Forums. They're a bit web 1.0. They don't have the social buzz of Twitter or Google+. But, if recent web trends have shown me anything, it's that there is no 'best' way to communicate, you just need to pick the right place for the kind of conversation you want to have. And the Squiz forum, for me, is the right place to get support, help, ideas but mostly to really feel part of the Squiz community.

I started using Matrix just over a year ago, but I already feel like I 'know' some other Squizzies from around the world, becauseof their help on the forum. Whenever I join a forum, I delve about to get a feel for the kind of vibe is has, and the Squiz forum has really impressed me. Not only can I post things at 5.30pm on my way out of the office, and normally get replies that evening from people on the other side of the planet, but it's a genuinely friendly place. No post seems to go unanswered, newbies don't get any stick for asking basic questions, or get sent terse replies with links to previous threads. Everyone is helpful, supportive and with diverse technical skills, someone somewhere usually knows a way to solve your problem.

And everyone is mindful that it's a great reference resource, so people update their threads, or sometimes just have nice little conversations with themselves (something I do offline far too frequently) so we can all see the solution they came to in the end. I've had all kinds of help for all kinds of problems, from a keyword I didn't know about, to thinking about a totally different way of achieving something, like putting conditions in the design file rather than a paint layout.

The Squiz staff are also strolling about, which has huge benefits. It's like they are able to pop in on all of us in our offices, leanover our desks and take a peek at what we're up to. Sometimes they lean over and give you a tip on the 'best practice' way to do something. But they also join us at the water cooler, listening to our stories of success, our tales of woe when we're struggling, and our dreams of new functionality that would solve all our issues for us. And that's really important for the future direction of development. 

If you've seen Roadmap, I'm sure that like me you're already getting excited about it and the power that it will give to thecommunity to help steer the direction of development. But to me the forum's the place where the ground work gets done, to help us identify the 'what' and 'why' of things we should vote for on Roadmap. Ok, so it's not all swish looking, and the search doesn't use Funnelback, (that enough of a hint for a Squiz makeover?) but it's the people and the attitude that's the winning feature.

I've been lucky enough to go to a few Squiz events, and have met some great people, properly, in the flesh. But not all of them are on the forum. So, this is my big, wide-smile, friendly invite to all of you, to come and join in. I know that by the time you've done the emails, liked thel atest facebook post, tweeted some links, and logged in to see if anyone else is actually using Google+ yet, it's another thing to go and check on. But surely its worth a bit of time to get help, support, camaraderie, ideas, and to just to pick up on the chat by the water cooler about what your community is up to.

See you there! 

Charlotte Westney is a web manager for the UK's National Parks: www.nationalparks.gov.uk
You can catch her @charliewestney or asking newbie questions on the forum as Charlie W