Hi everyone! We’ve made a few changes around here that we need to let you know about …
The Showcase Category
We’ve decided to open the Showcase category to all members. We’d really like members to be able to share and discuss the great things they are working on. The web development / programming world is rich with amazing projects, apps, open source projects, code repositories, productivity tools and so on, but it’s not always easy to find a place to present, discuss and even collaborate on them. Hopefully this category can change that.
But wait—I know what you’re thinkin’ … “Isn’t this just a great big self promotion rabbit hole?” Well that’s up to you! Don’t forget that you, the community, can take action against inappropriate content. It only takes two of you to flag a post for it to be hidden. Then it’s up to the OP to step up.
Think of the Showcase Category as a place to share work that’s primarily for the use, benefit or interest of the web community. If the primary motivation for posting is self interest or profit, it doesn’t belong here.
Read the full Showcase guidelines here.
Reviews
You may have noticed that the Reviews Category has disappeared. In general, is hasn’t worked to have such a category, as it attracts a lot of lazy link dropping.
If you would like to get an aspect of your work reviewed, you are still welcome to do so. Just post your request in a forum category that relates to the issue. For example, if you want to discuss a UI you are working on, post about it in the Design and UX forum. If you want some feedback on your PHP code, then post in the PHP forum.
The thing is, though, that this is a discussion forum. So present your question as a discussion. Explain what kind of feedback you are looking for, what you think of your work, what you have tried, and why you aren’t sure you’re on the right track. If you just drop a link and say “please review”, your post should be flagged by the community, because that’s not what a mature community is about.
The Edit Window
You may have noticed that the edit window (or the time you have to go back and edit your post before it’s locked) has been reduced to 30 minutes.
This is the time frame we had on the previous incarnation of the forums. For technical reasons, that edit window was set much wider for a while, but some Discourse updates have eliminated the need for that. (The problem was that people whose posts were flagged by the community couldn’t edit their posts once the edit window was closed. That’s changed now.)
Understandably, this will frustrate some people. Unfortunately, though, we’ve had enough members going back and editing their posts inappropriately that it’s a significant problem. So we all pay for their sins. 
Still, these are discussion forums. When you’re having a verbal conversation, whatever you say is out there: you can’t take it back. But you can follow up with extra information, or correct yourself, or whatever … So likewise here, in the forums, if you want to add something to what you’ve said, or make a correction etc., it’s fine to make a new post. It’s a normal part of conversation.
All the same, we are just trialling this smaller edit window. If it proves to be more of a negative than a positive, it can be changed. 
###Make this place your own
Lastly, don’t forget that everyone has the power to help shape this community. You have the power to require higher standards of posting. (The moderators around here would love to be out of a job!)
And don’t hesitate to suggest how the forums could be better. If you are inspired by something and would like to do something with it in the forums, let us know! We would really like this to be a vibrant community that you want to participate in and return to regularly.