# Packages category?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/packages-category/1204>\
**Category:** Meta Discussion\
**Tags:** proposal\
**Created:** [December 29, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/packages-category/1204 "2016-12-29T16:31:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pint](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/pint/32/125_2.png) [@pint](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/pint)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/packages-category/1204/1 "2016-12-29T16:31:34Z")

</div>

i was wondering if it makes sense to add either a category or subcategories under Usage for questions about specific packages.

such problems does not exactly belong to Domains, being more on the tecnical/implementation side.

but also does not seem to be appropriate to just drop them under Usage root to stack up.

i understand that many packages might have their own homepages with their own forums. however, some are not, and those that have, might be pleased to move over here, benefiting from a bigger community.

as an example, if i have a question about Lint, where do i post it?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![StefanKarpinski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stefankarpinski/32/24_2.png) [@StefanKarpinski](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/StefanKarpinski)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/packages-category/1204/2 "2016-12-29T16:33:22Z")

</div>

I think so far those have been posted under #usage with a tag for the package. Not sure if that’s the best arrangement, however.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tamas\_Papp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tamas_papp/32/25949_2.png) [@Tamas\_Papp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Tamas_Papp)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/packages-category/1204/3 "2016-12-29T17:28:48Z")

</div>

On a related note, it would be great to have this implemented in a way that would allow package authors to include something like “ask questions about this package on …” in the package `README`.

Ideally a package author could ask for notifications about new questions relevant to their package, even if they don’t read all posts regularly. I don’t know whether this is possible with Discourse though, and what the best implementation would be. But I have a feeling that there are package authors who would be willing to provide help, but are unwilling to set up their own solution or read through all Julia traffic. Frequently support happens in Github issues.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ScottPJones](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/scottpjones/32/146_2.png) [@ScottPJones](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ScottPJones)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/packages-category/1204/4 "2016-12-30T04:10:53Z")

</div>

I think one of the best ways I’ve seen so far that people have been able to handle simple questions about their packages is by setting up a Gitter chat room for the package, and simply adding a badge on their README.md page.  
The Gitter room ([tbreloff/Plots.jl - Gitter](https://gitter.im/tbreloff/Plots.jl)) for @tbreloff’s Plots.jl package is incredibly busy, as is the Juno/Atom room ([JunoLab/Juno - Gitter](https://gitter.im/JunoLab/Juno)). Frequently, the answers are provided by other heavy users of the package, without the owners of the package having to do anything.  
The Gitter chats such as [JuliaLang/julia - Gitter](https://gitter.im/JuliaLang/julia) also help to provide a sort of triage, where things that are found to really be issues or bugs can then be then asked about in a Discourse topic or lead directly to a focused GitHub Issue, and otherwise, end up being put on StackOverflow along with an answer, so that in the future people can search there and find answers without even having to ask in the Gitter channel.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tamas\_Papp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tamas_papp/32/25949_2.png) [@Tamas\_Papp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Tamas_Papp)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 8:27am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/packages-category/1204/5 "2016-12-30T08:27:40Z")

</div>

> [@ScottPJones](#):
>
> handle simple questions about their packages is by setting up a Gitter chat room for the package

I find Gitter suboptimal for two reasons:

1. different discussions intermingle,
2. searching for previous discussions and solutions is difficult.  
I consider Discourse a huge improvement over Gitter.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tamas\_Papp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tamas_papp/32/25949_2.png) [@Tamas\_Papp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Tamas_Papp)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 8:35am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/packages-category/1204/6 "2016-12-30T08:35:08Z")

</div>

Apparently Discourse [has some support](https://meta.discourse.org/t/track-a-category-or-tag-with-notifications/30132/9) for watching tags, at least it allows users to get notifications and then mute. Perhaps authors of (widely used) packages could request a tag?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vchuravy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/vchuravy/32/8_2.png) [@vchuravy](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/vchuravy)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/packages-category/1204/7 "2016-12-30T14:06:03Z")

</div>

Yeah that is currently the intend with tagging and when I see a post about a package I try to create a tag for it.