jonathimer/community-building

Community Building

This skill helps you build and manage developer communities on Discord, Slack, forums, and other platforms. Covers channel structure, onboarding, engagement programs, handling toxicity, and community-led growth.

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Before You Start

Load your audience context first. Read .agents/developer-audience-context.md to understand:

• Who your developers are (role, seniority, interests)
• Where they already hang out (to avoid competing platforms)
• What problems they discuss (community topic focus)
• How they communicate (formal vs. casual tone)

If the context file doesn't exist, run the developer-audience-context skill first.

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Platform Selection

Comparison Matrix

| Platform | Best For | Pros | Cons | |----------|----------|------|------| | Discord | Developer tools, gaming, OSS | Real-time, rich features, free | Can be chaotic, less enterprise | | Slack | Enterprise, B2B SaaS | Professional, familiar | Expensive at scale, message limits | | GitHub Discussions | OSS projects | Integrated, async, searchable | Less community feel | | Discourse | Long-form, searchable | SEO, threading, ownership | Maintenance, hosting costs | | Circle | Courses, paid communities | Courses integration, clean | Paid, less developer-native |

Decision Framework

| If your audience is... | Consider | |------------------------|----------| | Individual developers, OSS | Discord | | Enterprise teams | Slack | | Technical, async-preferred | GitHub Discussions | | Mixed, need searchability | Discourse | | Course/education based | Circle |

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Channel Structure

Discord Channel Template

📢 INFORMATION
├── #welcome — First landing, rules, links
├── #announcements — Official updates (admin-only posting)
├── #rules — Code of conduct
└── #introductions — New member intros

💬 GENERAL
├── #general — Main discussion
├── #off-topic — Non-project chat
└── #show-what-you-built — Share projects

❓ SUPPORT
├── #help — General questions
├── #troubleshooting — Bug help
└── #feature-requests — Suggestions

🔧 TECHNICAL
├── #backend — Backend discussions
├── #frontend — Frontend discussions
└── #devops — Infrastructure discussions

🤝 COMMUNITY
├── #jobs — Job postings (if allowed)
├── #events — Meetups, conferences
└── #content — Blog posts, videos

📚 RESOURCES
├── #learning — Tutorials, courses
└── #tools — Useful tools and libraries

Slack Channel Template

# welcome
# announcements (admin-only)
# general
# help
# random (off-topic)
# jobs (optional)
# introductions
# feedback

Channel Guidelines

| Channel Type | Posting Rules | Moderation Level | |--------------|---------------|------------------| | Announcements | Admin only | N/A | | General | On-topic discussion | Light | | Help | Questions welcome, be patient | Medium | | Off-topic | Anything goes (within CoC) | Light | | Jobs | Structured format required | Heavy | | Introductions | One post per person | Light |

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Onboarding Experience

New Member Journey

Join Server
    ↓
Welcome Message (DM or public)
    ↓
Read Rules / Accept
    ↓
Verify (optional: GitHub, email)
    ↓
Introduce Yourself
    ↓
First Interaction
    ↓
Regular Member

Welcome Message Template

Discord DM:

Welcome to [Community Name]! 👋

Here's how to get started:

1. Read the rules in #rules
2. Introduce yourself in #introductions
3. Ask questions in #help — we're friendly!

Quick links:
• Documentation: [link]
• Getting started: [link]
• GitHub: [link]

We're glad you're here!

Public #welcome channel:

# Welcome to [Community Name]!

We're [brief description of who you are and what you do].

## Quick Start

1. **Read the rules** → #rules
2. **Introduce yourself** → #introductions
3. **Get help** → #help
4. **Chat with us** → #general

## Useful Links

- [Documentation]
- [GitHub]
- [Website]

## Questions?

Drop a message in #help or mention @moderators

Role Assignment

| Role | How to Get | Permissions | |------|------------|-------------| | New Member | Auto on join | Limited channels | | Member | Verify or time-based | Full access | | Contributor | PR merged, active helper | Badge, special channel | | Moderator | Invited | Moderation powers | | Admin | Core team | Full access |

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Engagement Programs

Discussion Prompts

Schedule regular engagement:

| Day | Prompt Type | Example | |-----|-------------|---------| | Monday | This week's goals | "What are you working on this week?" | | Wednesday | Technical question | "Controversial: Tabs or spaces?" | | Friday | Show & Tell | "Share what you shipped this week" |

Recognition Programs

| Program | Description | Frequency | |---------|-------------|-----------| | Contributor of the Month | Recognize top helpers | Monthly | | First PR Celebration | Welcome new contributors | As happens | | Milestone Badges | 10/50/100 messages | Automatic | | Expert Roles | Domain expertise recognition | Quarterly |

Event Ideas

| Event Type | Format | Effort | |------------|--------|--------| | Office Hours | Live Q&A with team | Low | | Show & Tell | Members demo projects | Low | | Workshops | Teaching sessions | Medium | | Hackathons | Build challenges | High | | Game Night | Non-tech fun | Low | | AMA Sessions | Guest experts | Medium |

Engagement Metrics

| Metric | What It Tells You | |--------|------------------| | DAU/MAU | Daily vs monthly active users | | Messages per user | Individual engagement depth | | Questions answered | Community self-sufficiency | | New member retention | Onboarding effectiveness | | Event attendance | Program resonance |

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Handling Toxicity

Code of Conduct Essentials

# Code of Conduct

## Our Standards

**Do:**
- Be respectful and inclusive
- Help others learn (no "RTFM")
- Assume good intentions
- Give constructive feedback
- Report problems, don't engage

**Don't:**
- Personal attacks or harassment
- Discrimination of any kind
- Spam or self-promotion
- NSFW content
- Doxxing or privacy violations
- Bad faith arguments

## Enforcement

1. **Warning** — First offense, good faith
2. **Temp mute** — Repeated issues
3. **Temp ban** — Serious violations
4. **Permanent ban** — Egregious or repeated

## Reporting

DM any @moderator or use the report feature.
All reports are confidential.

Moderation Playbook

| Situation | Response | |-----------|----------| | Heated debate | "Let's keep this constructive. Both perspectives have merit." | | Help vampire | "Here's a guide on asking good questions: [link]" | | Self-promotion spam | Delete, warn, or ban depending on frequency | | Off-topic drift | "Great discussion! Let's move this to #off-topic" | | Harassment | Immediate mute, investigate, likely ban | | Bad faith troll | Don't engage publicly, ban quietly |

De-escalation Techniques

1. Acknowledge feelings — "I can see this is frustrating"
2. Move to DM — "Let's continue this privately"
3. Take a break — "Let's pause and revisit tomorrow"
4. Clarify intent — "I think there might be a misunderstanding"
5. Set boundaries — "We're here to help, but not to be yelled at"

Moderator Self-Care

| Risk | Mitigation | |------|------------| | Burnout | Rotate moderator duties | | Taking it personally | Remember: it's not about you | | Imposter syndrome | Regular team check-ins | | Isolation | Moderator private channel |

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Community-Led Growth

Word-of-Mouth Tactics

| Tactic | How | |--------|-----| | Referral program | Rewards for invites that stick | | Share-worthy content | Exclusive insights, early access | | Member spotlights | Feature members → they share | | Success stories | "I got a job through this community" |

User-Generated Content

| Content Type | How to Encourage | |--------------|------------------| | Tutorials | "Share your setup in #show-what-you-built" | | Q&A threads | Reward helpful answers | | Project showcases | Monthly demo events | | Testimonials | Ask happy members |

Community Champions

Identify and empower super-users:

| Champion Type | Role | |---------------|------| | Greeters | Welcome new members | | Helpers | Answer support questions | | Content creators | Tutorials, videos, guides | | Event organizers | Run community events | | Connectors | Introduce people to each other |

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Community Metrics

Health Dashboard

| Metric | Healthy | Warning | Action Needed | |--------|---------|---------|---------------| | Response time (support) | <24h | 24-72h | >72h | | Unanswered questions | <10% | 10-25% | >25% | | New member 7-day retention | >40% | 20-40% | <20% | | Monthly active ratio | >20% | 10-20% | <10% | | Moderator messages ratio | <30% | 30-50% | >50% |

Growth Metrics

| Metric | How to Track | |--------|-------------| | Total members | Platform analytics | | Join rate | New members per week | | Churn rate | Leaves per month | | Engagement depth | Messages per active user | | Support success | % questions resolved |

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Automation

Useful Bots (Discord)

| Bot | Purpose | |-----|---------| | MEE6 / Carl-bot | Moderation, welcome messages, roles | | Statbot | Analytics and metrics | | Ticket Tool | Support ticket system | | GitHub Bot | Repo activity notifications | | YAGPDB | Advanced moderation, custom commands |

Automation Ideas

| Automation | Benefit | |------------|---------| | Welcome DM | Consistent onboarding | | Auto-role on join | Immediate access | | Inactive member ping | Re-engagement | | Support ticket creation | Organized help | | GitHub notifications | Keep community informed | | Scheduled posts | Regular engagement |

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Tools

| Tool | Use Case | |------|----------| | Octolens | Monitor community mentions across GitHub, Twitter, Reddit. Find where your community members talk about you. Track sentiment. Discover community content to amplify. | | Commsor | Community operations platform | | Notion | Community wiki and resources | | Luma | Event management | | StreamYard/Restream | Live event streaming |

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Related Skills

• developer-audience-context — Know your community members
• open-source-marketing — OSS community building
• developer-advocacy — Personal brand in community
• developer-newsletter — Community digest content