What is OpenZA?
Open ZA is a platform for the free and open source community in South Africa (and hopefully the whole of Africa) to network, share ideas and experiences, build friendships, find help and, ultimately, express themselves. In many ways OpenZA is a little like a Facebook for the FOSS community. But, where Facebook is aimed at the mass of Internet users, OpenZA is here for just the open source community. This doesn’t mean that everything posted to the site has to be about free and open source software – we all have a wide range of interests – but that in general the focus is on the open source community sharing ideas.
The simplest way to view OpenZA is as a place to list yourself, much like you might have done on Facebook, so that you can find friends and colleagues. But seeing OpenZA as just that would also be wrong. While you are able to add some Profile details to your account and find similar-minded users that way you can also do much more. Things such as using the Wire to share ideas, or joining or creating a Group, posting on forum topics or even starting your own OpenZA-hosted Blog.
Profile
When you first sign up you are asked to complete a number of profile fields, things such as your interests, where you live etc. You don’t have to add these details but if you do it makes it possible for other like-minded people to find you. Say, for example, that you are interested in Python. Adding it to your “Interests” will create a link on your profile which links to a sub-group of other Python fans. Similarly, if you’re looking for people that live in your town then adding your city to your profile adds you to the relevant city group.
Wire
The Wire is a place to share links, ideas, status updates. Your Wire posts will be displayed alongside your profile as well as appearing on the site-wide activity pages. Groups each have their own Wire as well which means that you can post relevant topics and thoughts to the feed on each group.
Groups
OpenZA is all about community so Groups are an integral part of the service. Users can create groups around areas of interest to the open source community. So, for example, groups could be formed around particular Linux distributions, FOSS advocacy or regional support groups. Groups are up to you. Groups can be public, private or hidden. Public groups are visble to all users, including Wire posts, and anyone can join. Private groups are listed in the Groups listings but the posts to the group are only available to subscribed members. Hidden groups are not listed in public Groups listings and are visible only to subscribed members.
Creating Groups
All registered OpenZA members can create groups. If you have a particular area of interest then consider starting a group for like-minded OpenZAers. Groups can all have a Wire for posting announcements etc, a forum for discussions and multiple moderators. Before you start a group check on the groups page to make sure one doesn’t already exist. If one doesn’t then create it through the My Account->Groups->Create Group item from the front page menu bar. Once others have joined the group the group admin is able to appoint moderators to manage the discussions.
Forums
All groups have the option to include a forum which members can use to discuss issues. The decision to include a forum for the group is up to the group admin. Not all groups lend themselves to forums as the wire (for announcements) is often enough. But if the group is likely to lend itself to regular discussion then a forum is often the best choice.
Getting more help
If you need help with any OpenZA features you can post a Wire message to the OpenZA-help group.