So, I’m not the biggest fan of Discourse for reasons I don’t think I need to go into here, as that’s not what the topic is about.
I decided to work on my take on a forum for the community using software that I already know.
So, have a look: http://sh.graloth.com/
Please note I’m still working on it heavily, I only just started working on it today, but I wanted to post it here for input.
Things that I will change:
The entire header (almost, but it’s too “heavy” right now and pulls too much attention away from the actual content)
The sidebars, they’re currently messed up due to my work on the recent news on the frontpage of it
Forum style, it’s currently using the default style that I installed (called Flexile), but I want to give it more of a Stonehearth feel
and so much more >.<
Why I like this forum software
Allows for adding account “upgrades” (can be rephrased) which would allow Radiant Entertainment to handle non-kickstarter backing through there, as well as easily track it
Accepts account linking and creation via Facebook, Twitter, Google, VK and Steam accounts (similar to how discourse supports google and yahoo), it’s not on my test site because they require apps on those services, and I don’t want to create an app for Stonehearth as it would be something that Radiant Entertainment should manage
Has fully functional smartphone apps via the Tapatalk service (they even have a paid service where you can get your very own app for smartphones/tablets instead of using their general one)
Can get a resource manager installed, which allows for cataloging resources (in SH case it could be modules), good example here: Resources | XenForo community
Please note that I’ve turned off user registration on my test site, as it is only for testing while I work on it.
Should Radiant Entertainment find it appealing enough once I deem it “finished” then I’m more than willing to hand it over completely to them, and if they dont then it’s just a fun side project for me
If you have input, comment or suggestions, feel free to post them, but please keep them constructive (nobody learns anything if you just say it sucks)
Someone a day or two ago attempted to do the same thing. Bought a web hosting service, put a forum and get no traction from it and a general negative input from the community. I am one of those that believes that at this stage, there is absolutely NO NEED to create a separate community website. The game hasn’t reached that stage yet were it could warrant it. These forums are actually really great and neat with the not having to switch pages and all, so I’m a supporter of this version of the forums.
And let’s be honest, you wanting to create a separate community forum because you don’t like Discourse is very weird, and unnecessary.
I for one like the idea, I dislike the Discourse forums also, and when the community gets more popular it’ll just get more cluttered. Though separately, no. It’d be nice if the Devs did something similar to what you did @Graloth.
This is my first time at using discourse and so far I’ve liked it. I’ve been able to access everything pretty quickly and without doing a lot of digging.
I don’t think I would ever go to a fan-site unless the developer/company just didn’t have a forum setup. So, unless the devs decide to redo their forums or completely delete this. I don’t see me swapping over.
This is my first time using Discourse, and I find it unfriendly and unwieldy; I want to be more active but I find that this method of community discussion is ill suited to me and causes me to just hide in IRC or chat on the Twitch chat.
I would welcome such a form, and would certainly be comfortable being active on one
The only use for an external website would be for a specific Mod project or maybe a wiki if the Devs don’t make one attached to stonehearth.net. in the future.
At this stage it is not needed and will not attract enough visitors.
Discourse forum is a bit different but one can get used to it.
Am I the only one that actually likes Discourse? There are definitely some rough edges, but there are a lot of little things about this forum I really enjoy.
No, I’ve actually been enjoying it (this is my first forum that I’ve joined who uses it) and it’s one of the reasons why I’ve been checking the forums everyday. Just like it.
It isn’t unorganized at all. The main page just happens to be the “what’s new” button instead of categories. The categories section is still there. In the top. Edit: what bladjian said.
The only issue I see cropping up is the fact that there aren’t pages. That could get really unwieldy when the topics get to a certain length.
Erm, I didn’t want this topic to turn into an “if Discorse is bad or not” discussion (I personally dislike it, but that’s my opinion) nor was it meant for discussing if they should switch away from it.
It’s a project I decided to do, and as I wrote if the devs want to use it I’ll hand all the stuff over so it’ll be in their hands, but if not then it will have been a fun project and maybe even some other community can benefit from the style I’m making for Xenforo.
So please keep the posts on-topic, I wanted input on the design
Kind of hard to not discuss how we feel about Discourse, when the very first sentence in the original post was saying: I don’t like discourse, so I made this new website because I think it’s better. I mean, why is it alright for you to do it and not the rest of the community, who, has to use whatever the devs want to use?
I don’t mean to sound rude, but I think all the people talking about if they like it or not are actually very on topic.
On that note, I’m not a huge fan of the Kickstarter thing on the side. I understand that it’s topical because the KS is currently running, but what would take its place after?
I think you already have your answer about your ipsum dolor project of 1 member.
The community is not going to shift to another forum even if they don’t like Discourse. Building a working community requires more than a forum and some blank pages. You HAVE TO offer some content.
-_- It’s not about switching, it’s my take on a community for Stonehearth, I never said I wanted them to switch, only that if they wanted to use what I’m doing they’re more than welcome.
There is also no content because it’s a TEST site, it’s not meant for people to start using because I posted it here for input on the site itself (design wise especially).
I’m not saying that the devs should switch community software just because I dislike it, I only said I started this project because I disliked it
Test site = no content or filler content
But I can see that it’s hard to get my point, maybe I’m not being clear enough -_-
So, should any moderator see this, please close the topic, I doubt that I’ll get any actual feedback on it (apart from what I already got)
