After update Discourse, custom font does not apply to cyrillic characters

AI-generated summary

After updating their self-hosted Discourse instance, taravasya noticed that custom fonts (like Montseratte) no longer apply to Cyrillic characters — Latin text displays correctly, but Cyrillic defaults to the browser’s fallback font. Attempts to rebuild the app, clear cache, or switch fonts didn’t help; only reverting to the default font (e.g., Inter) restored consistent rendering. chapoi confirmed the issue after reviewing screenshots and the live site (wedframe.ru), and Discourse staff acknowledged it martin but noted it’s not yet a high priority. Another user, Denis_Advert, reported the same issue and claimed to fix it using the Google Fonts theme component link, though taravasya confirmed it didn’t resolve the problem for them. As of now, no official fix exists, and taravasya resorted to using the default font globally.

Hello! I haven’t updated my self-hosted discourse for a while (since about November 2024), and today I updated it.
I found one problem. I use Montseratte font as the base font on the forum. And after the update, all cyrillic characters (in the message body, in the names of topics, categories, in the list of tags) are not displayed in this font, but instead are displayed in the usual font used by the browser by default. At the same time, latin characters and numbers are displayed correctly using the font selected in settings.

I tried rebuild app, clearing the browser cache, trying to browse in incognito mode, nothing helps.
I also tried using several other fonts, and the result was the same. Only when I set as base font Inter(or reset base font setting to default), both cyrillic and latin characters begin to be displayed as the same font.

Any thoughts on how to fix this?

Hi!

I’ve looked at these screenshots for a while now and I have to admit: I can not see the difference between them… Can you point it out please?

Well… I’ll try to explain as much as I can.

My screenshots will show what we will call three stages of font display.

  1. How it was before the update [and in the font settings the Montseratte font was selected].
  2. This is how it became after the update [and in the font settings the Montseratte font was selected].
  3. This is how it became after the update [and in the font settings, the default font was selected]

This screenshot shows stages 2 and 3.
Here, to illustrate the difference in display, you should pay attention to a couple of inscriptions. First is: FullHD and 4K

Obviously, this inscription look different.
And then, you need to look at inscription Работаем и

And this inscription are look the same.

But, let me remind you… at the second stage, [after the update], the Montseratte font was selected in the font settings, and at the third, the default font.

Thus, at the second stage, when the Montseratte font was selected after the update, the english text is displayed with the Montseratte font, and the russian text is displayed with the default font (just like at the third stage, when the default font was selected in the settings).

And here is how the fonts in both languages looked at the first stage [before the update]:

As you can see, at first stage [before update], all text display with Montseratte font.

This problem is not related to the browser or device, as it happens the same everywhere.
Also, it has nothing to do with any one font. I tried changing the font to another, and at stages 2 and 3, I still have the default font with russian text, and selected font with english text on second stage.

Hi again,

Thanks for that thorough explanation. I can’t repro it on my site, but I’m not giving up (yet).

Is your forum public? Would be easier to have a look at where the problem is manifesting.

Yes. Its wedframe.ru
I`ll enable Montseratte font for more clarity.

Thanks, I’ve found the issue. Discussing internally and will let you know when I know more :slight_smile:

Just a quick update that we are aware of this issue and have an idea on how to fix it, but it is not yet a high priority. We will let you know when we have more updates here.

Hello. I encountered the same problem. I see you managed to find a solution. Could you tell me how you fixed the Cyrillic font on your forum? Thank you.

Hi. Any updates? The same problem.

Hi. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a solution. I simply selected the default font for all elements.

Solved with a help Google Fonts theme componet.

In my case, this doesn’t help. After installing and configuring the Google Fonts component, Cyrillic characters still display with the default font, not the custom one.