Support embedding Discourse in an iframe

Feature
1

Howdy!

I’m developing a web app, and I’d love to use Discourse as my forums / community discussion platform. One of my main requirements though is that the forum should be able to be opened in an iframe docked to the side of my UI, so that users can browse tutorials, talk to other people, or contact support all within the comfort of the app itself. This is a huge win for UX, and because Discourse is responsive and mobile friendly, a small iframe should work well for this use case. It seems like this would be an awesome feature for Discourse that many people might use.

I saw this old discussion about this topic, which includes one proposed solution.

So I wanted to ask the maintainers and folks here, is this a feature that you would be open to a PR for? Would you consider adding this feature? Are there any issues with that solution that was proposed that would need to be dealt with?

2

The main issue I see is that of opening up possible Security problems. eg.

Cross Frame Scripting

3

Interesting, thanks for pointing that out.

If Cross Frame Scripting was a concern, could we allow people to specify a trusted domain(s)?

For example, the ALLOW-FROM URI in the X-FRAME-OPTIONS header. See here.

4

pasted the wrong URL - link fixed

Yes, sending headers should take care of most if not all security risks.
(I say most because I don’t know if some older browsers might not use the headers)

5

Okie dokie :thumbsup:

6

Not being a developer, this thread leaves me puzzled about what the conclusion is regarding embedding discourse in an IFRAME. When you say:

This sounds to me like: problem solved, especially since - in my case - everything would not only be happening under the same domain but even on the same server. But my understaning is also that this is nevertheless not supported and therefore not recommended for people like me. But why? If trusted domains can be specified?

7

Because it’s an extremely fragile configuration. Discourse expects to control the browser tightly as a JavaScript app. This is not a static 1996 era web page to be slapped in an <iframe> willy-nilly, it’s far more complex.

2 Likes
8

@codinghorror any update on this? Would be great to be able to embed the calendar into our website to make things uniform.

Edit: I just want to be able to embed this page: JuliaLang

9

There might be a hidden setting that turns off the no-iframe directive, I can’t recall at the moment, but we have that in there for good reason.

10

I think this is more of a feature request for the plugin, the embed should be different to the whole page

Cc @joffreyjaffeux

5 Likes
12

There is a simple plugin. However, it doesn’t work. Can it be made workable with a simple change since it was updated 6 years ago?


   
# name: Allow iFrame embedding
# about: Changes X-Frame-Options so the site can be embedded
# version: 1
# authors: bex-team, riking,

Rails.application.config.action_dispatch.default_headers.merge!({'X-Frame-Options' => 'ALLOWALL'})
13

Two settings would be required if you wanted to, without restriction, embed Discourse in iframes:

  1. Un-check the CSP restrictions in Settings

    discourse-csp-setting
    discourse-csp-setting1900×150 24.2 KB

  2. Enable a hidden site setting allow_embedding_site_in_an_iframe

cd /var/discourse
./launcher enter app
rails c
SiteSetting.allow_embedding_site_in_an_iframe=true
exit
exit
2 Likes
14

@denvergeeks I tried this and my forum still won’t embed in an iframe.

15

What is the URL of your site that you’re trying to embed?

16

forum.dreambyte.ai

17

The URL you posted is not loading at all for me… if you can get it to load I can test it on my site where iFrame embedding is working.

Screenshot 2024-04-18 215828
Screenshot 2024-04-18 2158282205×1032 117 KB