless and not a great way to make people feel welcome.

Paulie

(8,464 posts)
31. Well it's a small check against potential disrupters
Sat May 26, 2012, 07:04 AM
May 2012

There is so much to explore on DU, participating with a few posts is a great way to learn about our community.

Welcome to DU!

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