Space Setup (Guided Assistant)¶

The guided assistant "Räume einrichten (geführt)" (set up spaces, guided) answers the question many fresh hubs get stuck on: how should content find its spaces? You name areas and topics, the assistant proposes both to match: the routing vocabulary (areas and keyword rules) and the spaces that subscribe to it — and only at the very end is everything created in one go. Browsing through is safe; nothing is created before the last step.

It is aimed at hub admins setting up their first spaces — or extending an existing setup later.

Roles: hub admins only

The assistant creates spaces and routing vocabulary — both admin territory; instance moderators cannot use it.

Area ≠ space — two layers that work together

The assistant sets up two separate things. An area is routing vocabulary: a term the routing engine recognises in post text and attaches to the post as a tag — it can model a city district, a quarter or a residential area, or several together. A space is the community where members read and talk — it subscribes to (among other things) an area and thereby receives its posts. That area and space share a name at creation time is only the starting state, not identity: an area can later feed further spaces, and a space can subscribe to further areas or topics (space settings → associated areas).

Where do I find the assistant?¶

In the app the assistant is called "Räume einrichten (geführt)" and lives in administration at the address /governance/setup/spaces. Three paths lead there:

The "Räume einrichten (geführt)" row in the governance hub — a permanent entry right beside the spaces directory, so re-running it to extend the setup is never buried.
The first-space choice under Governance → Spaces: as long as the hub has no active space yet, "Geführt einrichten (empfohlen)" (guided setup, recommended) and "Direkt anlegen" (create directly) sit side by side there. Once spaces exist, the single create button returns — the assistant stays reachable via the governance hub.
The finish step of the hub setup: the link "Jetzt Räume einrichten" (set up spaces now) leads straight here — the natural continuation once the essentials are in place.

Re-callable — extends what exists¶

The assistant is not a one-shot run. On opening, the overview shows under "Bereits eingerichtet" (already set up) which areas, topics (keyword rules), and spaces already exist. The assistant extends what exists instead of duplicating it: existing areas, keyword rules, and spaces are reused; an existing topic is extended with new keywords, not created twice. So the setup can be run again at any time — for example to add another area or a new topic.

The seven steps¶

Step	Title	Content
1	Overview	What the assistant does + what is already set up
2	Structure	By areas, by topics, or both?
3	Areas	Which areas get a space?
4	Topics	Which topics get a space — with which keywords?
5	Spaces	Adjust the proposed spaces (name, access, code of conduct)
6	Preview	"This will be created" + a worked example
7	Create	Create everything in one step — on any error, nothing is created

Depending on the answer in step 2, the assistant skips what is not needed: structuring by topics only means no areas step — and vice versa.

Step 1 — Overview¶

Explains what happens and shows under "Bereits eingerichtet" the existing areas, topics (keywords), and spaces. On a fresh hub it says honestly: "Nothing is set up yet — this assistant starts from zero."

Step 2 — Structure¶

The fundamental question: how should spaces be structured? Three answers are available:

Choice	What is produced
By areas	One space per area — e.g. "Nord" and "Altstadt". Each space subscribes to its area: posts that mention it land there.
By topics	One space per topic — e.g. "Sport" and "Kultur". Each space subscribes to its topic: posts with matching keywords land there.
Both	Area spaces and topic spaces side by side — a post can land in several spaces, e.g. "Fußballturnier in Nord" in "Nord" and in "Sport".

Step 3 — Areas¶

Which areas should get a space? Areas are entered as chips. An area is the routing term posts are assigned when its name is recognised in the text — it can model a city district, a quarter or a residential area, or several together. For every area a space is proposed that subscribes to it. Hence the naming hint: the spelling becomes the area name routing recognises in the text — "Altstadt", not "OT 3". Already-configured areas are offered as suggestions and adopted with a click.

Step 4 — Topics¶

Which topics should get a space? The assistant ships a topic catalogue; custom topics can be added via "Thema hinzufügen" (add topic). Every topic brings a keyword rule with it: a post whose text contains one of the keywords gets the topic. The keywords are editable per topic — in German, because they have to match the text of your sources. A new topic needs at least one keyword; an already-existing topic honestly says: "vorhanden — n Stichwörter, wird erweitert" (exists — n keywords, will be extended).

Keyword rules apply hub-wide

Keyword rules apply to the whole hub — they also tag posts for future sources and spaces, not just the ones created here. The assistant says so right where it matters.

Step 5 — Spaces¶

"Diese Räume werden vorgeschlagen" (these spaces are proposed) — derived from the structure: one space per area and/or per topic. Each proposed space subscribes to exactly one area or topic — that is the starting state, not a fixed coupling: what a space subscribes to can be changed and extended later in its space settings. Per space you can adjust:

Name and description — the name also determines the later web address (slug).
Access (join mode) — Open, Request, Invite only, or Managed. A note right in the step: spaces with access "invite only" or "managed" are not publicly visible.
Code of conduct (optional) — the house rules new members see before joining; can be added later in the space settings.
Deselect — every proposed space can be deselected entirely via its checkbox.

Every space carries a line stating what it subscribes to: "subscribes to an area", "subscribes to a topic" — or, for intersection spaces, "subscribes to area and topic — both required".

Intersection spaces (optional)¶

With the structure choice "Both", the assistant additionally offers intersection spaces — deselected by default, pure opt-in. An intersection space collects only posts that match area AND topic: "Sport in Nord" gets football from Nord, for example, but not all sport and not everything from Nord. Technically this creates a space with the hybrid combination AND.

Step 6 — Preview¶

The preview "Das wird angelegt" (this will be created) lists the complete plan: areas, keyword rules, and spaces — each with honest badges (new, exists, will be extended). If a space's address collides with an existing one ("Adresse bereits vergeben" — address already taken), the preview says clearly: rename the space in the previous step, otherwise nothing is created.

Below it, "Einmal durchgespielt" (played through once) runs the plan against an example: a post with a title like "Fußballturnier in Nord" — and the list of spaces it would land in, computed with the same rules that will really apply later: spaces match via their subscriptions — areas via the area name in the text, topics via keywords; intersection spaces need both.

Step 7 — Create¶

"Jetzt alles anlegen?" (create everything now?) — everything from the preview is created in one step. Creation is atomic: if anything fails, nothing at all is created — you can adjust and try again. On success the assistant summarises what was created, extended, and reused, and reminds you: content flows once sources are connected — routing can be observed under Governance → Routing.

Spaces — the spaces directory with lifecycle actions and direct creation
Routing rules — the four routing phases and the hybrid combination OR/AND
Areas and Keyword tags — the routing vocabulary in detail
Hub setup — the essentials setup that comes before