06-01-2020, 12:44 PM
Let me just get this one out of the way...
That's the exact sort of thing that is called out on the "Doing Things That Scale" article I linked at the very top of my post. Requiring every user of the forum to do something special in order to get a good experience means that most people won't get a good experience.
@fire219 Thank you for your response! I freely admit that when I was putting all this together, I expected that something different would have to be done for mobile. (Note that, on my phone, the current theme still doesn't work so well; the headings at the top are so tiny they're pretty much unreadable without zooming.)
If you think it's appropriate to move to a different forum software, then I'm not going to argue. Like I said, I had about a dozen other issues with the forum software; even if we fix the responsiveness issue, there's still everything else wrong with it.
So let's focus on what the replacement software needs:
You're absolutely right about the "dump all threads into one bucket and use tags to group things". While it's definitely more flexible, it falls clearly into the Things That Don't Scale category.
The Wikipedia page "List of Internet forum software" lists 18 products. I eliminated 6 outright because they have non-FOSS licenses.
I've started a spreadsheet where I can track which requirements are met by each option.
Here's what I've put together (anybody with the link should be able to view the page):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing
(05-30-2020, 08:59 PM)Dendrocalamus64 Wrote: That sort of thing is easy to customize on your end. Install uBlock Origin, right click on it -> Block element -> Done!
That's the exact sort of thing that is called out on the "Doing Things That Scale" article I linked at the very top of my post. Requiring every user of the forum to do something special in order to get a good experience means that most people won't get a good experience.
(05-29-2020, 05:16 PM)fire219 Wrote: Hi, forum admin here -- I've put quite a lot of time trying to refine this theme.
<snip>
In the end, the ultimate solution is to move to a different forum platform. Because trust me -- at this point I feel no love for myBB, to put it mildly. But many of the "modern" free/FOSS choices have UX choices that infuriate me (placing all threads into a giant pile and forcing everyone to use stupid filters to narrow the results down). We'd also be at the mercy of some likely dysfunctional database export tool, else lose 4 years of forum posts.
@fire219 Thank you for your response! I freely admit that when I was putting all this together, I expected that something different would have to be done for mobile. (Note that, on my phone, the current theme still doesn't work so well; the headings at the top are so tiny they're pretty much unreadable without zooming.)
If you think it's appropriate to move to a different forum software, then I'm not going to argue. Like I said, I had about a dozen other issues with the forum software; even if we fix the responsiveness issue, there's still everything else wrong with it.
So let's focus on what the replacement software needs:
- Some way to import all of the important data from the current software, somehow. Since it'd be a one-time conversion, then it's acceptable to require a custom-written import/export process, so long as someone is willing to implement that process. (I have experience with this sort of thing, so unless the schema is super-crazy, I should be able to do it myself.)
- Proper subforums and threads.
- Easy theming/skinning
- Good mobile support (whatever form that may take)
- Private messages, presumably
- Upstream should be amenable to accepting patches for bugfixes and UX improvements
- Anything else?
You're absolutely right about the "dump all threads into one bucket and use tags to group things". While it's definitely more flexible, it falls clearly into the Things That Don't Scale category.
The Wikipedia page "List of Internet forum software" lists 18 products. I eliminated 6 outright because they have non-FOSS licenses.
I've started a spreadsheet where I can track which requirements are met by each option.
Here's what I've put together (anybody with the link should be able to view the page):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing
