transition everything to Discourse

How can I make this site better? Let me know what you'd like to see!

Moderators: MattKingUSA, khz

User avatar
milkii
Established Member
Posts: 477
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2016 9:08 am
Location: Edinburgh
Has thanked: 92 times
Been thanked: 91 times
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by milkii »

GraysonPeddie wrote:I think there's a very valid reason for not switching over to Discourse: Ctrl+F.
if you press ctrl-f twice, it overrides the in-built find and gives the browser find, works for most sites that hijack ctrl-f.


the there's too much whitespace in the default Discourse theme, though I guess that could be customised, but in general i've no real opinion on changing or not.

they/them ta / libreav.org / wiki.thingsandstuff.org/Audio and related pages / gh

User avatar
Linuxmusician01
Established Member
Posts: 1524
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:38 pm
Location: Holland
Has thanked: 756 times
Been thanked: 135 times

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by Linuxmusician01 »

Luc wrote:
falkTX wrote:things trying to work well on phones and ignoring desktops is really irritating.
Very well said!

Now, get off our lawn! :D
Please, no Discourse! Dunno why, but I find its UI vague and unclear. It's only bling bling and no user friendliness.
User avatar
GraysonPeddie
Established Member
Posts: 657
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:12 pm
Location: Altha, FL
Been thanked: 6 times
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by GraysonPeddie »

I used Ctrl+F to do a search for JavaScript, but at least Firefox told me no matches until I mention it.

Here's another reason why not to have Discourse: No JavaScript? You can't browse the forums and threads at all. The page will just be white. I know that sounds silly, but have you guys ever used NoScript in Firefox? It's a handy tool for blocking out malicious scripts.

And please, don't bring up Java. JavaScript and Java are not the same.
--Grayson Peddie

Music Interest: New Age w/ a mix of modern smooth jazz, light techno/trance & downtempo -- something Epcot Future World/Tomorrowland-flavored.
wolftune
Established Member
Posts: 1350
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:40 pm
Location: Portland, OR
Been thanked: 2 times
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by wolftune »

GraysonPeddie wrote: Here's another reason why not to have Discourse: No JavaScript? You can't browse the forums and threads at all. The page will just be white. I know that sounds silly, but have you guys ever used NoScript in Firefox? It's a handy tool for blocking out malicious scripts.
This is outdated. I don't know the exact status right now, but for a while now Discourse is totally readable with NoScript. Some functions don't work, it's not a fully-JavaScript independent tool, but it's not a plain-white broken thing. It's at least readable.
Aaron Wolf
Music teacher, scholar
http://wolftune.com
Lyberta
Established Member
Posts: 681
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2014 8:15 pm
Location: The Internet
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by Lyberta »

GraysonPeddie wrote:And please, don't bring up Java. JavaScript and Java are not the same.
Hehe, yeah. I don't allow Java on my PC. Too bad I can't do the same for JavaScript. Also, I'm really tired of removing OpenJDK from new Debian installs, I think LibreOffice requires it by default.
User avatar
chaocrator
Established Member
Posts: 313
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2015 8:11 pm
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by chaocrator »

discourse is inconvenient.
User avatar
milkii
Established Member
Posts: 477
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2016 9:08 am
Location: Edinburgh
Has thanked: 92 times
Been thanked: 91 times
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by milkii »

After watching this talk at Edinburgh Techmeetup last night, my opinion is now weighted toward a transition to Discourse.

In an attempt at revitalising the conversation here, might anyone have any actual specific concerns against Discourse, rather than vague notions or things that could be fixed with CSS/plugins?

they/them ta / libreav.org / wiki.thingsandstuff.org/Audio and related pages / gh

tavasti
Established Member
Posts: 2047
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2016 6:56 am
Location: Kangasala, Finland
Has thanked: 369 times
Been thanked: 208 times
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by tavasti »

For me this forum is fine, but I suppose I could live with Discourse also. Haven't used it, but I believe this old forum is slightly more my cup of tea. But what really matters is what admin thinks is best. Admin is the one who does all the work, so it (s)he makes decisions.

Linux veteran & Novice musician

Latest track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVrgGtrBmM

User avatar
Linuxmusician01
Established Member
Posts: 1524
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:38 pm
Location: Holland
Has thanked: 756 times
Been thanked: 135 times

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by Linuxmusician01 »

In my opinion Discourse is unsuited for sharing info, how-to's etc. It's a nice discussion platform, but this forum is more than that. I would never, ever join Discourse. Except for shouting my opinion 'bout something unimportant.
User avatar
Michael Willis
Established Member
Posts: 1451
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:27 pm
Location: Rocky Mountains, North America
Has thanked: 68 times
Been thanked: 162 times
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by Michael Willis »

milk wrote:my opinion is now weighted toward a transition to Discourse.
Could you share more details about what changed your opinion? I don't know much about discourse, but I can say that for me, phpBB doesn't facilitate following and participating in conversations that are relevant to me. I find myself spending a lot of time navigating around. Specifically, sometimes I will skip conversations in a sub-forum because I don't care to read them. Then I will arrive at the front page, see a red icon on the left, and on the right it shows a topic that I wanted to follow. I will go to it only to find out that it doesn't have any more posts, the icon was red because I didn't read another topic in the same sub-forum. If Discourse were to provide a better user experience than this, I would be willing to try it.
User avatar
raboof
Established Member
Posts: 1855
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:58 am
Location: Deventer, NL
Has thanked: 50 times
Been thanked: 74 times
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by raboof »

Michael Willis wrote:I don't know much about discourse, but I can say that for me, phpBB doesn't facilitate following and participating in conversations that are relevant to me. I find myself spending a lot of time navigating around. Specifically, sometimes I will skip conversations in a sub-forum because I don't care to read them. Then I will arrive at the front page, see a red icon on the left, and on the right it shows a topic that I wanted to follow. I will go to it only to find out that it doesn't have any more posts, the icon was red because I didn't read another topic in the same sub-forum.
Personally, I use search.php?search_id=newposts a lot.
Michael Willis wrote:If Discourse were to provide a better user experience than this, I would be willing to try it.
I've been using Discourse in some other communities, and while it has somewhat grown on me, I don't see a huge advantage (and some definite costs) in switching.
wolftune
Established Member
Posts: 1350
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:40 pm
Location: Portland, OR
Been thanked: 2 times
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by wolftune »

I met the head of phpBB at OSCON a couple months ago, and he seemed aweomse and made me feel good about phpBB as a project still.

Furthermore, he supported all my ideas about better moderation / conflict-resolution / staying-on-topic and will build out suggestions when I get around to formulating them as clear proposals.

So, I support STAYING with phpBB, just keep the forum updated to latest version of it!
Aaron Wolf
Music teacher, scholar
http://wolftune.com
User avatar
Michael Willis
Established Member
Posts: 1451
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:27 pm
Location: Rocky Mountains, North America
Has thanked: 68 times
Been thanked: 162 times
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by Michael Willis »

raboof wrote:Personally, I use search.php?search_id=newposts a lot.
Thanks, that helps (although admittedly that feature isn't exactly very discoverable).
wolftune
Established Member
Posts: 1350
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:40 pm
Location: Portland, OR
Been thanked: 2 times
Contact:

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by wolftune »

falkTX wrote:Personal experience here:
I have used discourse (as user on their a couple of forums), and I just dont like how it works. Using it feels quite subpar compared to what we have here.
The fact that it relies on javascript so much is also a PITA
Discourse is superior to most other Javascript-heavy options and can be set up in ways that work quite well. But it is *very* heavy compared to phpBB. The *reliance* on JavaScript is obnoxious.

After seeing how phpBB as a project is still active and well-supported, I really think leave well-enough alone. We can anticipate future updates to phpBB to keep it usable etc.
Aaron Wolf
Music teacher, scholar
http://wolftune.com
Luc
Established Member
Posts: 741
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 1:04 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: transition everything to Discourse

Post by Luc »

Michael Willis wrote:
raboof wrote:Personally, I use search.php?search_id=newposts a lot.
Thanks, that helps (although admittedly that feature isn't exactly very discoverable).
I prefer this one:
search.php?search_id=active_topics

These and others are found in the "Quick links" drawer on the top left corner of every page. Quite discoverable IMO. :wink:
Post Reply