===== Conversations, Discussions, and Notifications =====

**Use this section when you need to:**

  * contact another user directly or continue an existing conversation
  * understand when to use messaging, page discussions, or the social feed
  * manage notifications, favourites, and follows as awareness tools
  * treat comments and reactions as part of the user workflow rather than as isolated extras

**Main roles:**
  * Signed-in users
  * Contributors
  * Maintainers

**Related sections:**
  * [[hortus:discover|Discover research content]]
  * [[hortus:profile|Build your public profile]]
  * [[hortus:workspace|Work in My Workspace]]

This chapter focuses on conversation and awareness rather than on formal collaboration structure. Collaboration in the stronger sense — shared folders, governed publication, metadata design, project membership — is addressed elsewhere. Here, the goal is lighter but critical: keep people informed, enable quick exchanges, attach questions to the right context, and avoid scattering research conversations across external channels unnecessarily.

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===== Communication workflow =====

A typical interaction flow:

  * Discover a resource or project
  * Evaluate content
  * Ask a question (discussion)
  * Contact user (messaging if needed)
  * Follow item for updates
  * Receive notifications

This creates a **continuous interaction loop**.

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===== Best practices =====

  * Use discussions for content-related questions
  * Use messaging for private communication
  * Follow items you care about
  * Regularly check notifications
  * Keep communication clear and contextual

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===== Summary =====

HORTUS communication tools:

  * support collaboration directly inside the platform
  * keep discussions tied to content
  * reduce reliance on external tools

Users can:

  * communicate efficiently
  * stay informed
  * engage with research communities

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