# Initial presentation

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100>\
**Category:** Forum and website feedback\
**Created:** [April 13, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100 "2017-04-13T13:13:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rkikinis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/rkikinis/32/791_2.png) [@rkikinis](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/rkikinis)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/1 "2017-04-13T13:13:55Z")

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Hi,

when I go to the top page as a naive novel user, I most likely want to do one of two things:  
Ask a question  
Search  
These two features should be prominent and simple on the first screen that a user sees.

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**Author:** ![jcfr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jcfr/32/17825_2.png) [@jcfr](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jcfr)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 1:14pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/2 "2017-04-13T13:14:45Z")

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> [@rkikinis](#):
>
> Ask a question

I agree with @rkikinis on this one. When I first create an account I was also confused.

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**Author:** ![fedorov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/fedorov/32/14_2.png) [@fedorov](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/fedorov)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/3 "2017-04-13T13:22:05Z")

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For completeness - it looks like below for the new user.

How about we add detailed steps (something like the list below) what user would need to do to join the community to the banner that shows on top of the page?

1. Discussions are organized into Topics.
2. Search existing topics by clicking the button
3. If you cannot find an answer and want to create a new topic, or want to follow up on an existing topic - register with the forum by creating a new account, or log in with Google/Facebook/GitHub account.

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/1/9/199765c52e689055d99ea409a3cd83054ecf097d.png)

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**Author:** ![jcfr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jcfr/32/17825_2.png) [@jcfr](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jcfr)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/4 "2017-04-13T14:27:24Z")

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> [@Enable anonymous emails sent to discourse emails](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/enable-anonymous-emails-sent-to-discourse-emails/102/6):
>
> So, to clarify, what you want is to manage subscription purely by email?

I guess … or to have a super easy way for people to ask question.

> [@Enable anonymous emails sent to discourse emails](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/enable-anonymous-emails-sent-to-discourse-emails/102/5):
>
> with some more text:  
> [3D Slicer Community](https://discourse.slicer.org/new-topic?body=Operating%20system:%0ASlicer%20version:%0AExpected%20behavior:%0AActual%20behavior:&category=support)

I really like the pre-populated link. For convenience, it would be nice if we could get a short url for it … [https://support.slicer.org](https://support.slicer.org) or similar address.

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**Author:** ![ihnorton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/ihnorton/32/9_2.png) [@ihnorton](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/ihnorton)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/5 "2017-04-13T14:41:47Z")

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I added that link to the banner. Is this better?

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/d/d/dd16f73134e6cd4186b5f8fb43e58c936e4de3bd.png)

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/6 "2017-04-13T15:16:37Z")

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Looks very good! We can add similar links to the Slicer wiki and inside Slicer.

In the “report bugs” link that we show in Slicer we can pre-populate the operating system and Slicer version fields, so there is less chance the user forgets it or makes a mistake.

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**Author:** ![jcfr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jcfr/32/17825_2.png) [@jcfr](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jcfr)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/7 "2017-04-13T15:21:35Z")

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Hi,

To build on what @ihnorton did, I updated to:

- include horizontal line separator
- indicated questions are organized in categories
- indicated how to post a new question
- indicated how to search the archive

I think some block could still be re-ordered …

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/a/6/a6b564a79010527b059e984459f32807cefd8fb2.png)

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/8 "2017-04-13T15:26:05Z")

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I think we can remove “You can log in with Google, GitHub, Facebook, or email” - people will prompted to log in when it is relevant. Maybe we can change it to something like this “Sign in with … to receive updates about new software releases and major events”.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jcfr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jcfr/32/17825_2.png) [@jcfr](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jcfr)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/9 "2017-04-13T15:43:26Z")

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Good point. Here is an updated version:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/5/e/5e0ca7fe7f00ab67bfadff643771367805e8f9a9.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/10 "2017-04-13T16:18:15Z")

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I’ve moved the short description of Slicer to the top, to make sure people know they are at the right place. For example, to prevent them posting questions about [Slic3r](http://slic3r.org) or other similar software or products.

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**Author:** ![rkikinis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/rkikinis/32/791_2.png) [@rkikinis](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/rkikinis)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/11 "2017-04-13T16:50:20Z")

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OK. All good stuff. How about the following in order to prevent confusion:  
Just one line about Slicer, with 3D Slicer being a link:  
Welcome to the 3D Slicer forum!

Next, I really would like to see the following on top:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/2/0/20e1b61d28d66a5d8e8728ac04a83855fad6b957.png)  
The first line should read:  
Click +New Topic to ask a question.

Below that you can put everything else.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bpaniagua](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/bpaniagua/32/20_2.png) [@bpaniagua](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/bpaniagua)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/12 "2017-04-13T19:18:41Z")

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Another important information for naive users (me included) is how to subscribe to the forums.

How do I do that? I thought i was subscribed, and then i just connected to post something new and saw all these new posts!!

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**Author:** ![ihnorton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/ihnorton/32/9_2.png) [@ihnorton](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/ihnorton)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/13 "2017-04-13T19:26:51Z")

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Right now users are only watching Announcements by default. If you want to get notifications for other categories you can click “Watching” in the right side of the screen:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/a/b/ab50275f83a65389668f44bda6c0158ffb1640a2.png)

But… this is definitely, 100% non-obvious! Maybe we should have everyone watch Support automatically as well? That seems like a reasonable assumption for new users.

And we should have a better tutorial/FAQ. I can write something up tonight (unless someone else wants to). The FAQ for “Chef” (sysadmin tool) Discourse looks good – we could model on that:

> **[Welcome to the Chef mailing list!](https://discourse.chef.io/t/welcome-to-the-chef-mailing-list/7070)**
>
> Welcome to the Chef mailing list! This is the web interface for the Chef mailing list, powered by Discourse. This topic is a work-in-progress to get people up to speed with Discourse. Participants in the Chef mailing list are expected to adhere...

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bpaniagua](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/bpaniagua/32/20_2.png) [@bpaniagua](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/bpaniagua)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/14 "2017-04-13T19:31:45Z")

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@ihnorton are you saying that we have to watch topics one by one?

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**Author:** ![ihnorton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/ihnorton/32/9_2.png) [@ihnorton](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/ihnorton)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/15 "2017-04-13T19:42:32Z")

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You can also control all watch settings for categories/tags/etc. in bulk under (top right icon → username) → Preferences:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/c/b/cbe32b0a0a8c9a8daccdcb0daa8c2288048ef7b2.png)

This is the only thing I don’t like about Discourse so far. The mailing list mode _works_ really well, but it is a little more difficult than I had hoped for users to get it configured correctly. (It would be nice if there was an “email preferences only” page. 99% of users probably don’t care about all of the other stuff in the Preferences)

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**Author:** ![jcfr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jcfr/32/17825_2.png) [@jcfr](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jcfr)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/16 "2017-04-13T19:43:00Z")

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> [@bpaniagua](#):
>
> are you saying that we have to watch topics one by one?

Not exactly. Watching options are described in the screenshot posted by @ihnorton

> [@ihnorton](#):
>
> Maybe we should have everyone watch Support automatically as well? That seems like a reasonable assumption for new users.

Make sense.

I also wonder about development.

That said, after the user register and/or we create a new category with watching setup by default … we should make sure the user is notified and understand how to update the “watching” settings.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jcfr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jcfr/32/17825_2.png) [@jcfr](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jcfr)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/17 "2017-04-13T19:44:17Z")

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> [@ihnorton](#):
>
> should have a better tutorial/FAQ.

That would be great. Thanks @ihnorton

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/18 "2017-04-13T20:48:43Z")

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Users that we migrate from the slicer-users/slicer-devel mailing lists should definitely should be set to watch Support/Developer category by default.  
For new registrants (who just want to post a question and get answer) it may be better to limit unsolicited email volume to a minimum (notification about new releases, NAMIC weeks, etc). This way probably more people would keep their account, even after they got answer to their question.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ihnorton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/ihnorton/32/9_2.png) [@ihnorton](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/ihnorton)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/19 "2017-04-18T15:55:14Z")

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14 posts were split to a new topic: [Email mode config improvements](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/email-mode-config-improvements/140)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jcfr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jcfr/32/17825_2.png) [@jcfr](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jcfr)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100/26 "2017-04-14T13:21:53Z")

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> [@rkikinis](#):
>
> OK. All good stuff. How about the following in order to prevent confusion:  
> Just one line about Slicer, with 3D Slicer being a link:  
> Welcome to the 3D Slicer forum!
> 
> Next, I really would like to see the following on top:

To address the remaining of @rkikinis comments, I tweaked a little a bit more:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/8/8/88715bb068d1f780c1561b43615fb50317f8877e.png)

[Next page](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/initial-presentation/100.md?page=2)