Communities
Answers to common questions about creating and running community question pages and live boards on How Are We All?.
Community owners and participants
Community FAQ
This page covers how communities work, what shows on community streams, how question changes affect submissions, and how community participation relates to the main daily question. For broader site questions, read the main FAQ.
What is a How Are We All community?
A community is a shareable answer page and live board built around either today's main question or a custom question chosen by that community's owner.
How is a community different from the main daily question?
The main site publishes one question of the day for everyone. A community gives a group its own branded path, shareable answer page, live stream, and owner controls. A community can either follow today's main question or run its own custom question.
Can a community use today's question or a custom question?
Yes. Community owners can keep their community tied to the main daily question or switch it to a custom question they manage directly.
Can a community owner change the question later?
Yes. Owners can update the community question later. When the question changes, the stream resets to the current question, old stream summaries no longer appear for the new question, and browser submission locks reset for that new question.
Are community responses anonymous?
Yes. Community responses are anonymous in the same general way as the main site. Community streams show aggregate patterns and pulse summaries, not a public feed of individual answers.
What does the community stream show?
The community stream shows aggregate rankings, shares, and live mix charts for the current question. It is meant to show the group's overall pattern, not to identify any one participant.
How do community pulse summaries work?
Pulse summaries are enabled by default for communities, but a summary is only generated when a five-minute window has at least five submissions. Until then, the stream shows the standard waiting message instead of a live pulse summary.
Can someone submit again after a community question changes?
Yes. Community submission limits are tied to the current question, so if the question changes the same browser can answer again for the new question.
If a community uses today's question, can that also count toward the main daily question?
Yes. If the community is using today's main question and the answer has not already been counted for that same question, it can roll into the main daily question too. If it was already counted for that browser and question, the main daily question still blocks a duplicate.
How do I create or manage a community?
Create a new one at /communities/new. Each community has its own answer page, stream page, and owner management page for question settings and pulse summary controls.
Need the general site answers too? Read the main FAQ, visit About, or email [email protected].