From Sandbox to Community: A Short History of This Network

Before this was a community, it was a sandbox. Here's the short version of how it got from there to here, for everyone who has joined in the last year.

The sandbox years

This site began as my test server. I was building community sites on UNA for clients and needed somewhere to try modules, break things and fix them again before touching anything real. If you scroll back far enough you'll find some truly terrible posts from that time, mostly titled "test". I'm slowly tidying them up.

The first real members

Things changed when I started inviting other people who build communities to try it. A makerspace organiser who needed somewhere for her network of repair cafés. A family doctor who wanted a safe place for patients to find each other between appointments. A neighbourhood organiser who coordinates volunteers across her part of Bristol. None of them came for the software. They came because they needed a home for something they were already doing.

What we learned along the way

• People join for each other, not for features.
• Every group needs at least one person who cares a lot.
• A network of small communities is sturdier than one big one.

Where we are now

Today the network hosts makers, carers, patients, developers, moderators, musicians and a surprising number of baseball fans. It's still self-hosted, still runs on UNA and is still small enough that I read nearly every post.

If you've been here a while, I'd love to hear what brought you in. Leave a comment with the first thing you posted. Embarrassing ones especially welcome.