Let's talk about TALK! (Dallas Makerspace Members ONLY Category?)

DMS General
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Continuing the discussion from May Board of Directors Meeting this Sunday 5/22:

Walter (@wandrson) added the following item to today’s Board Meeting Agenda: Board of Directors Meeting 20160522 - Dallas Makerspace

While I am not sure if there are any hard rules on what should go on a Board Meeting Agenda (vs Member Meeting Agenda vs Opening a Request Ticket vs just bringing up the suggestion on TALK…), I will say that In My Opinion - the Board Meetings should be reserved for the Board to review requests for big expenditures, mediation of issues that have not been able to be resolved on a more one-on-one or committee level…

All that being said… Since today’s Board Meeting is especially full of larger request/issues, I feel that it may be better to just discuss this particular request right here on TALK.

Being the primary method of communications for Dallas Makerspace, the TALK forum has a wide variety of topics that are discussed openly and currently all ‘categories’ (“sections”) are open to the Public.

I have suggested a “Members Only” option twice in the past…

  1. While the roll-out of the TALK forums was being discussed, I had suggested that we have a “Members Only” category; but, a decision was made that it would be best not to at that time, primarily for transparency sake.

  2. Not too long ago, some very active (and somewhat heated) discussions were going on… And it seemed that at times some of the members may not have realized how negative the strong disagreements could make it seem like we have a hostile environment ~ especially to non-members checking out the forum to get an idea of what we offer here at the 'Space, etc… (Google is very quick to crawl the threads and share the content when people search for makerspaces in Dallas, etc… Which is usually a good thing… Usually. :wink: ). At that time I brought it up again; but, more along a line of having a Members Only category such as a “Hot Zone” (for heated subjects) or possibly even a “Water Cooler” category (for Members to have a place to discuss “processes and procedures” or just general “internal” type of discussions…). I received feedback that not only would that possibly go against ‘transparency’; but, also potential for ‘over moderation’…

I personally rely on the flag system to handle most of the ‘moderation needs’ - other than correcting the category from time to time (usually when someone posts via e-mail and the post does not automatically get set to the most applicable ‘category’…) - so I don’t expect the ‘over moderation’ to be much of an issue… (Especially if members would start using the “flag and e-mail” option at times when they are only flagging something because it’s “Off Topic” ~ a quick message with the flag suggesting that they create a new thread using the “Reply as linked Topic” would be very helpful… Much more than an anonymous flag that leaves them wondering why their post was flagged… but that’s a different thread altogether… :wink: )

That brings us to… “Transparency”

Again… In My Opinion, Not everything necessarily needs to be posted publicly. (Yo ~ random person wondering what we might be saying under the hypothetical “Members Only” category… Here’s a link to JOIN Dallas Makerspace - then you, too, can see it: Join – Dallas Makerspace :wink: :slight_smile: )

Some examples of things that might be better discussed in a less public “Members Only” category could be:

  • The recent discussion about the thief who was stealing stuff from the 'Space
  • Internal Organizational discussion (physical committee boundaries, etc…)
  • “Hot Topics” that are proposed for upcoming Member Meetings - to allow members to discuss the issues prior to the meeting, in hopes that the actual meeting will run smoother, etc…

These are only suggestions, of course…

The Board Meeting begins in just under 8 hours. I personally feel that this particular agenda item would be better discussed here on the TALK forums.

If you have a strong opinion on whether we should (or should not) have a “Members Only” category that would be view-able ONLY by members of Dallas Makerspace… Now would be a great time to “TALK” about it! :smiley:

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I would support a members only area. I would suggest that it be reserved for discussions that are of interest to members only, rule changes, conflicts between individuals or groups. That sort of thing, the sausage making.

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@LisaSelk

Great idea to discuss this on talk, it really isn’t a board issue. So I have removed the agenda item from today’s board meeting. Perhaps that will save a few minutes from what looks to be a particularly long meeting…

That said, saying we would like a members only area on talk is only part of the issue. We would need someone with the skills to implement it. My research indicates it is possible, but that it isn’t as simple as activating an existing switch/plugin/feature of the discourse software.

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I don’t expect that to be a problem. I’ll double-check with Andrew (@AndrewLeCody) to be sure.

In the meantime, let’s see what the general consensus is after about a week; and, if there are no major objections from the members in general - if Andrew says it’s possible - I’ll work on getting it implemented.

NOTE: I expect that we would need to tie it in with the “Makerspace Member” badge and/or the criteria used to earn that badge - which is that the e-mail address used on TALK is the same that is in the WHMCS billing system… So anyone who may be interested in this, probably should make sure that their e-mail address used on TALK matches the billing system.

Edit to add:
I found this - as an example of a way that might make it work.

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One reason we don’t/can’t have something like that is because of the login system talk uses. The current system allows you to use whatever you want to sign up and log in (which means potential members can come ask questions and talk before joining) and the alternative is AD account login ONLY no other methods available (which means you have to be a paid member before you can post(previously that also meant family members couldn’t have been members of the forum but that just got fixed with maker manager 3))

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Not sure if this should be a different topic but I don’t believe I see the “flag and email” option. When I click the flag, I see “send a message”, then the flagging options for “off topic”, etc.
Here’s a screenshot.
Am I not understanding something (again!)?

flags.png734×480 50.9 KB

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Heh, only Moderators have the “and email”

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Plenty of sites allow you to link accounts from other sites (e.g. “Connect GitHub”) - we could do the same with DMS account credentials. I’ve implemented stuff like this in various web platforms, and I’m sure one of the many software engineers at the space could help. I think there’s lots of room for improvement in the login, talk, and Wiki systems, but I’ll save that input for another day.

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While true, between the high hopes of good ideas and the promised land is the chasm of volunteer labor.

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Yeah, I hear this all the time. Does that mean we shouldn’t discuss it or look into it?

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Lisa,

State and Federal law respecting corporations, have various disclosure requirements about records, as does our Bylaws. However, most of these requirements relate to “disclosed to the membership upon request”, rather than “disclosed to the General Public”.

Since a private forum would be open to all members, and the communications therein already available to them, a private forum wouldn’t pose any additional burden of disclosure.

It should be noted, that private communications between members (but not including Board members, officers, or employees), are not considered records of the corporation subject to disclosure. However, any communication may be subject to subpoena by the Courts.

Members only, shouldn’t be any problem, legally speaking.

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Not sure why people are trying to make this about back end auth.

While there are issues/challenges with the integration, why not tie it to the members “badge”, group, or however that is designated?

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Would be worth trying, it just won’t be easy.

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The brief conversations I have had with @LisaSelk and @AndrewLeCody have indicated that it might be relatively easy.

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Is it possible for supporting members to get the member badge? If not, that should be addressed if that’s what allows you into the member only section.

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@merissa

My understaning is that now with Maker Manager 3, this will be possible.

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That’s great! Do you know how we should expect to hear more about this update?

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No, but I am sure Lisa or Andrew will chime in with that information.

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Right now the main member can go to Log In | Maker Manager 3. Log in and you should see My badges. In there they can assign badges to themselves or their household members.

Its pretty straight forward but I’m working on a doc with pictures and a step by step process for members. Hopefully by the end of the week I should have it done.

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Awesome! Thank you!!