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?)