ADHD: functional notes in abbreviated version on fat strips of painter’s tape on server case or shelf. Passwords go on page dedicated to that server or service in a little black notebook, then eventually in a password manager.

Readme file if my brain lets me, usually 3 months later after hyperfocus on troubleshooting.

I have been looking at Saltcorn for this purpose, and it seems quite interesting. I can’t verify it or vouch for it, however.

If I had more time, I would love to play with it and try and build things. But I am pretty busy. So I am also looking at replacing my specialized CRM with something open source and self-hosted.

It’s not pretty, but I will probably settle on Dolibarr as it’s non-American, comprehensive, and there are docker implementations.

Edit: rereading your use case, I think you should look harder at Dolibarr as it is FOSS, widely used, and comprehensive but you can disable what you don’t need. Save your team the development time.

A good hands-on approach with less risk is to rent a managed vps or shared webhost for a short period, and explore how they have it set up, and what you can do with it. See if you can get ssh access.

Don’t deploy anything serious, just Hello World sandbox stuff. Go watch the logs to see just how nmany bots are looking for wordpress sites, etc. Use the softaculous installer, if available, to quickly mess with different app deployment.

Look at the zone editor to see how domains are configured, though shared hosting will be odd sett and limited by the hosting company. See the antispam and security settings. Look at how they set up email accounts, and mess with the database editor(s).

At each step, have a browser window open with reference docs. If you are learning linux terminal commands, I strongly suggest upgrading from basic man reference material and using the tl;dr webapp.

edit: note that renting a shared webhost will probably be better with a small hosting company running cpanel as big companies like godaddy (friends don’t let friends use godaddy) use proprietary site management software that obscures just how shitty their setup is.

Mucking about with dozens of extensions instead of users just installing an app seems pretty old skool, lol, brings me back to bbs life.

A discord replacement needs to have notifications, respond to calls, as well as share multiple screens.

It also needs to have enough upfront simplicity so that it garners adequate critical mass for network effects. This means a set and forget unified interface and standardized features.

So, Onomatopoeia there is wondering why xmpp isn’t standard, and I’m getting the sense that it is targeted at oldskool usage.

Discord is popular because it’s easy to start using, it has collaboration features like group screensharing, and it doesn’t assume an ubernerd is the target audience.

Maybe we’ll get a more unified, feature rich xmpp implementation, but until then, sounds like matrix/element is closer, despite its warts.

Neither of those client promo pages mention group calling. le sigh

Does it do screen sharing, group calls, etc.?

I’m using etke.cc in Germany. It’s a relatively easy setup and the hosting is matrix dedicated. Payment is a bit odd through ko-fi but otherwise it has been solid. They don’t have element calling fully enabled, it’s a bit conservative. Admin is easy and staff are responsive.