Nov 10, 2021 09:00:00

Pointed out that the developer community should use forums instead of chat

The difference between the two is that when joining a developer community or building a community, it's better to use forum software like

NodeBB or Forem than private chat apps like Slack or Discord. Software developer Dan Moore argues, citing six points, including the benefits of slack and forums.

You should use forums rather than Slack / Discord to support developer community | Dan Moore!
https://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/3451

◆ 1: Ease of use
With the free plan, Slack is limited to 10,000 message views. Discord doesn't have these restrictions, but you'll have to scroll to see past messages and use search features that aren't particularly good. In a vibrant community, some people will be kind enough to answer the same question over and over, but otherwise it may be ignored.

Compared to these, Moore points out that forums are optimized for the task of 'reading' individual topics. For example, in the case of NodeBB, when a user tries to post a topic, a 'related post' is displayed, and the solution may be obtained from the old post without making a new post. 'Friendly chat is important to the community, but smooth knowledge sharing is also important,' Moore said.

◆ 2: Can you see the contents by Google search?
For open forums, you can find a solution topic from Google search. 'Many developers rely on Google Search as soon as they face a problem. Google Search displays a lot of information, including what's posted on forums. It's capable of private chat. Once the developers give the right answers, only a limited number of people will benefit in the future. '

◆ 3: Synchronous communication problem
Moore points out that comments can be lost if the sender and receiver data communications are out of sync with the chat app. Moore says that if a comment isn't received by the other person, there is a risk that it will go unnoticed and be felt 'ignored.'

◆ 4: Moderate tool
There are also differences in moderation tools that manage malicious chats, posts, and more. Moore said, 'Discord seems to have some pretty good features in this regard, but Slack isn't. Remember that

when you run a community, it inevitably attracts vandalism. Also check if there are any tools to protect it. '

◆ 5: Long tail content
Content that contains a wider range of search words has the unique advantage of forums that it hits from many search words. There's no need for someone to put together a post like in a chat app, it's easy to get to from search results.

◆ 6: Whether to ask for a conversation or an answer
'When I'm talking directly to someone and answering their question, I don't expect them to dig into my answer. After all, the chat app asks for a conversation,' Moore said. Mr. says. In asynchronous forums, the necessary information is often posted in a concise manner, so both the questioner and the answerer can proceed more smoothly.

Moore said, 'The chat app also has the advantage of getting some reaction quickly. However, the newly launched community will use both the chat app and the forum, but I think it will gradually be integrated into the forum. '.