# Community Communication Channels + Tools **URL:** \ **Category:** Community\ **Created:** [October 2, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/community-communication-channels-tools/24928 "2019-10-02T19:29:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jennifer](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/jennifer/32/8531_2.png) [@jennifer](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/jennifer)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/community-communication-channels-tools/24928/1 "2019-10-02T19:29:28Z")
Since June, a number of different groups in our community have been experimenting with new communication channels. We’ve had discussions on Talk about [trialing Slack](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/trialing-slack-for-the-openmrs-community/23484) and during [Strategy+Operations calls](https://notes.openmrs.org/2019-09-19-Strategy-and-Operations-Call) about how we use community-centric communication tools. I went over all of the feedback and ideas to bring together some practical guidance. These are intended promote open communication and broad participation - while balancing the need of squads and other groups to move their day to day work ahead quickly. For those of us who use the Wiki, Talk, and a real-time chat tool like IRC and Slack, here are the main points for these tools: > **Wiki** > > Our Wiki houses our long form, relatively stable content. This includes: > > - community conventions, > - guidance for contributors/volunteer, > - processes and how-to articles, > - roadmaps, > - project descriptions, > - and more. > **Talk** > > Talk is the OpenMRS community’s version of a mailing list. “If it isn’t on Talk, it didn’t happen.” Talk facilitates discussion and collaboration across time zones. It is best suited for: > > - making announcements, > - sharing ideas and proposals > - engaging in asynchronous discussions > - updates/meeting recordings and notes > - communicating decisions. > **IRC/Slack** > > Both IRC and Slack are possible channels for real-time conversation or quick Q&A. IRC is our go-to chat room where our daily scrums and technical support occurs. For squads and groups looking for a place for real-time conversation on a specific issue and for rapid iteration, consider using either IRC or a dedicated channel in the OpenMRS Slack workspace to move your work ahead on a day-to-day basis. > > In the spirit of “sharing often and early,” we encourage squads and teams who choose to use IRC or Slack to think intentionally about how you use IRC/Slack and what you want to communicate via Talk (see above for ideas). Many have pointed out that Slack can turn into a “walled garden.” It’s also a tool that many people in the community are using in their every day work - which is one reason why some conversations ([#fhir](https://openmrs.slack.com/messages/CKLPH66BB)) have probably taken off in that space. In addition to being intentional about using Talk and Slack, here are some specific actions we can take to open Slack Up: - Pin a list of Slack channels to Talk (with links on how to join and use Slack) and post on the Wiki. - Look into Discourse/Slack integration - And I’d like to give a special shout out to @burke for creating a workaround that allows anyone to join our Slack workspace! If you want more detail or you’re interested in how the website and gitbooks fit in, you can read the [full convention here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UzvnpJqLx7uotIduCOi6J9n5GeQBs2NAGL889JSMCU4/edit#). We have some new squads and committees forming this month and next, so let’s see how well this guidance works between now and the new year. I hope you’ll keep the suggestions and feedback coming as we go along so we can then review and improve. ---
**Author:** ![lufafa](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/lufafa/32/10473_2.png) [@lufafa](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/lufafa)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 7:11am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/community-communication-channels-tools/24928/2 "2019-10-03T07:11:06Z")
thanks @jennifer for the update. its a good summery