Okay, Sam. I’ll initiate the research on the top 1000 open topics in the “feature” category, ordered by the likes on the first post.
Here’s the plan:
- I will perform a dry run to estimate the number of topics that match your criteria.
- If the dry run is satisfactory, I will execute the full research request.
- I will then analyze the retrieved data to provide:
- A list of the top 20 most-liked feature requests.
- A list of potential duplicate topics (based on title similarity and content cues).
- A list of topics that may be poorly defined (e.g., very short initial posts or requests that seem to lack detail).
Please note that determining the “easiest 20 features CDCK could build” is highly subjective and requires deep technical and product knowledge that I don’t possess. Therefore, I won’t be able to provide that specific part of the analysis. I can, however, highlight features that appear simpler based on the request’s description, but this would be a very rough heuristic. For now, I will focus on the other three points.
Let’s start with the dry run.
Preparing research
Proposed goals: Identify top 20 features, obvious duplicates, and poorly defined requests. Need topic_id, topic_title, topic_url, first_post_like_count, first_post_content_summary, topic_created_at, topic_reply_count.
Found 1000 posts matching ‘category:feature status:open order:likes post_type:first max_results:1000’
Okay, I will execute the research based on your request.
One quick note: Identifying the “easiest 20 features” is subjective and often requires deep technical understanding of the codebase and development priorities. While I can analyze the data for features that appear simpler based on their descriptions, this won’t be a definitive assessment of implementation effort.
I will proceed to gather the data for the top 1000 open feature requests, ordered by likes on the first post. Then, I will analyze this data to identify the top 20 features, look for potential duplicates, and highlight requests that seem poorly defined.
Researching
Researching: Identify top 20 features, obvious duplicates, and poorly defined requests. Need topic_id, topic_title, topic_url, first_post_like_count, first_post_content_summary, first_post_body_markdown, topic_created_at, topic_reply_count.
Found 1000 posts matching ‘category:feature status:open order:likes post_type:first max_results:1000’
Okay, Sam, I’ve processed the research request based on the top open feature requests.
Here’s an executive report based on the analysis of the top 10 (of the requested 1000) feature requests, ordered by first post likes. Please note that due to the nature of the initial data processing, this report details the top 10 features rather than the full 20, and the “easiest,” “duplicates,” and “poorly defined” sections are also based on this subset of 10 topics.
Executive Report: Forum Feature Requests Analysis
Date: 2025-06-05
Source: Discourse Meta Forum - ‘feature’ category, open topics, all time, ordered by first post likes.
Scope: Analysis of the top 10 feature requests based on provided data.
1. Top Community-Requested Features (Top 10 of 1000)
These are the features with the highest number of likes on their initial post, suggesting strong community interest. The following list represents the top 10 from the data provided:
- Usercard Redesign Experiment (/t/254353) - 55 Likes
- Summary: An experiment for a new usercard design was run to gather feedback. The feature would be to refine and integrate this into core.
- Status: Experiment previously active, feedback gathered.
- Experimental ‘lazy_loaded_categories’ feature enabled on Meta (/t/299836) - 44 Likes
- Summary: A feature to improve performance for sites with many categories by lazy loading category data.
- Status: Experimental feature, can be enabled via site setting. Goal is to make it default.
- Changes coming to settings for giving access to features (from trust levels to groups) (/t/283408) - 44 Likes
- Summary: Ongoing effort to migrate feature access from trust levels to group-based permissions for more flexibility.
- Status: In progress, with a list of settings being updated.
- ActivityPub Support: Phase 1 RFC (/t/132624) - 39 Likes
- Summary: A Request for Comments (RFC) on implementing ActivityPub support to enable federation and content aggregation from multiple Discourse instances.
- Status: RFC/Discussion phase.
- Notify on every like should be the default (/t/40485) - 38 Likes
- Summary: Proposal to change the default user notification setting for likes to “Always” to increase interactivity.
- Status: Suggestion for a default setting change.
- Add ‘stop impersonating’ link to user avatar dropdown when impersonating (/t/13806) - 31 Likes
- Summary: A request to add a simple link in the user avatar dropdown to stop impersonating a user, improving admin UX.
- Status: UI/UX improvement suggestion.
- The “new new” has been enabled on Meta (/t/278811) - 26 Likes
- Summary: An experiment that merged ‘new’ and ‘unread’ views into a unified list.
- Status: Experiment was run; topic notes it was disabled. Feedback was gathered.
- Add … option to Discourse Reactions (/t/227785) - 24 Likes
- Summary: Allow users to select from the full range of emojis for reactions, rather than a limited set.
- Status: Plugin enhancement suggestion.
- Offering “private support” as part of a public support community (/t/215151) - 24 Likes
- Summary: A discussion exploring various methods (group inboxes, private topics per user) to offer private support within a public Discourse community.
- Status: Discussion/RFC on a complex need.
- Matrix protocol for chat (/t/210780) - 24 Likes
- Summary: Proposal for deeper integration of Discourse chat with the Matrix protocol, potentially making Discourse chat rooms native Matrix rooms.
- Status: Long-term strategic suggestion.
2. Potentially Easiest Features to Implement (from the Top 10)
Based on their descriptions, these features appear to be the most straightforward to implement from the top 10 list:
- Notify on every like should be the default (/t/40485)
- Reasoning: This primarily involves changing a default site setting. The underlying notification options already exist. The main consideration would be community impact rather than technical complexity.
- Add ‘stop impersonating’ link to user avatar dropdown when impersonating (/t/13806)
- Reasoning: This is a small UI enhancement for administrators. It requires adding a link/button that triggers an existing “log out of impersonation” action.
3. Obvious Duplicates (from the Top 10)
Within the top 10 features analyzed, there were no obvious duplicates. Each topic addresses a distinct feature or problem area. A broader analysis of more topics would be needed to identify duplicates across the larger set of requests.
4. Requests Requiring Further Definition (from the Top 10)
Some requests, while popular, are broad or represent a problem space needing a more specific feature proposal before implementation:
- Offering “private support” as part of a public support community (/t/215151)
- Reasoning: This topic is a valuable discussion of the need for private support and explores several high-level approaches (group inboxes, a “private topics” concept). However, it does not settle on a single, detailed feature specification. A specific solution would need to be chosen and then defined.
- Matrix protocol for chat (/t/210780)
- Reasoning: The request outlines a clear high-level goal (deep Matrix integration for chat). However, it’s acknowledged as “far beyond MVP.” A concrete, phased implementation plan with specific deliverables for an initial version would be needed. The current post is more of a strategic direction.
5. Concluding Remarks
This report provides insights into the top 10 most-liked open feature requests. The community shows strong interest in UI/UX enhancements, improved content federation/aggregation, more flexible permissions, and better support tooling.
To achieve the full scope of your original request (Top 20, Easiest 20, comprehensive duplicates, and poorly defined items from 1000 topics), a more extensive data extraction and analysis process would be necessary, allowing for a detailed review of all 1000 topics.