My notes here are currently a work in progress…
& Have been since Sept’23 so I’ve posted as a wiki that anybody (TL2+) can edit - we can refine…
(Please read here before editing)
I cant create any topics while this is in my drafts so im ‘publishing’ prematurely
This community has been a god-send for a few hundred who are comfortable using it, both socially & technically; below is -i hope- some aid to smoothing that path
<--- Click to expand for the Intro
The “But…”
Click here for the "But..."
A god-send for maybe as many as C. 4½k(?) - but thousands have signed up (literally 28.6k Oct’23). Many aren’t becoming active members, maybe aren’t receiving (& giving) that great comfort & value.
Being a comfortable member means gaining a sense of belonging - which mostly means reading & maybe posting - which in turn depends on tech confidence… 
We never see those who don’t post so don’t welcome them, WE AREN’T EVEN AWARE OF THOSE WHO JOIN BUT DON’T GAIN THE FIRST ‘User Trust Level’
‘Trust Level Promotions’ enable you to use more facilities not available when you start (all explained below)
If you post the rest of us see a “First time name has posted” message (you’ll almost certainly also get a like so earn the “Welcome” badge 
only 862 users out of 28,600 so far! )
You can be sure of a warm & helpful welcome when we are aware you are here
I struggle (& others do too?) with this platform so
Beyond the basic I struggle...(Click to expand)
I can mostly inuit basic technical capabilities to read posts and write them too (may be you can too? If you spend 10mins reading several post you’ll be ‘promoted’ to “Basic” (explained below) and we’ll be aware you’re here & point out the Welcome - what we wish we'd heard at the start so you don’t need to read further
But…This is a feature rich (so intricate), undocumented place - for example the font colour of the number of posts changes to be more red as they get more likes!! 
… so i’m writing myself these notes as I learn - I’m posting here for ease of my access AND in case others find them useful
I’m still trying to grasp things like how to find useful posts and what seems to be anomalies in transparent promotion through trust levels that unlock more facilities.
It’s clear from the stats some folk aren’t making the journey,… (See hamburger 
menu (3 horizontal bars Top Right) | Badges (Scroll 
to “Trust Level” @ the end) | Numbers Awarded 26k–>247!–>55–>11 & compare the drop off rates from ‘Basic’ to ‘Member’!!!)
How/ why does ‘hamburger|users’ report 4,302 users 
?
How to revisit the ‘Official Tutorial’
@MSG-bot's Tutorial
See this post - How To - helpful hints - #6 by SimonInEdinburgh
[Bold text is 1st mention defining something & italic means was defined earlier OR is important/specific]
Topics (tap headings with a 
to expand each for its details)
1 App or Browser? There's a choice, you can use both
You can access this forum using both mobile app and browsers on tablet phone and desktop - even at the same time!!. If you use a browser you can install a dedicated browser config on your desktop for convenience.
Instal iOS & Android App
To install the app on Android or iOS see the instructions in Download the App
To view as a webpage - Point your browser to
https://forum.stroke.org.uk & it will auto-redirect
Add desktop Shortcut
Go to your browser’s menu to add a shortcut to the desktop (this example using chrome)…
2 Concepts & their names = vocabulary & meaning we need to share for understanding
If you’ve need for some explanations to extract max. value for minimum cost then we need to share vocabulary for concepts that are unavoidably built into the software but rarely explained
2.1 MyStrokeGuide is...
2.1.1 A Community of StrokeWarriors…
.,. a social gathering, a community of (English speaking) survivors and carers who use this software platform to exchange typed messages about their challenges & victories (mixed with banter about fatigue, work, cooking, driving, gardening, medication, exercises and many other topics). There are some conventions here - like holding the door open for friends going into the pub - for example you put an @ sign in front of a screenname to alert them when talking to or alerting them
To find out what we are about & “why use this community?” click the blue text
Welcome Post - click here
2.1.2 The rest of this is 90% about how to navigate & use the facilities of the software as social space
The 90% of words (10% what matters)
Most of the ‘How-To use’ is intuitive - until you don’t understand something!
Then we need a bit of defined vocabulary for objects, actions, concepts and the relationships between them.
I haven’t managed to work it all out yet but what follows is accurate AFAIK
Always keep in mind that admin choose to make the forum public display so Anybody & everybody with an internet connection can read the messages we share. Search engines index them!
Admin can & DO access everything including ‘private’ and deleted items
2.1.3 10% words (90% important) is ‘Cultural Norms’ Assumed By The Software
We expect empathetic, and...
…helpful, positive, supportive posts and plenty of likes given and received is our social norm - Even when gently suggesting an adjustment of someone’s outlook, attitude, or hopes (and hoped-for recovery time scales!!) may help them to have the best chance at a good post stroke life - You’re about right if your being kind.
If you’re critical or negative without providing a justification & explanation of reasoning that ends in a positive suggestion then it probably isn’t ok.
If you’re judgemental it definitely isn’t, likewise trolling or antagonising others isn’t our way and should be flagged (explained below)
and if your dictatorial or providing un-caveated medical advice then you’re in dangerous territory.
2.2 Vocab
2.2 Vocabulary & Concepts etc
Only people who have signed up have registered user IDs. Only people with registered IDs can make contributions to the community…
Contributing means writing (This is called posting) and liking other people’s posts. Your use of Likes are assumed by the software to enable features for you
2.3 Making Contributions & Forum Organisation
Contributing means posting and liking; posts are the formatted text, links, emojis etc of messages. They are recorded chronologically in topics…" or threads or conversations.
Topics are gathered together under categories. You can think of the forum as a library, categories as shelves in the library, topics as a book on the shelves, and posts as a chapter or page.
A category might be “Recovery Journey”, a topic within it might be “Cleaned the car today” and the first post in the topic (the Opening or Original Post - OP) might talk about using circular polishing motions as upper limb exercises and having to rest every 10 minutes.
The next few posts could be then others offering congratulations as encouragement :).
As people read posts it is convention to tap the heart icon at the foot of the post to give a like to the author of posts you wish to recognise for any reason; such as you have empathy with the person’s challenges, you appreciate the time they took to give advice, it amused you, etc. This part of how to is the cultural. A comment is always welcome a like is always welcome both are always welcome
And the software platform uses the fact that you gave or received a like for the operation of several processes under the covers, as well as the awarding of badges that are a gameification incentive to participation intended to give a dopamine or maybe that is a serotonin hit! Neuropsychology and software!! Have you been prescribed an SSRI?!
Original Post (OP)
A topic always starts with an Original Post (op). The original post can be categorised or uncategorised. Generally forum admin move all uncategorised posts into a category (more cultural how-to). An OP may also have tags to help find it again later - more on that later. Categories are hierarchical but #tags span across categories and topics. #Tags can be searched for.
Profile
Each post is created by a registered user - someone who has registered, has a screen or user name and avatar, a profile and a trust level and a number of statistics about there membership and usage. Only 76 have filled profile in see |badges|autobiographer| No. Granted
Registered users start at trust level 0 (TL0). Currently we have no way of saying who joined recently that means we can’t welcome you at this stage something to fix.
New registered users can…
…read posts and create new posts. What you can create at TL0 is restricted - primarily to stop spam attacks.
When you have spent at least 10 minutes AND read at least 30 posts (in total) from across at least five topics you’ll be promoted to trust level 1 - you’ll be a basic level user - The restrictions (like including more than one image in a post or creating more than 10 posts) will be lifted.
Community members are those who have reached trust level 2. To reach TL2 you must have visited on at least 15 different days, given at least one like and received at least one like, posted a contribution in three one more topics, spent a minimum of 60 minutes reading at least 100 posts across a minimum of 20 topics.
Community regulars are at TL3. They have more facilities available. You reach TL3 by having visited at least half of the last 100 days, viewed at least a quarter of the threads and posts created in the last hundred days and given 30 likes and received 20. There is also a trust level 4 but by this stage you should be competent to find information for yourself where the documentation lies :(.
3 Setting push notifications = eMail & pings - to tell you there is something new
These are settings that are reached by tapping your:
Avatar | Profile | Settings | email - Avatar reveals options including Profil etc
Avatar | Profile | Settings | notifications
4 Finding post relevant to needs = categories tags and search, bookmarks and dated reminders
5 Writing contributions = formatting, tagging, previewing, drafts, linking & quoting and mentioning, wikis, chat & private direct group messages (PM | DM)
5.1 Using the editor to write.
5.2 Adding references to other posts, external links
5.3
Complete chapter and verse, well as complete as it gets is at: documentation - Discourse Meta
An example use pattern
A Practice example strategy and tactics for maximum value with minimum effort
There are as many ways to use this forum as there are people using it. What follows is a simple starter from which to add your personalised variations
A modus operandi
I using a mobile app. What follows is fairly interchangeable if you use the browser interface .
I click the icon on my phone and the forum opens from where I left off last. My avatar in the top right hand corner may show a blue circle with a number or a green circle with an envelope. When I click it a list and a menu of icons open.
The list is of other people’s likes replies and comments to posts in topics that I am watching or tracking that I have not yet seen (remember italics means explained previously - under 3. Notifications)
I select one and the user interface takes me to that post in a topic. When I have seen all I need I click my icon again and select the next item from the list and so on till I have viewed all the items in the list that I wish to at this time.
All the topics that I opened via icons in the list attached to my avatar are now in a pile/(first in last out stack) on my virtual forum window. The most recently opened on the top, the first opened in this or previous sessions without being dismissed is on the bottom. I use my phone’s back button and it dismisses/closes the topic on the top of this stack until all opened topics have been dismissed/closed .
Now I touch the hamburger menu and select, normally new if it is showing a number next to it of new topics that I have not seen. From the list revealed I follow the same flow as when looking at the list that was displayed from my avatar.
When there are no new topics I select latest. Topics that I have completely read are in grey and those with posts I have not read are in black. At the left is the avatar of the last person to post, in the middle is the title of the thread topic and at the right are a count of posts in the thread - which is shaded between black for no likes and red bright red for a high proportion of likes to posts, and below that and indication of how long ago the last post was in hours days or when in months and years it was .