🗣️ Discussions recap: your must read before the end of the year

[mecodeatlas]

End-of-year refresher to keep our community aligned

We’re getting close to the end of the year, and we want to know if Discussions is still a mystery or if you’re already confident about what belongs here and what should be posted in other categories.

To help refresh everyone’s memory and make sure you’re getting the most out of this product, here’s a recap. We don’t want to be repetitive, but good guidance is always worth revisiting, sharing, and keeping top of mind.

🧭 What Discussions is, and what the Discussions category is actually for

First, the product.
GitHub Discussions is a space designed for collaborative conversations. It supports long-form exchanges, accepted answers, upvoting, and threaded discussions that help people learn from one another.

If you want a quick overview, here’s GitHub’s official introduction video explaining the product and its purpose:

Now, the category.
The Discussions category in the GitHub Community is not a general-purpose space for any type of discussion. It is dedicated only to topics about the Discussions product itself.

This includes questions about how Discussions works, clarifications about features or behavior, suggestions for improvement, best practices for using it effectively, and conversations that help people understand when and how to use Discussions.

If your post is about the Discussions product, this is the correct category.
If your post is simply a discussion you want to have, this is not the right home.

🗂️ What does not belong in the Discussions category?

If you’re unsure whether your topic fits here, the guide Right Category, Right Discussion explains how to choose the correct category across the Community and includes examples of where common questions should go

In summary, Discussions is not the place for product bugs (unless it is about Discussions), feature-specific issues, Pages or Actions errors, token or authentication problems, or code troubleshooting. These belong in their respective product categories/

The Discussions category should stay focused on the Discussions product itself.

🔎 Common misposts we saw this year

Throughout 2025, several types of posts frequently ended up in the wrong category. Here is a quick overview to help everyone post in the right place:

Type of mispost	Where it actually belongs
Debugging questions	Programming Help
GitHub Pages errors (404, 500, unicorn, DNS issues)	Pages
Questions about Issues, milestones or project workflows	Projects & Issues
General conversations or topics unrelated to GitHub products	General

Posting in the wrong place happens often. Understanding these patterns simply helps keep Discussions focused and easier for everyone to navigate.

📚 Resources created this year to help you

Here are all the materials published this year to help you understand and use Discussions more effectively:

• Discussions Best Practices Master Guide
• Week 1 – Discussions Unlocked: What even is this category?
• Week 2 – Discussions Unlocked: Categorize it (if you can)!
• Week 3 – Discussions Unlocked: Spotlight on our best Discussions
• Week 4 – Discussions Unlocked: Wrap-up and what’s next

🎯 Discussions Knowledge Check

Now that we’ve wrapped up the recap and you’ve got a reference you can rely on anytime, how about we test your knowledge?

Each question is worth 10 points. Share your answers in the comments using only the letters. Let’s see who scores the highest and becomes the Discussions Champion of the month. 👀

1. You are getting a 500 unicorn error on your GitHub Pages site. Where should this post go?
A. Discussions
B. Programming Help
C. Pages
D. General

2. You want to understand whether a specific Discussions feature or behavior is expected. Where should you post?
A. Pages
B. Discussions
C. Projects and Issues
D. General

3. You need help debugging code that is not working as expected. Which category should you choose?
A. Programming Help
B. Discussions
C. Pages
D. Copilot

4. You have a question about how Issues, milestones or project workflows behave. Where does this belong?
A. Projects and Issues
B. Discussions
C. General
D. Pages

5. You want to share general feedback about GitHub as a product, not a bug report. Where should this be posted?
A. Discussions
B. General
C. Programming Help
D. GitHub Education

6. You want to report a DNS or domain configuration problem affecting your custom GitHub Pages site. Which category should you pick?
A. General
B. Pages
C. Repositories
D. Discussions

7. You want to request a feature improvement specifically for the Discussions product. Where should you post this?
A. General
B. Projects and Issues
C. Discussions
D. Pages

8. You found an article online and want to share it with the community, but it is not related to any GitHub product. Where does it belong?
A. General
B. Discussions
C. Projects and Issues
D. Pages

Let the games begin!