onboarding

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Onboarding refers to the first experience a user has when first installing, logging into, configuring, and using a new site or application. A great onboarding process walks the user through a minimum number of required steps quickly & easily.

IndieWeb

Onboarding onto the indieweb is described in:

Getting Started

IndieWebCamp

If you're interested in attending your first IndieWebCamp:

check out the list of events
find an IndieWebCamp or Homebrew Website Club near you
RSVP on its event page
show up!

IndieWeb Projects

Known
- On first installing Known, the user is directed to a setup page that checks for required PHP dependencies, helps them configure a database connection and creates database tables if necessary, and guides them through configuring the appearance of the site.
- Once installed and running, a friendly robot named "Aleph" offers to help with more advanced usage and topics (add screenshot)

OwnYourGram and Quill are micropub clients that double as guides to setting up micropub on your IndieWeb site. New users walk through the process of setting up authorization, token, and micropub endpoints, with thorough documentation and tests with helpful feedback along the way.

Bridgy. Once users have given Bridgy read access to their social media account, it attempts to detect potential configuration problems (e.g., no webmention endpoint) and give the user a bright yellow heads up.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming for how to design and build good onboarding experiences for indieweb projects, software, and sites.

IndieAuth Chicken or Egg

Personal website software that uses IndieAuth for user logins (e.g. Red Wind) faces a potential "chicken or the egg" problem.

To set the site URL, add an h-card, configure rel=me's for social media profiles, etc. the user must log in as an administrator.
To log in as an administrator via IndieAuth, the user needs an personal website with rel=me's that link to their social media profiles.

Just to test and develop locally requires the user have an IndieAuth-capable website.

Some ideas:

All configuration via text files or environment variables.
Provide alternative password based login.
- Only in development mode?
Do not require a login at all until the site is configured and IndieAuth is successful.

Onboarding session from IWC Berlin 2016

A working group at IWC Berlin 2016 spent their hacking day developing ideas how to make the IndieWeb more accessible to newcomers of various background: documentation and discussion

Sessions

Onboarding sessions at IndieWebCamps