# Should we migrate to discourse forum software?



## serverian (May 18, 2013)

I find it IPB hard to follow and read and very slow.

I've asked @MannDude to migrate to discourse and he asked me to start a vote thread for it. So here it is.

*Note that all posts and users will be migrated if we decide this. So you won't loose anything.*

You can try discourse here:

http://try.discourse.org/

ServerBear also uses it:

http://forum.serverbear.com/

It has way too cool features. See them here:

http://www.discourse.org/


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## peppr (May 18, 2013)

This looks interesting. Thanks @serverian


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## George_Fusioned (May 18, 2013)

I like IPB 

If the inline/attached images thing gets fixed, I'm super happy with vpsBoard just the way it is.


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## serverian (May 18, 2013)

At least ****ing read the features of discourse before voting!


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## mikho (May 18, 2013)

@serverian


If one do like the current board, why the need of change?


I've never tried discourse but i like it the way it is right now. Thats the reason I voted no.


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## serverian (May 18, 2013)

mikho said:


> If one do like the current board, why the need of change?


 

Because it's better?


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## George_Fusioned (May 18, 2013)

serverian said:


> At least ****ing read the features of discourse before voting!


 

I like discourse's features, but I don't like the UI to be honest...


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## blergh (May 18, 2013)

RoR, nigga please.


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## Chronic (May 18, 2013)

Discourse is very different and while not necessarily better, I can see it's appeal and I think it'd be worth giving it a shot


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## vanarp (May 18, 2013)

Discourse doesn't seem to render well on mobile. Yes, looks similar to vanilla but I prefer current IPB overall.


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## mikho (May 18, 2013)

@serverian


Your opinion 


+1 vanarp said about mobile.


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## Dillybob (May 18, 2013)

Unfortunately, I am loving the discourse forum software (The ajax loading and whatnot) makes it seem very fast.  I just feel it looks a bit to unprofessional as compared to here.  Although, I hate the speed of IPB 3.x, it's running pretty dam fast on this server from my location and that is very rare.  Plus this skin and theme fits everything just perfectly! I like how we have the post count and location on the post-bit templates.  (Keeping it very simple and professional is key) 
 
Plus IPB 3.x has a very beautiful mobile skin that works blazing fast, so I am not sure but I voted no for now....
 
Plus if the admin could/most likely-will get this IPB 3.x running even faster.... it would be even better....  IPB 3.x is full of bloated features, but as you can see here; used professionally and keeping it basic, it works perfect!
 
My 2 cents, sorry serverian  h34r:


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## 365Networks (May 18, 2013)

No!


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## serverbear (May 18, 2013)

Happy to answer any questions about Discourse so far. We chose it because SB is built on RoR & we're integrating benchmarks with user profiles, plus the UI is pretty nice.

It is a resource hog, you won't be able to run it on a 256mb machine & there's a few annoying things that just haven't been developed yet.

I'm pretty impressed, but just remember it's very much in beta. So the featureset is nothing compared to IPB.


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## WelltodoInformalCattle (May 18, 2013)

EDIT: Ignore


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## MannDude (May 18, 2013)

serverbear said:


> Happy to answer any questions about Discourse so far. We chose it because SB is built on RoR & we're integrating benchmarks with user profiles, plus the UI is pretty nice.
> 
> It is a resource hog, you won't be able to run it on a 256mb machine & there's a few annoying things that just haven't been developed yet.
> 
> I'm pretty impressed, but just remember it's very much in beta. So the featureset is nothing compared to IPB.


Hey man, glad to have you hear.

I'll admit, I like the looks of it but not so much to warrant a change just based on that. What sort of resources are we talking about here?


~# free -m
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:           248        209         39          0         19        122
-/+ buffers/cache:         68        180
 

This is what's going on currently with vpsBoard running Lighttpd and php5-fpm, MySQL is being offloaded elsewhere so that helps a lot. Just posting these stats as you mention a '256MB machine'. Could run MySQL on this VPS and still probably have resources to spare.

I'm going to sign up over at your place and give it a whirl. =]


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## elohkcalb (May 18, 2013)

Hmm, visiting http://try.discourse.org/ with Opera 12.15 gets me a blank page. Serverbear forum does work fine though.


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## Lee (May 18, 2013)

I don't think discourse is really right for this type of community, and if it continues to grow then discourse lacks in areas that will be required.  Personally I preferred Vanilla.

The skin really needs to be changed on here too, it's just, well, shit


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## Coastercraze (May 18, 2013)

IPB feels better than Discourse. I dunno, I'm just used to a normal forum layout.


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## Noerman (May 18, 2013)

How about switch to another commercial product not opensource.

I agreed the switch, but please consider this ...

Should I switch to Discourse right now?

Probably not.


Discourse is brand new. Discourse is early beta software, and likely to remain so for many months. Please experiment with it, play with it, give us feedback, submit pull requests


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## elusus83 (May 18, 2013)

Discourse is awesome, so I had to vote yes. I like IPB too so its a win-win for me.


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## xBytez (May 18, 2013)

I personally prefer IPB.

IPB has tons of features which I like.. Depends how it's configured though!

Discourse's features are truly awesome, but I don't like the looks that much.


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## Freek (May 18, 2013)

I really don't care. The main issue I am currently facing with VPSBoard is it's speed. It loads pretty slow over here for me.


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## shovenose (May 18, 2013)

I like IPB, Do not think it should get switched.


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## Patrick (May 18, 2013)

Stupid idea, serverian.


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## Lee (May 18, 2013)

Patrick said:


> Stupid idea, serverian.


 

Don't hold back there Patrick, lol


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## Asad (May 18, 2013)

Yes, serverian is stupid and his idea is silly


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## Mun (May 18, 2013)

The trial page doesn't even load for me.


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## vanarp (May 18, 2013)

Freek said:


> I really don't care. The main issue I am currently facing with VPSBoard is it's speed. It loads pretty slow over here for me.


how about using a proxy or vpn ? i am personally using squid.


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## Boltersdriveer (May 18, 2013)

VPSBoard doesn't load as fast as maybe LET, but I personally prefer the 'conventional' forum approach and IPB's Quick Reply is actually pretty nice to work with. No reason to switch as far as I'm concerned


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## Tux (May 18, 2013)

It feels like Vanilla. Approved in my book.


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## jhadley (May 18, 2013)

No, this forum is very user-friendly as it is.


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## mojeda (May 18, 2013)

I don't see a need to switch the forum to another software at this point.


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## texteditor (May 19, 2013)

Also, Jeff Atwood is a moron


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## wlanboy (May 19, 2013)

mojeda said:


> I don't see a need to switch the forum to another software at this point.


Second that.


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## OnePoundWebHosting (May 19, 2013)

I am loving IP Board so far, each day I find a new feature/shortcut which impresses me.

Guess time will tell how it pans out with more traffic but so far I see no need to switch.

Possibly the addition of a portal page with offers as suggested in another post would be a welcome extra though.


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## eva2000 (May 22, 2013)

MannDude said:


> Hey man, glad to have you hear.
> 
> I'll admit, I like the looks of it but not so much to warrant a change just based on that. What sort of resources are we talking about here?
> 
> ...


Hey folks !

Probably the forums slow because MySQL is hosted elsewhere ? same web host ?

Server also needs optimising check out your gtmetrix and webpagetest reports

http://gtmetrix.com/reports/vpsboard.com/An9zp1k2

http://www.webpagetest.org/result/130522_NZ_43caf17b2ac3d098466bd46824172bd0/


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## Licensecart (May 22, 2013)

IBP is good but personally i'm a xenforo fan and IBP fits the community.


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## A Jump From Let (May 22, 2013)

Actually there's no comparison between IPB and mentioned one, since IPB is one of oldest and well established forum software, which is better in every aspect, at the very least support and else is redundant and the project won't stop too.

With that mentioned I've liked discourse after viewing its demo, and thought really better be used here, however after reading comments I've changed my mind. I believe it's new for using it for now. However if supposedly it was used then I believe you must get a better suited theme, since the original theme looks ugly.

Is any other forum software that's similar to discourse and vanilla?


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## Ruchirablog (May 23, 2013)

IPB or Vb no discourse shit please


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## willie (May 25, 2013)

I looked at discourse and hated it and the whole philosophy behind it.  IPB is nothing great but it doesn't have nearly the awful client side bloat and slowness and stupid icons that discourse seems to have.  I think bigger boards eventually end up migrating to VBB, which I'm not that crazy about either.  I miss NNTP and very old school forum software like Motet.  These days it should be possible to do a lot better with quite limited resources (good search features are a big plus).  I'd say stick with IPB for now, but keep an eye open for better alternatives.


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