Re: Discourse

[Paul Hodges]

From: Jean Abou Samra <jean@abou-samra.fr>

Did they switch from a mailing list, or from other forum/discussion software?

Other forum software; e.g. Steinberg previously used phpBB which they had set up well (it's free and well-known, but a maintenance nightmare, as I know from working with it).  I've not tried the email approach to Discourse, as in any case I prefer the structure enforced in forum sections and threads.  Also, the structuring available for threads in mail clients is only one level, and varies so widely that it can't be seen as universally useful.

As a forum administrator for many years (recently retired), my preference is for the free Simple Machines forum software - but I do acknowledge that it is now "old fashioned" (I've not yet tried its recent major update though).  I'm not saying that Discourse is bad, either - just that I personally dislike it in comparison to many alternatives.

The forums I've been most involved with are fast losing ground to Discord [sic]; but the convenience of a forum arrangement for structured access to old "archived" information and discussions blows Discord out of the water - it is a system for rapid conversation and nothing more.

Paul