Today on meta.discourse.org…
Key Stats
- New posts (last 24h): 69
- New topics (last 24h): 8 — including fresh threads like Bootstrap mode is legacy?, How to disable “preloader-image” on Discourse instance?, and AI translations errors.
Top users (posts / likes in the last 24h)
| User | Posts | Likes | Recent reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moin | 7 | 19 | Dug into Bootstrap-mode behavior details in this thread |
| pmusaraj | 6 | 14 | Explained the Bootstrap-mode replacement and next steps here |
| Lilly | 5 | 7 | Shared mobile theming CSS guidance here |
| merefield | 1 | 5 | Started the Bootstrap-mode question here |
| NateDhaliwal | 4 | 5 | Pointed to publishing options for static pages here |
| Ed_S | 3 | 5 | Reported a badge/notification mismatch here |
| nat | 1 | 3 | Recommended choosing a single translation experience here |
| darkpixlz | 3 | 3 | Chimed in on Splash expectations and update cadence here |
| GaurangBlaze | 3 | 3 | Asked about hiding the Splash dots here |
| RGJ | 2 | 3 | Followed up on “Trading Buttons” regressions here |
Also active in ongoing threads: tag UI changes in Where did the tag info button go?, structured data validation in Missing field ‘text’ (in ‘mainEntity.suggestedAnswer’), and embedded comments fixes in Tecnoblog’s Experience With Discourse Comments.
(Plus: theme/component chatter continued in Right Sidebar Blocks, “blocks” authoring discussion via Skills for authoring themes and blocks, and minor support follow-ups like Discourse Age Check.)
Interesting Topics
Support
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merefield noticed Bootstrap mode removal and asked what replaced it; pmusaraj explained it had been effectively sidelined and is now replaced by an onboarding panel, then circled back after Moin highlighted the old auto-enable job and some “niceties” worth keeping (like better early user directory refresh). Main thread: Bootstrap mode is legacy? (see the replacement explanation here and the correction/next steps here). Background: Bootstrap mode effects, older context on what it used to do here, and a referenced system note here.
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Ed_S reported that the “Nice Share” badge notification linked to a post that wasn’t theirs; Moin clarified the badge is about tracked share links (with
?u=) being clicked, not necessarily the post containing 25-click links. Details: ‘Nice Share’ notification links to wrong post (solution explanation here). -
A request to remove the blue-dots preloader resurfaced: GaurangBlaze asked how to disable it after an upgrade, and awesomerobot confirmed the “disable Splash” setting was removed (partly due to potential Core Web Vitals impact), offering a workaround: an animated SVG can fully replace the dots (including a blank/transparent animated SVG). Thread: How to disable “preloader-image” on Discourse instance? (core explanation + workaround pack here). Background announcement: Introducing Discourse Splash.
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A quick “how do I make a static page?” question got a practical pointer: NateDhaliwal suggested using official approaches like the Landing Pages plugin or Page Publishing, noting an older static pages plugin is now broken. Q&A: How can I make a static page? (answer here). Related docs/threads: Landing Pages plugin, Page Publishing, and legacy notes in Procourse Static Pages.
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Vsekraski asked how to change category box backgrounds on mobile (especially with the horizon-theme); Lilly provided targeted SCSS examples using category selectors and
dark-light-choose()so the color can adapt by palette and viewport. Thread: How can I change the category background in the mobile version? (solution CSS here and variable approach here). -
Translation strategy questions continued: in an AI context, RBoy summarized the practical upshot as needing a non-“thinking” model for translations. Thread: What happens to translations when LLM changes? (closely related troubleshooting later popped up in AI translations errors read more).
#Self-hosting
- A new self-hosting planning thread asked about AWS Lightsail + Ubuntu upgrade approaches (in-place upgrade vs snapshot-and-restore onto a fresh instance), especially with newer Ubuntu LTS releases appearing. Thread starter: Self Hosted, AWS Lightsail and Ubuntu.
bug
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An openid-connect / sso report warned that group sync could eject users from unrelated groups; pmusaraj replied with a fix PR link. Thread: OpenID Connect group can kick users out of all unsynced groups.
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A structured data issue around Solved/QAPage schema narrowed down to a key edge case: OPs containing no text content can trigger validation problems. davidb suggested either skipping or substituting placeholder text (like the topic title) to satisfy schema expectations. Investigation: Missing field ‘text’ (in ‘mainEntity.suggestedAnswer’) (analysis from davidb here).
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AI translation failures showed up as
Raw can't be blank, Cooked can't be blank; Falco walked through debugging via/p/IDandai_api_audit_logs, then identified the underlying issue: reasoning tokens consuming the completion budget, reinforcing why translations avoid reasoning mode. Thread: AI translations errors (debug guidance here and root cause callout here). Related historical context: Discourse AI failing to translate large number of posts and topics. -
A lingering “document tree depth exceeded” report got a direct pointer to a fix PR from Falco. Thread: Middleware document tree depth exceeded - still (fixed).
ux
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The “tag info” affordance appears to have moved: Moin asked where the tag description/info button went for regular users, and Lilly pointed to a commit suggesting a UI relocation. Thread: Where did the tag info button go? (commit hint here). Background references: awesomerobot’s earlier guidance cited in this post and a related tag-banner discussion mentioned in this post.
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The “split this topic” small-action post still seems to preserve stale topic titles: follow-up discussion noted there’s no UI-based rebuild for these small-action posts, and that rebaking is more of a CLI/web-request operation (with limited benefit if the title is stored as literal text). Thread: Link in “Split this topic” mini post (title-staleness analysis here and the UI limitation here).
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A UX issue report proposed that when a custom page is blank for regular users, Discourse should show a clearer escape hatch (like a “Take me home” button) rather than leaving people stranded; derek acknowledged and said the team would investigate. Thread: Show “Take me home” button instead of blank custom page for regular users.
#Plugin
- In the long-running official translator discussion, nat advised avoiding dual translation experiences and recommended standardizing on the newer automatic translation direction as the older experience is deprecating. Thread: Discourse Translator (team guidance here).
Activity by the @team Group
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pmusaraj clarified the rationale for removing Bootstrap mode and pointed admins to the new onboarding panel in Bootstrap mode is legacy?, then followed up after Moin’s investigation to acknowledge how Bootstrap mode was actually enabled and flagged “keep-worthy” behaviors like early directory refresh and initial role setup (follow-up, hourly directory improvement note here). Also delivered a fix pointer for an SSO-related group-sync bug in OpenID Connect group can kick users out of all unsynced groups.
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awesomerobot confirmed the “disable Splash” setting was removed and explained the performance/SEO motivation, offering an animated SVG approach (including a blank animated SVG) in How to disable “preloader-image” on Discourse instance?.
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Falco focused on two operational/debug threads: diagnosing translation failures in AI translations errors (and attributing the root cause to reasoning tokens here), plus pointing to a fix PR in Middleware document tree depth exceeded - still. Falco also chimed in on the Splash-screen discussion, endorsing the blank animated SVG idea in this reply.
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nat advised simplifying translator UX by choosing one experience—preferably the newer automatic approach—in Discourse Translator.
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davidb investigated schema validation errors and suggested the problem likely stems from QAPage “questions” where the OP has no text content in Missing field ‘text’ (in ‘mainEntity.suggestedAnswer’).
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markvanlan ran notification behavior experiments for nested replies in Testing Nested Replies on Meta (continued testing here).
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derek acknowledged the “blank custom page” UX report and committed to investigating in Show “Take me home” button instead of blank custom page for regular users.
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keegan confirmed a fix for an embedded-comments edit UI glitch landed, referencing the resolving commit in Tecnoblog’s Experience With Discourse Comments.
If today’s Meta felt extra lively, blame it on the blue dots Splash screen—apparently even our discussions needed a preloader before they fully rendered.