A discussion is taking place about how Discourse handles styling when JavaScript is disabled. cebe points out that the styling of page elements is completely lost when JavaScript is disabled, and suggests that a warning message could be displayed while still maintaining the site layout. cebe shares images of a default Discourse install with JavaScript disabled, showing the loss of styling.
codinghorror responds that Discourse is a JavaScript app and is “useless” with JavaScript disabled. However, cebe counters that CSS and HTML still work without JavaScript, and that it’s important for a forum software to be inclusive and allow people to participate regardless of their browser settings. cebe questions why a completely unstyled <noscript> container is used instead of hiding JavaScript functionality when JavaScript is disabled.
Hi!
We are evaluating discourse for replacing an existing forum and we found that the styling of page elements gets completely lost when javascript is disabled. I know that there is no point in actively using the forum without javascript but you could just disable all features that need it and display a warning message, while still keeping the known site layout.
What is the reason to make it look completely different?
best regards,
Carsten
How did you style the page elements?
I have a default install of discourse, just changed the color of the navigation bar and the logo.
This is how it looks like when I disable javascript in the browser:
the same happens here on meta.discourse.org too:
Why does this matter? Discourse is a JavaScript app, so it is useless with JS disabled.
You might as well wonder why styling disappears when people turn their monitors off.. 
Not really, CSS and HTML are still working when you turn off JS. I am totally fine with people not being able to participate actively in the forum but they should at least be able to read existing conversations in an acceptable formatting.
I think it is important for a forum software to allow as many people as possible to participate regardless of their browser setting decisions or limitations. Building an inclusive community is not possible if you exclude people for no reason. What I really love about discourse is the goal of bringing the two worlds of mailinglist and forum together. So I was very confused about the fact that you did not think much about inlcuding the people browsing with JS disabled by default. I am not one of them but I do not see how this fits into the philosophy.
What is the point in having a completely unstyled <noscript> container instead of just hiding JS functionality when JS is disabled?
