Office hours in the lounge this afternoon: I'll be around from 4 to 6 pm Bishkek time for questions about the network, groups, or getting your own community started. Ask in the comments.

I'm putting together a "start here" list for new members. I'll add items in the comments as they come to me, and please add your own.

Something I love about this lounge: half the people who join say they came for one thing, usually UNA, and stay for something else entirely. Last week someone came in asking about hosting and ended up in the astronomy space.

What surprised you after you joined?

A question I get a lot: yes, you can switch off emails for likes and still get them for replies. Look for the notifications section in your account settings. Your inbox will thank you.

Newcomer tip: before you start a new group, search for the topic first. There may already be an active one, and joining it gets you a conversation on day one instead of an empty room.

Good morning, lounge. Seven new members overnight, from five different countries. If you're one of them, welcome! You don't need a new thread to introduce yourself, a comment on any post here works fine.

Can't sleep, so here's one for the lounge: what do you do when you're not online?

I've been playing pickup basketball on Thursday evenings with a few developers here in Bishkek. None of us are any good, which is exactly the point. Sports people, music people, quiet-evening-with-a-book people: tell us about it.

Confession: I set this lounge up three times before it felt right. The first version had eleven rules and a mandatory intro template, and nobody posted for a week. Fewer rules, more hellos. Lesson learned.

House rules for the Welcome Lounge, short version:

• Be kind, especially to people asking their first question.
• No sales pitches in your first week.
• Ask anything. There are no silly questions here, only ones nobody has answered yet.

Welcome to everyone who joined this week! Say hello below: where are you from, and what kind of community are you building or part of?

I'll go first: Bishkek, and this one.