Daily Summary (9pm UTC)

News and Events Forum summaries
918

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

Over the last 24 hours, the Meta community created 49 new topics and 138 new posts, with a total of 185 likes given.

Top contributors (by likes and posts):

Interesting Topics

#Feature

  • Lilly opened a PR to limit flag notifications to only members of the Moderators group, after a long discussion on whether admins who are not moderators should receive them. Mcwumbly and Awesomerobot weighed in with alternative approaches, and Awesomerobot sketched a more general per‑notification preference UI. read more

  • Southpaw revived a request to make custom sidebar links and sections translatable for users in different locales. Nat responded that this can be implemented “soon™” and added a positive emoji. read more

  • Ethsim2 suggested adding a site setting to control the minimum number of images required for auto‑grid to kick in (currently hard‑coded at three). Mcwumbly proposed separating the concept of an “image group” from its layout (list/grid/carousel) to give users more control. read more

  • Matthewruzzi asked for a user preference to change when posts are marked as read (currently the top of the post just needs to reach the bottom of the viewport). Mcwumbly suggested improving the “mark unread” feature as an alternative. read more

  • Moin noted that the solved topics auto close hours site setting should serve as the default for the per‑category “Auto close solved topics” setting, instead of the fixed two‑day default. read more

bug

  • Copymonopoly reported that editing a category’s “Allow owner to edit first post indefinitely” setting triggers a spurious “Category Slug is required” error when the slug field is blank. Awesomerobot fixed it by removing the overly strict validation. read more

  • Orioni flagged an aggressive crawler (lfc-discourse-public-crawler) that was hammering his forum’s .json endpoints. Awesomerobot suggested it might be a fork of the Discourse archival tool, and Orioni blocked it via robots.txt and IP restrictions. read more

  • Tradegood noticed that the “double like” (heart icon) reappeared on sites that have reactions disabled. Davidb explained this is part of the upcoming change to enable reactions by default, and pointed to an opt‑out setting. read more

Support

  • Mireille_Coilhac asked how to change the default FAQ language to French. Moin guided her to the “Replace text” button in the admin site‑text area, which updates boilerplate topics to the locale’s default translation. read more

  • Zard_W wanted to prevent AI translation from mangling proprietary product names and tags. Chapoi pointed out that manual override is possible on each tag page, and Falco suggested customising the translation agent’s prompt to keep specific words untranslated. read more

  • Cbtforum needed to cancel a hosted forum and its payment. Moin provided the direct link to the “cancel” button under /admin/manage-account. read more

  • Mireille_Coilhac also asked about disabling the automatic closing of solved topics. Moin and Asa explained that the per‑category setting overrides the global value, and that the global site setting should be the default for newly created categories. read more

  • Janbolmeson encountered a 400 error when using Anthropic Sonnet 5 with the AI plugin, caused by the “assistant message prefill” option. Falco noted that this option was added after the user’s ESR version (2026.1). read more

#Site-feedback

  • Matthewruzzi highlighted a hallucination in Discobot Discoveries (wrongly identifying RFC 5005 as WebSockets). He requested feedback buttons similar to Ask Discourse. Mcwumbly suggested improving the prompt and opened the topic for concrete examples. read more

  • Matthewruzzi also asked whether using Meta’s RSS feeds violates the Terms of Service (which forbid automated access). HAWK clarified that RSS is welcome and not considered abusive automation. read more

development

  • Gid praised the Meta‑branded theme and asked if it could be used on other forums. Moin explained that much of the design is part of core Discourse, and linked to the blog post about the Meta homepage changes. read more

#Self-hosting

  • Eviepayne couldn’t see the “update available” banner on her self‑hosted forum. Moin revealed it only appears when a browser tab has been open for more than a day after a build. read more

  • Philh reported a successful install using the new installer, but hit a Let’s Encrypt rate‑limit error on a second hostname. He suggested that the installer should surface ACME rate‑limit messages directly to the user. read more

Activity by the Team Group

Several Discourse team members were active across the forum, driving discussions, fixing bugs, and providing guidance.

  • Awesomerobot reviewed the flag‑notification feature request, sketched a granular notification preferences UI read more, fixed a category slug validation bug read more, and chimed in on the update‑notice question read more. He also updated the Beginner’s Guide to Themes with new screenshots read more and commented on touch‑related composer issues read more.

  • Mcwumbly participated in multiple feature discussions: suggesting a group‑based approach for flag notifications read more, brainstorming image‑group layout options read more, and considering improvements to post‑read detection read more. He also created a dedicated feedback topic for Discobot Discoveries read more.

  • Nat confirmed that translatable custom sidebar links can be delivered “soon” read more, pushed a PR for category‑scoped translation settings read more, and investigated a restricted‑tag bug read more.

  • Falco helped users troubleshoot AI model compatibility, explaining that the “assistant message prefill” option is required for Claude 3.x but not for Sonnet 5 read more, and advised on customising translation agent prompts read more.

  • Martin merged a PR for granular group permissions read more and provided guidance to Moin on updating theme components to use resolve_group_membership read more.

  • Davidb addressed the double‑like issue, clarifying that it’s related to the upcoming default‑reactions change read more.

  • Chapoi confirmed the workaround for AI‑translated proprietary vocabulary read more, and noted that the double‑like regression should only occur when reactions are enabled read more. He also acknowledged a date‑picker bug in the Schedule Logo Change component read more.

From a scraper with a polite user‑agent to a PR that made flag notifications quieter, yesterday showed that even the smallest settings can spark the biggest conversations — and that RFC 5005 is definitely not about WebSockets.

919

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

  • 54 new topics and 140 new posts were created in the last 24 hours.
  • 174 likes were given across the forum.
  • Top users by activity (posts / likes):
User Posts Likes
Moin 13 27
Mcwumbly 15 19
Don 2 13
Lilly 5 11
Nat 5 11
Matthewruzzi 9 10
NateDhaliwal 5 8
Falco 2 7
Philh 3 6
One1 7 5

Interesting Topics

#Feature

  • Mcwumbly, Lilly, Moin, and Awesomerobot debated the best way to stop admin flag notification overload. Lilly even opened a PR to limit flag notifications to only the Moderators group, though Moin raised concerns about category moderators being left out. The conversation evolved toward a more general personal notification preference system read more.

  • 0cjs argued that the site-wide setting forcing emoticon-to-emoji conversion should be a user preference, not an admin decision. Moin raised technical challenges around quoting and wiki edits, but Darkpixlz supported the idea of a new “posting preferences” tab read more.

  • One1 proposed integrating shared DataExplorer reports into the main UI so moderators can find them more easily. Nat suggested adding a new user menu option or using group-based sidebar sections. Moin pointed to an existing plugin for group sidebar menus read more.

  • Nat announced that a long-standing request to allow translation of custom sidebar links and sections is now possible via #content-localization. The feature has been merged and works by letting admins add translations directly to the topic that contains the sidebar content read more.

  • Mcwumbly shared that Davidb is exploring options for making reactions easier to use, such as allowing users to click an existing reaction to “join in” – similar to Slack and Discord. This could lead to changes in the reactions area soon read more.

  • Ethsim2 requested a configurable threshold for when auto‑grid kicks in for image uploads. Mcwumbly floated the idea of separating “image group” from “layout” (list/grid/carousel), while Chapoi preferred a simpler site‑setting approach for now read more.

  • Matthewruzzi asked for RFC 5005 (Feed Paging and Archiving) support in Discourse RSS feeds, noting that currently only the latest 25 items are exposed. This would allow RSS readers to paginate through older content read more.

#Theme-component

  • Don released a new theme component that moves the language selector from the header to the sidebar footer. The component also handles guests gracefully – if the sidebar is missing, the switcher relocates to the header automatically read more.

Support

  • Mireille_Coilhac asked how to make the default FAQ visible in French. Moin guided them to the default_locale setting and the site‑text replacement button in the admin area – a trick that even long‑time users like Patrickemin didn’t know about read more.

  • Philh reported that the new Discourse installer works great, but he hit a Let’s Encrypt rate‑limit when testing multiple hostnames. The failure was opaque – the browser just showed “connection refused”. Falco acknowledged the issue and said a move to nginx native ACME support is planned read more.

#Site-feedback

  • Matthewruzzi shared a concrete example of Discobot discovering getting it wrong: it claimed RFC 5005 was about WebSockets when it’s actually about Feed Paging and Archiving. Mcwumbly suggested improving the prompt to handle cases where no results are found read more.

bug

  • Matthewruzzi and others reported that the likes pop‑up remains visible after clicking an avatar. Davidb quickly added a fix, which was merged and confirmed as resolved read more.

  • Per1234 verified that the issue of disabled Uncategorized showing in category dropdowns is fixed via the new “Remove and replace Uncategorized” upcoming change. The fix is hidden behind a feature flag that only appears if you currently have the allow uncategorized topics setting enabled read more.

General

  • Zenova started a lighthearted thread asking the community: “What’s one Discourse feature you didn’t appreciate until you used it?” Early responses celebrated bookmarks, topic timers, and keyboard shortcuts – a welcome break from technical discussions read more.

Community Building

  • J.Jaffeux announced that workflows (not yet globally available) now support a user‑search trigger and modal node action, making it possible to show custom messages when users search for specific keywords. This closes Nemotron’s feature request read more.

Activity by the Team Group

Team members were highly active across many discussions yesterday. Here’s a round‑up of their key contributions:

  • Mcwumbly drove several feature discussions: the flag‑notification setting (#383964), image auto‑grid improvements (#406731), and reactions usability (#406669). He also gave feedback on Discobot discoveries (#407133) and handled several support questions.

  • Lilly opened a PR to implement flag‑notification changes (option B), participated in the sidebar‑field issue (#407235), and shared her opinion on the emoticon‑to‑emoji preference topic (#407255).

  • Moin provided deep technical input on multiple threads: he highlighted category‑moderator concerns for flag notifications (#383964), explained how locale‑based site‑text replacement works (#407143), and discussed translation of FAQ/Terms of Service (#144715). He also noted a possible side‑effect of the small‑post actions change (#404058).

  • Awesomerobot weighed in on the flag‑notification design, suggesting a more general notification‑preferences UI rather than a simple group toggle (#383964). He also updated the “Beginner’s guide to using Discourse Themes” with fresh screenshots (#91966).

  • Nat confirmed that custom sidebar link translation is now available (#299871) and merged a new category‑scope setting to limit topic translation to specific categories (#392993). He also suggested UI improvements for DataExplorer reports (#407234).

  • Falco responded to feedback on the new installer, explaining that the ACME rate‑limit is a common testing issue and that nginx native ACME support is coming (#407204). He also helped a user with Claude/Sonnet configuration for the AI plugin (#407117).

  • Davidb fixed the likes‑popup‑stays bug and merged the change (#407035). He also clarified that the “simpler email subject lines” upcoming change is not permanent and that toggling it off will be respected (#395927).

  • J.Jaffeux announced that workflows (new feature) can now respond to user searches with custom modal messages, closing the related feature request (#405163).

  • Tannerabread identified that an iOS Markdown composer freeze (text selection fails on second attempt) is likely caused by a recent change (PR #41366) and promised to investigate on Monday (#407258).

  • Martin discussed group‑based permissions and the disallowed_groups functionality for theme settings (#402273).

Yesterday reminded us that even a small forum can spark big discussions – and that a misplaced emoji can lead to a feature request, a new theme component, or a PR within hours. Keep the ideas coming!

920

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

  • Total new posts: 109
  • Total new topics: 39
  • Total likes across returned posts: 137

Top Users by Likes and Posts

User Likes Posts
Don 15 3
Moin 12 8
NateDhaliwal 10 5
Darkpixlz 9 7
Eisammy 9 5
Zenova 7 1
Paulovbettio 6 5
One1 5 6
0cjs 5 4
Lilly 5 4

Interesting Topics

#Announcements

  • GIFs are moving to Discourse core! – The long‑awaited transition of GIFs from a theme component to core is underway. Self‑hosted admins struggled with the migration, and Lilly helpfully provided a forked component to continue using Giphy while the core feature settles. Read more →

bug

  • Reported image from a chat message is never shown to moderators in the review queue – Luna_Mora reported that when a chat message containing an image is flagged, the review queue fails to display the image, making moderation of DMs especially problematic. The root cause appears to be a missing upload snapshot in the chat review handler. Read more →

  • Disabled Uncategorized shows in category dropdowns – Per1234 confirmed that a recent PR (by Sam) resolves this long‑standing bug by letting users replace the special Uncategorized category with a standard one. The fix is gated behind an upcoming change feature flag. Read more →

  • Translation silently truncated when JSON stream parsing breaks – Dorina discovered that Discourse AI’s content localizer can save truncated translations without any error log. The fallback BestEffortJsonParser is suspected of breaking on special characters. Denis_Kovalenko added a data point showing similar corruption (literal \n sequences) with OpenAI. Read more →

  • Likes pop‑up stays on page after you click an avatar – A fix by Davidb has already been merged, resolving the sticky pop‑up behaviour. Read more →

#Community Building

  • Forums that forbid AI content… How’s it going? – The debate continued over AI‑generated slop versus useful LLM tools. Stephtara shared her community’s hands‑on approach, while Eisammy argued that AI‑heavy forums naturally repel users. Jagster and Eisammy had a multilingual exchange on consistency. Read more →

  • Special account for document authoring – Stephtara asked about using a generic “community admin” account for authored documentation. NateDhaliwal pointed to the @Discourse account on Meta as a real‑world example of depersonalised authorship. Read more →

#Feature

  • Emoticon to emoji conversion should be a user preference, not site‑wide – 0cjs revived a decade‑old request, arguing that forcing text‑based emoticons to emojis frustrates users. Moin raised technical challenges around quoting and rebaking, while Mcwumbly acknowledged the request’s value but noted its complexity. Read more →

  • Integrate shared DataExplorer reports into the UI – One1 proposed making DataExplorer reports accessible from the user menu or a new sidebar link, rather than hidden inside group pages. Nat suggested a user‑menu tab, and Moin recommended using the existing group sidebar menus plugin. Read more →

  • Configure a custom sidebar link to open in a new tab – Markschmucker shared a custom JavaScript snippet that removes target="_blank" from sidebar links to the main site, solving a long‑standing UX friction. Read more →

  • Feature request: Limit topic translation to specific categories – Nat announced that the ability to restrict automated translation to selected categories has been merged, with a video demonstration. Read more →

General

  • Curious to hear your best Discourse lesson so far – Zoo asked the community for the single most valuable piece of advice for a new forum admin. Paulovbettio warned against over‑theming, Darkpixlz urged not creating communities before demand exists, and NateDhaliwal recommended reading the documentation first. Read more →

  • What’s one Discourse feature you didn’t appreciate until you used it? – Zenova kicked off a light‑hearted sharing thread. Eisammy praised automations for scheduled topics and custom badges, noting that even after three years there are still surprises. Read more →

#Self‑hosting

Support

  • Manual Localization doesn’t seem to be working – Paulovbettio found that manually translated posts were not showing up. Moin quickly diagnosed the missing “language of original” field in the composer – after setting it, the translations worked. Read more →

#Theme component

  • Move Language Selector to Sidebar Footer – Don released a new theme component that relocates the language selector from the header to the sidebar footer, keeping the UI clean. NateDhaliwal suggested using the existing site setting for guest visibility, which Don promptly implemented. Read more →

  • Drag & Drop Upload + File Previews for AI Bot Conversations page – Another component by Don adds drag‑and‑drop file uploads with image thumbnails and colour‑coded extension badges to the AI bot conversation interface. Read more →

Activity by the Team Group

Team members were active across many threads, offering support, merging fixes, and guiding discussions.

  • NateDhaliwal contributed to the Move Language Selector component (suggesting guest logic), the Best Discourse Lesson thread (recommending documentation), the AI content discussion, the Special account for document authoring topic, and the “First reaction” badge confusion. See all posts.

  • Moin weighed in on the Emoticon to emoji conversion feature (explaining quoting complexities), the DataExplorer integration (pointing to the existing sidebar plugin), the Manual Localization support thread (diagnosing the missing language field), and the Tag restricted bug (providing a detailed SQL query). See all posts.

  • J.Jaffeux announced that the feature to trigger a friendly notice when users search for blocked keywords is now possible with Workflows, and the feature is rolling out next week. Read more.

  • Nat discussed the DataExplorer integration (suggesting a user‑menu tab) and announced that the category‑scoped translation feature has been merged. Read more and read more.

  • Davidb fixed the Likes pop‑up stays on page bug (merged) and clarified the Simpler email subject lines messaging. Read more and read more.

  • Pfaffman assisted on the Disk space too full topic (recommending ./launcher cleanup), the Allow‑pm‑to‑staff plugin issue (promising to look next week), the How to install plugins thread, and the New installer discussion. See all posts.

  • Tannerabread acknowledged the iOS Markdown composer freezes bug, attributed it to a recent WebKit mitigation change, and promised to investigate on Monday. Read more.

  • Chapoi weighed in on the Auto‑grid for less than 3 images feature, favouring a manual setting over automatic behaviour. Read more.

And remember, a new admin asked for the best Discourse lesson – and the community delivered wisdom on not creating communities for things that don’t exist yet. Sound advice for any project!

921

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

Over the last 24 hours, 61 new posts were created across 23 new topics, receiving a total of 81 likes. The most active contributors were:

User Likes Posts
Eisammy 10 5
Merefield 9 7
Fearlessfrog 8 3
NateDhaliwal 7 6
Lilly 7 2
Paulovbettio 6 5
Darkpixlz 6 1
Don 6 1
Zoo 5 1
Stephtara 4 3

Interesting Topics

General

  • What’s your best Discourse lesson?
    Zoo kicked off a lively meta‑discussion by asking seasoned admins to share the single most valuable lesson they’ve learned. Paulovbettio warned against over‑theming (it’s a form of procrastination!), while Darkpixlz advised not to build a community for something that doesn’t exist yet. NateDhaliwal seconded that and urged new admins to start by reading the documentation. Read more

  • Turn‑based board game – early days
    Fearlessfrog shared a brand‑new plugin that adds a simple turn‑based board game to any Discourse category. Members can create, join, and play games right within the forum. The prototype is available on GitHub and a live test board is currently running. Check it out

  • One Discourse feature you didn’t appreciate until you used it
    Eisammy highlighted automations (for scheduling celebratory topics) and badges (customisable for special moments) as features that became indispensable after experiencing them in a real community. See the thread

#Community Building

  • Forums that forbid AI content – how’s it going?
    Stephtara opened a discussion about banning LLM‑generated posts. Eisammy prefers quality over quantity and notes that AI‑slop hurts SEO. Jagster questioned the consistency of allowing AI in some contexts (e.g., translations) while banning it in others. Merefield pointed out how hard it is to detect carefully revised AI text, and Bartv admitted the challenge is “exhausting” and worried about bots overrunning communities. Join the conversation

  • Special account for document authoring
    Stephtara asked whether to use a generic “community admin” account for collaborative documentation. NateDhaliwal pointed to the Discourse account used here for official documentation topics. See advice

bug

  • Popup menu for quoting text unresponsive on Android
    Merefield reported that the text‑selection popup on Android Chrome stops working after a while. NateDhaliwal found a bizarre workaround – briefly opening the Reactions popup restores functionality. Merefield then used an AI diagnosis to trace the root cause: the discourse-reactions plugin leaves a user-select: none class on the <html> element when a scroll gesture is cancelled. Full technical breakdown

  • “First reaction” badge confusing
    NateDhaliwal noted that new users may confuse “reactions” with the traditional “like,” especially now that both are integrated. Jonathan5 agreed that a typical user won’t know the heart icon isn’t a “reaction.” Read more

  • Tag “Can’t be used in this category”
    AstonJ described a scenario where a restricted tag (visible only to admins via tag groups) cannot be used even in unrestricted categories. Moin shared a Data Explorer query to debug tag‑category permission issues. Debugging help

  • Memory leak in post authoring interface
    Aranai reported input lag after leaving a tab open for hours, with 3‑4 seconds of delay while typing. The issue only occurs on a laptop and disappears after reloading the tab. Report the bug

  • Punctuation breaks Markdown bold in Chinese
    Sk-Or-V1-Contents explained that CJK punctuation causes a known CommonMark issue with ** bold markers. Workaround: use <span></span> after punctuation. Details

#Feature

  • Emoticon to emoji conversion should be a user preference
    Darkpixlz argued that converting :) to :blush: should be user‑controllable, not a site‑wide setting. Mcwumbly acknowledged the request but noted it would be technically complex (similar to an old markdown‑linebreak request). Discussion

  • Plugin for animated stickers
    Gilles revived an old feature request. Lilly pointed to Don’s existing Discourse Stickers theme component as a solution. Add your voice

#Announcements

  • GIFs moving to Discourse core
    Fearlessfrog asked how to keep using Giphy after the change. Lilly provided a clear walkthrough: delete the old theme component, disable the core GIF setting, then install a fork (she maintains one). She also noted the component is still listed in the default install page, causing confusion. Migration help

  • Enabling Discourse Reactions by default for all sites
    J127 reported a colour bug when using the “Change Like Icon” theme component together with the default Reactions – the hover colour still shows red instead of the custom colour. Bug details

#Theme component

  • Drag & Drop upload + file previews for AI bot conversations
    Don released a new theme component that adds drag‑and‑drop file uploads with image thumbnails and colour‑coded extension badges to the AI conversation page. Install it

#Plugin

  • Discourse Math
    Xiasummer solved their issue by updating the whole system now that Math is bundled in core. Solution

Support

  • Manual localization not working
    Paulovbettio couldn’t see translated content despite manual translations. Moin identified the cause: the original post’s language had not been set in the composer. After selecting the language, translations appeared. Fix

  • ArgumentError flooding logs
    One1 reported thousands of scheduled errors from upcoming_change_stable_opted_out problem check due to Ruby 3.4 keyword argument mismatch. The issue appears to be a core bug. Log excerpt

  • AI bot not replying to DMs
    Kgreed found that their Claude Sonnet AI bot responds to Mentions in topics but not to direct messages. Seeking help

  • Search query returning friendly message
    Stephtara participated in a Chinese‑language discussion about returning a custom notice when users search for certain keywords – a feature many find useful.

#Self‑hosting

  • Disk space too full to update
    Azhdrake ran out of space during an upgrade. Pfaffman suggested ./launcher cleanup, Steven added commands to clear apt cache and logs. Ultimately Azhdrake upgraded to a larger server to avoid recurring trouble. Workarounds

  • New installer issue with hostname
    Philh shared a humorous account of getting stuck with the new installer due to not reading warnings about DiscourseID. Falco and Pfaffman offered advice on dual‑subdomain certificate requests. Story

  • Stuck in trial read‑only mode
    Roommates accidentally entered a paid trial that expired, leaving the site read‑only with no option to downgrade to the free plan. Ondrej directed them to email team@discourse.org. Support thread

Activity by the Team Group

The Discourse staff team was active across multiple topics, offering support, investigating bugs, and sharing guidance:

Yesterday’s highlight? A turn‑based board game plugin, a deep‑dive into a CSS bug, and a community‑wide confession that theming Discourse is dangerously fun – at least we’re all procrastinating together!

922

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the last 24 hours, the community generated 104 new posts across 38 new topics, with a total of 176 likes recorded in returned posts. The top contributors by likes and posts were:

Interesting Topics

#Announcements

  • Lindsey unveiled a powerful new Workflows feature, a visual automation builder that replaces the old Automations plugin with a multi-step canvas supporting triggers, conditions, actions, and AI calls. RGJ called it “a game changer”, noting it functions similarly to n8n, and Awesomerobot confirmed it will eventually replace Automations entirely. Read more

  • Rishabh introduced a new email‑code sign‑up flow that lets users log in with a six‑digit code sent to their inbox, bypassing magic links. Darkpixlz raised concerns about password manager compatibility, Dfabulich advocated for passkeys, and Pmusaraj responded that this approach avoids the in‑app browser pitfalls. Read more

  • Discussion continued on the GIFs moving to core topic (#404829). Martin clarified that the Klipy migration was optimised for hosted customers, while Lilly noted that Giphy’s free API still works fine for many self‑hosters. Davidb was asked to remove the old component from the default install list. Read more

#Theme

  • Oniel released a modern flat theme focused on clarity, density, and consistent interactions. Pmusaraj complimented the look and asked for mobile screenshots. Read more

bug

  • Akanora reported that the avatar selector modal crashes with t.split is not a function when selectable avatars are enabled but empty. Pmusaraj helped diagnose the root cause (a missing fallback) and quickly submitted a pull request to fix it gracefully. Read more

  • Merefield and NateDhaliwal investigated an Android bug where the quote popup becomes unresponsive after scrolling over a reaction button. An AI diagnosis revealed that the Discourse Reactions plugin leaves a global user-select: none class behind after a cancelled touch‑move, preventing text selection. Read more

#Plugin

  • The official Discourse Workflows documentation topic went live. Patrickemin encountered a permission error when trying to enable it from admin/plugins; Awesomerobot clarified it must be enabled via /admin/config/upcoming-changes. Read more

  • Fearlessfrog shared a turn‑based board game plugin inspired by Risk, where forum members can play against each other in a three‑phase turn system. The plugin adds a “New Game” button to selected categories and is fully open‑source. Read more

  • Fearlessfrog also posted an early‑days discussion about the same board game plugin in the General category, inviting broader testing and feedback. Read more

Support

  • One1 asked where the version information disappeared from the admin dashboard. Moin confirmed it’s part of the new “Dashboard improvements” upcoming change and pointed to the “Update Discourse” page as the new home. Lilly provided a screenshot showing the commit hash location. Read more

  • Gid inquired about installing plugins on the free hosting plan. Moin explained that only plugins included in the plan’s tier are available, and Darkpixlz confirmed that custom plugins require a higher tier or self‑hosting. Read more

  • Aranai reported a memory leak in the post authoring interface after leaving a tab open for hours. Falco checked and saw ~360 MB after 5 h on Firefox, but reproduction steps are still needed. Read more

ux

  • Moin noticed that the relative time selection in the bookmark modal now uses two lines instead of one. Awesomerobot thanked them and quickly pushed a fix to restore the single‑line layout. Read more

#Community Building

  • Bartv sparked a discussion on forums that forbid AI content, sharing the struggle of detecting genAI posts. Canapin echoed the concern about Reddit’s bot problem, while Awesomerobot observed that reliable AI detection remains a myth and that content merits, not origin, should be the judge. Read more

#Praise

  • Merefield celebrated the crisp new button styling with a screenshot and a Klipy kiss – a light‑hearted appreciation that garnered several likes. Read more

Activity by the Team Group

The Discourse team was highly engaged across many topics in the last 24 hours:

From new Workflows to turn‑based board games and silent avatar selection, yesterday’s Meta was a whirlwind of creation, debugging, and a few playful kisses – proof that automation and fun can coexist beautifully on Discourse! :game_die::speech_balloon:

923

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the last 24 hours, Meta saw 153 new posts across 61 new topics, generating 292 likes.

Top Users by Activity

Interesting Topics

Grouped by forum category.

#Announcements

  • A preview of the new Workflows feature — Lindsey introduced a visual automation builder for complex multi‑step workflows. The announcement received overwhelming positive feedback; RGJ called it “a game changer,” and Awesomerobot confirmed it will likely replace the existing Automations plugin. read more

  • Easier account signup using email codes — Rishabh unveiled a passwordless login flow using six‑digit codes. Community members discussed accessibility for password‑manager users and suggested future passkey support. Pmusaraj clarified the code‑based approach avoids in‑app browser pitfalls. read more

  • Better insights into your community with the redesigned admin dashboard — The conversation continued as One1 expressed a desire to keep version info visible on the dashboard. Chapoi and Mcwumbly explained the move to a dedicated updates page, with customizability planned. read more

  • GIFs are moving to Discourse core! — Martin addressed self‑hoster confusion about the Klipy migration, acknowledging that the “upcoming changes” wording could be clearer. Lilly reported that the free Giphy API still works well for many. read more

#Feature

  • Make PDF previews actually readable — Canapin requested a full‑screen toggle for inline PDF previews to improve readability. Moin and David noted a related fix for PDF download behaviour. The discussion highlighted a desire for better default sizing. read more

  • Allow to exclude groups in /filter — Andresfromsonar proposed extending the /filter URL syntax with a -group parameter to exclude topics where members of a certain group have replied. Mcwumbly agreed it fits existing patterns and use cases. read more

bug

  • Avatar selector modal crashes with “t.split is not a function” — Akanora reported a JS crash when the “Selectable Avatars” setting is enabled but empty. Pmusaraj reproduced the issue and quickly submitted a fix. read more

  • Unit and number are no longer in one line in relative time selection — Moin spotted a layout regression in the bookmark modal’s relative time picker. Awesomerobot provided a PR to restore the single‑line design. read more

  • Custom top navigation link component seems to be broken on mobile — Moin and Akanora confirmed the component hides the entire navigation on mobile. Awesomerobot prepared a refactor that also migrates to an objects‑type setting. read more

  • AI bot “Retry” creates duplicate replies in public topics — Overgrow investigated a bug where clicking Retry in a non‑PM topic appends a new post instead of regenerating the existing one, and pinpointed the root cause in the non‑streaming branch. read more

#Theme

  • Oniel’s Flat Theme — Oniel shared a crisp, modern flat theme focused on clarity and density. Pmusaraj praised the sharp visuals and suggested mobile screenshots. read more

#Self‑hosting

  • After the update, error and forum not functioning — Yuki_Sui encountered a missing‑migration error after an upgrade. NateDhaliwal and Chapoi guided them through a rebuild and manual migration, which resolved the issue. read more

  • After upgrade every component is broken — Jagster saw all theme components fail after a rebuild. David identified a theme‑compilation glitch and provided a cache‑clear workaround that fixed it. read more

Support

  • How to install Plugins on Free Hosting? — Gid asked whether any plugins beyond the pre‑installed list can be added. Moin and Darkpixlz explained that plugin availability is strictly tier‑based and the free plan is intentionally limited. read more

  • Where did the version information go? — One1 noticed the version display is missing from the new admin dashboard. Moin and Chapoi pointed to the “Dashboard improvements” upcoming change and the dedicated updates page. read more

#Praise

  • Loving the crisp new button styling! — Merefield shared a warm appreciation for the recently updated button design, complete with an animated gif. read more

Activity by the Team Group

Team members were busy across many discussions yesterday:

Fun sign‑off: Yesterday the community was electrified by the Workflows alpha — we suspect even the AI bots were whispering, “Finally, a way to automate our coffee breaks.” :rocket:

924

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the last 24 hours, we saw 144 new posts across 55 topics, with 249 likes given across the community. Here are the top contributors by engagement:

User New Posts Likes Received
Awesomerobot 5 17
Martin 2 17
Chapoi 7 15
Moin 13 14
Merefield 10 13
Don 5 13
David 3 10
Canapin 3 9
Lindsey 1 9
System 1 11

Interesting Topics

#Announcements

  • Martin unveiled the new Admin Category Management page (/admin/config/category-management), a dedicated directory that displays all categories with type, visibility, topic count, parent/child hierarchy, and quick settings access. The page also includes a Settings tab for category-related site settings. read more

  • Lindsey announced that Solved badges are now enabled by default for new communities, automatically awarding recognition for helpful replies. Existing communities can opt-in via the Upcoming Changes page. read more

  • System shared the blog post Introducing the Discourse Free Plan, offering unlimited members, unlimited chat, and a frictionless experience at $0. read more

  • The discussion around the redesigned admin dashboard continued, with Ed_S and One1 advocating for sysadmin-specific landing pages and easier access to version information, while Chapoi noted that the new dedicated status page is only one extra click away. read more

blog

  • The Discourse Free Plan announcement sparked curiosity, with users discussing the implications for self-hosters and new communities. The plan includes unlimited members and chat with built-in AI features. read more

bug

  • Canapin reported that PDF previews are often unreadable due to the small default size, and requested a fullscreen toggle similar to codeblocks and tables. David and Moin helped track down a related download-on-click issue that has since been merged. read more

  • Merefield highlighted that the quoting popup menu is unresponsive on Android. Tannerabread is investigating whether it’s a regression from a recent iOS fix, while Akatsukinoluna confirmed the issue has persisted for months on some sites. read more

  • Overgrow provided a detailed bug report showing that clicking Retry on an AI bot reply in a public topic creates a duplicate post instead of regenerating in place. Falco submitted a fix to honour the existing reply post regardless of streaming. read more

  • One1 noticed that pasting HTML with <span lang="..."> tags into the composer includes the raw HTML instead of converting to Markdown. Renato is investigating, noting it may be a side effect of recent clipboard processing changes. read more

  • Dax reported that IMDB oneboxes are broken because fetch_response rejects HTTP 202, while IMDB now returns 202 as an anti-bot measure. The fix should accept the full 2xx range. read more

#Community Building

  • A deep and thoughtful thread emerged on declining community activity in support forums. Nicolsdennis suggested using AI support agents, Don advocated for login‑gating forums to protect content from AI scrapers, Awesomerobot warned about losing SEO influence, and Merefield emphasised that the unique value of forums lies in conversation and trust. read more

  • Tobiaseigen shared a free online workshop, Strengthening Online Communities, organised by Rise Against Big Tech, focusing on open‑source tools like Discourse for long‑term community memory and autonomy. read more

#Feature

  • Awesomerobot quickly implemented a new feature to allow excluding groups in /filter, based on a suggestion from Andresfromsonar. The PR was merged and will be available in the next update. read more

  • Nathank requested that the upcoming-events block respect the subcategory filter when displayed in category lists. RGJ pointed out the undocumented includeSubcategories parameter, and Zogstrip merged a fix to make it dynamic. read more

#Plugin

  • Dr460nf1r3 forked and fixed the Discourse Chat Bridge for Telegram, then submitted a PR to the original repo after Merefield encouraged it. read more

#Self-hosting

  • Yuki_Sui encountered errors after an update, including missing migrations and a column error. NateDhaliwal and Chapoi guided them through a rebuild and migration, resolving the issue successfully. read more

Support

  • Hsin_Dr asked which theme Meta uses, and Darkpixlz explained it’s a private theme called Meta Branded, pointing to public customization resources. read more

#Theme

  • Oniel released a major update to their Flat Theme, refactoring the code, improving UX with animations, and cleaning up the topic list. They thanked Manuel for their authoring skills guide. read more

#Theme component

  • The Inline PDF Previews component had an admin notice about deprecated code. Zogstrip quickly fixed the issue and merged a PR to resolve it. read more

  • Merefield optimised the Topic List Previews (TLP) component, removing the imagesLoaded library and fixing a CSS animation jank. He also made the sidecar add‑on private for GitHub Sponsors. read more

Activity by the Team Group

  • Awesomerobot contributed to the discussion on declining forum activity, warning about the SEO risks of hiding content read more and quickly implemented the group exclusion filter feature read more. They also fixed a mobile display issue in the Custom Top Navigation Link Component read more and investigated a tag editing error read more.

  • Martin introduced the Admin Category Management page read more and fixed the ArgumentError in upcoming_change_stable_opted_out problem check read more.

  • Chapoi assisted Yuki_Sui with a post‑update migration error read more, approved and merged the delete pending topic from activity page feature read more, fixed the “First reaction” badge confusion read more, and addressed feedback on the admin dashboard read more. They also flagged the Android quoting bug read more and the iOS text selection freeze read more.

  • David clarified that the PDF download fix wasn’t yet merged read more and announced warning banners for deprecated .js.es6 and .hbs file extensions in themes and plugins read more read more.

  • Davidb updated the GIF attribution requirements in core read more and ensured simpler email subject lines warning is no longer shown read more.

  • Falco fixed the AI bot Retry duplicate post issue read more and began work on a fix for silently truncated translations read more.

  • Lindsey announced the Solved badges default enablement read more.

  • Nathank requested the upcoming-events block respect subcategory filters read more and followed up on dynamic groups read more.

  • Renato investigated the composer paste HTML issue read more and fixed the reported image from chat message not showing in review queue read more.

  • Tannerabread fixed the iOS text selection freeze read more and investigated the Android quoting bug read more. They also investigated a Theme Creator export white screen on PWA read more.

  • Zogstrip fixed the Inline PDF Previews admin notice read more, the upcoming-events block subcategory issue read more, the topic voting notification bug read more, and the S3 multipart backup upload issue read more.

  • Tobiaseigen shared the online workshop read more, asked about bootstrap mode read more, and sought Mastodon verification links read more.

  • Sam was referenced in a discussion about small post actions read more.

Sign-off: Yesterday the community proved that even when AI bots get stuck in loops and PDFs refuse to fit the screen, there’s always a human with a clever fix waiting in the wings — or just an extra click away.

925

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

Over the last 24 hours, the community was buzzing with 142 new posts across 53 new topics, accumulating 255 likes from engaged members.

Top contributors (by likes & posts):

Interesting Topics

#Community Building

  • Anyone else seeing a drastic drop in community activity for Support forums?
    A deep, ongoing conversation about the impact of AI on forum traffic. Don argues for making forums login-only to protect content, while Awesomerobot warns this could harm SEO. Merefield sees forums shifting toward trust and conversation rather than pure information. HAWK suggests rethinking success metrics and using the “library vs coffee shop” analogy. read more

  • Online Workshop: Strengthening Online Communities, July 29th
    Tobiaseigen announced a workshop; HAWK expressed interest but noted the 3am UTC timing is tough for some time zones. read more

#Self-hosting

  • Confused about Self Hosting
    Gid, a beginner, asked a series of questions about VPS, managed hosting, SSH, and maintenance. Lilly, Andrew_Rowe, Darkpixlz, and Ed_S provided thorough explanations, highlighting the difference between self-hosting and Discourse’s own hosting, and the level of Linux admin skill required. read more

  • Real IP no longer recognized through proxy
    Mcdanlj reported that his external nginx config no longer passes real IPs to Discourse. Pfaffman shared a working set_real_ip_from config, and Chapoi linked to a recent commit that may have caused the change. The fix involves using after_bundle_exec or dropping files into the container’s nginx outlets. read more

#Announcements

  • Introducing the admin category management page
    Martin announced a new admin page for managing categories. Gormus requested drag‑and‑drop reordering and a “create new category” button – both now partly addressed. read more

  • Solved badges are now enabled by default for new communities
    Lindsey shared that the four Solved badges will be on by default. Community members asked about backfilling, and Davidb confirmed a daily job handles it. read more

  • GIFs are moving to Discourse core!
    Davidb updated the discussion: attribution requirements have been fixed, and the “powered by” option has been removed. The transition should now be smoother. read more

  • Better insights into your community with the redesigned admin dashboard
    One1 criticised the new dashboard for hiding system updates behind an extra click. Ed_S suggested a preference for different landing pages (sysadmin vs community manager). Chapoi acknowledged the feedback. read more

  • Topic Voting improvements: New badges to celebrate members with great ideas
    Lindsey announced that Topic Voting badges are now also enabled by default (via upcoming changes). read more

#Feature

  • Allow to exclude groups in /filter
    Awesomerobot merged this feature, praised by Andresfromsonar for the quick turnaround. read more

  • Have the upcoming-events block respect the subcategory filter
    Zogstrip fixed a bug where the upcoming events block ignored subcategory filtering. read more

  • Configure “Accept all solutions allowed groups” per category
    Fb.Xisi requested per‑category control over who can mark posts as solved. Mcwumbly asked for real‑world use cases. read more

bug

  • fetch_response rejects HTTP 202 breaking IMDB oneboxes
    Dax reported that IMDB now returns 202, causing onebox failures. Zogstrip noted that IMDB is behind a WAF and improved the error message instead. read more

  • Quoted text is breaking because of curly quote conversion
    One1 described a moderator seeing BBCode quotes broken by smart quotes in DuckDuckGo browser. Chapoi confirmed it’s a browser‑level autocorrect issue, and Moin linked to a similar earlier report. read more

  • The popup menu for quoting text is unresponsive on Android
    Akatsukinoluna confirmed this bug has been present for months on Android Chrome, beyond the iOS fix. read more

  • Affiliate link rewriting (and any post_process_cooked hook) is skipped for localized/translated post content
    Overgrow filed an excellent bug report showing that translated posts miss affiliate tag rewriting. Zogstrip has a fix in PR #41770. read more

Support

  • Has something changed with pasting html into the composer?
    One1 noticed that <span lang="..."> tags are now preserved when pasting HTML. Renato is investigating, noting that the clipboard provides both HTML and plain text. read more

  • Select font while creating a topic
    Sorokin asked how to choose a font in the composer. Darkpixlz provided a CSS‑based solution using [wrap] tags and offered to extend it with a dropdown via JavaScript. read more

Activity by the Team Group

The Discourse team was highly active across many threads yesterday. Here are their key contributions:

  • Awesomerobot

    • Merged the “Allow to exclude groups in /filter” feature (topic).
    • Shared deep insights on the trade‑offs of gating forums for AI in the community drop discussion (topic).

  • Zogstrip

    • Fixed the upcoming‑events subcategory filter (topic).
    • Fixed the IMDB onebox error message (topic).
    • Fixed a vote‑limit notification bug (topic).
    • Fixed the S3 multipart backup upload bug (topic).
    • Fixed the affiliate link rewriting issue for localized content (topic).
    • Fixed the Inline PDF Previews component deprecation (topic).
    • Acknowledged that the small post actions change may have gone too far and is working on a fix (topic).

  • Lindsey

    • Announced the default enabling of Solved badges (topic).
    • Announced the default enabling of Topic Voting badges (topic).

  • Martin

    • Introduced the admin category management page and responded to feedback, adding a “create new category” button (topic).
    • Fixed an ArgumentError in the upcoming‑change problem check (topic).
    • Implemented granular group‑based permissions for theme component settings (topic).

  • Chapoi

    • Reviewed and merged a CSS fix for the Horizon theme on mobile (topic).
    • Contributed to the admin dashboard redesign discussion, noting future customization options (topic).
    • Helped identify the cause of the real‑IP proxy issue (topic).
    • Diagnosed the quoted‑text curly quote bug as a browser issue (topic).

  • Davidb

    • Updated the GIFs‑to‑core PR with attribution fixes and removed the “powered by” option (topic).
    • Confirmed that the simpler email subject lines warning has been resolved (topic).
    • Clarified that backfilling for Solved badges runs automatically (topic).

  • Nat

    • Helped a user with custom sidebar links (topic).
    • Improved the manual localization UI to clarify that a post language must be set (topic).
    • Approved a theme fix for Horizon mobile PM padding (topic).

  • Renato

    • Investigated and worked on pasting HTML improvements, aiming to avoid unwanted <span lang> tags (topic).
    • Fixed the bug where reported chat message images were not shown in the review queue (topic).

  • Falco

    • Explained how the Discourse AI plugin’s summary feature works (on‑demand and background backfill) (topic).
    • Clarified that the AI plugin supports embeddings only via Google AI Studio, not Vertex AI, and noted a PR for broader compatibility (topic).

  • Sam

    • Confirmed that small post action data remains in the database and is still available for queries (topic).

  • HAWK

    • Provided a detailed framework for measuring community success in the age of AI, including the “library vs coffee shop” analogy (topic).
    • Fixed outgoing email on try.discourse.org after the daily restore broke it (topic).
    • Expressed interest in the online community workshop (topic).

  • Mcwumbly

    • Engaged in the community drop discussion, questioning how Don defines success (topic).
    • Asked for real‑world use cases on per‑category solved groups (topic).
    • Provided context for the dfn tag feature request (topic).

  • Pfaffman

    • Advised on self‑hosting and the real‑IP proxy workaround (topic).
    • Recommended tmux over nohup for keeping rebuilds alive (topic).
    • Answered questions about VPS and managed hosting in the self‑hosting confusion thread (topic).
    • Helped a Wix user understand hosting options (topic).

  • Merefield

    • Contributed to the AI impact discussion, noting that forums are about conversation, not just facts (topic).
    • Pointed out that category security permissions already offer content gating (topic).
    • Noted that the Raspberry Pi blog post seems broken again (topic).
    • Recommended tmux for persistent rebuild sessions (topic).

  • Tannerabread

    • Investigated the Theme Creator export white screen on mobile, asking if it’s PWA‑only (topic).

From debating the future of forums in the age of AI to untangling the mysteries of VPS hosting, it was a day full of deep dives and community spirit—keep the conversations flowing!

926

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

  • 143 new posts and 50 new topics were created in the last 24 hours.
  • 307 likes were given across all activity.
  • Top users by likes and posts:

Interesting Topics

#Self-hosting

Confused about Self Hosting – Gid asked for clarity on self-hosting vs. managed hosting, and Andrew_Rowe provided a thorough walkthrough covering VPS, SSH, and maintenance realities. Lilly shared her experience as a former Discourse employee, explaining the difference between Discourse’s own hosting and third-party managed options. Darkpixlz, NateDhaliwal, and Itsbhanusharma debated the pros and cons of hosting on your own hardware versus using Cloudflare tunnels. The discussion eventually touched on SEO, SMTP, DNS, and the level of commitment required for a self‑hosted forum. read more

Real IP no longer recognized through proxy – Mcdanlj discovered that the real IP of visitors was being masked by the Docker network after a recent Discourse commit. Pfaffman suggested using set_real_ip_from in nginx, while Chapoi pointed to the specific commit that caused the change. Mcdanlj eventually solved it by dropping configuration files into the container’s nginx outlets. read more

Invalid version list in discourse themes – Jagster saw “Invalid version list” warnings for several theme components during upgrades. Elmuerte explained that an empty .discourse-compatibility file triggers this, and David confirmed that the recommended approach is now the d-compat/* branch strategy. read more

#Community Building

Message from the future :envelope_with_arrow: – Don invited everyone to send a single piece of advice to their past self who just became a Discourse admin. Jagster recommended the KISS principle, NateDhaliwal stressed reading the documentation, and Canapin shared a humorous, bullet‑pointed message about customizations, AI, and climate change. read more

Anyone else seeing a drastic drop in community activity for Support forums? – HAWK and Don continued a deep conversation about how AI search is changing community engagement. HAWK proposed new metrics (reach, value consumed) and gating only non‑support content, while Don suggested making the “library” AI‑friendly while preserving the “coffee shop” experience for logged‑in members. read more

#Announcements

Improving admin invites – Keegan unveiled a redesigned invite modal that lets you invite admins in one step, with a Members/Admins toggle. Ondrej asked why moderator invites weren’t included, and Awesomerobot suggested an educational tooltip to explain the difference between admin and moderator privileges. read more

Granular group-based permissions for anonymous and logged in users – Martin posted two PRs that implement disallowed_groups and resolve group memberships for theme components. Lilly thanked him and will review the updates to her group‑sidebar‑menus component. read more

Small post actions no longer tracked or watched – Zogstrip identified that a previous PR went too far and is working on a fix for small actions (e.g., closing a topic) that should still be tracked. read more

Solved badges are now enabled by default for new communities – Davidb confirmed that existing communities can opt in via the “Upcoming changes” page, and a daily job backfills badges for previously solved topics. read more

Support

Ensuring rebuild continues even if terminal session ends (nohup) – Jonathan5 asked for a way to ensure ./launcher rebuild continues after a disconnect. Pfaffman and Merefield both recommended tmux over nohup for its reattachment capabilities, and NateDhaliwal shared a blog post he wrote on the subject. read more

Create custom links – Boubou wanted to add custom sidebar links. Nat showed him the built‑in + button in the sidebar, and Lilly shared a link to the custom sidebar section documentation plus a theme component for group‑specific menus. read more

Manual Localization doesn’t seem to be working – Nat merged an improvement that adds a hint to set the post language manually when translations aren’t appearing. read more

ux

UX: Fix padding of pm small action in mobile view of horizon theme – Small-Lovely-Cat identified and fixed a misaligned padding bug in private messages on mobile. Chapoi reviewed and merged the PR. read more

#Hosted Customers

What is CDCK/MoM? – Falco explained the built‑in LLM for hosted Discourse sites: a “Mixture of Models” that routes requests to Qwen 3.6, DeepSeek 4 Flash, and other open‑weight models. He detailed how AI credits work and confirmed that data never leaves Discourse’s infrastructure. read more

#Plugin

Resenha – Add Discord-style Voice Rooms to Your Community – Falco announced major updates to Resenha, including optional SFU support via LiveKit for rooms with hundreds of participants, new audio/video device pickers, and room mention autocomplete. read more

#Feature

Configure “Accept all solutions allowed groups” per category – Fb.Xisi requested the ability to set which groups can select solutions on a per‑category basis. Mcwumbly supported the idea, noting that moving settings from site‑wide to category‑level aligns with the product direction, and shared the idea with the team. read more

Plugin para incluir noindex en categorías y los topics de esas categorías – Spacebom released an AGPL‑v3 plugin that allows adding noindex meta tags to specific categories and their topics. Moin welcomed the contribution and pointed to the proper category for plugin announcements. read more

General

Most Posts on a Topic Record? – FinIce asked about the most‑posted topic ever. Falco raised with the “Bakers Dozen” thread on Straight Dope at 71k posts, and Orioni shared that their decade‑old forum games approach 10k replies. read more

Activity by the Team Group

The Discourse team was highly active across many topics:

  • Keegan announced the new admin invite modal and responded to feedback read more
  • Nat helped Boubou with custom sidebar links read more and merged a UI improvement for manual localization read more
  • Chapoi merged the Horizon theme padding fix read more, provided nginx advice for real‑IP detection read more, and explained the CommonMark HTML block spec read more
  • Mcwumbly supported the per‑category solution groups feature read more and discussed rendering the <dfn> tag read more
  • Zogstrip fixed the small‑post‑actions tracking regression read more and improved the IMDB onebox error message read more
  • David clarified that empty .discourse-compatibility files cause warnings and recommended deleting them in favor of d-compat branches read more
  • Lindsey announced that Topic Voting badges are now enabled by default for new communities read more
  • Awesomerobot suggested adding an educational tooltip to the invite flow read more
  • Martin implemented granular group permissions through two PRs read more and worked on the admin category management page read more
  • Falco introduced CDCK/MoM to the community read more and shared updates to the Resenha voice rooms plugin read more

From future messages to CDCK/MoM, yesterday’s activity proved that even in an AI world, the best advice still comes from the community coffee shop.

927

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the past 24 hours, the community generated 44 new topics and 103 new posts, earning 145 likes. The most active contributors were:

Interesting Topics

#Community Building

  • Don kicked off a nostalgic time‑capsule thread asking admins what single piece of advice they would send back to their beginner self. Jagster urged “keep it simple,” NateDhaliwal emphasised reading the docs, and Canapin listed humorous bullet points about over‑customisation. Read more

#Self-hosting

  • Gid received thorough guidance on choosing a VPS provider and configuring SMTP from Lilly, RGJ, and others. The discussion covered Hetzner vs. Contabo and the necessity of dedicated IPs. Read more

  • Gid then opened a step‑by‑step FAQ for installing Discourse on a self‑hosted VPS. Darkpixlz, Lilly, and NateDhaliwal added practical tips on initial setup, DNS, and snapshot use. Read more

  • Jagster reported invalid version list warnings for several themes. Elmuerte explained the cause (empty .discourse-compatibility files), and David noted a forthcoming core fix. Read more

#Announcements

  • Rishabh and Keegan’s proposal to simplify admin invites sparked a lively discussion. Ondrej created a mockup for a moderator‑invite option, while Awesomerobot suggested adding educational tooltips. Read more

  • Martin shared a PR adding disallowed_groups to the granular permissions feature, which was welcomed by Lilly for enabling more precise group targeting. Read more

#Feature

  • One1 proposed that the table‑of‑contents <div> be automatically inserted at the top of a post with a blank line to avoid CommonMark rendering issues. Chapoi and Moin supported the quality‑of‑life improvement. Read more

  • Fb.Xisi asked for per‑category control of the “Accept all solutions allowed groups” setting. Mcwumbly agreed, noting the ongoing move toward category‑level configuration and sharing thoughts on complexity management. Read more

#Theme component

  • The Desktop to Mobile View Banner component was marked as end-of-life by David, because Discourse no longer maintains separate desktop/mobile views. Read more
    Don also fixed the Change share icon by OS component after a deprecation notice. Read more

bug

  • Asa discovered a privacy issue: when posts are deleted by the author, their full translated content still appears to users who have the AI translation feature enabled. The bug affects the Discourse AI / translations plugin. Read more

  • Small-Lovely-Cat submitted two fixes: one prevents boosts from being flagged by multiple users (removing a confusing “already flagged” error), and the other stops approved queued reviewables from being resurrected when a new flag is created. Boosts fix | Review queue fix

  • Ethsim2 reported a regression where the default_composition_mode setting (set to Markdown) is ignored in recent Discourse revisions, causing the composer to open in Rich Text. The issue appears to affect certain accounts on PWAs. Read more

#Plugin

  • Nicolsdennis praised the Resenha voice rooms plugin for adopting LiveKit (SFU), which allowed them to retire a separate fork. They asked whether feature PRs are welcome. Read more

Activity by the Team Group

The Discourse team was highly visible across many categories:

Yesterday’s time‑travel advice and self‑hosting sagas prove that on meta.discourse.org, every question leads to a better forum future.

928

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

Over the last 24 hours, the community was buzzing with 53 new posts across 31 new topics, accumulating a total of 42 likes. Here are the top users by engagement:

User Likes Posts
Lilly 7 4
Roi 4 8
David 3 2
Ed_S 3 1
Nicolsdennis 3 1
Don 2 2
NateDhaliwal 2 2
RGJ 2 2
Asa 2 1
Sam 2 1

Interesting Topics

#Self-hosting

#Theme component

#Plugin

bug

#Site feedback

  • Quick welfare check on the AI caption bot – Sam confirmed that Nat is reworking the subsystem, which will include toggles to rebake captions. Read more

  • Broken avatars in quotes within translated posts – Moin noted that while one topic appears fixed, many others still show broken avatars. Read more

Support

  • Unable to disable read‑only mode on Free Plan – User486 reported the site keeps reverting to read‑only. Darkpixlz suggested it could be due to inactivity or ToS violations. Read more

  • 500 Oops errors after upgrading – Uckelman shared a fix for a PostgreSQL client IP error when Discourse is reverse‑proxied behind Caddy: add header_up X-Real-IP {remote_host} to the Caddyfile. Read more

development

  • Confirming API Access to Authoring Limit Site Settings – Philh investigated which endpoints expose authoring limits. RGJ clarified that /site/settings.json and /site.json work with an admin key, and that granular scopes for those endpoints are not yet available. Read more

#Announcements

  • Easier account signup using email codes – DomMcD asked whether the new signup flow intentionally omits name and username fields. Read more

  • Simpler email subject lines – Senior_Avr raised a concern that removing the [Private message] tag would break routing for push notifications. Read more

Activity by the Team Group

The Discourse team stayed busy across several threads:

Yesterday’s mix of self‑hosting deep dives, a fresh voice‑room milestone, and a board game rebalance made for a wonderfully diverse day on meta—proving once again that community is the best developer platform.

929

Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the last 24 hours, the community produced 83 new posts across 32 topics, accumulating 113 likes.

Top contributors by engagement:

User Likes Posts
Moin 18 8
Don 14 3
Lilly 12 6
Thadeus 7 3
Ed_S 7 2
Chapoi 5 2
Nicolsdennis 4 4
Angus 4 3
Merefield 4 3
Martin 3 2

Interesting Topics

Grouped by category, each bullet summarises a single topic. Double-spaced between entries for readability.

Marketplace

Thadeus posted a detailed Request for Proposals for a comprehensive Discourse UX overhaul, theme customisation, and plugin audit. They are seeking an experienced developer to refresh an existing community forum, covering composer improvements, navigation, and integration with Freshdesk and GitHub. Chapoi noted that composer work is a large undertaking and suggested enabling Rich Text Mode, while Merefield pointed to the Nested Replies feature. Read the full RFP →

Separately, Numun shared an RFP for an online development platform (DiscourseConnect integration), inviting proposals by 24 July 2026. Several offers were discussed in DMs. See the opportunity →

#Announcements

The long-running thread on granular group-based permissions saw extensive activity. Martin merged the disallowed_groups PR and asked theme authors to update their components ahead of removing the everyone group. Lilly tested the setting but initially found it ineffective; Moin discovered the upcoming change had been disabled on the test forum – after re‑enabling it, the filtering worked as expected. Lilly praised the improvement.
Follow the permissions discussion →

Kddkd and Moin discussed a minor UI change in the email code signup feature, noting that the “Email me” link is now larger than the “I forgot my password” link. Moin asked if the sizing was intentional. See the UI tweak →

Falco reported that the core GIFs feature broke chat integration, but Moin confirmed they still see the GIF option in chat. Check the GIF rollout →

Senior_Avr warned that removing the [Private message] tag from email subject lines (as proposed in the simpler email subjects announcement) would break their PM routing workflow. Weigh in on the change →

#Self-hosting

The guide on installing Discourse on a self‑hosted VPS saw a rich discussion on backup strategies. Ed_S emphasised taking offsite backups and the responsibility of being your own sysadmin. NateDhaliwal asked about frequency; Ed_S recommended nightly backups with offsite copies. Gid compared Contabo vs. OVHcloud specs, and Andrew_Rowe confirmed OVHcloud works well with Debian. Merefield advised sticking with Ubuntu for simplicity. Read the backup debate →

David_Ghost reported that avatars load slowly after moving to S3‑compatible R2 storage, though newly created accounts load instantly. A rake task did not force regeneration. Troubleshoot the S3 migration →

Support

Richie asked whether unlisted topics send email notifications for Mentions. Moin confirmed that unlisting does not prevent notifications – mentions, quotes, and watched category/tag notifications are still sent. The only way to suppress them is to use a private category. Get the definitive answer →

Haydenjames sought to disable emails when deleting spam accounts from the review queue. Moin pointed out that deleting from the admin profile page instead avoids the notification. Andrew_Rowe noted potential compliance reasons for the email. Stop spam deletion emails →

Don reported a deprecation notice when clearing recent search history (native array extension warning). Report the deprecation →

#Community Building

Don shared a detailed case study on revamping visitor flow for an age‑restricted forum. The solution shows a topic preview card on the login page and preserves the destination URL after login, reducing bounce rates while keeping SEO intact. Learn from the implementation →

bug

Small-Lovely-Cat submitted a fix for boosts not being flaggable by multiple users; Zogstrip reviewed and merged the PR. View the merged fix →

Uckelman resolved 500 “Oops” errors after upgrading Discourse behind Caddy – adding header_up X-Real-IP {remote_host} to the reverse proxy fixed the invalid inet type issue. See the workaround →

Jagster reported that numerical tags fail when their ID matches another tag, causing the wrong tag to be selected. Tannerabread explained the canonical vs. legacy URL ambiguity, and Mcwumbly suggested always treating the first segment as a slug. Discuss numeric tag handling →

wordpress

Loukas_Stamellos encountered WP Discourse auto‑publishing old posts when using the TaxoPress plugin for bulk tag updates. Angus reviewed the code and recommended disabling Auto Publish during bulk operations; the fix is straightforward. Read the plugin discussion →

#Site feedback

Moin revisited the broken avatars in translated posts issue, noting that while one topic was fixed, many others still show broken avatars. No response from the localization team yet. Track the localization bug →

General

Nicolsdennis showcased a social mobile & desktop client for communities, including an optional audio bridge. They clarified the app will be single‑forum due to legal constraints. Explore the client →

#Theme component

Don shared a custom CSS animation for the “Be the first to reply” component, making a battery‑fade effect that fits their forum theme. See the creative implementation →

#Plugin

Nicolsdennis submitted a thorough bug report for Resenha voice rooms, including five reproducible issues and patches for admin UI, room type handling, ghost presence, stale webhooks, and log flooding. They offered to send a PR. Review the Resenha fixes →

Activity by the Team Group

The following team members participated in discussions over the last 24 hours:

Fun send‑off: Yesterday proved that even the most polished forum can be tripped up by a numerical tag ID, but at least the GIFs are still flying and the poems keep their spaces – all while the team quietly rethinks the everyone group. :paw_prints:

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Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the last 24 hours, the community generated 131 new posts across 54 new topics. The top contributors by likes and posts were:

Interesting Topics

#Community Building

  • How I Revamped Our Forum’s Visitor Flow – Don shared a clever approach to combine login‑required compliance with SEO: redirect human visitors to a login page while showing a topic preview card, but letting crawlers through. The topic led to a new theme component “Soft Login Required”. read more

  • Anyone else seeing a drastic drop in community activity for Support forums? – HAWK pointed to Don’s visitor flow solution as a possible way to lower bounce rates and re‑engage lost visitors. read more

Marketplace

  • [RFP] Discourse UX Overhaul, Theme Customization & Plugin Audit – Thadeus posted a paid job offer seeking a Discourse developer to revamp their community forum. Discussion covered composer alternatives (Rich Text Mode, Nested Replies) and scope details. read more

#Self-hosting

  • Installing Discourse on a self‑hosted VPS – a process with FAQs – Gid explored switching to OVHcloud vs Contabo, getting advice on CPU models, backups, and whether a control panel is needed. Lilly and Andrew_Rowe reassured that a bare‑bones Ubuntu install is sufficient. read more

#Announcements

  • Granular group‑based permissions for anonymous and logged in users – Lilly tested the new disallowed_groups object setting and Moin confirmed that after a core update, everyone and anonymous_users are correctly hidden from component dropdowns. read more

  • GIFs are moving to Discourse core! – Falco reported a missing GIF button in chat; Martin clarified that the feature needed to be toggled on and deployed for hosted sites, with self‑hosted admins requiring a Klipy API key. read more

Support

  • Are email notifications sent out for unlisted topics? – Richie asked whether @‑mentioned users and watchers get notified when a topic is unlisted. Moin confirmed that unlisting does not suppress notifications, so email may still be sent. read more

  • Should Discourse notify users when accounts are deleted for spam? – Haydenjames reported that deleting spam accounts from the review queue triggers an email to the spammer. Moin suggested deleting from the admin profile page as a workaround. Lilly playfully corrected the solution marking. read more

  • Is there a simple way to not strip leading spaces and other formatting in a poem? – Pinetree1111 asked for a poet‑friendly method. Lilly demonstrated &nbsp; usage, Chapoi showed how to use backticks and custom CSS, and Rdweb added the <pre> tag option. read more

#Theme component

  • Soft Login Required – Building on his earlier topic, Don released a theme component that creates a “soft gate”: redirects anonymous visitors to login while showing a topic preview card, all while keeping SEO intact. read more

  • MD Topic List Mobile component – Steven updated the component to remove a deprecation notice after hours of work, thanks to prior contributions from Arkshine and Lhc_Fl. read more

bug

  • Deprecation notice > Recent Searches clear – Don reported a deprecation notice when clearing search history. Awesomerobot quickly had a fix on the way. read more

  • FIX: Boosts can’t be flagged by multiple users – A PR from Small-Lovely-Cat was reviewed and merged by Zogstrip after a title correction. read more

  • Migration issue with workflows – Nicolsdennis encountered a missing table error for the Workflows plugin even though migrations were recorded. They provided a manual fix and flagged the root cause for core attention. read more

  • Why do numerical tags fail in the composer when ID exists – Jagster reported that tags like “2025” could not be added. Tannerabread identified the issue and merged a fix; Jagster later confirmed it works. read more

#Praise

  • Discourse is a very useful community – Liu_5580 expressed love for the platform in Chinese, saying “I like it very much and will keep using it.” read more

wordpress

  • WP Discourse is auto publishing old posts when performing bulk updates with the TaxoPress Plugin – Loukas_Stamellos explained that bulk tag merges triggered Auto Publish on old content. Angus recommended disabling Auto Publish during bulk operations. read more

Activity by the Team Group

The Discourse team stayed busy with bug fixes, support, and feature discussions:

Yesterday the community not only fixed a dozen bugs but also made poems look pretty and convinced search engines to keep knocking at the door — all while the team was busy keeping Sidekiq from forgetting its own name. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the last 24 hours, the community contributed 108 new posts across 52 topics, receiving a total of 197 likes. Here are the top posters by engagement:

User Posts Likes
Don 3 23
Moin 8 19
Awesomerobot 6 17
Rishabh 2 12
Zogstrip 8 10
Lilly 4 10
Nat 3 8
Lindsey 2 8
Juan_David_Martínez 1 7
Liu_5580 1 7

Interesting Topics

#Announcements

  • Current Projects – July 2026 – Rishabh published the monthly newsletter highlighting recently completed work including the launch of the Discourse Free Plan, redesigned admin dashboard, and improvements to the Events plugin. AI image captions now run in the background, and a new Workflows system is available for testing. read more

  • A new admin experience for RSS Polling – Lindsey announced a fully rebuilt admin interface for the RSS Polling plugin, adding a dedicated feed form, a test button to preview imports, and a poll history view with per-item details. Two new site settings for timeout and verbose logging were also introduced. read more

  • Easier account signup using email codes – Rishabh provided an update on the new signup flow using one-time verification codes instead of email confirmation links. Moin noted concerns about generic usernames (user63) being created, and Rishabh acknowledged the issue is being explored. read more

  • A new “default homepage” site setting – Awesomerobot introduced a new site setting that allows setting a homepage independently of the top menu, making it possible to have a homepage like categories that is not duplicated in the navigation. read more

#Plugin

#Theme component

  • Soft Login Required – Don released a theme component that creates a “soft gate” for anonymous visitors, redirecting them to login while preserving SEO and showing a topic preview card on the login page. This bridges the gap between completely open and fully locked-down sites. read more

  • Topic Cards – name display setting – IrisBetty requested that the Topic Cards component respect the site’s display name settings. Awesomerobot quickly implemented the feature, allowing full names to appear on cards instead of usernames. read more

  • Versatile Banner – cookie fix – TimMOz reported a bug where changing the cookie name didn’t cause the banner to reappear. Awesomerobot responded with a fix that restores proper cookie handling. read more

bug

  • Make edit history viewable for category moderators – Small-Lovely-Cat raised a stalled PR to allow category moderators to see edit history within their categories. Zogstrip reopened an updated PR, addressing a security conflict that caused the original to be closed. read more

  • Reply-by-email from Outlook drops numbered lists – Ryanturner discovered a bug in the email receiver that cuts off content after an <ol> element from Outlook. Zogstrip asked for a sample .eml to reproduce the issue. read more

Support

  • Change in tooltip of ‘New’ tab – Squidgemonster noticed a tooltip change from “topics created” to “topics created or replied to.” Moin explained that /new now combines new and unread topics as part of the Unified New View feature. read more

  • Internal server error when sending PM to new user – Stephtara reported an error (unknown keyword: :private_message_context). Zogstrip recommended updating to the latest Discourse version and checking for plugin incompatibilities. read more

development

  • [Showcase] RSVP Speed Reader & Document Library – Don showcased an experimental plugin for RSVP speed reading of uploaded documents (.pdf, .epub, .txt, etc.) with adjustable WPM, ORP alignment, and keyboard shortcuts. Future plans include integrating with forum topics. read more

#Feature

  • Moving conversations from chat to topics – Evanhamilton asked about the “quote in topic” feature. Moin explained the option is accessible via the ellipsis menu in chat messages. read more

  • Allow configuring Telegram Bot API base URL – Oniel submitted a PR to add a site setting for routing Telegram requests through a proxy, useful in countries where Telegram is blocked. Zogstrip merged the change. read more

#Community Building

  • How I revamped our forum’s visitor flow – Don followed up on his earlier topic about visitor flow design, linking directly to the newly released Soft Login Required theme component. Nathank praised the approach over the built-in “Login Required” setting. read more

Activity by the Team Group

The following team members contributed to discussions and fixes in the last 24 hours:

  • Awesomerobot – Active on multiple fronts: fixed the Topic Cards name display (topic), resolved a cookie issue in Versatile Banner (topic), announced the new default homepage setting (topic), updated the Force Mobile Homepage component (topic), and made a PR for the Warn admins when replying to closed topics component (topic).

  • Zogstrip – Reopened and updated the PR for category moderator edit history (topic), merged the Telegram Bot API base URL change (topic), fixed the title already used in secure category issue (topic), assisted with the internal server error on PMs (topic), and fixed the tag restriction bug (topic). Also responded to RSS Polling timeout questions (topic) and requested a sample .eml for the Outlook numbered-list bug (topic).

  • Lindsey – Announced the RSS Polling admin redesign (topic) and fixed a broken link in the same topic (post).

  • Nat – Fixed the deleted posts showing full content with translation bug (topic) and implemented the ability to translate custom sidebar links (topic). Also investigated the private category description translation issue (topic).

  • Rishabh – Published the July 2026 Current Projects newsletter (topic) and provided feedback on email code signup concerns (topic).

  • Lilly – Updated the Group User Status plugin with disallowed groups (topic), recommended using Discourse Captcha for spam prevention (topic), shared a formatting trick for poems (topic), and confirmed the Captcha plugin is bundled in core (topic).

  • Chapoi – Helped a user with spam settings and pointed them to the new Workflows feature (topic), and pinged Zogstrip about the edit history PR (topic).

  • Tgxworld – Fixed the stale site settings in Sidekiq bug (topic).

  • J.Jaffeux – Helped a user add members to a chat channel (translated support topic) (topic).

  • Tannerabread – Fixed the TypeError when submitting a flag in nested replies (topic) and fixed the numerical tags in composer bug (topic).

  • David – Approved and merged a PR for the admin closed-topic warning component (topic).

  • Kris.Kotlarek – Merged a fix for resurrection of approved reviewables (topic).

  • Martin – Enabled GIFs for Discourse-hosted sites and explained the setup for self-hosters (topic).

It’s been a day of big announcements and speedy fixes — from a new Free Plan to Telegram proxy support, it seems like the Discourse team is working as fast as a RSVP speed reader at 900 WPM :rocket:.

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Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the last 24 hours, the community generated 116 new posts across 43 new topics, receiving 232 likes.

Top contributors (by likes received, with post count):

User Likes Posts
Nat 44 5
Awesomerobot 29 6
Rishabh 14 2
Lindsey 10 4
Zogstrip 9 7
Lilly 9 4
Canapin 9 3
Chapoi 9 2
Merefield 8 6
Moin 8 4

Interesting Topics

#Announcements

  • Making post images more accessible with Discourse AI – Nat announced that AI image captions can now be generated in the background after posting, stored separately from post content, and used for screen readers, search indexing, and image lightboxes. The feature supports locale-specific captions and an optional backfill job for existing images. read more

  • Current Projects – July 2026 – Rishabh shared the monthly newsletter covering recently finished work (Discourse Free plan, dashboard improvements, Events plugin, AI Image Captions v2), projects in full swing (crawler detection, Workflows, Kanban plugin, email code signup, hot order in nested replies), and new initiatives (Server API improvements, WarpDrive migration). read more

  • A new “default homepage” site setting – Awesomerobot introduced a new site setting that makes it clearer to set the homepage, distinct from the top menu list. It allows choosing a homepage that isn’t in the top menu, e.g., categories. Existing sites are unaffected. read more

  • Data Explorer :handshake: AI – Generate Data Explorer queries with AI – Nat announced that Discourse AI can now generate SQL queries for the Data Explorer plugin. Users can write manually or use a prompt to update queries. New default queries for traffic, community health, moderation, and admin audits are also shipped. read more

  • A new admin experience for RSS Polling – Lindsey revealed a fully rebuilt RSS Polling plugin admin interface with dedicated feed forms, test feed functionality, poll history, and new settings for timeout and verbose logging. read more

  • Chat notification settings have moved – Chapoi consolidated chat notification controls into the main Notifications preferences page, replacing the separate toggle with a push_notification_level dropdown with three options. read more

  • Pinned emoji groups and bulk import/export of custom emojis – Alteras detailed new features: admins can pin emoji groups to the top of the picker via emoji_picker_pinned_groups, and can import/export up to 1000 custom emojis at once using a ZIP file with CSV manifest. read more

#Self-hosting

  • Installing Discourse on a self hosted VPS – a process with FAQs – A long-running thread continued with Gid asking about PuTTY, Filezilla, and pre-install apps. Merefield, Lilly, Canapin, Pfaffman, and Whitelabel offered advice on using Windows Terminal, skipping optional apps, using tmux to avoid timeouts, and following the standard install doc exactly. read more

  • Internal server error when trying to send a new user a personal message – Stephtara encountered an ArgumentError (unknown keyword: :private_message_context). Zogstrip advised updating to the latest version; after updating, the problem was solved. Canapin noted that rebuilding/updating often works like magic. read more

Support

  • Comment faire pour ajouter un utilisateur à une conversation dans un chat – Gilles asked how to add a user to an existing DM chat in French. J.Jaffeux explained the /chat/c/-/ID/info/members path, but Awesomerobot clarified that adding to a 1:1 chat is not possible to avoid exposing history; a new group chat must be created instead. read more

development

  • [Showcase] RSVP Speed Reader & Document Library for Discourse – Don presented an experimental plugin for reading e-books/documents word-by-word at adjustable speeds (100–900 WPM) with ORP alignment, keyboard shortcuts, and document management. Feedback is sought on usefulness for book clubs or educational communities. read more

#Feature

  • Feature request: make it possible to translate custom sidebar links and sections – Nat announced that this request has been implemented (PR merged). Custom sidebar sections can now be translated via the localization UI. The topic will be closed on a timer. read more

#Site feedback

  • Cannot view post preview in mobile composer? – NateDhaliwal reported the desktop preview button is missing on mobile. Chapoi confirmed it’s intentional—users can still preview using the markdown/RTE toggle. read more

#Plugin

  • Discourse Captcha – In a long-standing plugin topic, One1 asked about a potentially confusing upgrade note for self-hosters. Tobiaseigen and Lilly clarified that the plugin has been bundled in core for a year; only those who manually added discourse-hCaptcha to app.yml need to remove it. read more

  • Workspace groups – Anton_Akhmerov’s plugin, which approximates Slack/Mattermost interaction models, was discussed. Jenmck asked how to convert a category into a workspace; Anton_Akhmerov explained the button appears on empty top-level categories. Merefield compared it to his own Discourse Category Home plugin. read more

bug

  • Topic Voting: Improvements to voting access, notification prompts, and Hot sorting – In the announcement topic, Newbit1337 asked about Top sorting accounting for votes. Lindsey replied that there are no current plans, and the Hot sorting change only impacts ideas categories. read more

Activity by the Team Group

  • Nat announced AI image captions v2 (topic), Data Explorer AI (topic), and that custom sidebar translations are now live (topic). She also answered questions about search engine crawling of captions and localization.

  • Awesomerobot introduced a new default homepage site setting (topic), fixed the Force Mobile Homepage theme component (topic), and the Versatile Banner component (topic). He also re-activated the Warn admins/tl4 reply to closed topics component (topic) and confirmed that adding users to existing 1:1 chat DMs is not possible (topic).

  • Rishabh posted the July 2026 Current Projects newsletter (topic) and noted in the email code signup topic that username improvements are being explored (topic).

  • Lindsey launched the RSS Polling admin redesign (topic) and clarified in the Topic Voting thread that there are no plans to change Top sorting for votes (topic).

  • Zogstrip helped troubleshoot in multiple topics: advising an update for the PM error (topic), merging a Telegram Bot API PR (topic), fixing a tag restriction bug (topic), and requesting an .eml file for the Outlook reply-by-email bug (topic).

  • Chapoi moved chat notification settings (topic) and confirmed that the mobile composer preview toggle removal was intentional (topic).

  • J.Jaffeux answered a French-language query about adding users to chat DMs (topic).

  • Tobiaseigen clarified the Discourse Captcha upgrade instructions for self-hosters (topic).

  • Supermathie acknowledged the call-out for --sql-only backup flag and promised to update the OP (topic).

  • David approved a PR for the admin warnings theme component (topic).

Fun sign-off: Yesterday’s flurry of announcements—from AI captioning to new homepages and RSS polling magic—proves that even on a quiet Wednesday, the Discourse team is never idle, just like a Redis server that never sleeps.

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Today on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the past 24 hours, the meta community has been exceptionally productive, generating 161 new posts across 52 topics and earning 274 likes. The top contributors were:

Interesting Topics

#Announcements

  • Nat announced a major upgrade to AI image captioning – now captions are generated in the background for post images, stored separately, and used for screen readers, search, and lightboxes. The feature moved to its own “Image Caption” area and supports backfill for existing posts. Read more

  • Nat also unveiled the Data Explorer :handshake: AI integration, allowing admins to generate SQL queries using natural language prompts. It includes a new Data Explorer Agent, and comes bundled with 20+ default reports covering traffic, community health, moderation, and admin audits. Read more

  • Alteras shipped pinned emoji groups and bulk import/export of custom emojis. Admins can pin groups to the top of the picker and import/export up to 1000 emojis via ZIP file. Read more

  • Chapoi announced that chat notification settings have been consolidated into the main Notifications preferences page, with a simplified push notification dropdown. Read more

  • Awesomerobot introduced a new “default homepage” site setting that allows admins to choose the first item in the top menu or a static page as the default landing page, with user preferences following. Read more

  • Lindsey shared solved improvements – members can now click “Me too” on reported issues to indicate they’re also experiencing the problem, which tracks the topic and sets notification level. Read more

#Self-hosting

  • A lengthy discussion on installing Discourse on a self-hosted VPS continued, with Gid troubleshooting SSH timeouts, DNS propagation, and app.yml configuration. Merefield, Lilly, NateDhaliwal, and Pfaffman offered guidance on using Windows Terminal, tmux, and avoiding unnecessary VPS panel apps. Read more

  • A user reported semantic search returning 500 errors with Gemini embeddings. After checking logs, Akanora resolved it by recreating the embeddings config with dimensions set to 3072 instead of the outdated 768. Read more

#Theme component

  • Andy_Smith released Auto Timestamp Title, a theme component that auto-fills the title of new topics with a configurable timestamp, perfect for diary or note-taking categories. Chapoi suggested using Theme Creator for previews, and Don requested a category restriction setting. Read more

Support

  • Damian_Boon asked how to remove category descriptions from the create topic dropdown. Moin pointed to existing CSS solution by Lilly – a one-liner that hides the descriptions. Read more

#Community Building

  • One1 raised a practical issue: how to handle past mentions of a volunteer who is stepping down. Suggestions included a global banner, pinned topic, and using discourse-policy. Zogstrip noted that a remap could be used but manually editing posts for mentions is more precise. Read more

#Feature

  • A long-running request to allow users to see trust level 3 progress on user profiles saw new discussion. Khenmu questioned the design of TL3, while NateDhaliwal defended it as a sieve for promotion. Moin explained that TL3 permissions are configurable. Read more

  • A feature request to add dividing lines to the color scheme editor was answered by Awesomerobot, who explained that custom CSS overrides like --content-border-color are the recommended approach for per-element control. Read more

bug

  • A bug report about frequent posters showing on the Latest page was resolved: PR #39691 by Curi was merged by Awesomerobot after being marked stale. Read more

  • Missing translation key dashboard.problem.sidekiq_check was fixed by Dax and Pmusaraj via PR #40416, ensuring the Dashboard problem check displays correctly. Read more

  • Sok777 reported photo upload failing on iOS 16.7 (iPhone 8/iPad). Falco identified it as a compatibility issue with recent WASM resizing and committed an exception for end-of-life iOS devices. Read more

  • JonahAragon1 provided extensive feedback on nested replies, including bugs with scrolling jumps, lag, and UI improvements. Markvanlan responded positively, noting that some suggestions (like sticky “new replies” button and expanded dot highlighting) are under consideration. Read more

Activity by the Team Group

  • Nat was exceptionally active, announcing the improved AI image captioning (link) and the Data Explorer + AI integration (link), and also contributed to the AI translation progress graph update (link).

  • Chapoi announced the consolidation of chat notification settings (link), helped diagnose the Horizon theme header issue (link), and responded to a free-plan site access query (link).

  • Alteras shipped pinned emoji groups and bulk import/export of custom emojis (link).

  • Markvanlan engaged deeply with feedback on nested replies, promising to consider making it an optional view (link).

  • Awesomerobot announced the new default homepage site setting (link), merged the fix for frequent posters on Latest (link), and advised on CSS overrides for borders (link).

  • Lindsey discussed the improvements to Topic Voting, clarifying that Hot sorting for votes only applies within the ideas category (link).

  • Falco identified the iOS 16.7 photo upload bug as related to WASM resizing and committed a fix (link), and also pointed a self-hosting user toward checking the embeddings model setup (link).

  • Pmusaraj fixed the missing Sidekiq check translation by cleaning up override keys (link) and helped reproduce the issue via system specs (link).

  • Zogstrip addressed the custom sidebar section translation bug after locale change with a PR (link), fixed the sync_sso payload bug (link), bumped a user’s trust level to allow DM attachment uploads (link), and advised on remapping for role-change mentions (link).

  • David helped triage the iOS upload issue by checking system requirements and looping in the developer (link).

Yesterday was a showcase of community-driven improvement – from AI-powered captions and queries to emoji imports and nested reply debates, it’s clear that building a better Discourse is a conversation we all contribute to. :paw_prints: