New features in 2.6.0.beta2
Upgrade takes longer than usual
Due to improvements made to search performance, this update will take longer than typical updates to install. This will impact both web updates via Docker Manager and rebuilds via SSH.
default_categories_regular site setting
Out of the box, Discourse shows all categories to all users (with respect for category security settings). Some sites prefer the opposite - don’t show categories to users unless they’ve opted in. To make it easier for admins using the mute all categories by default site setting, they can add categories to the new default_categories_regular setting so they’re visible to users by default.
Let experienced users skip “new to Discourse” features
Are you a Discourse power user? Do you have more “first like” badges than you know what to do with? Tired of thinking someone replied to you when all you got was yet another badge notification? Now you can disable the new user discobot tutorial, and the “new to Discourse” badges on first login.
Existing users can disable this via the Skip new user onboarding tips and badges user preference on the Interface page.
Improved Dark Mode support
Prefer seeing white text on a black background? Tired of having to enable a dark color scheme on every Discourse site you visit manually? Discourse now support automatic dark mode. Discourse will detect your system preference, and automatically select a light or dark color scheme as needed.
Admins can enable this feature by selecting the dark mode color scheme with the default_dark_mode_color_scheme_id site setting. Admins may also wish to add separate logos for dark color scheme users via the logo_dark, logo_small_dark, and mobile_logo_dark site settings.
If you have a custom theme, you might need to update the theme to use CSS custom properties for the colors. Without that, the theme might not be compatible with automatic dark mode switching.
IMAP support for group inboxes
Category moderator improvements
Category moderators are now even more powerful. In addition to the original support for viewing topics in the review queue for a category, category moderators can now mark topics as solved, close topics, archive topics, move posts between topics, edit the category description, and add staff notices. Category moderators also received a shield icon on posts within their categories, and they have a CSS class on their posts for sites that wish to further customize the style.
New quote sharing widget
Site admins can enable additional options when quoting for users to share the quote externally.
Limit who can send you PMs
Prefer to only receive PMs from a select few users? You can now specify which users can send you PMs via the Only allow specific users to send me personal messages user preference on the Users page. Only users on the list (admins and moderators can always send users PMs) will be able to send PMs to you.
If you prefer not to receive any PMs (staff exempted), disable the Allow other users to send me personal messages user preference on the Notifications page.
API Key scopes
API keys now support optional scopes, limiting use of an API key to only certain endpoints. API keys can be further restricted to specific topics or categories as well. Additional scopes are planned in the future, and plugins can also add new scopes too.
Existing API keys will automatically be converted to a global key. As global api keys can do anything on the site an admin can do, we strongly recommend creating new limited scope API keys whenever possible. Have an API key you use that doesn’t work with an existing scope? Be sure to let us know here on Meta in the feature category.
New Translation Platform - Crowdin
We’ve made the switch from Transifex to Crowdin for our localization platform. For more details on the reasoning behind the change, see Switching from Transifex to Crowdin. For details on translating Discourse, see Contribute a translation to Discourse.
Removal of outdated, racist terms from Discourse.
To quote Mahatma Gandhi:
Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny
Here at Discourse we believe in creating open, inclusive software that everyone feels comfortable using. Like many others in the tech industry, we’ve been working to remove language from our product that is not open and inclusive. Even if our usage of such language is not intended to be racist, such language has negative historical context that we do not wish to maintain. Thoughts become words, words become actions. These are not the actions we want. As such, throughout Discourse we’ve removed use of the terms master & slave, whitelist & blacklist, and similar. You’ll now see primary & replica, allow list & block/deny list, etc.
Even more!
But wait, there’s more! 2.6.0.beta2 is an unusually large release, with far more changes than typical. We do our best to highlight new features and changes for you, but there’s always too many changes to detail. For a full list of new features, bug fixes, UX improvements, and more, be sure to review the Additional Features and Fixes listed below.
