For Discussion
We have a lot of drop-offs between people signing up - which I can only imagine they do because they have a need - and their progressing through the trust levels of which basic user is what they Have to reach to be in a position for those needs to start to be met .
Currently discourse provides a handy mechanism to identify users who create their first post. Jeff Atwood (The programmer who created discourse & other forum software companies) was aware this is an important element of a forum userās journey towards being a community member.
His design is slightly different from our priorities - some of his assumptions when examined are found uncharacteristic of all! of the folk who come here with a need - like communities are very combative and everybody knows the basics of how to use software so can read the documentation for the clever stuff - of which there is a lot!!
Community welcome
It is possible to identify those who make it as far as basic user independently of posting.
Before my absence I was beginning to welcome people at that stage and thinking about how to encourage this into a community activity - it is best if itās a thing we do than I do
invisible new joiners
Iām returning to these thoughts. I am aware that to make us, the community - able to identify new joiners before they have made it to the first promotion stage or added a post some tweaks outside of our accesses are needed 
Equally it needs some thought about the balance between: being overwhelmed by a stroke, overwhelmed by this software and overwhelmed by attention on joining.
I still remember how on the ward I was given a million leaflets none of which was any use for those very reasons. Iām also aware that many communities regularly say āwelcome to this weekās new joinersā¦ā But we canāt.
Community
Equally a vibrant community needs folk to make it to member and regular and moderators
We have a great many basic users who have not made it to member. Almost certainly they are unaware that you have to give a few likes to cross that threshold. Iām aware of one prominent user whom we love who was recently embarrassed to discover the how and why of giving likes.
not everyone has interest or capacity to contribute nor do they need toā¦
ā¦But will be better off if some do
I suggest all the above is something that a number of interested members might discuss - Transparency is important so we can do it in this thread below where anybody can then read and/or contribute constructive thoughts
Charlotte (a senior manager under whom responsibility for the forum sits) has offered a partial suggestion, which I am unsure whether to accept (Iāll explain below if anybody is interested to ask)
I am āokā with if We the community are left to do the best for our peers. I would be happy if there was a combined community and staff effort that gave access to some tools out of our hands at the moment via open cooperation. Forum admin is under staffed - there was a vacancy which I applied for but that is apparently on hold now) . Many of us have time on our hands and skills from previous lives to combine with our expertise in surviving or hopefully thriving in the current one and do gain purpose by helping others
I expect through discussion we can generate some useful ideas that balance new user needs, resource constraints, forum software āfacts of lifeā, knowledge of our shared and different conditions, community energy, and empathy of the community
2Ā¢