# What makes a successful volunteer Discourse sysadmin? **URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-makes-a-successful-volunteer-discourse-sysadmin/189957 **Category:** Community Building **Created:** [May 10, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-makes-a-successful-volunteer-discourse-sysadmin/189957 "2021-05-10T18:31:30Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 2
### Author: ![Johani](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/johani/32/176920_2.png) [@Johani](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Johani) #### Post date: [May 11, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-makes-a-successful-volunteer-discourse-sysadmin/189957/2 "2021-05-11T02:27:20Z")
> [@debryc](#): > > I’d like to recruit a volunteer to support our nonprofit’s Discourse site This is a good problem to have because it means your community is growing. > [@debryc](#): > > This would be someone who handles things like > [@debryc](#): > > Digital Ocean Since you’re using Digital Ocean for hosting, then it would be good for any potential candidate to be already familiar with their dashboard. If not, it’s not really a big deal. It’s very simple, and they can figure it out in no time. As far as the things they’d need to do, well… that depends. For the most part, they won’t even need to do any Digital Ocean work since the site is already up and running. Some tasks that might come up: - [adding/removing](https://meta.discourse.org/t/install-plugins-in-discourse/19157) plugins - [running](https://meta.discourse.org/t/administrative-bulk-operations/118349) rake tasks - the occasional [rebuild via console](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-manually-update-discourse-and-docker-image-to-latest/23325) (very rare) > [@debryc](#): > > Troubleshooting bugs that I myself cannot figure out Bugs can be annoying to track, but to keep it simple, here’s what I recommend. If you notice something wrong, your first port of call should always be safe-mode. If the issue still occurs in [safe mode](https://meta.discourse.org/t/53504?silent=true), then it’s probably a bug in core. If you let us know, we’ll get it fixed ASAP. If the issue does not occur in [safe mode](https://meta.discourse.org/t/53504?silent=true), then it’s probably happening due to one of your plugins/theme components. [Safe mode](https://meta.discourse.org/t/53504?silent=true) gives a few options like (disable all plugins - disable unofficial plugins - disable theme) This should help narrow down the issue. Further debugging depends on the cause of the issue. Themes can only modify the front-end (they don’t make any changes on the server) so, if the candidate knows a little bit about the browser inspection tools, they should be able to get some hints from there. Plugins can modify both the front-end and the back-end. If the issue in a plugin is on the front-end, then the browser inspection tools should be enough to debug. If they’re on the back-end, then the candidate will need to look at `/logs` on the site to track the problem. > [@debryc](#): > > Contributing to Discourse’s open source code when there’s a feature we think could really help the entire Discourse user base (while solving for our own organization’s needs) That’s awesome! There’s nothing like scratching your own itch. I’m positive that the community here will appreciate those contributions. > [@debryc](#): > > (one day) Collaborating with a front-end developer to incorporate Discourse with our main website. I’m a bit curious about this point. What’s stopping you from doing this today? If you’re blocked by anything, please create a topic for that, and we’ll try our best to help. > [@debryc](#): > > Questions > [@debryc](#): > > How do I describe this role and its responsibilities in order to properly recruit someone? Is the title sysadmin correct? I sort of went over some of this above. I don’t think you’re looking for a sysadmin. I think what you’re looking for is someone proficient enough with front-end tasks. The back-end tasks they might need to perform are well documented here, and they should be able to get up to speed on those in no time. > [@debryc](#): > > What are things that make people really excited to volunteer on the sysadmin side of things? I don’t think you can get anyone excited about anything unless they’re passionate about it. That said, if one of your existing community members has the skills required for the position and is passionate about your community’s goals, then that’s the golden ticket. In other words, you need someone that is actively engaged in your community that can do the work. That would be the best. > [@debryc](#): > > What experience and/or skills would set someone up for success to take on this role? That depends on the context. If they’re only responsible for making sure the site is up and running, then it’s mostly. - able to use the browser console to debug - able to read through `/logs` - knows how to use [safe mode](https://meta.discourse.org/t/53504?silent=true) - knows how to use terminal for manual upgrades and such if You want a candidate that can also help create new features for your community - CSS/SCSS (plugins/themes) - JavaScript (plugins/themes) - HTML/Handlebars (plugins/themes) - Ruby (plugins) > [@debryc](#): > > Where are good places to recruit? I mentioned this above, but it’s worth noting again, the best place you can recruit is from within your community. It’s ok if people have a slow start. A pinned topic on your community should work. If you don’t get any leads from there, double down on it and ask your community members to recommend someone they know. If you don’t get any leads from that, widen the scope and reach out to your email contacts. --- _[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-makes-a-successful-volunteer-discourse-sysadmin/189957)._