Guide

How OpenLinq works

Everything you need to know to get the most out of the community.

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Groups

Curated spaces for specific topics or communities. A group can be open (anyone can join), an expert circle (invite-only, for specialists), or a book club (time-bounded reading group).

·Open groups — join freely, submit and vote on articles within that topic
·Expert circles — invite-only spaces where verified experts share deep reads
·Book clubs — time-limited groups reading through a specific book or topic together
·Each group has its own feed, separate from the main Trending page

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Seeds

A seed is a knowledge gap — a topic or question the community wants great articles about, but nobody has submitted one yet. Plant a seed when you're looking for reading recommendations on something specific.

·Plant a seed with a topic you want to learn about
·Other members submit articles to 'grow' the seed
·Think of it as a reading request board

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Shelf

Your personal reading list. Bookmark any article to your Shelf to read later. Mark articles as read to keep track of what you've finished.

·Save articles with the bookmark button on any post
·Mark articles as read once you've finished them
·Your shelf is private — only you can see it

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Digest

A personalized reading list delivered to you daily — online and by email. The algorithm learns what you care about based on your votes, saved articles, and reading history, then picks the best new content for you.

·Fresh Today — articles submitted in the last 24 hours
·For You — ranked by your learned interests (tags, domains, authors you engage with)
·From Your Circles — top articles from groups you're a member of
·You Might Also Like — picked by readers with similar taste (collaborative filtering)
·Community Picks — the community's best, as a fallback
·Dismiss any article you're not interested in — the algorithm learns from that too
·Gets smarter every day: the more you interact, the better it knows your taste

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Reputation

Reputation (rep) is how OpenLinq measures contribution quality. You earn rep by submitting articles that others find valuable, and by inviting people who become active members.

·+10 rep when someone upvotes your article
·+25 rep when someone joins using your invite link
·+5 rep bonus if your submission includes a 'why it matters' note
·Higher rep = more credibility in the community

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Invites

OpenLinq is invite-only to keep quality high. Every member gets a personal referral link they can share. You can also invite friends directly by email from your Settings page.

·Share your referral link — anyone who signs up gets in
·Invite by email directly from Settings
·You earn +25 rep for every person who joins via your link
·During the founding period, the first 100 spots are open without a referral code

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