Building a plugin to add Stack Exchange features

I currently run both a forum and Q&A website (stack exchange clone). Both our forum and Q&A have questions on that are answers by a team of moderators. We considering rebuilding and consolidating the software we use, so i am looking into Discourse as a possible alternative, given its strong credentials.

I have read the existing topics on comparison between SE and discourse so appreciate that discourse is different and that its not trying to be a SE clone. See below.

I am therefore looking for help scoping out the plugin and how it would allow us a more structure Q&A topics within discourse. Suggestions please!

Here’s my top features to start with:-

  • Topic types or new post type/category, so discussion is distinguished from a Q&A.
  • Allow users/admin to sort replies by votes.
  • Control how/when users can reply to certain topics or questions (e.g. question topics can only be answer by users with x trust points (or some other algorithm)

Here are the previous topics on this subject if you haven’t already read them:

https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-are-discourses-main-competitors-and-what-are-their-relative-pros-and-cons/2888

After you’ve scoped out the plugin, will you be developing it yourselves, or will you attempt to hire a developer to do it for you?

[quote=“BIBI, post:1, topic:31402”]
(…) so appreciate that discourse is different and that its try to be a SE clone.
[/quote]I’d like to suggest a spelling correction to avoid confusion:

“so I can appreciate that Discourse is different and that it doesn’t try to be a SE clone.”

You also have a duplicate link in your topic: 2x “What are Discourse’s main competitors…”

Erlend. Thanks for pointing this out. they are now corrected.

I think we have all of this covered now per improvements to Discourse and: