diff --git a/docs/mercs/index.rst b/docs/mercs/index.rst index a4d45b146d..05fea67ffc 100644 --- a/docs/mercs/index.rst +++ b/docs/mercs/index.rst @@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Draft 0001-merc-process test-writing merging-roles-and-groups + support-forum Type diff --git a/docs/mercs/support-forum.rst b/docs/mercs/support-forum.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..c6385df639 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/mercs/support-forum.rst @@ -0,0 +1,48 @@ +====================== +MERC XX: Support forum +====================== + +:MERC: XX +:Author: Michael Price +:Status: Draft +:Type: Process +:Created: 2018-02-27 +:Last-Modified: 2018-02-27 + +.. contents:: Table of Contents + :depth: 3 + :local: + +Abstract +======== + +This MERC proposes the move of the official community meeting place +from Google Group to a self hosted forum platform. + +Motivation +========== + +Google Groups is not a proper forum platform and as such is lacking many +features that would increase participation. Google Groups has not had any +significant update in years and the age of the platform is visible. There +are no official mobile apps for Google Groups, no responsible template +is not provided. There are not integration options. These factors +contribute to the problems of knowledge dilution and one time +participation being experienced in the Mayan EDMS community. + +Other concerns for moving the community to a self hosted forum solution +are that Google Groups presents a single point of failure by relying on +a free product hosted by a commercial company with no continuation plan +for the product. Google Groups doesn't provide archiving features and +the current archive solution relies on other third party services, one +of which (GMANE) has stopped working. Recent user privacy and censorship +issues regarding Google, reinforce the need for a self hosted solution. + + +Specification +============= + +The proposed solution is to use the bbPress (https://wordpress.org/plugins/bbpress/) +forum plugin for Wordpress. After 14 years, Wordpress dominance continues +unrivaled. The wealth of material, themes, templates and professional avaialbe make +it a safe option.