Difference between revisions of "New Member Orientation"

Revision as of 14:00, 8 January 2016

Overview

This is list of information necessary for new members, all located here in one place.

We ask that you contribute to the shop. There's a very broad definition of 'contribute' - for most people it's donating money on a monthly basis, but we're open to the idea of services as a contribution. For example, mowing the lawn regularly. If you have an idea for a contribution, bring it up when you apply. There's no real limit to how much or how little to donate - we only ask that you donate what you can afford, and what you think your time at the shop is worth.

We vote on as soon as you've completed an Application. After you apply, you still won't be an official member or get key access to the shop until you've been voted in, at most 5 days from when you turned in your application. Until then, you're still free to come by, in fact we encourage it. Before the board votes on your acceptance, we'd like to get to know you, so please come by and meet everybody. Talk about your interests, why you want to join, and what kind of projects you're interested in working on. There's people at the shop almost every weekday after 5, and any weekend afternoon. You can even start bringing some stuff by the shop to work on, and show off what you have to offer.

Checklist

• Fill out your application.
  • Figure out your contribution.
  • Befriend two Board Members.
• Meet the members.
• Start brainstorming some projects.
• Come to the monthly meeting, ask about the next monthly meeting date!

Contact

We have an IRC channel that you can visit, there's almost always a conversation happening in there. If you don't have an IRC Client, you can use our web access.

• Server: chat.freenode.net
• Channel: #makerslocal
• Web access: https://dev.throwthemind.com/irc/ or http://webchat.freenode.net

Mailing Lists

• The General List
  • Typically low traffic with spurts of high traffic. It's like an open conversation, except over email. If you would like to subscribe to the general list, you can do so here:
  • https://lists.makerslocal.org/mailman/listinfo/general

• The Makers List
  • This list is only for members. The membership list is handled automatically so don't worry about signing up. To view the archives, if you missed anything, visit:
  • https://lists.makerslocal.org/mailman/listinfo/makers

• The Board List
  • This is a list for the board members. If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, please don't hesitate to send them to board@lists.makerslocal.org.

Useful Links

• Donations Page - Track your donations online
• Camera and Temp Page - Watch the webcam to see if anyone's at the shop or check the current inside and outside temperatures
• Equipment and Tools - See what tools you might not know we have

Wiki Etiquette

• Your User page: When your accounts are created (you'll receive an e-mail detailing this) and log into the wiki, the first thing you may want to do is add a little bit about yourself to your User page. This page may be accessed by clicking on your username as it appears in the upper right hand corner any page on the wiki when logged in. Most people use their User page for keeping track of the projects they're involved with. Multiple people can link to the same project page from their User page, wikis are about collaboration after all. Another benefit of adding information to your User page is your name should appear in the list of Users on the Main Page . This list is automatically generated but only contains links to User pages with content. The list of users in the sidebar however isn't, so don't feel bad if your name does not appear there. For ideas on what to do with your User page just browse other's User pages to get some ideas.

• Summary: When editing a page, you'll notice below the main editing text box another text box labeled Summary. This is for providing a brief summary of the changes you've made to the page, namely for the benefit of those looking at either the History or Recent Changes pages. Example: when creating a page for the first time, you may enter something along the lines of "Initial commit" with subsequent edits containing more specific description of changes. Just below the Summary box you'll notice two check boxes. The one you'll use the most is the This is a minor edit one. Use this when fixing typos and mediawiki syntax edits to let people know that's nothing they really need to be concerned about. Next is the Show Preview button, this allows you to preview the pages before committing the edits by clicking the Save Page button. When clicked, the entire page will be refreshed without losing your changes and will display the page as it will look with the changes you've made. Scroll down to get back to the edit box to make additional changes or to click Save Page.
  • The History page is located as a tab labeled View History, toward the top of the page and to the right, and can be found on every page. It contains changes for that specific page and who made them.
  • The Recent Changes page is linked in the sidebar to your left and contains all recent changes made by any user on any page contained within the wiki. You may also see a smaller slimmer version of this page embedded on the Main Page.

• Talk pages: Another "tab" you'll see to the upper right (or left depending on theme being used) is the Discussion tab which will show you the Talk page for any given project page. This is where other users can comment and discuss projects without cluttering up the actual project page itself.