I’m curious what actually makes a new member feel welcome when a community is already busy and full of long-running threads. Is it a friendly first reply, a clear place to introduce yourself, or something else entirely? I’d love to hear what worked for you when you first joined a community like this one.
AI-generated summary
jainmike started a discussion seeking advice on what makes new members feel welcome in busy communities with long-running threads, asking whether friendly replies, clear introduction spaces, or other factors are most effective. satonotdead responded by outlining several technical strategies available on self-hosted or dedicated Discourse instances. These include using Workflows to automate welcome messages via direct chats, group chats, or topics. Additionally, they suggested filtering categories with custom groups and permissions to “unlock” access as users progress and introduce themselves, potentially triggering welcomes from staff or existing members via badges and queries. Finally, satonotdead noted that while discobot (included in core Discourse) is outdated, it can still serve for simple, neutral welcome messages, with customizable and translatable text configured via the admin panel.
If you host your own instance or are on a dedicated plan, you can do this in several ways:
- Automating via Workflows a welcome message in a direct or group chat, or a private message.
- Automating a message in a topic where you send welcomes, also using Workflows.
- Filtering categories with specific custom groups and permissions for “unlocking” access as the user progresses and introduces themselves through badges and some queries, to then be welcomed by staff or existing users.
Discourse includes discobot in its core; although it is outdated, it can work well for simple, neutral welcomes. The text of the messages sent is translatable, and you can configure them from your admin panel.