Patreon and Q23 switching away from vBulletin

“. . . can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”

Pretty much exactly this. I’ve had zero issues with the current forum software, easy to read, easy to use so naturally I see absolutely no point in changing.

Captcha isn’t related to VBulleting though. I also get it occasionally, probably due to my browser settings that triggers cloudflare to think I’m not a java-flash-everything-enabled-browser and thus must be a evil robot.

The biggest obstacles to switching to Discourse I would think is:

  • Moving all the POSTS and ACCOUNTS? But perchance there is a migration tool for that?
  • Taptalk or similar integration for those who rely on that?

And my fears/“wonder”/comments:

  • I tried the try.discourse.org site and noticed that it isn’t organized as an actual “forum” but more like your google mail box with “Labels” to signify the actual forums. Perhaps that is a user setting, so you can choose to see “Games, Movies, P&R” with the other categories hidden, all in the same ‘front page’ Which I guess would be a plus for some. I noticed that there was a ‘categories’ button that would then show only the selected category, so I guess that solves the “I want to switch from forum to forum”-issue and it is more about how these choices are presented on the site.

  • Fear that it has the typical Web 2.0/3.0 bullshit with the site connecting to 50 other sites to gather small 6 line javascript functions hidden in a 500kb .JS file. Currently all the content I have enabled on Quartertothree.com is from the same site: (12 cookies, 4 css, 26 images, 12 scripts, 3 XHR).
    Looked like the TRY site was pretty good at not using content from everywhere, except for two google sites for CSS/Fonts.

  • It is “Social Friendly!” with links to google, google+, facebook, twitter, instagram, yahoo!, myspace with all their little beacons, images and javascripts thus slowing down the actual site. Is there a way to disable this so you ONLY allow “Local” accounts.

I notice try.discourse.org allows you to post using a github account for example…? I always found it nice that the forum here was “sort of” curated by Tom allowing accounts after they took the effort to email him first. Allowing anyone who have an account anywhere on the internet to post is kind of begging for spammers. (And Whipperspappers ;) )

Course, with the front page and forums being linked, that means that frontpage posters perhaps can post anonymously without having to make an account first? I suppose the new activation from Tom then would mean that it allows posting privileges on the rest of the site and not just the front page.

Biggest plus:

  • Getting rid of Disqust on the front page.
    (One think I’ve always liked with Disqust is how you can stalk users across multiple sites through their disqust account, so you can see everywhere they’ve posted - which was why I stopped using it after a little while using throw-away email accounts to post at a new account each time I used it in the past…)

Personally I kinda “like” the look and features of vBulletin more than Discourse, from what I’ve seen on the TRY site anyway.
But perhaps it is possible to setup a forum that isn’t made by Gary Oldman (EVERYTHING!) - because surely it allows “minimalistic” themes, disabling modules you do not want to use etc - and I guess more “user customization” options as well.

I get the captcha stuff a lot. Then again, I post a lot.

I’m fine with whatever Tom decides.

The two main things I dislike about Discourse are the neverending infinite scroll nonsense – probably the dumbest idea in forum design ever – and the lack of a “What’s New” equivalent feature. The What’s New page is my Qt3 bookmark, since that allows me to come in and see just the threads that have discussion on them since the last time I was there, rather than having to scroll through each subforum individually, and allows me to monitor only the stuff that’s new. Infinite scroll makes it difficult for me to figure out where in a discussion I am (is this near the end? Do I have 200 more posts to read?), which, honestly makes me less likely to participate in a discussion.

I don’t like the aesthetics of Discourse, either, but I imagine you either get used to that (in a Stockholm syndrome kinda way) or Wumpus will eventually put some sort of skinning into Discourse.

I do appreciate Wumpus putting his money where his mouth is. Personally I don’t like Discourse, but recognize that others may feel differently.

I am perfectly satisfied with vBulletin (except the rare time when I forget about that Captcha stuff before posting a big post with images and links). But I am generally predisposed to using more modern solutions. I also think it’s promising that the man himself will be here on the forum, so when we decide something doesn’t work, he can make it better! (I’m sure that will only result in a virulent debate thread every third time.)

In summary: If Tom wants to try it, I’m down.

The fact that Wumpus wants to try his own dog food as is said in software development is a big plus for me. But really, if Tom wants to try, I’m okay with it.

Whatever Tom wants is fine with me, though as an old person, I am resistant to change, and for me, this would be a major one. I’ve not had any trouble with vBulletin either, but whatever.

Is there a way to try it and keep both active for a trial period by automatically migrating posts from one to the other? Probably not I guess, but just a thought.

I am for whatever helps Tom; I would think $1000/month would be a big thing for him (I know it would be for me).

I’m going to quote McCoy in Star Trek VI - “I’d give real money if he’d shut up.” My vote, nonbinding as it is, give wumpus whatever it takes to end these incessant passive aggressive forum software bitch sessions.

Wow, $1000/month is like a free pass for posting porn gifs.

Not in the slightest interested in what I’ve seen of the other fora. It’s not my decision though.

I would post a fuck yes gif or something but it’s way too much effort with VB.

That may actually be a reason not to switch away from VB but consider this a big thanks to Wumpus and a hell yes to switching to Discourse.

I use Tapatalk because the mobile interface to QT3 is so bad, Discourse is great on the other hand so good riddance to Tapatalk.

We will have to do a bunch of tweaks I am sure, and the initial phase will have teething issues but that can done in parallel to test.

As an old guy, I’m in the if it ain’t broke camp. That said, I’ll give it a shot if it means money for Tom.

I still don’t really see what’s appealing about Discourse (mind you, I’ve read wumpus’s opinions–often voluminous ones, at that–on the matter), and can think of several ways it’s fundamentally worse (for my weird, perhaps thoroughly misguided) use-cases/preferences. . . but I like you guys enough that I’d stick around if we switched to it :)

I’m not hugely fussed either way, I don’t think, but about the only problem I’ve had with vBulletin is that it won’t let me edit my posts on the mobile version of the site. Trying deletes them instead. Since typing on a virtual keyboard is horrendous, I hardly ever post while browsing on my phone anyway, so that’s not a big deal. So I don’t see any particular reason to switch, and while it’s quite possible that Discourse could be tweaked to feel closer to the current forum setup, I do have to agree that I don’t like the way it looks on the trial and Gearbox sites.

I’ve been in favor of a ‘likes and signatures-disabled’, avatars optional Discourse switch, assuming these characteristics which make the place reader and writer friendly can be met

I do think we need to make it clear, the hosting costs are negligible. The Patreon move is an attempt to make a living off the site from regular members of the site. I’m happy to pitch in, and I hope Tom succeeds wildly. However there’s truly very little connection between the forum software and the Patreon campaign and/or use of ads to earn money. So a move to Discourse doesn’t follow from an emphasis on Patreon funding.

At the end if the day, regulars here want a simple site that encourages written discourse over gif battles . So simple options such as disabling avatars, disallowing signatures, a simple color scheme similar to current options and saying no to likes are all imperative. If that can be accomplished in both desktop and mobile browsing, it might be worth a look.

I think it would help if wumpus or someone took the time to create the Qt3 discourse template with similar colors, aesthetics, etc. Likes disabled, avatars toggle-able, so folks could kick the tires. If wumpus is as serious as he presents himself, it seems this wouldn’t be too hard a feat to accomplish on spec.

Ultimately, though. I’m cool w/ Tom’s inclinations.

This is how I feel about it.

I know almost nothing about forum software, so I have no opinion beyond that :) Either way, I’ll stick around.

What the hell is wrong with vBulletin?