stance455 reported an issue with “Related Topics not translated” and after troubleshooting Lilly’s locale settings, Moin provided the solution for multilingual embeddings read more and see solution.
hipp0 asked “What’s the max number of participants displayed on a topic?” and community members shared custom CSS snippets to adjust avatar spacing read more and view CSS fix.
emyoulation noticed Discourse’s search returning “similar/partial” matches instead of exact terms; awesomerobot explained the AI-fallback logic and the need to distinguish exact results read more and AI scope explanation.
hipp0 discovered that anonymous viewers couldn’t see all categories; Lilly traced it to a preload data customization and asked for version details read more and follow-up.
NateDhaliwal found pinned topic summaries using link text instead of body excerpt; Safe Mode testing and theme checks were suggested to isolate the issue read more.
hipp0 proposed a “Search all CSS and CSS drop-down selector” feature; Moin recommended organizing custom styles into a dedicated theme component read more and component structure tip.
davidb merged a PR to “Suppress solution notification if user is muted,” improving the solved-post UX for muted members read more.
emyoulation suggested a quick-action icon for “spam” in the review queue to flag mass postings; community feedback is ongoing read more.
csha flagged HTML tags appearing in og:description on category pages; the meta description is plain text but Open Graph tags need sanitization read more.
Support“Always include topic excerpt” setting Moin dug into how the new always_include_topic_excerpts site setting interacts with the Topic List Excerpts theme component, with awesomerobot and zogstrip explaining the balance between hidden settings and theme modifiers. read more
SupportDiscourse’s search broken? Exact vs. partial AI results
Users noted that header quick search auto-expands to semantic AI results after few matches, and Falco outlined how the ai-search-result flag can help theme indicators. read more
SupportDiscourse ID setup issues on Hetzner tobiaseigen reported a enable_discourse_id failure during the new installer flow on Hetzner, with pmusaraj guiding on checking /logs and toggling Discourse ID in the Admin UI. read more
BugDiscourse更新后，主页排版混乱
After the latest update, the Tag Icons component caused layout crashes and 429 errors until pmusaraj offered a fix to gracefully handle invalid color codes. read more
BugDiscourse jumping 20 posts up when going back to PWA
Android PWA users on Chrome 144 reported being scrolled up ~20 posts when returning from external links; repro steps and environment details were gathered for further investigation. read more
BugHTML tags in og:description
A recent pull request stripped HTML from the og:description meta tag to prevent markup leaking into social previews. read more
BugScrolling in a long topic brings up blank page NateDhaliwal discovered a blank viewport issue when scrolling lengthy posts on Chrome, disappearing after zoom or re-scroll—still seeking cross-browser confirmation. read more
BugReplying as a linked topic creates a second draft
The “Reply as linked topic” flow leaves the original quote in the draft queue; Moin suggested converting the draft rather than saving a new one. read more
blogThe Product Manager’s Guide to Non-Addictive Design lindsey published a new companion discussion for the Discourse blog, emphasizing data-driven product management over habit-forming patterns. read more
#IntegrationsCreate a Data Explorer query using the API
The official how-to guide shows how to POST to /admin/plugins/explorer/queries with query[name], query[sql], and other params to automate new queries. read more
#IntegrationsAutomate the syncing of Discourse queries to Google Sheets
A step-by-step walkthrough uses Google Apps Script to pull Data Explorer results into Sheets on a schedule for dashboards and metrics. read more
#Data & reporting Badge SQL triggered on post content Alexander_Wright crafted a badge query to award on p.raw LIKE '%Give Me A Badge%', but it wasn’t firing—community feedback focused on backfill flags and SQL triggers. read more
InstallationFront End update fails with error 502 only if I click ‘Update All’ Bathinda’s two-container setup behind Nginx gave 502 errors on bulk updates; logs and Sidekiq traces hint at a proxy timeout for the first task only. read more
#TranslationsTranslation restructuring on Crowdin for new-versioning-strategy Moin reported confusion over extra branches after a recent file reorganization; gerhard will explore switching branch order again for translators. read more
zogstrip clarified that excerpts are only serialized by default for pinned topics unless always_include_topic_excerpts is enabled or a theme modifier is used in #394416.
After a day of theme tweaks, bug hunts, and API deep-dives, may your plugins stay sunny, your safe mode handy, and your puppies wag happily ever after!
Support Canapin reported “95 email jobs that failed” on an SMTP-less install issue. pmusaraj dug into Hub calls vs. email errors see post.
Support ruggy_joesten wanted to change the CTA banner on the main landing page ask here; ondrej pointed to #themes & #components in the Theme Guide.
Support asc wondered about muting categories while watching tags—why no “Notify me” checkbox when a category is muted question and Moin confirmed it’s a hidden UI bug (follow-up).
Bugpacharanero flagged that the official Docker templates pin an EOL NGINX version report. david explained the choice of stable 1.28.1 over mainline read more and linked a 2017 discussion on pinning (older thread).
Announcementsdavid rolled out Release 2026.1.0changelog, along with patches for 2025.12.1, 2025.11.2, and 3.5.4.
Feature NateDhaliwal proposed a success toast after flagging a post feature request; Moin highlighted the existing flagged indicator as a persistent confirmation screenshot.
Feature Steradiant requested limiting the Assign plugin to certain categories proposal, and pfaffman asked about real-world staffing use cases follow-up.
Dev pfaffman debugged failing plugin system tests after updating discourse-plugin-skeletonlogs.
Dev Ethsim2 reported Chrome console deprecation warnings on v2026.1.0-latest (+307) details; chapoi linked to the device-breakpoints guide read more.
Community Ethsim2 floated a remote guest talk for university students on Discourse design, moderation, and governance proposal.
#Integrations: markschmucker explored updating SSO user emails via DiscourseConnect without user validation initial ask; Moin reminded to enable auth_overrides_emailstep and shared the Sync SSO guide more.
david provided rationale for the NGINX pin and bumped the Docker templates nginx thread, then announced 2026.1.0 with patch details release post.
sam clarified built-in AI spam mitigations in the spam protection topic AI spam, tested the New Carousel Mode carousel feedback, fixed nested list quoting edge cases list bug, and checked on disappearing user search results search bug.
# Today on meta.discourse.org…
## Key Stats
- **114** new posts, **19** new topics ([site dashboard](https://meta.discourse.org/admin/dashboard))
- **Top users** in the last 24 hours:
- @david (6 posts, 17 likes) [[sample post]](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/393903/4)
- @Lilly (6 posts, 15 likes) [[sample post]](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394653/1)
- @Moin (11 posts, 12 likes) [[sample post]](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/301401/10)
- @chapoi (10 posts, 9 likes) [[sample post]](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394652/2)
- @HAWK (1 post, 8 likes) [[sample post]](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394599/1)
- @Joseph_Hansen (2 posts, 8 likes) [[sample post]](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394652/1)
- @zogstrip (4 posts, 6 likes) [[sample post]](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/299454/9)
- @awesomerobot (5 posts, 6 likes) [[sample post]](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394652/4)
- @Falco (2 posts, 5 likes) [[sample post]](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394223/8)
- @Ed_S (4 posts, 5 likes) [[sample post]](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394651/2)
---
## Interesting Topics
### #Announcements
- **#Announcements (#release-notes)** The [January 2026 Releases](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/393903/2) thread kicked off with @elmuerte unveiling v2026.1.0 as the first ESR stream. @david then clarified branch tagging and support windows [read more](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/393903/4).
### #Blog
- **#Blog** In [Before You “Build a Community,” Decide: Library or Coffee Shop?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394599/1), @HAWK revealed that just 38 communities generate 31% of Discourse-hosted traffic, leaving 5,000+ sites sharing the remainder.
### #Feature
- **#Feature (#moderation)** @Joseph_Hansen asked if you can “topic-ban” repeat offenders in [Is it possible to eject certain users from a topic?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394652/1). @chapoi confirmed the request and @awesomerobot suggested phased enforcement [read more](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394652/4).
- **#Feature (#trust-levels)** In [Feature request: TL1 requires write posts](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394633/1), @Dmitry_Krasnoperov proposed adding a minimum-posts requirement for Trust Level 1, prompting @Moin to request more details on the use case.
- **#Feature (#assign)** [Allow to limit assign plugin to certain categories](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394580/3) saw @Steradiant seek per-category task management, with @awesomerobot demonstrating group-scoped assigns in settings.
### #Bug
- **#Bug (#gifs #chat)** [Gif functionality issues](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394223/8) had @Falco merge fixes in both core and the GIF plugin to resolve autofocus and embedding problems.
- **#UX (#mobile)** [UI Error on mobile foldables](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394617/1) reported by @pmcpa shows half-screen content on “wide” foldables; @chapoi moved it to #UX and looped in @Falco for a CSS deep-dive.
- **#Bug (#review-queue)** @noahl noted that an [admin edit](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394646/1) was sent back to the review queue—odd, since they’d be approving their own change.
- **#Bug (#sitemap)** In [Problème de sitemap](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394642/1), @Antoinnne’s Google indexing errors led @NateDhaliwal to recommend deeper sitemap‐info logging.
- **#Bug (#fixed)** A quick PR by @zogstrip in [Sorting by name on tag page](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394485/8) restored proper alphabetical ordering.
### #Support
- **#Support** [Allow mods to create tags from a topic’s title](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394628/1) had @Anat_Srulovitch stuck without tag-creation rights; @ToddZ and @Moin walked through site settings to restore the feature.
- **#Support (#images)** @soraiden lost custom category logos and in [Category Images](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394688/1), @Moin pinpointed a theme component hiding the icons in non-safe mode.
- **#Support (#login)** The [User-specific 502 errors after login](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394612/1) thread saw timeouts for one admin account only; @Canapin helped rule out extensions and cross-device issues.
- **#Support (#email)** In [SMTP Settings Missing After Install](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394622/1), @Timelord discovered blank SMTP fields post-setup; community members suspect a skipped setup flag in `app.yml`.
### #WordPress
- **#WordPress (#wordpress)** @miednr asked why [WP Discourse isn’t marked compatible with WP 6.9](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394624/1). @zogstrip explained minimal maintenance, and @angus confirmed live 6.9 installs will see metadata updated soon.
### #Installation
- **#Installation (#ssl)** [TLS cert expiry take 2](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394619/1) by @fuse triggered a manual rebuild for expired certificates; @Moin linked to the December auto-renewal fix to prevent recurrence.
---
## Activity by the @team Group
- **@david** clarified ESR vs stable tagging and support windows in the [January 2026 Releases](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/393903/4), weighed in on the [versioning strategy RFC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/383536/51), and bumped NGINX to 1.28.1 in the [Nginx version pinning](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394488/8) thread.
- **@chapoi** scoped out temporary “topic bans” in [eject users](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394652/2), migrated the foldable‐view bug to #UX in [UI Error on mobile foldables](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394617/8), and triaged merge-notification quirks in [Don't notify me for my own actions](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/301401/11).
- **@HAWK** delivered the in-depth traffic analysis in [Before You “Build a Community”](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394599/1).
- **@awesomerobot** recommended enforcement steps in [eject users](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394652/4), demonstrated category constraints for assigns in [Allow to limit assign plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394580/4), and confirmed merging the lightbox aspect-ratio fix in [zoom bug](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394156/4).
- **@zogstrip** investigated Japanese input disruptions in [chat-tag live search bug](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/299454/9) and merged the tag-sorting correction in [Sorting by name on tag page](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394485/8).
- **@Falco** pushed two PRs resolving GIF issues in [Gif functionality issues](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394223/8).
- **@mcwumbly** suggested adding quick-links for ESR→ESR diffs on the releases site in [January 2026 Releases](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/393903/11).
- **@supermathie** clarified that DNS reroutes won’t affect X.com embeds in [404 on onebox URLs](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/394614/3).
- **@renato** highlighted that the new `composer` template type restores smart lists in [Topic form templates](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/367479/6).
---
With debates on ESRs, emojis flying in GIF threads, and foldable mobiles in the mix, our community kept the gears turning—no puppies were harmed! 🐾
UI Error on mobile foldables: A UX issue where the old mobile view conflicted with the new viewport-based style on foldable devices; Don explained that enabling the Viewport based mobile mode setting resolves the layout conflict. Read more here.
Bulk “Change Category” silently fails: Ethsim2 reported that bulk-moving topics aborts with no feedback when required tag groups aren’t initialized in the destination category, calling for informative error messages. See the bug report.
Using Discourse APIs for a Flutter app: In Praise, SubStrider announced that their iOS app—built entirely via the Discourse API—is now live on the App Store (Android support coming soon), praising the platform’s backend reliability. Find details here.
Core plugin forks after merge: skatefriday asked how to maintain a custom plugin fork after its functionality was merged into core; pfaffman recommended writing a small override plugin instead of forking. Read more here.
Claude Opus & Discourse-related development: Canapin shared experiences using AI (Claude Opus vs Gemini) to generate Discourse plugin code; community members discussed prompt techniques and integration best practices. See the conversation here.
Unusually high CPU usage: In Support, pfaffman and supermathie traced a memory vs. I/O spike to idle PostgreSQL processes, advising routine maintenance, an upgrade to Postgres 15, and regular vacuuming to stabilize resource usage. Full thread here.
Category Images override conflict: A theme override for components/category-title-link prevented category images from loading; RGJ identified the obsolete override and resolved the issue. See the solution here.
Text gets mysteriously reversed in AI Summarization payload: markschmucker found that LLM input was reversed mid-string; Falco pointed to a December patch (PR #36498) and urged updating to the latest version. Details here.
SMTP Settings Missing After Install: A self-hosted OP discovered missing SMTP configuration post-setup; pfaffman and Falco walked through editing the app.yml, rerunning setup scripts, and validating DISCOURSE_SKIP_EMAIL_SETUP. Read the troubleshooting steps here.
Automatically apply grids to image uploads: lindsey introduced the experimental auto grid images setting to automatically apply a masonry layout for 3+ uploads, enhancing gallery displays. See the announcement here.
Forum Summaries category permissions: NateDhaliwal discovered that #forum-summaries wasn’t read-only for TL4-below users; chapoi updated the settings to restrict new topics while keeping replies open. Discussion here.
Category dropdown missing in composer: With lazy-loaded categories enabled, the OP noticed the category picker disappeared in the composer for group-only users; reproduction steps and logs were shared. See the issue here.
Problème de sitemap: A Bug thread in French where the OP asked for help with sitemap generation errors; community members suggested patience or paid support via Marketplace. Read more here.
Questions about Discourse AI automatic translation: TroLLoBloger tested AI translation on small vs. large forums, and members like eisammy shared insights on cost, performance, and setup for translating thousands of posts. Details here.
Clicking “Vote Now” in a poll doesn’t give expected feedback: ChrisBeach proposed replacing the “Vote Now” button with “Voted” or “Amend Vote” to confirm poll submissions, improving UI clarity. Feedback thread here.
