Popular Discussions RSSMon, 23 Oct 2023 10:04:55 GMTHey folks,If you're looking to build a social network or an online community, stop scrolling and check out UNA. Here's why:1. Modular ArchitectureEasily plug in or out features. Customization without the headaches.2. Open SourceOpen-source at its finest—transparent, flexible, and community-driven.3. ScalabilityWhether you're a startup or scaling, UNA's got your back. Its robust back-end can handle the load.4. Rich APISay goodbye to back-end bottlenecks. UNA's API is solid, making integration a breeze.5. MultiplatformWeb? Mobile? Doesn't matter. UNA is cross-platform ready.Bottom line: If you're serious about building a community, UNA should be on your radar.Thoughts? Let's hash it out.

]]>Mon, 23 Oct 2023 10:04:55 GMTA bit of behind-the-scenes on how this network is put together. UNA stays as the back end (members, content, permissions, notifications) and we're building the web front end in Next.js, sharing as much code as we can with a React Native app.Speed and SEO: server-side rendering means public pages load fast and search engines see real content, without us wiring up SSR by hand.Simple routing: a new file in the pages folder is a new route, which keeps a growing project easy to find your way around.Fresh pages without full rebuilds: incremental static regeneration refreshes individual pages in the background.One API for web and mobile: everything comes from UNA's API, so both apps can share data hooks and components.It isn't free: that's a second app to host and keep in step with UNA updates, and we had to be careful about what gets cached for guests versus signed-in members. Has anyone else gone headless with UNA? What tripped you up?

]]>Thu, 28 Sep 2023 14:19:00 GMTOur monthly repair café has a great crew of volunteer fixers, but visitor numbers have been stuck at around 25 a session since spring. We'd love to reach 40.So far we've tried posters in the library, a post in the neighbourhood app and word of mouth. What actually worked for your events? Partnerships, local press, something else?

]]>Thu, 10 Jul 2025 12:52:27 GMTTried to make sourdough. Ended up with something between a rock and a pancake.Pls validate me with your own disaster stories. 😅

]]>Tue, 27 May 2025 05:25:24 GMTA question I keep turning over while we plan this network: how does a classic UNA site, where PHP renders every page, compare with running UNA headless behind the NEO front end once membership gets large?My understanding so far: the classic setup is simpler to run and every module works out of the box, but each page view goes through PHP and MySQL, so caching does most of the heavy lifting. With NEO, UNA mostly answers API calls and the Next.js side can cache public pages close to the visitor, which should help with traffic spikes. The trade-off is one more service to deploy and monitor, and real-time features still need something like WebSockets either way.If you've run either setup past a few thousand active members, where did it start to strain first? The database, media storage, notifications?

]]>Thu, 28 Sep 2023 14:17:28 GMTSomething I keep coming back to with our volunteer moderators in the Patient Support Network: how close should we get to the members we support?Closeness is part of what makes peer support work. But I've seen moderators get private messages late at night from members in real distress, feel they have to answer every one, and burn out within months. Some of those messages need a crisis line or a doctor, not a volunteer.Since spring, our moderators answer in the open space where they can, keep a short list of services to point people to, and hand a conversation to a colleague when it's beyond them. Nobody is expected to reply after 22:00. It's early days, but two moderators who were close to quitting have stayed on. I'd be curious whether other health communities have written their version of this down, or whether it still lives in people's heads.

]]>Mon, 16 Jun 2025 01:12:20 GMTI’ll go first: Notion. I use it for literally everything — journaling, projects, recipes, even tracking my cat’s vet visits 😂Your turn!

]]>Tue, 27 May 2025 05:18:36 GMTA question for anyone moderating a health or patient community. Members in our Patient Support Network often share what worked for them: a dose that suited them better, a supplement, a way of timing tablets around meals. It comes from a kind place, and it's often the most useful part of the conversation.The trouble is that what worked for one person can be risky for another. Our approach so far is to leave the experience in place, add a gentle note reminding everyone to check any change with their own doctor or pharmacist, and remove only posts that tell people to stop or change prescribed treatment.How do you handle it? A pinned guideline, a stock reply your moderators use, or something else that works?

]]>Mon, 03 Feb 2025 11:50:24 GMTWe're reviewing the default notification settings for people who join the network. Right now a new member gets an email for every reply, mention and new follower, and a few have told us it feels like a firehose in their first week.What do you switch on by default, and what do you leave for members to opt into? I'm leaning towards replies and direct messages only, plus a weekly digest.

]]>Thu, 05 Sep 2024 13:31:03 GMTOkay, I've talked about this in Meditation Club for ages, so here goes: a 21-day calm challenge. One tiny practice a day, five minutes or less, no apps or special cushions needed.I'm still writing the daily prompts and I'll post them all here as replies once they're done, so you can comment under each day as you go. Who's joining me? And tell me what you'd want from it, I genuinely want to know! 😊

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