(05-25-2019, 05:13 PM)Crooked Crow Wrote: I think forum UI is seriously clunky and outdated compared to Discord's.
Assuming we're talking about a traditional board-style layout (like you'd find on MyBB, ProBoards, XenForo, or the other major players), I agree here: it's still basically the same user experience as 20 years ago. The internet has changed radically over those 20 years; the table-based forum index has not.
Long-term, I think that, if forums are to remain relevant (or perhaps it's more correct to say "regain relevancy"?), then they're going to have to adopt something more streamlined. I've spoken about Flarum before, and its basic layout shows promise, but it's still a work-in-progress. It's definitely something I'll be keeping an eye on, though (I keep meaning to get a Flarum test board to play around with, but I never seem to get around to it )
(Of course, the problem there is, most of the people who have been using forums for 20-odd years don't want to re-learn the basics of using a forum - so, they'll reject anything that isn't a 1998-style table-based layout )
Quote:Re speed - then you have the problem of having to keep a community small - at which point it's not really a community and more just an exclusive group.
With regards to UIs, I honestly find Discord a lot harder. Here, everything has its place, but in Discord there's always discussions that start in #general, turn into #gaming chat and finish off with people posting jokes and funny stuff that should go in #memes. Simply put, in Discord conversations flow too much for things to be ordered, and I dislike that.
Yeah, I think Discord's 'exclusive' nature is one of its defining features, for better or worse. Whether you want an open community or an exclusive club is purely a matter of personal preference: it doesn't mean one approach is 'better' than the other.
And, re the second point: that's because Discord is at its best when it's used for just-for-fun, whatever's-on-your-mind small talk. I've always been bad at Discord, because I've always been bad at small talk.
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