Good news! We’re updating the forum software to improve security, accessibility, design, and the way the community works. We’ll be working on this behind the scenes through December and you'll likely see changes in mid-January. We’re making the forum easier to use for all members and bringing in some other helpful features, including a brand new design.
If you would like us to transfer your user account to the new and improved forum early 2018, just make sure you log in to your account before the end of 2018. If you have forgotten your password, don’t worry, you can reset it here.
For more information about the changes to the forum, please read our frequently asked questions. We've opened this thread so you can chat with the community about this change. We'll also be on hand to answer any questions you have over the next few weeks. If you want to have a chat about this with one of the team, we’re around during office hours to answer your questions at [email protected].
Will this solve the problem when trying to create a new topic in IE. When you try using an IE browser it only lets you create the heading and not the content of the post. Thats why you sometmes see subject titles with no content. It seems ok with other browsers
It is true that we've had some struggles with IE. Browser compatibility issues can always pop up with using a new software (or when browsers update) but one of the things that was attractive about the software we're using is that it is open-source so we're hoping that any problems will get fixed quickly.
It looks like only about 8% of forum users over the past year are using IE and this number has been dropping so we hope that any problems won't stop people contributing to the community.
We're using a software called Discourse. Different sites using this are set up in different ways but you can find one here:https://twittercommunity.com/
Thanks for the feedback on the forum list. We've thought about how to consider the structure of the forum. Because this is a complex project, we though it made sense to bring everything over as close as possible in structure to the way it is now. Then once everything is settled and we make sure that nothing is broken, we can move on to ensuring that the structure is the right one for forum members.
What about archived threads? A wealth of knowledge is contained within them and it would be a travesty to lose any. I remember the last change of software a few years back caused an uproar because of lost threads and the amount of money that was spent!
I can't recall there being very much lost the last time though we did do some archiving which was pretty uneventful. There were also some technical hiccups but in my memory I wouldn't say there wasn't much of an "uproar".
We will do our best to move things over to the new forum smoothly but the truth is that there are threads that will no longer be available. We're still working on how we will archive older posts. And we will archive quite a bit. This forum has been around for years and with over 9K accounts registered, it is impractical to keep it all. I agree that there is a wealth of information but when there is so much of it, the challenge is accessing it all.
It would be good to have your thoughts on keeping things accessible. We found that when we made the archives available, no one checked them very much.
Regarding making archives available; I see your point, not everyone thinks to search them. However if access is allowed to the google bots, the archives can be included in wider google searches, as are posts to this forum..
I have had a look at the example forum you mentioned. It looks as though you cannot have sub-threads - like Reddit - to make conversations easier to follow.
Content on the forum does come up in Google searches. But Google prioritises newer, fresher content as well.
There are various ways of setting up the software so we'll look at this when we're at this stage. Take a look at another example here: https://discuss.codecademy.com which might seem easier to follow.
One piece of functionality I would like to see in the future if it isn’t already available already so apologies in advance if it is.
currently each post that forum users submit are searchable on google to the outside world. Whilst this in most cases isn’t a problem.
However this is a closed group and sometimes you dont want to publish what is the for the most part very personal information to all and sundry.
perhaps the default position should be searchable but maybe a tick box available if you want to keep within the forum. Not sure if this is feasible, web technology isn’t my best subject,
Some parts of the forum are invisible to non registered viewers. The social and creative section can’t be seen unless you are logged on. I must admit, I’m fairly comfortable with personal medical info being “public” because my experience may chime with that of a casual reader, In a way, that’s what forums are for, even if the casual viewer never registers. Remember, far more people read the posts than ever post.
