user295: As things are going there is no balanced participation by all traditions within Theravada. Can we start a campaign to attract more balanced participation from as many traditions as possible.
Also some traditions may not be very popular in the west. In this case we have to look at accommodating English related issues by extending support.
Theravada
Well represented are:

Mahasi - Ven. Yuttadhammo et. al.

Needs improvement:

Goenka - I am largely influenced but not 100% and sometimes mixed views so I cannot hold myself as representing this view purely. But needs more participation. Especially by people who adhere more rigorously to this tradition and have more in depth knowledge.
Ven. Mun branch of Thai Forest traditions - Samadi, but still need more representation by the different branches of the Thai Forest tradition.
Pa Auk - nobody here with a depth knowledge of this practice.
Mogok Sawadaw - one of the few Buddhist masters who emphasised the DO. Nobody here has an in-depth knowledge of this tradition.
Western Buddhist Order - Crab Bucket, see some new participants coming in.
Secular Buddhists - ???

Mahayana
Vajrayana
Other / Secular Buddhists / Mixed
Also we have to see how to encourage participation from others schools like lineages within the Mahayana community. Perhaps some one can also share this information.
Also the bias in participation and representation has a snow balling effect. It is difficult to get participants come in from different lineages as much of the content does not cater for them.
NB: this is by no means a proposal to reduce participation from one particular lineage, but instead a means to increase participation from all schools, traditions and lineages.

user254: Welcome versus not welcome
We must make it clear, if it's not clear, that multiple traditions are welcome.
Any complaint, that someone else comes from a specific or a different tradition, is therefore harmful.
Thank you, to everyone who already helps to answer questions on this site.

Can control versus cannot control
There are things we can control, and things we cannot control.

We cannot make other people visit the site, nor make them stay to answer questions
We can try to make the site as good as possible, so that people might want to come and read it, come and ask questions of their own, come and help to answer questions.


Good answers from multiple traditions versus balanced participation
Having "multiple traditions" is good; and I am glad the site has several various people from different traditions already.
Asking that participation be strictly balanced probably isn't possible though, I guess.
What we can do, maybe, is think about how to present the best answers that we're able to. Maybe we should start another topic on meta about the quality of answers: what are the attributes of a good answer, what are attributes of a bad answer, how to react to good and bad answers, how to make any bad answers better, etc.
I hope that if the site contains nothing but good answers, if its community can produce only helpful answers, then this will be a very helpful site (it will help a lot of people) and a popular site (a lot of people will want to use it), including people from all traditions.
We already have some variety (if not balance) of tradition. For example I think we have already had some very good answers (haven't we?) to some Mahayana and Vajrayana questions.
Anyway, that's the only suggestion I have, for attracting new users: make everyone welcome, insist that no tradition is unwelcome, and see whether we can improve the site by improving the quality of answers.

Find where the questioner's arrow is and try to help them with it
If you don't mind me misquoting the Parable of the Arrow: if you do have an arrow stuck in you and need help taking it out, if you will ask on this site then you must not be too choosy about where another person trained, about who trained him, what caste he was, what village he was born in, etc.
Of course if a question does get an answer then it's reasonable to ask about the answer's provenance, if you want to: e.g. "Thank you for your answer, which tradition or reference is that from?"
If you are answering a question then the skill is to adapt, select, and include what you know, and learn more, to match the question: to personalize or customize the answer to match the OP's question.

You asked, "Can we start a campaign to attract?"
Actually, apart from each of us thinking of how to improve our own answers, I can think of a few more ways in which the site might be improved:

More 'community' involvement (more discussions on meta, people getting to know each other and to work together)
Clearer policies (if the community defines guidelines about what's good and bad content, people can learn from those guidelines, and the guidelines help to improve the content)
Slightly more moderation (i.e. moderators doing a bit more cleanup, users posting comments to each other, to ask for minor improvements or clarifications to any bits of an answer that aren't clear)
Slightly more structure (for example Crab Bucket is working now, to retag all the questions about meditation; having well-understood and consistent tags is a way to help unify the content of the site; it's also eventually possible for the 'community' (i.e. you) to develop policies for how to handle specific types of tag; for example some guidelines about "what's a good answer?" might vary or be specific depending on the type of tag: one obvious example is that any reference-request answer, at least, should include a reference!


user143: In the interest of being welcoming of all traditions, I think zen style responses may need a bit of consideration. Early on it was pretty much agreed that short, mysterious koan style responses might not represent expert answers or at least might not be helpful to the general audience. Discussed here
But if we delete out zen style responses (as below) we're not really welcoming a particular style of Buddhism. So I'm wondering if this is something to revisit now that the site has had time to mature and we find ourselves somewhat imbalanced with regard to traditions. (Crab Bucket, I'm not trying to be critical of deleting the answer. I think it's just something to consider in light of this issue we are discussing here in this thread.)  
Is it wrong to buy a Buddha statue in Thailand from a Buddhist point of view?
"Yes it's wrong. Throw away your statues and burn your dharma books."
shareeditflag
deleted by Crab Bucket♦ 33 mins ago
answered 1 hour ago
todji
1
Sorry this doesn't look like a serious answer so I'm deleting –  Crab Bucket♦ 33 mins ago

295: <p>As things are going there is no balanced participation by all traditions within Theravada. Can we start a campaign to attract more balanced participation from as many traditions as possible.</p>

<p>Also some traditions may not be very popular in the west. In this case we have to look at accommodating English related issues by extending support.</p>

<h2>Theravada</h2>

<p>Well represented are:</p>

<ul>
<li>Mahasi - Ven. Yuttadhammo et. al.</li>
</ul>

<p>Needs improvement:</p>

<ul>
<li>Goenka - I am largely influenced but not 100% and sometimes mixed views so I cannot hold myself as representing this view purely. But needs more participation. Especially by people who adhere more rigorously to this tradition and have more in depth knowledge.</li>
<li>Ven. Mun branch of Thai Forest traditions - Samadi, but still need more representation by the different branches of the Thai Forest tradition.</li>
<li>Pa Auk - nobody here with a depth knowledge of this practice.</li>
<li>Mogok Sawadaw - one of the few Buddhist masters who emphasised the DO. Nobody here has an in-depth knowledge of this tradition.</li>
<li>Western Buddhist Order - Crab Bucket, see some new participants coming in.</li>
<li>Secular Buddhists - ???</li>
</ul>

<h2>Mahayana</h2>

<h2>Vajrayana</h2>

<h2>Other / Secular Buddhists / Mixed</h2>

<p><em>Also we have to see how to encourage participation from others schools like lineages within the Mahayana community. Perhaps some one can also share this information.</em></p>

<p>Also the bias in participation and representation has a snow balling effect. It is difficult to get participants come in from different lineages as much of the content does not cater for them.</p>

<p><strong>NB: this is by no means a proposal to reduce participation from one particular lineage, but instead a means to increase participation from all schools, traditions and lineages.</strong></p>
 254: <p><strong>Welcome <em>versus</em> not welcome</strong></p>

<p>We must make it clear, if it's not clear, that multiple traditions <em>are</em> welcome.</p>

<p>Any complaint, that someone else comes from a specific or a different tradition, is therefore harmful.</p>

<p>Thank you, to everyone who already helps to answer questions on this site.</p>

<hr>

<p><strong>Can control <em>versus</em> cannot control</strong></p>

<p>There are things we can control, and things we cannot control.</p>

<ul>
<li>We cannot make other people visit the site, nor make them stay to answer questions</li>
<li>We can try to make the site as good as possible, so that people might want to come and read it, come and ask questions of their own, come and help to answer questions.</li>
</ul>

<hr>

<p><strong>Good answers from multiple traditions <em>versus</em> balanced participation</strong></p>

<p>Having "multiple traditions" is good; and I am glad the site has several various people from different traditions already.
Asking that participation be strictly balanced probably isn't possible though, I guess.</p>

<p>What we can do, maybe, is think about how to present the best answers that we're able to. Maybe we should start another topic on meta about the quality of answers: what are the attributes of a good answer, what are attributes of a bad answer, how to react to good and bad answers, how to make any bad answers better, etc.</p>

<p>I hope that if the site contains nothing but good answers, if its community can produce only helpful answers, then this will be a very helpful site (it will help a lot of people) and a popular site (a lot of people will want to use it), including people from all traditions.</p>

<p>We already have some variety (if not balance) of tradition. For example I think we have already had some very good answers (haven't we?) to some Mahayana and Vajrayana questions.</p>

<p>Anyway, that's the only suggestion I have, for attracting new users: make everyone welcome, insist that no tradition is unwelcome, and see whether we can improve the site by improving the quality of answers.</p>

<hr>

<p><strong>Find where the questioner's arrow is and try to help them with it</strong></p>

<p>If you don't mind me misquoting the Parable of the Arrow: if you do have an arrow stuck in you and need help taking it out, if you will ask on this site then you must not be too choosy about where another person trained, about who trained him, what caste he was, what village he was born in, etc.</p>

<p>Of course if a question does get an answer then it's reasonable to ask about the answer's provenance, if you want to: e.g. "Thank you for your answer, which tradition or reference is that from?"</p>

<p>If you are answering a question then the skill is to adapt, select, and include what you know, and learn more, to match the question: to personalize or customize the answer to match the OP's question.</p>

<hr>

<p><strong>You asked, "Can we start a campaign to attract?"</strong></p>

<p>Actually, <em>apart</em> from each of us thinking of how to improve our own answers, I can think of a <em>few more</em> ways in which the site might be improved:</p>

<ul>
<li>More 'community' involvement (more discussions on meta, people getting to know each other and to work together)</li>
<li>Clearer policies (if the community defines guidelines about what's good and bad content, people can learn from those guidelines, and the guidelines help to improve the content)</li>
<li>Slightly more moderation (i.e. moderators doing a bit more cleanup, users posting comments to each other, to ask for minor improvements or clarifications to any bits of an answer that aren't clear)</li>
<li>Slightly more structure (for example Crab Bucket is working now, to retag all the questions about meditation; having well-understood and consistent tags is a way to help unify the content of the site; it's also eventually possible for the 'community' (i.e. you) to develop policies for how to handle specific types of tag; for example some guidelines about "what's a good answer?" might vary or be specific depending on the type of tag: one obvious example is that any <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/reference-request" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;reference-request&#39;" rel="tag">reference-request</a> answer, at least, should include a reference!</li>
</ul>
 143: <p>In the interest of being welcoming of all traditions, I think zen style responses may need a bit of consideration. Early on it was pretty much agreed that short, mysterious koan style responses might not represent expert answers or at least might not be helpful to the general audience. <a href="https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/26/should-we-allow-encourage-short-answers">Discussed here</a></p>

<p>But if we delete out zen style responses (as below) we're not really welcoming a particular style of Buddhism. So I'm wondering if this is something to revisit now that the site has had time to mature and we find ourselves somewhat imbalanced with regard to traditions. (Crab Bucket, I'm not trying to be critical of deleting the answer. I think it's just something to consider in light of this issue we are discussing here in this thread.)  </p>

<p><a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/8485/is-it-wrong-to-buy-a-buddha-statue-in-thailand-from-a-buddhist-point-of-view">Is it wrong to buy a Buddha statue in Thailand from a Buddhist point of view?</a></p>

<p>"Yes it's wrong. Throw away your statues and burn your dharma books."</p>

<p>shareeditflag
deleted by Crab Bucket♦ 33 mins ago
answered 1 hour ago</p>

<p>todji
1
Sorry this doesn't look like a serious answer so I'm deleting –  Crab Bucket♦ 33 mins ago</p>
