To Discourse or not?

[Timelord_]

So, I am about to embark on setting up another forum for a topic that I *think* is underserved at the moment.

Any reason you can think of NOT to try Discourse as the foundation of the community?

 

[pierce]

Kubernets, droplets, etc

 

[Timelord_]

Kubernets, droplets, etc

So you mean technical complications? I have it up and running on a cheap VPS for testing....

 

[pierce]

It's so far from the lamp stack it's a steep learning curve

 

[Hauyser]

I like discourse as a forum, sadly I have never found one for a niche of forums I used - so I don't spend much time on that software which is a same.

I'm looking at opening another forum again rather soon, I'm stuck between XenForo and Discourse... I just fear that discourse is different to other software and that might put people off joining the site etc.

 

[Timelord_]

It's so far from the lamp stack it's a steep learning curve

Yeah _ I hear that. The whole docker thing was new for me, but I figured, if I managed to get it up and running in 15 minutes, I might be able to swing it/

 

[Timelord_]

I like discourse as a forum, sadly I have never found one for a niche of forums I used - so I don't spend much time on that software which is a same.

I'm looking at opening another forum again rather soon, I'm stuck between XenForo and Discourse... I just fear that discourse is different to other software and that might put people off joining the site etc.

Thats the exact reason I am looking at Discourse. It is different enough for people. And it is fast.....

 

[pierce]

Yeah _ I hear that. The whole docker thing was new for me, but I figured, if I managed to get it up and running in 15 minutes, I might be able to swing it/

What about when it dies? For whatever reason

 

[Hauyser]

Well since Discourse if free if you host it yourself, you don't really have much to loose? Only the time you put into it etc.

GO FORTH CHILD.

 

[Timelord_]

What about when it dies? For whatever reason

This is true..... backups seem to be the way to handle this. If there is server corruption etc, from what I can gather, you do a fresh install of discourse, and import your DB.

 

[Timelord_]

Well since Discourse if free if you host it yourself, you don't really have much to loose? Only the time you put into it etc.

GO FORTH CHILD.

I think you may have just twisted my rubber arm

 

[cheat_master30]

Because you want a forum with a different structure and feel to Discourse and don't want to have to modify it too heavily? I mean, a lot of people like the traditional forum index with a list of sections and a sidebar.

You might also want an add on or feature only available in another script, like post ratings in XenForo, a resource manager, gallery or blogs add on, etc. In those cases, go with whatever script offers the features you need.

And hey, if you're running a server with a standard PHP and MySQL stack and would have to set up more stuff to get Discourse running, then there's no point there either. If your server has say, ten XenForo sites and a few WordPress blogs, you may as well stick with another PHP script for your next forum and save yourself the hassle. Same if your server has a lot of ASP.net sites hosted on it.

 

[Timelord_]

Because you want a forum with a different structure and feel to Discourse and don't want to have to modify it too heavily? I mean, a lot of people like the traditional forum index with a list of sections and a sidebar.

You might also want an add on or feature only available in another script, like post ratings in XenForo, a resource manager, gallery or blogs add on, etc. In those cases, go with whatever script offers the features you need.

And hey, if you're running a server with a standard PHP and MySQL stack and would have to set up more stuff to get Discourse running, then there's no point there either. If your server has say, ten XenForo sites and a few WordPress blogs, you may as well stick with another PHP script for your next forum and save yourself the hassle. Same if your server has a lot of ASP.net sites hosted on it.

Thanks for the feedback. I have decided to go with Discourse. Got it installed under the new domain yesterday. Now to begin the process of "seeding" and customizing.

 

[Hauyser]

Thanks for the feedback. I have decided to go with Discourse. Got it installed under the new domain yesterday. Now to begin the process of "seeding" and customizing.

I'll be interested in joining and playing with your site when it's working etc! Keep up updated.

 

[Timelord_]

I'll be interested in joining and playing with your site when it's working etc! Keep up updated.

Not ready to post the URL yet, but I can send it to you via DM if you want.

 

[Indianparents]

So you mean technical complications? I have it up and running on a cheap VPS for testing....

Did you follow any tutorial for this? I am currently having hostgator vps and have a lot of memory to play with. Really interested in learning how to install discourse. Seems complicated to me.

 

[Timelord_]

Did you follow any tutorial for this? I am currently having hostgator vps and have a lot of memory to play with. Really interested in learning how to install discourse. Seems complicated to me.

It is actually very straight forward, however one thing that I learned, is that the VPS needs to be KVM based. It will not work correctly under OpenVZ

 

[BrandonSheley]

I say give it a try

You'll learn a bit about ruby as well

 

[Timelord_]

I say give it a try

You'll learn a bit about ruby as well

How did you get on? Manage to get it installed?