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DISCUSSIONS IMPLEMENTATION SUMMARY
George Dawoud edited this page Nov 18, 2025
·
1 revision
Date: November 17, 2025
Status: ✅ WIKI UPDATES COMPLETE - Ready for GitHub Discussions activation
The ChurchCRM wiki has been updated to integrate GitHub Discussions as the primary community support channel. This transitions support from the wiki to a more dynamic, community-driven platform while maintaining the wiki for reference documentation.
- Before: General support hub with in-app reporter and Gitter chat
- After: GitHub Discussions prominently featured as primary support channel
- Added: 6 discussion category links with descriptions
- Added: 5 specific "ask for help" Discussion links in problem troubleshooting sections
- Total changes: 12 GitHub Discussions links integrated
- Added: "GitHub Discussions - Ask the community" link as first support option
- Placement: In the "📖 Need Help?" section
- Impact: Users see Discussions before Troubleshooting guide
- Updated: "Step 2: Still Having Issues?" section
- Added: Links to 3 relevant Discussion categories (Troubleshooting, General Questions, Administrator Questions)
- Kept: GitHub Issues links for confirmed bugs
-
Added: New "Help vs Bug Reports" section distinguishing:
- Discussions: How-tos, configuration, setup help, troubleshooting
- Issues: Actual bugs, crashes, reproducible problems
- Reordered: Quick Path now lists Discussions first for support questions
- Added: Header banner pointing to GitHub Discussions
- Message: "Have a question? Post it on GitHub Discussions to get answers from the community!"
- Effect: Encourages users to post new questions on Discussions instead of static wiki
- Purpose: Complete manual setup guide for repository admin
-
Contains:
- Step-by-step instructions to enable Discussions
- 6 category definitions with purposes and descriptions
- Optional pinned announcement template
- Discussion URL format reference
- Size: 5.8KB, comprehensive
All wiki files now point to these 6 categories (to be created on GitHub):
| Category | Purpose | URL Path |
|---|---|---|
| General Questions | General ChurchCRM questions | general-questions |
| Installation Issues | Setup and deployment help | installation-issues |
| User Support | How-to and feature usage | user-support |
| Administrator Questions | System admin and maintenance | administrator-questions |
| Developer Questions | Development and customization | developer-questions |
| Troubleshooting | Debug help and issue diagnosis | troubleshooting |
User has a question/problem
↓
Home.md, Help.md
↓
Try: Troubleshooting guide, FAQs
↓
Still stuck?
↓
Post on GitHub Discussions ← NEW PRIMARY CHANNEL
(Choose appropriate category)
↓
Get help from community & maintainers
| Situation | Channel | Wiki Reference |
|---|---|---|
| How do I...? | Discussions (User Support) | Help.md, FAQs.md |
| Installation help | Discussions (Installation Issues) | Help.md, Home.md |
| Troubleshooting | Discussions (Troubleshooting) | Troubleshooting.md |
| Feature question | Discussions (General Questions) | Help.md |
| Setup question | Discussions (Admin Questions) | Help.md |
| Development help | Discussions (Developer Questions) | Development.md |
| Found a bug | GitHub Issues | Bug-Reporting-and-Diagnostics.md |
| Reference info | Wiki | Throughout |
- Updated Help.md with 12 Discussion links
- Updated Home.md support section
- Updated Troubleshooting.md with Discussion links
- Updated Bug-Reporting-and-Diagnostics.md with Help vs Bug distinction
- Updated FAQs.md header with Discussion banner
- Created comprehensive GitHub-Discussions-Setup.md guide
- All links use correct GitHub Discussion category URL format
-
Enable Discussions
- Go to ChurchCRM/CRM Settings
- Check "Discussions" in Features section
- Save
-
Create 6 Categories
- Use GitHub-Discussions-Setup.md as reference
- Create each category with name, description, and emoji
- Categories: General Questions, Installation Issues, User Support, Administrator Questions, Developer Questions, Troubleshooting
-
Optional: Pin Welcome Discussion
- Create announcement in "General Questions" category
- Template provided in GitHub-Discussions-Setup.md
-
Update README (if desired)
- Add link to GitHub Discussions
- Point to main discussion link: https://github.com/ChurchCRM/CRM/discussions
wiki/Help.md (92 → 126 lines, +34 lines)
- Prominent Discussion section at top
- 12 Discussion category links
- Discussion links in each problem section
wiki/Home.md (71 → 75 lines, +4 lines)
- GitHub Discussions as first support option
- Clear call-to-action
wiki/Troubleshooting.md (56 → 70 lines, +14 lines)
- "Still Having Issues?" redirects to Discussions
- 3 relevant category links
- GitHub Issues links for confirmed bugs
wiki/Bug-Reporting-and-Diagnostics.md (244 → 270 lines, +26 lines)
- New "Help vs Bug Reports" section
- Clear guidance on when to use each
- Discussions first in Quick Path
wiki/FAQs.md (78 → 80 lines, +2 lines)
- Added Discussion banner header
- Community-directed messaging
wiki/GitHub-Discussions-Setup.md (NEW - 5.8KB)
- Complete setup and configuration guide
- 6 category definitions
- Pinned announcement template
- Tips for success
All wiki files now use this URL format for Discussion categories:
https://github.com/ChurchCRM/CRM/discussions/categories/{category-name}
Examples:
- https://github.com/ChurchCRM/CRM/discussions/categories/general-questions
- https://github.com/ChurchCRM/CRM/discussions/categories/installation-issues
- https://github.com/ChurchCRM/CRM/discussions/categories/troubleshooting
Main Discussions page:
- ✅ Live, threaded community support
- ✅ Voting on helpful answers
- ✅ Staff can mark solutions
- ✅ Questions remain searchable and organized
- ✅ Community can earn recognition
- ✅ Separate support questions from bug reports
- ✅ Community can help answer questions
- ✅ Clear signal when it's a bug vs support question
- ✅ Reduces noise in Issues
- ✅ Better triage of actual bugs
- ✅ Stronger community engagement
- ✅ Better insight into user pain points
- ✅ FAQs naturally emerge from discussions
- ✅ Reduced maintainer support burden
-
Enable Discussions (5 minutes)
- Follow steps in GitHub-Discussions-Setup.md
-
Create Categories (10 minutes)
- Use provided category definitions
-
Test Links (5 minutes)
- Verify all wiki Discussion links work
- Try posting test question in each category
-
Announce (optional)
- Pin welcome discussion
- Update README with Discussions link
- Announce in Gitter/issues that Discussions are now primary support
- Monitor Discussions for common questions
- Update FAQs.md with frequently asked questions
- Link relevant wiki pages from Discussion answers
- Use Discussion categories for support questions
- Continue using Issues for confirmed bugs
- Help answer questions in Discussions
All user-facing documentation now consistently directs users to GitHub Discussions for:
- Support questions
- How-to questions
- Feature questions
- Installation help
- Troubleshooting help
While using GitHub Issues for:
- Bug reports
- Feature requests
- Reproducible problems
| File | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Help.md | Primary support hub | wiki/Help.md |
| Home.md | Landing page with support link | wiki/Home.md |
| Troubleshooting.md | Common issues, redirects to Discussions | wiki/Troubleshooting.md |
| Bug-Reporting-and-Diagnostics.md | Bug reporting vs support guidance | wiki/Bug-Reporting-and-Diagnostics.md |
| FAQs.md | Frequently asked questions | wiki/FAQs.md |
| GitHub-Discussions-Setup.md | Setup guide for admin | wiki/GitHub-Discussions-Setup.md |
✅ Wiki Updates: COMPLETE
📋 Next: Enable GitHub Discussions and create categories (manual GitHub steps)
📅 Recommended Timeline:
- Day 1: Enable Discussions on GitHub
- Day 2: Create 6 categories
- Day 3: Post announcement to community
Refer to:
- Setup details: GitHub-Discussions-Setup.md
- Support guidance: Help.md
- Bug vs support: Bug-Reporting-and-Diagnostics.md
- Installation Guide ← Start here!
- First Run Setup
- Features Overview
- Upgrade Guide
- Backup & Restore
- Rollback Procedures
- File Permissions
- Troubleshooting
- Logging & Diagnostics
- SSL/HTTPS Security
- Localization Overview