How to volunteer or donate - Revision history

Tristan Miller: revise volunteer opportunities

2022-05-02T13:37:33Z

revise volunteer opportunities

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:37, 2 May 2022
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	== Volunteering ==		== Volunteering ==

	If you'd like to volunteer to help administer the Big-8, please [[Contacting the Board\|contact the Board]]. Let us know your background, skills, availability, and areas of interest so we can match tasks with the right people.		If you'd like to volunteer to help administer the Big 8, please [[Contacting the Board\|contact the Board]]. Let us know your background, skills, availability, and areas of interest so we can match tasks with the right people.

	At the moment we are particularly interested in volunteers who can help with:		At the moment we are particularly interested in volunteers who can help with:
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	* Identifying moderated newsgroups with absentee moderators		* Identifying moderated newsgroups with absentee moderators
	* Taking over moderation of newsgroups with absentee moderators		* Taking over moderation of newsgroups with absentee moderators
	* Maintaining and further developing the [https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/stump STUMP] and [https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/webstump WebSTUMP] moderation software		* Maintaining, documenting, and further developing the [https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/stump STUMP] and [https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/webstump WebSTUMP] moderation software

	== Donations ==		== Donations ==

Tristan Miller: revise volunteer opportunities

2022-05-02T13:36:49Z

revise volunteer opportunities

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:36, 2 May 2022
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	== Volunteering ==		== Volunteering ==

	If you'd like to volunteer to help ~~run~~ the Big-8, please [[Contacting the Board\|contact the Board]]. Let us know your background, skills, availability, and areas of interest so we can match tasks with the right people.		If you'd like to volunteer to help administer the Big-8, please [[Contacting the Board\|contact the Board]]. Let us know your background, skills, availability, and areas of interest so we can match tasks with the right people.

	~~=== Joining~~ the ~~Board ===~~		At the moment we are particularly interested in volunteers who can help with:

	~~Before joining the Board, we encourage you to volunteer for one or more~~ of ~~the subcommittees (listed above).~~		* Identifying moderated newsgroups with absentee moderators
			* Taking over moderation of newsgroups with absentee moderators
	~~If you are interested in joining~~ the ~~Board, please~~ [[~~Contacting the Board\|contact us~~]].		* Maintaining and further developing the [https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/stump STUMP] and [https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/webstump WebSTUMP] moderation software

	== Donations ==		== Donations ==
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	== Helping Usenet ==		== Helping Usenet ==

	There are many ways to make Usenet a better place for discussion, and you don't necessarily need a lot of time or special skills to make a difference. Things you could do include:		There are many ways to make Usenet at large a better place for discussion, and you don't necessarily need a lot of time or special skills to make a difference. Things you could do include:

	* Participate! There are lots of quiet groups that would benefit from some extra traffic. If you can post a helpful answer to someone's question, or add something to an ongoing thread, it will make that group livelier and more fun for everyone. And remember that even if a group looks completely dead, there may still be people subscribed to it; try posting an on-topic article and see if it sparks an interesting discussion.		* Participate! There are lots of quiet groups that would benefit from some extra traffic. If you can post a helpful answer to someone's question, or add something to an ongoing thread, it will make that group livelier and more fun for everyone. And remember that even if a group looks completely dead, there may still be people subscribed to it; try posting an on-topic article and see if it sparks an interesting discussion.

Tristan Miller: Remove reference to abolished News Service Providers Committee

2022-05-02T13:24:13Z

Remove reference to abolished News Service Providers Committee

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:24, 2 May 2022
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	If you'd like to volunteer to help run the Big-8, please [[Contacting the Board\|contact the Board]]. Let us know your background, skills, availability, and areas of interest so we can match tasks with the right people.		If you'd like to volunteer to help run the Big-8, please [[Contacting the Board\|contact the Board]]. Let us know your background, skills, availability, and areas of interest so we can match tasks with the right people.

	~~=== Subcommittees ===~~

	~~Some of the areas in which we are asking for volunteer help are the following:~~

	* [[News Service Providers Committee]]: cultivate good working relationships with NSPs and ISPs.

	=== Joining the Board ===		=== Joining the Board ===

Tristan Miller: remove reference to abolished news.answers Liaison

2022-05-02T13:22:30Z

remove reference to abolished news.answers Liaison

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:22, 2 May 2022
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	Some of the areas in which we are asking for volunteer help are the following:		Some of the areas in which we are asking for volunteer help are the following:

	* [[News.answers Liaison]]: facilitate communication between news.answers and the B8MB.
	* [[News Service Providers Committee]]: cultivate good working relationships with NSPs and ISPs.		* [[News Service Providers Committee]]: cultivate good working relationships with NSPs and ISPs.

Tristan Miller: Remove reference to abolished Usenet Volunteer Moderators

2022-05-02T13:21:25Z

Remove reference to abolished Usenet Volunteer Moderators

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:21, 2 May 2022
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	* [[News.answers Liaison]]: facilitate communication between news.answers and the B8MB.		* [[News.answers Liaison]]: facilitate communication between news.answers and the B8MB.
	* [[News Service Providers Committee]]: cultivate good working relationships with NSPs and ISPs.		* [[News Service Providers Committee]]: cultivate good working relationships with NSPs and ISPs.
	* [[UVM\|Usenet Volunteer Moderators (UVM)]]: facilitate communication with and provide support for Big-8 newsgroup moderators.

	=== Joining the Board ===		=== Joining the Board ===

Tristan Miller: Remove reference to abolished Group Mentors

2022-05-02T12:41:58Z

Remove reference to abolished Group Mentors

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:41, 2 May 2022
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	Some of the areas in which we are asking for volunteer help are the following:		Some of the areas in which we are asking for volunteer help are the following:

	* [[Group Mentors]]: help proponents develop good proposals.
	* [[News.answers Liaison]]: facilitate communication between news.answers and the B8MB.		* [[News.answers Liaison]]: facilitate communication between news.answers and the B8MB.
	* [[News Service Providers Committee]]: cultivate good working relationships with NSPs and ISPs.		* [[News Service Providers Committee]]: cultivate good working relationships with NSPs and ISPs.

Tristan Miller: Remove reference to abolished Usenet Volunteer Polltakers

2022-05-02T12:37:09Z

Remove reference to abolished Usenet Volunteer Polltakers

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:37, 2 May 2022
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	* [[News Service Providers Committee]]: cultivate good working relationships with NSPs and ISPs.		* [[News Service Providers Committee]]: cultivate good working relationships with NSPs and ISPs.
	* [[UVM\|Usenet Volunteer Moderators (UVM)]]: facilitate communication with and provide support for Big-8 newsgroup moderators.		* [[UVM\|Usenet Volunteer Moderators (UVM)]]: facilitate communication with and provide support for Big-8 newsgroup moderators.
	* [[UVP\|Usenet Volunteer Polltakers (UVP)]]: develop polls to help answer various questions.

	=== Joining the Board ===		=== Joining the Board ===

Tristan Miller: Remove reference to abolished Dead Groups Task Force

2022-05-02T11:20:09Z

Remove reference to abolished Dead Groups Task Force

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:20, 2 May 2022
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	Some of the areas in which we are asking for volunteer help are the following:		Some of the areas in which we are asking for volunteer help are the following:

	* [[Dead Groups Task Force]]: identify groups that can and should be removed from the canonical list.
	* [[Group Mentors]]: help proponents develop good proposals.		* [[Group Mentors]]: help proponents develop good proposals.
	* [[News.answers Liaison]]: facilitate communication between news.answers and the B8MB.		* [[News.answers Liaison]]: facilitate communication between news.answers and the B8MB.

Tristan Miller at 14:01, 29 April 2022

2022-04-29T14:01:35Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:01, 29 April 2022
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	~~== Helping Usenet ==~~

	~~There are many ways to make Usenet a better place for discussion, and you don't necessarily need a lot of time or special skills to make a difference. Things you could do include:~~

	* Participate! There are lots of quiet groups that would benefit from some extra traffic. If you can post a helpful answer to someone's question, or add something to an ongoing thread, it will make that group livelier and more fun for everyone. And remember that even if a group looks completely dead, there may still be people subscribed to it; try posting an on-topic article and see if it sparks an interesting discussion.
	* Promote Usenet elsewhere on the Internet. People who have arrived on the Internet after the rise of the Web may not be aware that Usenet exists. Even those who have heard of it may know it only as a file-sharing service. If you can let people know what Usenet is and how to access it, there will be more people to help keep conversations going.
	* Moderate a newsgroup. If a newsgroup moderator needs help, or wishes to hand over moderation to someone else, they may post a message to the group asking for volunteers. You will most likely need to have a track record of positive contributions to the group in order for the existing moderators to trust you with the task. Or you may find a moderated newsgroup with a missing moderator: the newsgroups is marked as moderated, but articles that you post disappear and never show up in the group. If you believe that the moderator of a Big-8 group is missing, please [[Contacting the Board\|contact the Board]] so that we can investigate.
	* If you have programming skills, you could volunteer to work on software that works with Usenet. For example, the open-source newsreaders [https://pan.rebelbase.com Pan] and [https://slrn.info slrn] are both open to contributions. If there's another Usenet client that you'd like to improve, you could check its homepage and see if there's a way to volunteer.

	== Volunteering ==		== Volunteering ==

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	In March 2021, the Usenet Big-8 Management Board joined [https://opencollective.com/europe Open Collective Europe] in order to make all of its [[Finances\|financial activities]] transparent. If you would like to make a financial contribution to the Board, you can do so via the [https://opencollective.com/usenetbig8 Usenet Big-8 Management Board Open Collective].		In March 2021, the Usenet Big-8 Management Board joined [https://opencollective.com/europe Open Collective Europe] in order to make all of its [[Finances\|financial activities]] transparent. If you would like to make a financial contribution to the Board, you can do so via the [https://opencollective.com/usenetbig8 Usenet Big-8 Management Board Open Collective].

			== Helping Usenet ==

			There are many ways to make Usenet a better place for discussion, and you don't necessarily need a lot of time or special skills to make a difference. Things you could do include:

			* Participate! There are lots of quiet groups that would benefit from some extra traffic. If you can post a helpful answer to someone's question, or add something to an ongoing thread, it will make that group livelier and more fun for everyone. And remember that even if a group looks completely dead, there may still be people subscribed to it; try posting an on-topic article and see if it sparks an interesting discussion.
			* Promote Usenet elsewhere on the Internet. People who have arrived on the Internet after the rise of the Web may not be aware that Usenet exists. Even those who have heard of it may know it only as a file-sharing service. If you can let people know what Usenet is and how to access it, there will be more people to help keep conversations going.
			* Moderate a newsgroup. If a newsgroup moderator needs help, or wishes to hand over moderation to someone else, they may post a message to the group asking for volunteers. You will most likely need to have a track record of positive contributions to the group in order for the existing moderators to trust you with the task. Or you may find a moderated newsgroup with a missing moderator: the newsgroups is marked as moderated, but articles that you post disappear and never show up in the group. If you believe that the moderator of a Big-8 group is missing, please [[Contacting the Board\|contact the Board]] so that we can investigate.
			* If you have programming skills, you could volunteer to work on software that works with Usenet. For example, the open-source newsreaders [https://pan.rebelbase.com Pan] and [https://slrn.info slrn] are both open to contributions. If there's another Usenet client that you'd like to improve, you could check its homepage and see if there's a way to volunteer.

Rayner Lucas: Added section of general ways to help Usenet

2022-04-05T23:58:06Z

Added section of general ways to help Usenet

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:58, 5 April 2022
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			== Helping Usenet ==

			There are many ways to make Usenet a better place for discussion, and you don't necessarily need a lot of time or special skills to make a difference. Things you could do include:

			* Participate! There are lots of quiet groups that would benefit from some extra traffic. If you can post a helpful answer to someone's question, or add something to an ongoing thread, it will make that group livelier and more fun for everyone. And remember that even if a group looks completely dead, there may still be people subscribed to it; try posting an on-topic article and see if it sparks an interesting discussion.
			* Promote Usenet elsewhere on the Internet. People who have arrived on the Internet after the rise of the Web may not be aware that Usenet exists. Even those who have heard of it may know it only as a file-sharing service. If you can let people know what Usenet is and how to access it, there will be more people to help keep conversations going.
			* Moderate a newsgroup. If a newsgroup moderator needs help, or wishes to hand over moderation to someone else, they may post a message to the group asking for volunteers. You will most likely need to have a track record of positive contributions to the group in order for the existing moderators to trust you with the task. Or you may find a moderated newsgroup with a missing moderator: the newsgroups is marked as moderated, but articles that you post disappear and never show up in the group. If you believe that the moderator of a Big-8 group is missing, please [[Contacting the Board\|contact the Board]] so that we can investigate.
			* If you have programming skills, you could volunteer to work on software that works with Usenet. For example, the open-source newsreaders [https://pan.rebelbase.com Pan] and [https://slrn.info slrn] are both open to contributions. If there's another Usenet client that you'd like to improve, you could check its homepage and see if there's a way to volunteer.

	== Volunteering ==		== Volunteering ==