Look into Discourse server

[thebestmensch]

Placeholder for after the meetup, I'll add more info.

https://discourse.openstates.org/ https://payments.discourse.org/

https://discourse.codeforamerica.org/t/discourse-modern-forum-software-for-your-community/64

[thebestmensch]

A few thoughts after digging into a few of discourse servers, specifically Code for Philly and OpenStates:

What I liked:

• More findable and less ephemeral than Slack Threads. Example
• Community-driven (as opposed to leadership-driven, e.g. a wiki) source of information.
• Viewable without logging in (also has downsides).
• Easier to reference via link than Slack.

What I didn't like:

• Yet another tool. May add confusion for members ("Should I post on here or Slack? Or Github?"). Worst case conversations are split between Discourse and Slack, resulting in less collaboration and transparency overall.
• Any volunteers from the leadership team to moderate this? ;)
• An inactive discourse server looks much less welcoming than an inactive Slack, IMO. Example. I'm not personally confident in the amount of "discourse" we're going to have from the community.

Any thoughts @mateoclarke?