WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History)
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WTDWTF is one of the oldest software engineering communities on the Internet. We formed around The Daily WTF (ak.a. "the Front Page"), and discuss all sorts of things, most of which relate to software/technology.
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Getting Started with WTDWTF
WTDWTF grew organically - and accidently - on an ancient piece of software called Community Server that took the worst parts about blogging and forums software, and combined into into a difficult-to-use and buggy package. A decade or so later, an even more preposterous software called Discourse was chosen to host this community. We've since moved to NodeBB, which is kind of like an easier-to-use clone of Discourse.
Like all old communities, knowing a bit of history is important before diving in - and many of the memes and in-jokes come from these two moves. We've tried to document what we can in Teh Official Discopædia.
Getting to know the categories
There are a number of different categories where conversations occur, and they should be fairly self-explanatory from the descriptions.
Limited-Access Categories
But there's also some limited-access categories that regular members can apply for access to.
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The Trolleybus Garage is a restricted-access category intended for regulars to troll each other on topics, most of which are politically sensitive or incorrect. It's not a serious place, and nothing said in here should be taken seriously. That doesn't mean you can't have serious discussions, but that's just not the norm. If you'd like to have a serious and civil discussion, then consider the Civil Salon instead. Request access.
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The Lounge is a restricted-access category to discuss personal matters (like work, family, relationships, etc.) and other things you'd prefer to not be public (and available to search engines), for whatever reason. That's what this category is for, and there are measures in place so that we can more safely discuss things that are more private to our lives, which may include personal or work details. Request access.
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The Civilized Salon is a place for moderated discussions about politics, current events, and other fun topics. The general concept is that the Civilized Salon is not about debate, but about rationalizing your own viewpoints and understanding the viewpoints of others. Request access.
Community Guidelines
We're a volunteer-run community with members that strive for self-moderation for the benefit of all members.
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We are a technology community, formed around software development. That’s not to say other topics are forbidden; in fact, they're encouraged in certain certain categories. Generally speaking, they certainly can’t drown out the discussion on software development.
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We encourage diversity. Many communities think of diversity in terms of ethnicity, race, sexuality, religion, and age. Those are important, but we will strive to inclusive of nearly everyone, which means being tolerant of different personalities, opinions, skillsets, experiences, and communications styles. There are limits to this tolerance, and these will be expressed in the transparent community policies that are maintained by the administrators.
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Members need to act appropriately, guided by our community policies. This is not a problem for most adults most of the time (this is self-moderation), but for the exceptions, the moderators and administrators will help clarify these policies with the member or take other actions as appropriate.
And lastly, if these light guidelines breakdown, anyone (members, administrators) should feel free to contact me (Alex) off-forums. Email, whatever; I'm easy to get in touch with if it's important.
Getting to Know the Community
TODO: Reinforce the history, and that it can be a lot to take in, no one really knows it all, and everyone is pretty friendly. Some pointers to help you navigate.
- Limited-access categories and how to join, or links to the topics about them
- The staff, and who to ask for help (staff, moderators of categories?)
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@PaulaBean said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
That’s not to say other topics are forbidden; in fact, they're encouraged in certain certain categories. Generally speaking, they certainly can’t drown out the discussion on software development.
Are other topics encouraged only in certain certain categories? What about certain categories?
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@MrL Certainly
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I have two questions/suggestions.
The first: Can we explicitly say in the description of the categories which ones are non-indexed by search engines? The description of the Lounge mentions it, but IIRC, the Garage, at least, is also non-indexed.
The second: Can we include a link to Alex's forum profile in the part about contacting him? (His profile has his email address in it.) I've ran into the problem in the past where I tried to contact him but couldn't find his email address.
Thanks.
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@GuyWhoKilledBear said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
Can we explicitly say in the description of the categories which ones are non-indexed by search engines? The description of the Lounge mentions it, but IIRC, the Garage, at least, is also non-indexed.
I believe all the limited-access categories are not indexed. It would probably be good to mention that in the intro paragraph.
Also, the Civilized Salon is correctly named in the Civilized Salon paragraph, but called the Civil Salon in the Garage paragraph.
Also,
we will strive to inclusive of nearly everyone
I think you a word.
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How do I gain this?
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@Nagesh said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
How do I gain this?
You have to execute in a dynamic vs a static context.
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@Nagesh said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
How do I gain this?
I think you need to join groups.
Garage
https://what.thedailywtf.com/groups/trolleybus-garage-mechanicsLounge.... I think
https://what.thedailywtf.com/groups/trust_level_3Not sure about Salon.
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@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Nagesh said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
How do I gain this?
You have to execute in a dynamic vs a static context.
You mean in an instance method rather than a class method.
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@Zecc said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Nagesh said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
How do I gain this?
You have to execute in a dynamic vs a static context.
You mean in an instance method rather than a class method.
No, I do not.
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@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Zecc said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Nagesh said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
How do I gain this?
You have to execute in a dynamic vs a static context.
You mean in an instance method rather than a class method.
No, I do not.
You mean I do, not no.
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@error said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Zecc said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Nagesh said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
How do I gain this?
You have to execute in a dynamic vs a static context.
You mean in an instance method rather than a class method.
No, I do not.
You mean I do, not no.
No, you can get a dynamic context constructing a closure in a static method so I certainly do not.
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@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@error said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Zecc said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Nagesh said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
How do I gain this?
You have to execute in a dynamic vs a static context.
You mean in an instance method rather than a class method.
No, I do not.
You mean I do, not no.
No, you can get a dynamic context constructing a closure in a static method so I certainly do not.
You mean not do certainly I so method static a in closure a constructing context dynamic a get can you, no.
Filed under: I was going to alphabetize the words but
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@error said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Zecc said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Gribnit said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@Nagesh said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
How do I gain this?
You have to execute in a dynamic vs a static context.
You mean in an instance method rather than a class method.
No, I do not.
You mean I do, not no.
You're talking to @Gribnit, so nobody knows what he means, including him.
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@error said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
You mean not do certainly I so method static a in closure a constructing context dynamic a get can you, no.
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@PaulaBean said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
The Civilized Salon is a place
... which I do not know how to enter.
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@BernieTheBernie said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@PaulaBean said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
The Civilized Salon is a place
... which I do not know how to enter.
That one is off limits to everyone. Something about Germans not understanding how to be passive aggressive.
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@BernieTheBernie said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
@PaulaBean said in WTF is WTDWTF (Getting Started, FAQ, History):
The Civilized Salon is a place
... which I do not know how to enter.
Links added to the OP.
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