How do you display similar threads?

[hurricane_sh]

Migrated from VB, one thing I really missed is similar threads. I think it's a necessary feature for any serious forums.

I'm aware of both the free and paid addons, tried the free one, the threads shown are not "similar" at all. The paid one got lots of unanswered questions. Most importantly, I don't want to use any non-official addons, not only buggy but also make my forums dependent. Do I really need to write XF addons? My programming skills are so rusty.

How do you display similar threads?

 

[Chris]

Official addons are limited, so if you're firm on your stance of the authors of your addons, then yes you will have to write your own.

I used to enjoy this being a part of vBulletin, but have since enjoyed the faster load times, focusing on user experience. I think one issue with larger forums with a feature like that is the additional load. This can be negated with caching, elastic search, etc....however there is still some overhead to it.

 

[hurricane_sh]

My members are very chatty, many timeless topics have been discussed over and over again, I want them to revive some of those old threads. Similar threads can be very helpful, I can't live without. ?

 

[Kevin]

I don't know which add-ons you've already looked at but of the options available the only one I would (and do) use is Elasticsearch Essentials by Xon which includes a similar threads feature.

 

[hurricane_sh]

I don't know which add-ons you've already looked at but of the options available the only one I would (and do) use is Elasticsearch Essentials by Xon which includes a similar threads feature.

Thanks, Kevin, it looks good, but Elastic Search costs at leat $75/month? That's too much.

 

[Kevin]

Thanks, Kevin, it looks good, but Elastic Search costs at leat $75/month? That's too much.

Elasticsearch itself can be installed for free on your server, your extra costs would be XF's Enhanced Search add-on and then Xon's add-on.

 

[hurricane_sh]

Elasticsearch itself can be installed for free on your server, your extra costs would be XF's Enhanced Search add-on and then Xon's add-on.

That's wonderful, their site seems to hide the free stuff very well.