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.
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jainmike opens the discussion by asking what factors help new members feel welcome in busy communities filled with long-running threads, seeking advice on effective onboarding strategies.
satonotdead outlines several technical and structural approaches for self-hosted or dedicated plan instances. Key suggestions include using Discourse Workflows to automate welcome messages via direct messages, group chats, or dedicated topic replies. Additionally, they recommend implementing gamification elements such as custom groups, permissions, and badges to guide new users through introduction processes. They also mention discobot, noting that while outdated, it remains useful for simple, neutral automated welcomes that can be configured and translated via the admin panel.
Rubi emphasizes the importance of personal connection over automation. They argue that a warm, human touch—such as a friendly greeting, openness, and providing site-specific useful links—makes new users feel closer to the community. Rubi also recommends maintaining a dedicated “Introductions” category where newcomers can say hi and share details about themselves if they wish, reinforcing that this simple method effectively aids integration.
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Discourse includes discobot in its core; although it is outdated, it can work well for simple, neutral welcomes.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.
I think the personal touch is always best.
Saying hello, giving a smile, being open and warm to new users, perhaps providing them with a link or links to useful information specific to the site is also a nice way to bring people closer.
Having an Introductions category where they can say hi and perhaps write something about themselves if they want…seems to work.
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