How Can I Best Organize GitHub Discussions for My Open Source Project at SmartWindows.app?

[reynadev-oss]

Discussion Type

Product Feedback

Discussion Content

I’m using GitHub Discussions to support users and gather feedback for my project SmartWindows.app. What are the best practices for organizing topics, enabling moderation tools, and marking answers to keep things clear and helpful for both users and contributors?

[mecodeatlas]

Hi @reynadev-oss! 👋

Great to hear you're using GitHub Discussions to support your open source project.

To help you structure and moderate your discussions effectively, I recommend exploring our documentation here:
👉 GitHub Discussions Docs

You'll find best practices for organizing categories, enabling community moderation, and using features like marking answers to keep things clean and helpful for everyone.

Hope it helps :)

[harsh-kamde]

Organizing Topics
Use categories effectively: Create clear categories like “Q&A,” “Feature Requests,” “Bug Reports,” and “Announcements” to help users navigate.

Pin important posts: Pin a post with community guidelines or FAQs at the top of each category.

Tag discussions: Use tags (like “solved,” “waiting-for-feedback,” or “in-progress”) to communicate status at a glance.

🔹 Moderation Tools
Assign maintainers or trusted contributors as moderators: They can help enforce guidelines and keep discussions productive.

Enable auto-locking for inactive threads if needed to prevent spam or necro-posting.

Report and block abusive users via GitHub’s built-in moderation tools.

🔹 Marking Answers
Use the “Mark as answer” feature for Q&A categories to highlight correct or helpful replies.

Encourage OPs (original posters) to mark helpful answers themselves — this builds community responsibility.

You'll find best practices for organizing categories, enabling community moderation, and using features like marking answers to keep things clean and helpful for everyone.

Hope it helps :)

[zayaaan-al]

1. Organizing Topics Effectively
   ✅ Enable Relevant Discussion Categories:
   Create categories that are intuitive and helpful.

✅ Pin Essential Discussions
Pin a Welcome post explaining:

What each category is for

How to ask good questions

Where to report bugs officially (e.g., via Issues)

Pin changelogs, FAQs, and community guidelines if applicable.

🛡️ 2. Moderation & Community Management Tools
✅ Enable and Assign Moderators
Add trusted collaborators or contributors as moderators.

Set expectations: Respond, tag, close, or escalate posts.

✅ Use Labels and Tags Wisely
Though Discussions doesn’t support GitHub Issue labels directly, you can manually standardize tags:

solved, in progress, under review, waiting for feedback

You can mention these tags in your responses using Markdown.

✅ Encourage Respectful Behavior
Link to a CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md in your README and Welcome post. GitHub supports automatic enforcement if added.

✅ 3. Marking Answers & Managing Threads
🎯 For Q&A Category:
Encourage users to mark the correct answer.

As a moderator, you can mark an answer if the user doesn’t.

Post follow-ups if you're waiting for clarification — keeps things moving.

⛔ Close Resolved Threads
Once an issue is resolved:

Post a short summary reply (if useful to others)

Close the discussion politely (you can reopen if needed later)

💡 4. Promoting Reuse and Discoverability
Suggest users search before posting

Cross-link solved discussions in README or FAQs

Highlight popular/solved discussions in a pinned “Top Questions” post

🚀 5. Tips for Your Project: SmartWindows.app
For SmartWindows, consider these custom categories:

🪟 Smart Layouts Help — for layout/restoration issues

🖥️ Multi-monitor Setup — tips, bugs, feedback

⚙️ Configuration & Settings

🧪 Beta Features — for experimental feedback

✅ Tools You Can Add:
Add a GitHub Action to auto-close stale discussions

Use bots like Probot to guide users who post issues in Discussions (or vice versa

[github-actions[bot]]

🕒 Discussion Activity Reminder 🕒

This Discussion has been labeled as dormant by an automated system for having no activity in the last 60 days. Please consider one the following actions:

1️⃣ Close as Out of Date: If the topic is no longer relevant, close the Discussion as out of date at the bottom of the page.

2️⃣ Provide More Information: Share additional details or context — or let the community know if you've found a solution on your own.

3️⃣ Mark a Reply as Answer: If your question has been answered by a reply, mark the most helpful reply as the solution.

Note: This dormant notification will only apply to Discussions with the Question label. To learn more, see our recent announcement.

Thank you for helping bring this Discussion to a resolution! 💬

[RaihanAizvan]

I’ve found that clarity beats quantity. Group topics by intent (bug, idea, help), keep titles action-driven, and don’t hesitate to pin “golden” threads.
When an answer truly solves something, mark it, summarize it, and move on — like closing a tab you’ll never need again.

Moderation tools? Use them early, not when chaos starts. Prevention > cleanup.

[Neeravthespy]

nice

[github-actions[bot]]

🕒 Discussion Activity Reminder 🕒

This Discussion has been labeled as dormant by an automated system for having no activity in the last 60 days. Please consider one the following actions:

1️⃣ Close as Out of Date: If the topic is no longer relevant, close the Discussion as out of date at the bottom of the page.

2️⃣ Provide More Information: Share additional details or context — or let the community know if you've found a solution on your own.

3️⃣ Mark a Reply as Answer: If your question has been answered by a reply, mark the most helpful reply as the solution.

Note: This dormant notification will only apply to Discussions with the Question label. To learn more, see our recent announcement.

Thank you for helping bring this Discussion to a resolution! 💬