Sometimes it feels like the about pages/sidebars across the fediverse are underappreciated to the point of being underused, so I thought it might be nice to see what some most appreciate in those abouts/sidebars that are used.
For me personally? If it’s something kind of niche or obscure, or even something basic but kinda ambiguous, I dig a concise little description like “[blank] is a [genre/type] [band/game/tv show/etc.], [additional relevant info]”.
Although if it catches my interest enough I will just post and ask because how else might I figure out the secret arcana of the Deep Hobbies?
I prefer an elaborate description, if appropriate presuming people don’t know much about the topic yet. Bonus points for adding wikis (i don’t think it’s possible in Lemmy for now?) and links. And a friendly tone. Those concise oneliners, to me, feel like; if you don’t understand what this community is for, you are not welcome here anyway.
I’ve been experimenting with this for the communities I help with!
See sidebars for some examples:
- !canada@lemmy.ca - using dropdowns to organize unwieldy lists
- !medicine@mander.xyz - a long rules section was required
- !newToLemmy@lemmy.ca, !communityPromo@lemmy.ca, !sockPuppetSociety@lemmy.ca for some shorter sidebars
I agree with the concise description, and I try to have that as the first thing in the sidebar. After that, I’m playing with the following, depending on how relevant each is:
- A badge showing the total subscriber count, like this (click the badge for more info):
- I swap out the community name and play with the colors for each one
- Community rules, as concisely as possible
- Other helpful tips, little starter tips, etc.
I try to keep the sidebars clean and collapse as much info as I can. Here’s a guide to the markdown you can use.
If there’s something in one of the community sidebars that you want to replicate, let me know and I’ll share the direct source :)
Say there was a community for Pandas being silly: !sillyPandas@lemmy.example.com
A community for images and clips of pandas being silly
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), sometimes called a panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name “giant panda” is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. [source]
Rules
- Content must involve a panda. Red pandas are ok!
- The panda must be doing something silly. Silliness is subjective, but aim for silliness
- Follow lemmy.example.com instance rules
Thanks!
I really appreciate it when the sidebar has links to related communities, websites, etc. Those are some of my favorite rabbit holes to go down.
