5 ms·

I can't put my finger on it but every time I have to use Discourse, it feels like something is 'off'. It feels like it's just a mashup of reddit + stack overflo

I can't put my finger on it but every time I have to use Discourse, it feels like something is 'off'. It feels like it's just a mashup of reddit + stack overflow + forums. I much prefer the older style phpBB forums setup. I would take that style just implemented in a newer tech stack over Disourse any day.

riidom 5y ago
Do you mean content-wise, or from UX point of view? I try to understand the arguments against discourse, but to me it's simply not much of a difference when I watch "active topics" on a phpBB or a discourse-one, both feels like "forum" to me. Highly subjective ofc, not trying to preach, just want to understand, as I said :)
- jimkleiber 5y ago
  I think for me, someone who is actively diving deep into Discourse and hoping it'll work because I love the search and the open-source aspect of it, I still find the UX to be off. I guess I'm used to shorter interactions online, in comments sections or on social media, and Discourse doesn't seem to do those that well. Now, that being said, they have an alpha version of chat, which is the main reason I've jumped more into it as of late. By being able to take conversations from the chat and port them to topics, making them longer-term group memory and more searchable, gives me some hope. Still, some of the things just feel clunky. I wish I could put more words to it, I'll try to reflect more. edit: it also doesn't have a mobile app (it has DiscourseHub, but that's not dedicated to each instance). While the mobile web version is better than most mobile web versions, it's still not an app, which can frustrate me on iOS.
  - 1123581321 5y ago
    Try the Fig app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fig-for-discourse/id1485491193 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fig-for-discourse/id1485491193 I also recommend learning keyboard shortcuts for Discourse, especially j/k/o navigation and g-u g-n m-t m-r; it runs over most of the friction.
    - jimkleiber 5y ago
      I like the Fig app but from what I know it's no longer being updated, and with the new chat function coming, I'd hope it would get updated for that. I think there's just a much higher learning curve. I keep learning keyboard shortcuts but I don't know how many of my community members will. Who knows, maybe with a focus on chat will bring a new focus to mobile (and with iOS getting better support for PWAs)

riidom 5y ago

Do you mean content-wise, or from UX point of view? I try to understand the arguments against discourse, but to me it's simply not much of a difference when I watch "active topics" on a phpBB or a discourse-one, both feels like "forum" to me. Highly subjective ofc, not trying to preach, just want to understand, as I said :)

jimkleiber 5y ago
I think for me, someone who is actively diving deep into Discourse and hoping it'll work because I love the search and the open-source aspect of it, I still find the UX to be off. I guess I'm used to shorter interactions online, in comments sections or on social media, and Discourse doesn't seem to do those that well. Now, that being said, they have an alpha version of chat, which is the main reason I've jumped more into it as of late. By being able to take conversations from the chat and port them to topics, making them longer-term group memory and more searchable, gives me some hope. Still, some of the things just feel clunky. I wish I could put more words to it, I'll try to reflect more. edit: it also doesn't have a mobile app (it has DiscourseHub, but that's not dedicated to each instance). While the mobile web version is better than most mobile web versions, it's still not an app, which can frustrate me on iOS.
- 1123581321 5y ago
  Try the Fig app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fig-for-discourse/id1485491193 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fig-for-discourse/id1485491193 I also recommend learning keyboard shortcuts for Discourse, especially j/k/o navigation and g-u g-n m-t m-r; it runs over most of the friction.
  - jimkleiber 5y ago
    I like the Fig app but from what I know it's no longer being updated, and with the new chat function coming, I'd hope it would get updated for that. I think there's just a much higher learning curve. I keep learning keyboard shortcuts but I don't know how many of my community members will. Who knows, maybe with a focus on chat will bring a new focus to mobile (and with iOS getting better support for PWAs)