community-building

name: community-buildingdescription: "When the user wants to build, grow, or improve a developer community on Discord, Slack, or forums."risk: criticalsource: https://github.com/jonathimer/devmarketing-skills/tree/main/skills/community-buildingsource_repo: jonathimer/devmarketing-skillssource_type: communitydate_added: 2026-07-01license: MITlicense_source: https://github.com/jonathimer/devmarketing-skills/blob/main/LICENSE

Community Building

When to Use

Use this skill when you need when the user wants to build, grow, or improve a developer community on Discord, Slack, or forums. Trigger phrases include "developer community," "Discord server," "Slack community," "community strategy," "community engagement," "community moderation," "community growth," or "community...

This skill helps you build and manage developer communities on Discord, Slack, forums, and other platforms. Covers channel structure, onboarding, engagement programs, handling toxicity, and community-led growth.

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Before You Start

Load your audience context first. Read .agents/developer-audience-context.md to understand:

• Who your developers are (role, seniority, interests)
• Where they already hang out (to avoid competing platforms)
• What problems they discuss (community topic focus)
• How they communicate (formal vs. casual tone)

If the context file doesn't exist, run the developer-audience-context skill first.

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Platform Selection

Comparison Matrix

Decision Framework

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Channel Structure

Discord Channel Template

📢 INFORMATION
├── #welcome — First landing, rules, links
├── #announcements — Official updates (admin-only posting)
├── #rules — Code of conduct
└── #introductions — New member intros

💬 GENERAL
├── #general — Main discussion
├── #off-topic — Non-project chat
└── #show-what-you-built — Share projects

❓ SUPPORT
├── #help — General questions
├── #troubleshooting — Bug help
└── #feature-requests — Suggestions

🔧 TECHNICAL
├── #backend — Backend discussions
├── #frontend — Frontend discussions
└── #devops — Infrastructure discussions

🤝 COMMUNITY
├── #jobs — Job postings (if allowed)
├── #events — Meetups, conferences
└── #content — Blog posts, videos

📚 RESOURCES
├── #learning — Tutorials, courses
└── #tools — Useful tools and libraries

Slack Channel Template

# welcome
# announcements (admin-only)
# general
# help
# random (off-topic)
# jobs (optional)
# introductions
# feedback

Channel Guidelines

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Onboarding Experience

New Member Journey

Join Server
    ↓
Welcome Message (DM or public)
    ↓
Read Rules / Accept
    ↓
Verify (optional: GitHub, email)
    ↓
Introduce Yourself
    ↓
First Interaction
    ↓
Regular Member

Welcome Message Template

Discord DM:

Welcome to [Community Name]! 👋

Here's how to get started:

1. Read the rules in #rules
2. Introduce yourself in #introductions
3. Ask questions in #help — we're friendly!

Quick links:
• Documentation: [link]
• Getting started: [link]
• GitHub: [link]

We're glad you're here!

Public #welcome channel:

# Welcome to [Community Name]!

We're [brief description of who you are and what you do].

## Quick Start

1. **Read the rules** → #rules
2. **Introduce yourself** → #introductions
3. **Get help** → #help
4. **Chat with us** → #general

## Useful Links

- [Documentation]
- [GitHub]
- [Website]

## Questions?

Drop a message in #help or mention @moderators

Role Assignment

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Engagement Programs

Discussion Prompts

Schedule regular engagement:

Recognition Programs

Event Ideas

Engagement Metrics

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Handling Toxicity

Code of Conduct Essentials

# Code of Conduct

## Our Standards

**Do:**
- Be respectful and inclusive
- Help others learn (no "RTFM")
- Assume good intentions
- Give constructive feedback
- Report problems, don't engage

**Don't:**
- Personal attacks or harassment
- Discrimination of any kind
- Spam or self-promotion
- NSFW content
- Doxxing or privacy violations
- Bad faith arguments

## Enforcement

1. **Warning** — First offense, good faith
2. **Temp mute** — Repeated issues
3. **Temp ban** — Serious violations
4. **Permanent ban** — Egregious or repeated

## Reporting

DM any @moderator or use the report feature.
Limit reports to authorized moderators on a need-to-know basis. Explain retention, investigation/escalation needs and platform access limits; do not promise absolute confidentiality.

Moderation Playbook

De-escalation Techniques

1. Acknowledge feelings — "I can see this is frustrating"
2. Move to DM — "Let's continue this privately"
3. Take a break — "Let's pause and revisit tomorrow"
4. Clarify intent — "I think there might be a misunderstanding"
5. Set boundaries — "We're here to help, but not to be yelled at"

Moderator Self-Care

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Community-Led Growth

Word-of-Mouth Tactics

User-Generated Content

Community Champions

Identify and empower super-users:

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Community Metrics

Health Dashboard

Growth Metrics

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The health thresholds above are illustrative targets, not validated industry benchmarks. Define active/retained, observation windows, timezone/support coverage and cohort denominators before comparing them. Moderation severity may justify skipping warning stages; document evidence, conflict-of-interest handling and an appeal route.

Automation

Useful Bots (Discord)

Installing bots, granting permissions, scheduling posts, sending DMs/pings and changing member access require authorization for the server, recipient and operation. Minimize bot scopes/data collection and support opt-outs; drafting a community plan does not send anything.

Automation Ideas

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Tools

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Related Skills

• developer-audience-context — Know your community members
• open-source-marketing — OSS community building
• developer-advocacy — Personal brand in community
• developer-newsletter — Community digest content

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches its upstream source and local project context.
• Verify commands, generated code, dependencies, credentials, and external service behavior before applying changes.
• Do not treat examples as a substitute for environment-specific tests, security review, or user approval for destructive or costly actions.