# Discourse Meta > Discourse Meta is the official community hub for Discourse, the open-source discussion platform. It serves as the central place for documentation, support, feature discussions, and developer resources for building and customizing Discourse forums. Discourse is a modern, open-source forum software built for the next decade of the Internet. It is used by thousands of communities worldwide. Meta.discourse.org is where the Discourse team and community discuss the product, share guides, and help each other. ## Documentation - [Getting Started with Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/156563): Overview of essential resources for new Discourse users and developers - [Discourse Development Contribution Guidelines](https://meta.discourse.org/t/3823): How to contribute to the Discourse codebase - [Admin Guide to Tags in Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/121041): Comprehensive guide to configuring and using tags - [Configure Automatic Backups for Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/14855): Setting up automated backups - [Configuring Group Access, Membership, and Visibility](https://meta.discourse.org/t/138296): Managing user groups and permissions - [Beginners Guide to SEO with Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/146655): Optimizing your Discourse forum for search engines ## Installation - [Install Discourse on Ubuntu or Debian for Development](https://meta.discourse.org/t/14727): Native development setup on Linux - [Install Discourse on macOS for Development](https://meta.discourse.org/t/15772): Native development setup on Mac - [Install Discourse for Development Using Docker](https://meta.discourse.org/t/102009): Docker-based development environment - [Using Discourse with Cloudflare: Best Practices](https://meta.discourse.org/t/293405): CDN and proxy configuration ## Plugin Development - [Beginners Guide to Creating Discourse Plugins - Part 1](https://meta.discourse.org/t/30515): Introduction to plugin architecture - [Beginners Guide to Creating Discourse Plugins - Part 2: Plugin Outlets](https://meta.discourse.org/t/31001): Connecting to plugin outlets - [Beginners Guide to Creating Discourse Plugins - Part 3: Custom Settings](https://meta.discourse.org/t/31115): Adding configurable settings - [Beginners Guide to Creating Discourse Plugins - Part 4: Git Setup](https://meta.discourse.org/t/31272): Version control for plugins - [Beginners Guide to Creating Discourse Plugins - Part 5: Admin Interfaces](https://meta.discourse.org/t/31761): Building admin UIs - [Beginners Guide to Creating Discourse Plugins - Part 6: Acceptance Tests](https://meta.discourse.org/t/32619): Testing your plugins - [Beginners Guide to Creating Discourse Plugins - Part 7: Publish Your Plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/101636): Sharing plugins with the community - [Using Plugin Outlet Connectors from a Theme or Plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/32727): Extending Discourse UI ## Theme Development - [Beginners Guide to Using Discourse Themes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/91966): Introduction to theming - [Developer's Guide to Discourse Themes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/93648): In-depth theme development - [Theme Developer Quick Reference Guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/110448): Quick lookup for theme developers - [Adding Settings to Your Discourse Theme](https://meta.discourse.org/t/309653): Making themes configurable - [Structure of Themes and Theme Components](https://meta.discourse.org/t/60848): Understanding theme architecture - [How to Create and Share a Color Scheme](https://meta.discourse.org/t/61196): Customizing colors ## API - [Contributing to the Discourse API Documentation](https://meta.discourse.org/t/56693): API documentation guidelines - [Using the JS API](https://meta.discourse.org/t/41281): Client-side JavaScript API - [Getting Started Using Postman with the Discourse API](https://meta.discourse.org/t/333669): Testing API endpoints - [Theme Developer Tutorial: Using the JS API](https://meta.discourse.org/t/357801): JavaScript API for themes ## Authentication - [Use Discourse as an Identity Provider (SSO, DiscourseConnect)](https://meta.discourse.org/t/32974): Single sign-on configuration - [Configure Patreon Integration with Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/62380): Patreon membership integration ## AI Features - [Introducing Discourse AI](https://meta.discourse.org/t/262744): Overview of AI capabilities in Discourse - [Discourse AI - Embeddings](https://meta.discourse.org/t/259603): Semantic search and embeddings - [Using PDF and Attachment Support with AI Bots](https://meta.discourse.org/t/391005): AI document processing ## Optional - [Creating Bug Reports for Discourse on Meta](https://meta.discourse.org/t/33070): How to report bugs effectively - [Contributing Translations to Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/14882): Localization guide - [How to Add a New Language](https://meta.discourse.org/t/14970): Adding language support - [Overriding Discourse Templates from a Theme or Plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/247487): Advanced template customization - [How to Run Discourse Core, Plugin and Theme QUnit Test Suites](https://meta.discourse.org/t/66857): Running JavaScript tests - [Converting Modals from Legacy Controllers to New DModal Component API](https://meta.discourse.org/t/268057): Modal migration guide