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I am in the final stages to import Forum² into here. I will get the data imported starting tomorrow and should be done by tomorrow night. Site might be a little glitchy during the time. I have removed the link directory in preparation for the Invision 5 upgrade. Once I get the site upgraded I will install a directory. Also the downloads are being removed. I am building a new downloads system with pages and will use that. Thanks for bearing with me. Things should be better than ever when everything is done.

In the old days a person could create a forum and drop a few links and almost instantly get users sign up. There were several niches that if you started a community in the niche the site would explode if you put a little work into it. I seen it happen time after time. That was in the peak of forum popularity. It's much harder to get a community off the ground today. It can be done. You have to work hard at it. Gone are the days of old and that's a good thing. Forums that have staff that actively contribute topics are more attractive to people that find the site. If you care about your forum community it will show. User will sign up and soon the community you nurtured along is popular.

While Discourse is widely recognized as powerful open-source forum software, Discourse has also served as our primary workplace/team collaboration tool from the very beginning. Many other companies and organizations have found incredible value in using it the same way. In this blog post, we share insights on how companies, research labs, and other groups that need spaces to collaborate can effectively use Discourse to support discussions that are worth remembering. Why teams choose Discourse for collaboration This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://blog.discourse.org/2024/10/discourse-a-team-collaboration-tool 6 posts - 4 participants Read full topic View the full article

Current Projects - October 2024 Welcome to our second edition of Current Projects, a monthly newsletter about what we’re currently working on at Discourse. Your questions and feedback are welcome! Kicking off Composer redesign Our composer redesign project is still in its early stages, but we’re getting closer to defining our design direction and choosing the libraries that we’ll be building upon. After evaluating our options, three contenders bubbled to the top: Lexical, ProseMirror, and TipTap. We did some earlier prototyping with Lexical, but ProseMirror looks compelling, and its recent adoption by some larger projects addresses some of our earlier concerns about it. We are currently working on a prototype based on ProseMirror to validate some assumptions we have about what that integration would look like. A new look and feel config page Our work on a new theme chooser is evolving into a slightly larger project to create a more streamlined config page in the admin interface for customizing the look abd feel of a Discourse site. In addition to giving admins on new sites an easier and more visual way to choose from a small set of selected themes, we’ll also be looking at how sites configure theme components, color schemes, and related settings. We are close to landing an initial pull request for this new page, which will remain hidden until it is in a state where we’re ready to roll it out more widely. In full swing Admin interface design consistency We’ve arrived at some new patterns for the design of config pages within the admin interface, that group related sites settings and other configuration together in on applying our new guidelines to the pages we’ve recently added for the new about page and custom user fields. Switching our hosted plans to browser page view metrics We’re working on rolling out our new page view metrics for our hosted plans, and updating plan limits accordingly, so that traffic from bots and crawlers will no longer be counted as page views towards a site’s usage, relieving site admins of the responsibility to manage that traffic. Simplifying invites We’re making invites more discoverable and simplifying some of the more common flows for inviting users. AI summaries for hot topics We’re still in the thick of our work to add an experimental feature to allow sites to include short summaries of topics on the hot topic list itself. We’re close to landing an initial change to allow topics to store multiple types of summaries, each using a different prompt. New full screen pages for signup and login We’re following up on our earlier improvements to signup and login and changing these screens from modals to full screen pages. We’ve merged this new feature behind the experimental_full_page_login feature flag for backwards compatibility with existing themes that customize these screens while they make updates to be compatible with the new pages. Ability to limit where Personas can interact and which LLMs they can use We’re working on a change to limit where individual AI personas can interact and which LLMs they can use. This enables you to create more limited personas that are available to larger groups of members while managing costs. A more extensible topic list We’re continuing to work on a new topic list implementation with a focus on extensibility developer experience. We have been testing this internally since May and our next goal is to be in a state where we can start testing the new implementation on Meta. We are in the process of updating many themes and plugins to use new APIs, in order to take that next step towards rolling it out more widely, Wrapping up New about page design We recently shipped a new design for the about page behind a feature flag. We’re still tidying up a few loose ends but will soon be unconditionally switching sites over to the new design. Learn more… Allowing chat threads in direct messages We’ve added the ability to turn on threading in chat direct messages, to enable more structured conversations among small groups when they need it. Switching themes and plugins from yarn to pnpm Following up on our recent work to switch core over from yarn to pnpm, which brings gains in speed and storage requirements for building Discourse, we’ve been doing the same within all of the themes and plugins that we maintain. Add upload support to custom AI tools Custom AI tools now support uploaded documents, and an API to search them, enabling you to create tools with access to additional knowledge for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) that multiple personas can access. Ability to flag and hide posts as spam with AI triage automation We’ve added the ability to flag posts as spam with the AI triage automation, which also hides the post automatically. Previously, we only allowed individual posts to be sent to the review queue or entire topics to be hidden. 1 post - 1 participant Read full topic View the full article

I have created 2 new user groups. They are: VIP Visiting Admin The visiting admin group is for admins from other sites that are active participants here. The VIP group is for members that actively participate in the discussions, create new topics and contribute articles. Members promoted to this group will get extra privileges and get a shiny badge to denote that they are indeed VIP's. If you have any questions I'll answer them.

These are some tips for coding an addon for your favorite forum software: Understand the Forum Software: Familiarize yourself with the specific forum software you're targeting (e.g., phpBB, vBulletin, Discourse). Read the documentation to understand its architecture and plugin system. Set Up a Development Environment: Create a local development environment to test your addon without affecting a live forum. Use tools like XAMPP or Docker for PHP-based forums. Follow Best Practices: Adhere to coding standards and best practices for the language used (PHP, JavaScript, etc.). This ensures your code is clean, maintainable, and compatible with future updates. Use Hooks and APIs: Leverage hooks and APIs provided by the forum software to integrate your addon seamlessly. This minimizes conflicts with the core software and other addons. Plan Your Features: Clearly define the features and functionality of your addon. Create a roadmap or outline to guide your development process. Focus on User Experience: Ensure your addon is user-friendly. Consider the interface design and how users will interact with your addon. Test Thoroughly: Perform extensive testing to identify and fix bugs. Test in various scenarios to ensure compatibility with different themes and other addons. Document Your Code: Write clear documentation for your addon, including installation instructions, usage guidelines, and a changelog. This helps users understand and utilize your addon effectively. Stay Updated: Keep your addon updated with the latest version of the forum software to ensure compatibility and security. Engage with the Community: Join forums or communities related to the software to gather feedback, share your progress, and get support from other developers. Consider Security: Implement security best practices to protect against common vulnerabilities like SQL injection, XSS, and CSRF. Version Control: Use version control systems like Git to track changes and collaborate if you're working with a team. By following these tips, you'll be better equipped to create a successful addon for forum software.

I posted this on my blog so I thought I'd also post it here:

Starting a forum can be an exciting and at times daunting venture! Here are some tips to help you get started: Define Your Niche: Choose a specific topic or theme that you’re passionate about. This will help attract a targeted audience. Select a Platform: Decide whether you want to use a hosted solution (like ProBoards or phpBB) or self-hosted software (like Discourse or Vanilla Forums). Create a Structure: Outline categories and subcategories for your forum. This helps organize discussions and makes navigation easier. Set Rules and Guidelines: Establish clear rules for behavior and posting to maintain a positive environment. Design and Branding: Customize the look and feel of your forum to make it visually appealing. A good design can attract and retain users. Engage Early Members: Invite friends or acquaintances to join and start discussions. Early engagement can help create a lively atmosphere. Promote Your Forum: Use social media, blogs, and other platforms to promote your forum and attract new members. Encourage Participation: Post regularly, ask questions, and encourage members to share their thoughts. Consider running contests or polls to boost engagement. Moderation: Have a team of moderators to help manage discussions, enforce rules, and keep the forum welcoming. Gather Feedback: Regularly ask for feedback from your members to improve the forum and make necessary adjustments. Starting a forum requires time and effort, but with dedication, it can become a thriving community!

If you are a new member please take the time to introduce yourself to the community. I'll start. I'm Bob. Been a forum owner since 1994 when I started my first forum with a hacked up comment form included with Microsoft FrontPage. Been addicted every since.

Anyone using it? Tried it? I love the concept behind it myself. I truly think and feel forums are dying, only hardcore users attempt to start anything with them. From what I've gathered, Flarum seems to lean more towards social media (which is definitely needed for forums). Your thoughts?

I'd like to welcome everyone to Forum² a community for administrators, owners and forum enthusiasts to gather together and share knowledge. Forum² was originally Admin Reports and then later Forum SEO Help. While the community was off to a good start I didn't have time for it and it stagnated. I decided that this time I am in it for the long haul so therefore Forum² is born. Once again welcome to Forum² a community for forum administrators.