Back in the summer of 2019, members of the Codecademy community, who are also Forum Moderators, started an unofficial Codecademy Discord server to connect with other learners. Nearly three years later, we’re excited to announce that the Codecademy Discord server has been verified — it’s official!

To celebrate the verification of our Discord server, we spoke to two of the community members that were there from the start. Chris and Steven helped make the Codecademy Discord server what it is today. Below they share their experience with starting — and growing — this wonderful community resource!

But before we get into the conversation with Chris and Steven, we wanted to invite you to join our Discord server. Follow this invite and start participating. Here’s what you can expect:

• Meet and socialize with other learners in real time to chat about coding and non-coding related topics.
• Join the conversation in set channels for sharing resources and discussing specific programming languages and Career Paths.
• Join Codecademy Chapter channels to connect with others who attend the same meetups as you.
• Use Discord’s video and screen share options, which are great for working alongside your code buddy.
• Share your wins and support fellow-learners as you work towards your coding goals!

How did the Codecademy Discord server start?

Chris was on vacation in Spain when the idea for the Codecademy Discord server was born. “I was on holiday and had difficulty accessing the forums properly from my mobile. I suggested to the Mod team that we create a Discord server, since those can be easily accessed from anywhere.”

“We started the server because it was a completely different environment,” says Steven, who stepped in to help run the server early on. “Discord is really great for quick questions and making friends with people to co-program with.”

What’s it been like to watch the community grow?

Chris took a break for a while after starting the server, but tells us, “It has certainly been amazing to come back to such a big and vibrant group. I’ve just checked how many people have joined today so far and it’s already more than the number that joined in the first week of the group being created!”

Chris shares a message of thanks for Steven for taking the reins after he stepped down from his Admin position on the group. “I couldn’t have done it without you, mate!”

Steven shares, “This wasn’t even the initial plan for the server. We were just going to try it out and see what happens and it has been absolutely amazing. I’ve really enjoyed it. There’s something about starting a project from the ground up and watching it grow.”

What’s your favorite thing about the Discord server?

Steven shares that his favorite part has been getting involved with the community, answering questions, and helping people. “It’s a great feeling, when you lead someone to an answer. After a while of leading them to it you see that mental lightbulb just kind of click. It’s a great feeling. I never get tired of it.”

Chris shares, “The whole point of the Discord-based community was to give people another — often more familiar — platform to meet and chat with like-minded individuals.” He’s loved seeing his initial pitch for the community on Discord come to life.

What’s next, now that it’s officially verified?

“It’s still hard to believe how far it’s come,” says Steven. “Now that the server is verified, I can finally start planning some really cool stuff. It finally gives us that feeling of, yes, we’re the real deal. We’re not just another of those unofficial servers that eventually just dies out because it doesn’t have enough support. It is going to have its challenges of course, but in the long run, it’s really going to help out the server, and that makes me super excited.”

Here at Codecademy, we want to thank our team of community moderators and superusers, as well as Codecademy learners, for their endless pursuit in making our community an unmatched resource for anyone learning to code!

We’re so excited to offer Discord, a real-time chat platform, for learners to use in tandem with our long-standing Codecademy Forums. We’re looking forward to the many more connections our community members will make with one another and what will come of those connections –– from finding a friend to building a cool project to landing a job of their dreams and everything in between.