Alternative forum software?

[rockerBOO]

I personally have used every forum/message board software since vBulletin first came out, and have written a few myself.

vBulletin has been very slow to adapt to the new, more dynamic environments that currently exist today. Lack of mobile support makes it very difficult to use this site on tablets, phones. This is where a lot of photos we take are, and we can't use them, or can't see whats going on because its not designed for mobile. Along with these, development has stagnated, and is only small improvements.

Also with the size of the community reflecting how easy it is to contribute. It is becoming frustrating to me that its so difficult to work with, especially with photos. Pagination makes it very difficult to stay in line of a larger post because you can't see most of it. And if you are trying to catch up on posts? Very difficult to go through the pages and see what has been written.


With that, there are some more modern software available. Particularlly, Discourse, which has attracted my attention because of the amount of thought that is put into the whole process. Also is faster, full mobile support, no pagination as we have it on here. Developed by the same guy that lead the Stack Overflow community of sites that is very popular and easy to use.

Anyone else have an opinion on this?

[sprucetree]

My Windows XP was good till they stopped support which decided my next move-

Windows 8

[EllenW]

Sorry rB I don't have any knowledge of this

[wildwatcher]

~~~you might try scrolling down to the bottom of this WG page, and you will notice that WG's program that is used is the 'vBulletin program version 3.8.4. You can find another 'vBulletin program website example over here: MyTractorForum.com - The Friendliest Tractor Forum and Best Place for Tractor Information - Search Results it is called MyTractorForum, which also uses the 'vBulletin program similar to what we have here at WG. They have a much larger number of members and much more frequent postings than WG, and yet it functions fairly well, from a consumer's standpoint. As I think WG functions fairly well as it is. But technologies do change with time, and I think it would be probably a good thing if we can include the general public that uses android type devices, such as the Kindle Fire, or I-pads. We know for example, from at least 1 WG member (Sage), that some members would rather use their new type 'android-tablet' devices (other than a personal computer) to interact with the WG website. But are somewhat prohibited because WG/vBulletin program or the new device (Kindle Fire, or whatever) does not support an application for the new device to work completely at WG. {posting pictures/video/sound tracks for example, would require some kind of different android application that will interact with WG's website, therefore the android users probably cannot (at this time), post pixs from their new android devices, and generally are required to use their 'oldfashioned' pc to interact with the WG website}

If you want to see an example of what rockerBOO is suggesting go here: https://community.imgur.com/t/camp-i...-thread/5997/4 of which according to rockerBOO is pc/android/tablet compatible.

If you notice HOW the public posts in the Discourse format (at Imgur for example), some posts are posted to address the main subject, while others may chose to 'reply post' to specific posts, {I guess that is pagination} you might find that 1 post in the blog may have 2, or 3, or even more replys, click on the 'replys' button to view the various replys. ~~~~ In this Discourse format, I suppose it may be used to not distract from the main topic so much, because the replys, are unrevealed until the user decides to investigate them further. Which does kind of streamline the blog posting/reading!

I also believe that when you drastically change a format/program, the website can lose some valuable members because of it. For example even tho we all KNOW that the government is secretly lurking around absorbing all electronic data, some sites I refuse to use like FaceBook, or Discus and others, because I don't like the way they blatantly redistribute electronic information to all sorts of known & unknown entities.

As a 'less-than-official geek' I wonder if I'm even close to what rockerBOO is suggesting, please post to let me know if I'm way off base.

ww

[KC Clark]

Read this. Went upstairs to eat lunch and the news was talking about how Google is going to change how their search works. Websites that are mobile device friendly will show up higher in the search results.

I don't use mobile devices for the Internet unless I'm desperate. I don't like 14" screens so why would I use a something smaller than that. I was the first person I knew with a 17" screen. When one of my coworkers got a 21" screen, I shelled out the big bucks and got me one. I think that was '97. I have friends with 3 and 4 screen setups but I have not gone that far. Anyway, I like a lot of real estate when I'm using a computer. Easier to read/see and I get more detail. Definitely not in favor of things moving to tiny screens.

[KC Clark]

I looked into this Google change and found out it starts today. This article is meant for accounting firms but it has some good info I did not see in other articles on the subject, like 60% of Google's traffic is from mobile devices.

Google Search Changes to Affect CPA Firms | Accounting Today News

Times are changing, again.

[EllenW]

thanks ww. WG works fine on my ipod but I don't use it very often because the screen is so small.

[Birding Bunch]

I took a couple of screen shots, which I will resize, that shows you what I see. We care about privacy and security with our computer. Well, as private as much as I use a handful of forums.

One reason I stopped blogging is the website (A major one) was gearing toward mobile and leaving us PC users in the dark. Their create/edit posts became unusable to me and from the screen shots I saw, it was geared toward the younger crowd that "needs" flashier whatever. Currently, this forum is fairly easy on the eyes. Even just the one page I looked at, small, white text on a dark grey background is hard to read.

Let me edit those, so you can see what problems we will have with discourse.

[Birding Bunch]

I cringe using this term, as "old fashioned" and technology do not belong together. Yet I enjoy old fashioned email and forums, but I do not care for constant connection to the internet.

OK here is screen shot number one. You can see we use a handful of things for security and privacy reasons. AdBlock Plus, Self-destructing cookies, and NoScript. You can also see one major thing missing. We will in no way install Flash onto our computers after learning about "super cookies".


This is just more for a question. This statement I copied does not mention PC, but laptop. I have only used a lap top briefly, and a pain that was. But if they can be used, is the same true for PCs?


I tend to baulk at changes, but often adapt, if it is possible. I understand wanting to grow and meet the demands of new technologies. If this site hinders new people from participating, changes should be made. Just please consider the "old fashioned".

[KC Clark]

I run AdBlock Plus and NoScript too. I was not familiar with super cookies. You don't use Flash Player but for those who do, I found this web page that has a link to an Adobe page where you can delete the Flash Player super cookies.

New Breed of Super Cookie Defies Removal – Almost… | Fight Identity Theft