Moetwemoji: Lightweight Animated Emojis (AVIF) - Bring your forum to life

Plugin
3

OK please try Manual Install

Manual Installation Guide (Override Version)

This guide explains how to manually install and apply the
discourse-moetwemoji-twemoji-fakepng-override plugin inside a running Discourse container, and clarifies why a full rebuild is not strictly required for the override version.

1. Enter the Discourse Container

On your server, go to the Discourse Docker directory (usually /var/discourse) and enter the running container:

cd /var/discourse
./launcher enter app

You should now be inside the container shell.

2. Clone the Override Plugin Manually

Navigate to the plugins directory and clone the repository:

cd /var/www/discourse/plugins
git clone https://github.com/constansino/discourse-moetwemoji-twemoji-fakepng-override.git

Verify that the directory exists:

ls discourse-moetwemoji-twemoji-fakepng-override

3. Apply the Emoji Override

Go back to the Discourse root directory:

su - discourse
cd /var/www/discourse

Check the current status (optional but recommended):

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake moetwemoji_twemoji:status

Apply the override:

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake moetwemoji_twemoji:apply

If the command finishes without errors, the Twemoji PNG files have been replaced by Moetwemoji.

4. Important Notes About Rebuilds (Persistence)

:red_exclamation_mark: No rebuild is required to make the override work

This override version works by directly replacing files in the running container.
Therefore:

  • :white_check_mark: You do NOT need to run ./launcher rebuild app

  • :white_check_mark: Changes take effect immediately after running the rake task

:warning: But the change is NOT persistent

Because this is done inside the container filesystem:

  • Any future ./launcher rebuild app

  • Or container recreation / upgrade

will wipe the changes, and the emoji override will be lost.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: If you need persistence across rebuilds, you must install the plugin via app.yml hooks and rebuild properly.

5. Clear CDN and Browser Cache (Very Important)

After applying the override, emoji may still appear unchanged due to caching.

5.1 Clear CDN Cache (e.g. Cloudflare)

If you are using a CDN such as Cloudflare:

  • Purge cache for:

    • /images/emoji/*

    • or perform a full cache purge if necessary

Otherwise, the old Twemoji PNG files may still be served.

5.2 Clear Browser Cache

On the client side:

  • Hard refresh the page (Ctrl + F5 / Cmd + Shift + R)

  • Or clear browser cache

  • Or test in an incognito/private window

Until both CDN and browser caches are cleared, emoji changes may not be visible.

6. Summary

  • This override plugin can be installed and applied without rebuilding

  • Manual installation is useful for:

    • Testing

    • Temporary usage

    • Debugging

  • The downside is lack of persistence

  • Always clear CDN cache + browser cache after applying emoji overrides