Discourse usage
Discourse can be used on laptops and tablets, in phone browsers and using a phone app. You can also use Discourse by email - see below; note that any mails you send must come from the email address listed in your MT account. Discourse does include standard accessibility features, but this has not been verified - let us know; it is likely that any accessibility concerns will be addressed by the developers.
You can automatically see all the Freegle volunteer discussion forums - you do not need to join each one. Each forum is called a category and you can choose which ones to follow - see below. In DIscourse jargon each new message is called a topic and you can reply to the topic; topics and replies are called posts. (Discourse does also have groups of users, but we're not going to use these.) Discourse doesn't have a separate Files section; at the moment anyone can upload images into messages and "staff" can upload PDFs; this can be changed if needed.
Like most forums, each category has a series of topics - and replies to the topics. A topic can also include a poll - see below. Note that you can "like" a topic or reply. And you can "bookmark" posts of interest, and "flag a post" for the attention of the moderators.
Quick tips
- You can receive notifications of new topics and replies in various ways
- You can configure what is shown on the home page in Preferences+Interface
- If you have the Discourse site open, it will update automatically if there are new posts eg with (2) in the title.
- When posting a new topic, Discourse checks if there's a similar message.
- Discourse overrides the browser search facility to show its own search box (which can be annoying).
