About: Scope and ownership of this site

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#1

Hi Folks, just wanted to get your thoughts and input on the future of this site. The idea is to attach this forum as the discussion space (like a robust comments section) to a public, community-owned website called GabriolaMatters.ca. Everyone will be able to view all the comments, discussion, material, etc, but only those who create an account and log into the community can make comments, start topics, etc.

So just to clarify this is NOT going to be a “closed community” - it will be open and visible to all. JSYK!

After the current community engagement on Housing is over, the material currently on the GabriolaHOUSINGMatters site will move to a section on the GabriolaMatters website, and we’ll be able to create new topics of wide interest like Reconciliation, Water, Conservation, Legal/Regulatory Documents, Community-Social, Emergency Preparedness, Poverty, Parks, Waterfront, Business, Tourism, Small Enterprise, Food Security, Heritage and History… Whatever!

This website could be co-owned by community groups who can use it as a true discussion forum where we can discuss, debate, promote, share, educate and learn from one another. There could be a small annual fee for website maintenance, but the costs should stay quite small, and the community Discourse section would be moderated by those who use it.

In essence, the goal is to create a community-owned, accountable space that is open to all, and curates healthy and informed discourse!

Welcome your thoughts, and thank you to all you early adopters who jumped on board to try it out!

  • Tobi
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#2

@nola @aprilvannini @ddfarley @JLPea @margygilmour @katpatte @Whichbetty has anyone been on a Discord OR Discourse forum before? I think they are quite similar. Discord works on creating groups of people who want to discuss a certain topic, which I am pretty sure can do here. Anyone want to try creating a group?

#3

Tobi, when you say “everyone will be able to view” the contents of this site, do you mean all members of this group/site, or do you mean anyone on the internet?

#4

Good question. There are different ways we could use it. I think I imagined it as being open to all - as in anyone on the internet. Like these forums here: https://talk.folksy.com/ and https://bbs.boingboing.net/ are basically ALL Discourse, there might be a traditional website with 1-way flow information attached, but the community discussion is open and viewable to all, but you still have to be a member to comment or start a topic.

This company https://www.feverbee.com/ has a community that’s locked and not viewable to those outside the community: Login | FeverBee

This Airline Pilot flight school website https://atpflightschool.com/ uses Discourse as a linked community here: https://airlinepilot.life/

This website is pretty traditional https://newrelic.com/ with the Discourse community operating under the Help Center tab, labeled Community.

So we could choose how we want it to run and appear. But I think for accountability’s sake, it would be good if it were open to all. The idea of a new platform is NOT to lock people out of the conversation, as Facebook does, if you choose to get off the platform. Since this has a goal of discussing “all that matters on Gabriola” I imagine we want it to be as open and accessible as possible.