Your complete reference to making the most out of GitHub Discussions - without the noise.

GitHub Discussions are one of the most powerful tools for open collaboration. They allow communities to share knowledge, ask questions, and connect across projects, time zones, and experience levels.

But as communities grow, the volume of activity can quickly become overwhelming. High notification traffic, unclear categorization, and unmoderated threads can create friction - leading to alert fatigue, missed information, and lower engagement.

That’s why following a few proven best practices is essential. By managing Discussions effectively, you’ll help keep conversations relevant, reduce noise, and ensure contributors and maintainers can collaborate productively. These practices not only improve day-to-day communication but also build healthier, more sustainable communities in the long run.

This guide brings together everything we’ve published about managing Discussions effectively, in one central hub. Whether you’re a project maintainer, contributor, or community member, you’ll find practical tips and strategies to help you get the most out of Discussions.

👉 We’ll also be publishing these best practices as a weekly series - each section here will link to its dedicated post as it goes live. Subscribe to this thread to get notified when new sections are added and always stay up to date.

📌 Quick Navigation

1. 🔔 Managing Notifications & Reducing Noise in Discussions
   Learn how to keep notifications relevant and avoid alert fatigue.
   Covers notification settings, unsubscribing from noisy threads, proper categorization, and when to lock evergreen threads.

2. 🤖 Understanding Bots, Automations & Workflow Triggers
   Discover how Discussions can trigger automations - and how to prevent unwanted ones.
   Includes common pitfalls, mapping triggers, adding conditions, and documenting behaviors for your team.

3. 👥 Moderation & Engagement Best Practices
   Explore moderation strategies that make Discussions more welcoming and productive.
   From setting the tone to using moderation tools intentionally and showcasing great examples.

4. ✨ Other cool tiny ships (quick mentions)

   Recent small improvements worth knowing about - not the main focus of this guide, but great for day-to-day experience:

• GitHub consistently maintains user-defined tab width preferences
• New User Dashboard Refresh [GA]
• Default tab size reduced from 8 → 4 spaces
• Single sign-on banners consolidated across GitHub

🌟 How to Use This Guide

• Start where it matters most to you - If notifications are overwhelming, jump to section 1. If moderation is your focus, skip to section 3
• Share with your team/community - These resources are designed to help both contributors and maintainers
• Join the discussions - Each section links to a full post where you can add your own tips, ask questions, and share feedback

💡 Tip: Bookmark this guide!
We’ll update it as new best practices are added, so you’ll always have one place to find the latest recommendations.