Weekly Summary

[Discourse]

Welcome to our AI-generated Weekly Summary topic!

This is the topic where a weekly summary of meta’s activity is put together by our resident AI, trusty 'ol Bert, and posted here so everyone can get an overview of some of the top discussions over the past 7 days.

It’s set to fire every week at Sunday 21:00

If you’d like to get a ping whenever a new one is posted just set this topic to Watching (and if you change your mind, change it back ).

Much like the daily summary, feedback is certainly most welcome. We’ll be tweaking and refining the idea as we go, so all input is encouraged. We do have a separate topic for that to keep this one just for summaries, but you can find that here - Weekly Summary Feedback

Enjoy!

Small caveat… AI (even GPT-4) does hallucinate, it is unavoidable. Don’t treat everything it says as truth, as there will likely be some lies mixed in. We’ll try to manually correct any if we spot them, but still… keep an eye out.

[Discourse]

This week on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the past week, the Discourse Meta community has been bustling with activity. Here are some key statistics:

• Total New Posts: 791
• Total New Topics: 131

Top Users:

• Moin: 44 posts, 101 likes
• pfaffman: 34 posts, 78 likes
• merefield: 34 posts, 72 likes
• JammyDodger: 28 posts, 71 likes
• Jagster: 36 posts, 53 likes

Interesting Topics

feature

• Share your feedback about updated notification menu!: lindsey introduced a redesigned notifications menu, inviting feedback on its new avatar display feature. The community shared mixed reactions, with some appreciating the visual context and others finding it distracting.

• New sidebar experiment (Sidebar Feng Shui): chapoi announced a sidebar design experiment aimed at creating a more spacious layout. Feedback varied, with some users appreciating the cleaner look and others concerned about screen space on smaller devices.

• Click To Edit: pipkin introduced a plugin that allows users to click in the composer to select corresponding lines in the preview pane, enhancing the editing experience.

community

• Why isn’t Discourse more frequently recommended as a “community platform”?: A lively discussion on why Discourse isn’t more widely recommended, with insights into deployment ease and the need for better integration with existing IT infrastructures.

• Are There Any Unique Discourse Instances Out There?: WorldIsMine sought examples of uniquely themed Discourse instances, sparking a conversation about customization and showcasing various creative implementations.

ux

• Feedback on our simplified topic map experiment: Ayelen_Rives shared feedback on the topic map experiment, highlighting the need for clearer data display and questioning its functionality in topics with no replies.

• Allow private categories to onebox: nathank proposed enabling Onebox for private categories to facilitate internal content showcases, prompting a discussion on privacy and functionality.

support

• Can Discourse collapse comments?: HAWK and Lilly discussed the possibility of implementing a commenting system for posts, suggesting the Journal plugin as a potential solution.

• What Discourse AI features are FREE to use?: pfaffman clarified the costs associated with Discourse AI features, suggesting educational credits as a workaround for schools.

dev

• Problem tracking nested structure: david provided a solution for tracking issues in Ember’s reactivity system, offering guidance on using .get() for non-@tracked properties.

• Discourse AI plugin failing container rebuilds/bootstrappings: JammyDodger and Jagster identified a privilege error causing rebuild failures, linking to a related fix in progress.

announcements

• What’s next for Toxicity detection in Discourse AI?: Saif announced the decommissioning of the Toxicity module in favor of a more customizable AI Post Classifier, leveraging LLMs for improved performance.

• What’s next for NSFW detection in Discourse AI: Following the shift to LLMs, the NSFW module will also be replaced by the AI Post Classifier, enhancing detection capabilities.

Activity by the @team Group

• JammyDodger participated in discussions about bulk actions and email notifications, providing insights and solutions.

• Lilly offered support on various topics, including mention issues and plugin errors, helping users troubleshoot effectively.

• awesomerobot contributed to the notification menu feedback and sidebar experiment, sharing design perspectives and suggestions.

• Falco addressed AI feature costs and bug fixes, providing technical guidance and updates.

• david engaged in discussions on nested structure tracking and installation issues, offering solutions and improvements.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you again next week!

[Discourse]

This week on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the past week, the Discourse Meta community has been bustling with activity. Here are some key statistics:

• Total New Posts: 838
• Total New Topics: 108

Top Users:

• Moin: 58 posts, 108 likes
• merefield: 43 posts, 73 likes
• Heliosurge: 46 posts, 32 likes
• pfaffman: 30 posts, 36 likes
• Jagster: 39 posts, 42 likes

Interesting Topics

plugin

• pipkin discussed the Click To Edit plugin, exploring the potential to convert it into a theme component. sam and david provided insights on the feasibility of this transition.

support

• A user inquired about image resizing issues, with merefield offering a CSS solution to adjust image dimensions for better display across devices.

• The topic of registration without email verification was raised, with pfaffman explaining the risks and suggesting alternative authentication methods.

community

• A discussion on why Discourse isn’t more frequently recommended as a community platform highlighted the subtlety of certain features, with suggestions for improving user experience.

• Joe_F sought advice on using Discourse for community building, prompting community members to share their experiences and tips for leveraging Discourse’s capabilities.

bug

• A bug was reported where the Android context menu covers the AI helper, with sam suggesting potential solutions to improve the mobile experience.

• The issue of endless loading of post history when the latest revision is hidden was discussed, with JammyDodger referencing a previous report by Moin.

ux

• An experiment to highlight current user and bots in posts was announced by joffreyjaffeux, aiming to enhance user visibility in discussions.

• The Composer preview issue with control buttons appearing under videos was identified, with awesomerobot providing a fix.

dev

• The Automating Discourse Plugin Setup with the create-discourse-plugin gem was discussed, with grubba announcing its integration into core as a rake task.

• A new theme component for sorting topics by created date was introduced by Alteras, adding functionality to the topic list.

feature

• The community explored the possibility of group-specific whispers, with jrgong expressing interest in this feature for non-moderator teams.

• A suggestion to reduce email expenses by not sending emails to inactive users was discussed, with Jagster providing a solution.

installation

• A user faced issues with NGinx.conf file location, with Lilly providing guidance on editing the app.yml file.

• The topic of migrating local storage to S3 was addressed, with pangbo explaining the process using a migration script.

theme-component

• The Created Topic Sort theme component was highlighted, allowing users to sort topics by their creation date.

• A bug with the revert button in the “changes” popup was fixed, as reported by Moin and resolved by keegan.

Activity by the @team Group

• sam participated in the Click To Edit discussion, questioning the plugin’s implementation and suggesting improvements.

• joffreyjaffeux addressed a bug with category names missing on the group permissions page, providing a fix.

• awesomerobot contributed to resolving the Composer preview issue with video controls, ensuring a smoother user experience.

• keegan worked on fixing the AI helper disappearance in the composer, collaborating with sam and Don to resolve the issue.

• JammyDodger provided solutions for adding ‘hot topics’ to the sidebar, enhancing the site’s navigation features.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you again next week!

[Discourse]

This week on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the past week, the Discourse Meta community has been bustling with activity. Here are some key statistics:

• Total New Posts: 877
• Total New Topics: 125

Top Users:

• Moin: 47 posts, 99 likes
• awesomerobot: 12 posts, 66 likes
• Lilly: 26 posts, 66 likes
• JammyDodger: 34 posts, 64 likes
• Jagster: 45 posts, 53 likes
• pfaffman: 29 posts, 48 likes
• RGJ: 16 posts, 33 likes
• merefield: 18 posts, 31 likes
• Heliosurge: 37 posts, 31 likes
• Danielle: 1 post, 24 likes

Interesting Topics

Announcements

• Upcoming Event! Level up your community manager mindset: Danielle announced a new webinar scheduled for August 29, focusing on strategies to enhance community management skills.

• New homes for official and community documentation: hugh shared updates on the documentation setup, emphasizing clarity and collaboration.

Support

• Why do I see this in upper left of the screen instead of the nice login splash screen?: Lilly and HAWK helped troubleshoot a login screen issue that appeared to be caused by custom CSS.

• Is it possible to increase the size of a group flair?: Lilly provided a solution for resizing avatar flairs using CSS.

• What is discourse-livestream used for?: HAWK and Falco clarified the purpose of the Discourse livestream plugin, noting its experimental status.

• Replace “+ New Topic” with “+ Create Event” option: putty and nathank discussed using a theme component to customize the “New Topic” button for event creation.

Bugs

• Captioning goes nuts: RGJ and Lilly reported a bug with the captioning engine, which was later fixed by Roman_Rizzi.

• Android context menu covers up the composer AI helper: keegan and Falco worked on resolving a mobile issue affecting the AI helper.

• Uploading of video file fails due to JS error: supermathie and blake addressed a JavaScript error that was preventing video uploads.

Community

• Feng Shui (Simplifying the UI for new users): awesomerobot and Jagster discussed the complexity of Discourse’s UI for new users and potential simplifications.

• Best Practices for Effective Onboarding in Discourse Forums: HAWK shared insights and resources on onboarding strategies for new forum members.

Development

• Discourse Central Theme — Meta Pre-Release Out Now!: awesomerobot announced the availability of the Central theme for testing on Meta.

• Detecting secrets in attachments: pmusaraj and Colin_Mueller discussed a feature request for detecting secrets in file attachments.

UX

• Is “i” or “L” used for the template keyboard shortcut: Moin and lindsey clarified the keyboard shortcut for inserting templates, ensuring consistency across languages.

• How to show topic-map on non-commented posts?: sam and awesomerobot debated the visibility of topic maps on posts without replies.

Activity by the @team Group

• awesomerobot participated in discussions about the Central theme and UI simplification.

• Lilly provided solutions for group flair resizing and addressed a bug related to badge deletion.

• JammyDodger contributed to troubleshooting a login screen issue and shared insights on SEO challenges.

• Danielle announced an upcoming webinar for community managers.

• sam engaged in discussions about topic maps and AI image generation.

• Falco clarified the livestream plugin’s status and addressed a mobile AI helper issue.

• supermathie worked on resolving a video upload error and provided guidance on email forwarding.

• joffreyjaffeux addressed a bug related to badge images and participated in discussions about chat integration.

• david provided insights on content security policy and assisted with installation issues.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you again next week!

[Discourse]

This week on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the past week, the Discourse Meta community has been bustling with activity. Here are some key statistics:

• Total New Posts: 821
• Total New Topics: 108

Top Users:

• pfaffman: 71 posts, 97 likes
• Moin: 28 posts, 59 likes
• merefield: 29 posts, 52 likes
• JammyDodger: 28 posts, 50 likes
• Heliosurge: 39 posts, 37 likes

Interesting Topics

Announcements

• Celebrating a Decade of Discourse: Saif kicked off a celebration of Discourse’s 10th anniversary, reflecting on the journey since the release of Discourse v1.0. The community shared their experiences and gratitude for the platform’s evolution. Read more.

• 3.4.0.beta1 Release: The latest beta release introduces the “Hot” topic sorting option, unseen feature indicators, and improvements to polls. Saif provided a detailed overview of these new features. Read more.

• New Documentation Plugin: hugh announced a new documentation plugin aimed at enhancing navigation and accessibility. This plugin is part of ongoing efforts to improve documentation on Discourse. Read more.

Support

• Login Troubles from Android: Users reported issues with logging in from Android devices. supermathie and others investigated potential causes, including SSL connection failures and ISP interference. Read more.

• Changing Email Addresses Not Working as an Admin: Lilly and Moin discussed challenges faced by admins when changing user email addresses, highlighting potential issues with settings and SSO configurations. Read more.

• Auto-Delete Topics in a Category: exlabs inquired about automating the deletion of topics in a private category after 30 days. JammyDodger noted that while this feature isn’t currently automated, there is an open feature request for it. Read more.

Bugs

• PostgreSQL Stuck During Rebuilding: pfaffman and tgxworld discussed a bug causing PostgreSQL to get stuck during rebuilding. A workaround involving a specific base image was suggested. Read more.

• [object Object] in Pageviews Tooltip: corneliusroemer reported a bug where the pageviews tooltip displayed [object Object]. nat provided a fix for this issue. Read more.

• Avatar on Usercard Cut Off: Moin reported and fixed an issue where avatars were cut off on usercards. Read more.

Features

• Review with Reason Theme Component: Lhc_fl introduced a theme component that requires moderators to provide a reason for actions during reviews, logging it in a topic. Read more.

• Compose Center Theme Component: Don shared a new theme component that centralizes composing options, making it easier to handle content creation. Read more.

• Simple Design Tool for Discourse: pearsonified introduced a design tool based on Golden Ratio Typography, aimed at helping users customize their Discourse installs. Read more.

Development

• Discourse AI Post Classifier: Saif discussed updates to the AI post classifier, emphasizing the need to update existing prompts to reflect recent changes. Read more.

• Discourse Chatbot Enhancements: merefield added new functionalities to the Discourse Chatbot, allowing for additional functions in separate plugins. Read more.

• Discourse AI Persona Upload Support: Saif highlighted new features in the AI Persona plugin, including support for uploading text files to enhance persona capabilities. Read more.

Activity by the @team Group

• Saif celebrated Discourse’s 10th anniversary, reflecting on the platform’s growth and community contributions. Read more.

• Lilly participated in discussions about the new /about page redesign, providing feedback and suggestions for improvements. Read more.

• JammyDodger engaged in various support topics, offering solutions and guidance on issues like auto-deleting topics and email address changes. Read more.

• supermathie investigated login issues from Android devices, providing insights into potential causes and solutions. Read more.

• hugh announced the development of a new documentation plugin, inviting feedback from the community to refine its features. Read more.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you again next week!

[Discourse]

This week on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the past week, the Discourse Meta community has been bustling with activity. Here are some key statistics:

• Total New Posts: 770
• Total New Topics: 99

Top Users:

• Moin: 46 posts, 114 likes
• pfaffman: 70 posts, 105 likes
• awesomerobot: 19 posts, 76 likes
• Lilly: 17 posts, 55 likes
• sam: 14 posts, 52 likes
• ondrej: 23 posts, 49 likes
• Jagster: 38 posts, 46 likes
• nathank: 15 posts, 43 likes
• MarcP: 26 posts, 41 likes
• hugh: 5 posts, 37 likes

Interesting Topics

Announcements

• We’re upgrading our icons to Font Awesome 6!
  awesomerobot announced the upgrade to Font Awesome 6, which includes new icons and style updates. This change will enhance the visual experience across the Discourse interface.

• Better pageview metrics with the new site traffic report
  hugh introduced a new site traffic report that provides a more comprehensive view of community engagement, offering insights into pageviews from various sources.

• Introducing the new Starter Plan!
  Discourse announced a new Starter plan for launching communities, offering unlimited members for $20 a month.

Support

• What CSS was used for Comments here?
  Lilly provided a solution for users looking to style embedded comments, enhancing the customization options for Discourse sites.

• Invalid Certificate in Free Trial Site
  kathy.church resolved an issue with certificate errors by identifying a block from the IT department, ensuring smooth access across devices.

• Very confused, watching vs tracking a post?
  awesomerobot clarified the differences between watching and tracking posts, helping users manage their notifications effectively.

Bugs

• Layout of Admin > Badges page broken after updating
  david and ella worked on fixing a layout issue caused by locale settings, ensuring consistent display across different languages.

• Missing Icons
  awesomerobot addressed a bug with missing icons in the Font Awesome Pro plugin, restoring full functionality after updates.

• Chrome slow to upload in topic with many images
  sam and david identified a performance regression in Chrome, working on a fix to improve upload speeds in image-heavy topics.

Features

• Rich Text Editor Plugin
  sam advised delaying a project for a rich text editor plugin, as Discourse is actively working in this area.

• Prefilled composer link generator
  Moin introduced a theme component that generates links to prefilled composers, streamlining content creation.

• Tick badge for username?
  awesomerobot suggested using flairs to achieve a Twitter-like verified badge experience, enhancing user identity features.

Praise

• OMG The Discourse AI Helper is pretty great
  pfaffman shared a success story using the Discourse AI Helper to add watermarks, showcasing the tool’s versatility.

• Thanks for the intuitive UX in data explorer
  ganncamp praised the user experience in the data explorer, highlighting its intuitive design for managing complex queries.

Migration

• Migrating SFDC community to Discourse
  HAWK confirmed the possibility of migrating communities from Salesforce to Discourse, offering guidance for a smooth transition.

Development

• Fabricators generating duplicate names because of aging local test database
  david provided a solution for resolving issues with duplicate names in test databases, ensuring reliable test environments.

• Write end-to-end system specs for the Discourse user interface
  A comprehensive guide was shared on writing system specs for Discourse, aiding developers in creating robust tests.

Activity by the @team Group

• awesomerobot was active in discussions about upgrading icons to Font Awesome 6 and missing icons, providing solutions and updates.

• Lilly contributed to resolving CSS issues and participated in discussions about watching vs tracking posts.

• sam advised on delaying a rich text editor project and worked on fixing a Chrome upload issue.

• hugh announced the new site traffic report, enhancing community engagement insights.

• pmusaraj addressed a bug with user authentication logs and participated in discussions about DiscourseHub features.

• david worked on fixing a layout issue and identified a performance regression in Chrome uploads.

• HAWK confirmed the possibility of migrating communities from Salesforce to Discourse, providing support for migration efforts.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you again next week!

[Discourse]

This week on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the past week, the Discourse Meta community has been bustling with activity. Here are some key statistics:

• Total New Posts: 873
• Total New Topics: 113

Top Users:

• Moin: 56 posts, 147 likes
• Lilly: 32 posts, 97 likes
• merefield: 33 posts, 75 likes
• sam: 29 posts, 72 likes
• Heliosurge: 47 posts, 68 likes

Interesting Topics

Announcements

• Current Projects - September 2024: mcwumbly introduced the first edition of the Current Projects newsletter, detailing ongoing projects like the composer redesign and a new theme chooser in the setup wizard. Read more.

• We’re upgrading our icons to Font Awesome 6!: mattdm shared updates on the icon upgrade, highlighting the use of the correct Fedora logo. Read more.

Site Feedback

• Documentation contribution opportunities: hugh encouraged community involvement in enhancing Discourse documentation, offering badges for contributors. Read more.

• Daily Summary Feedback: Lilly humorously noted a bot’s mistake in attributing tasks, sparking a light-hearted discussion. Read more.

Support

• Approve unless allowed groups setting: Lilly and others discussed the nuances of trust level settings and their implications on post approvals. Read more.

• How do I increase the size of my Reply TextArea?: Lilly and merefield helped troubleshoot issues related to editor size, identifying theme components as potential culprits. Read more.

• Error when updating Discourse to the new version: Don provided insights into theme settings affecting the update process. Read more.

Community

• Looking for the perfect theme: ondrej and merefield offered suggestions for theme components and plugins to enhance forum aesthetics. Read more.

• Information about permission settings: HAWK clarified the use of PMs for private discussions, linking to relevant documentation. Read more.

Theme Component

• Banner Featured Links: Arkshine introduced a new theme component for creating customizable link banners. Read more.

• Change share icon by OS: Don shared a theme component that adapts share icons based on the operating system. Read more.

UX

• Educating about trust level group memberships: Moin initiated a discussion on improving admin understanding of trust level group memberships. Read more.

• Whispers indicator, suggestion for improvement: HAWK highlighted a theme component to make whisper posts more distinguishable. Read more.

Bug

• When you click on the AI button on the top menu while in the chat section, it does not show the editor: kuaza reported an issue with the AI button in chat, with sam and chapoi discussing potential fixes. Read more.

• Certain message cannot be sent in chat: sam and joffreyjaffeux identified a character limit issue affecting chat messages. Read more.

Feature

• Give us non TL-3 members back the AI helper: sam adjusted trust level requirements for AI helper access, responding to community feedback. Read more.

• Discourse forum for feature requests with upvotes + comments: awesomerobot confirmed the possibility of setting up a feature request forum using the voting plugin. Read more.

Activity by the @team Group

• Lilly was active in discussions about the approve unless allowed groups setting and provided support on how to increase the size of the Reply TextArea.

• sam participated in resolving issues related to the AI button in chat and discussed the error when updating Discourse.

• mcwumbly shared insights on current projects and addressed a bug related to export buttons.

• tobiaseigen contributed to discussions on trust level group memberships and site glitch content issues.

• awesomerobot provided guidance on feature requests with upvotes and addressed a bug related to git repository access.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you again next week!

[Discourse]

This week on meta.discourse.org…

Key Stats

In the past week, the Discourse Meta community has been bustling with activity. Here are some key statistics:

• Total New Posts: 683
• Total New Topics: 80

Top Users:

• Moin: 59 posts, 179 likes
• Lilly: 46 posts, 105 likes
• pfaffman: 39 posts, 74 likes
• simon: 36 posts, 77 likes
• merefield: 33 posts, 91 likes

Interesting Topics

Support

• My topics not in latest?: Lilly and RGJ discussed a potential bug where muted tags are treated differently than muted categories, leading to topics appearing in the latest feed despite being muted. Moin provided insights into the complex rules governing tracking status read more.

• Users soft deleting comments?! Bug, misconfiguration or should I create a feature request?: merefield and Moin explored ways to manage comment visibility and history, with bloomexperiment confirming a solution to hide deleted comments from non-moderators read more.

• Having more Trust Levels?: merefield clarified the existing trust levels and discussed the possibility of custom levels with Elena, who is considering a user growth model for her community read more.

• Autoscrolling: awesomerobot and Adubs investigated an issue with unwanted autoscrolling, suspecting CSS or theme components as potential causes read more.

• Approve unless allowed groups setting: Moin identified a non-default review setting causing unexpected post approvals, with patrickemin confirming the solution read more.

• Trouble with new Fontawesome 6 icons in theme components: Lilly and Moin collaborated to resolve issues with Fontawesome icons not displaying correctly in theme components read more.

• Category endpoints not working: simon and Lilly helped troubleshoot API access issues related to plan restrictions, with Stevej confirming the solution read more.

Announcements

• New and improved /about page is live: sutterseba and pfaffman discussed the EU visitor count feature, with ToddZ providing additional insights read more.

SSO

• Ghost integration with the paid discourse plan: inderjot sought advice on integrating Ghost SSO with Discourse, with simon and bloomexperiment offering guidance and potential solutions read more.

UX

• Drafts for deleted topics aren’t removed, and look strange: Firepup650 reported an issue with drafts of deleted topics, with awesomerobot suggesting improvements to draft handling read more.

Dev

• Discourse and Coveo: merefield and simon discussed integrating Coveo with Discourse, highlighting potential API rate limits and enterprise-level solutions read more.

Marketplace

• Coveo and Discourse: merefield offered assistance for integrating Coveo with Discourse, suggesting expert help for setup needs read more.

Bug

• Wrong activate url: Moin pointed out a fix for an incorrect activation URL issue, referencing a recent GitHub pull request read more.

Feature

• Add SCIM support as service provider: pbouda proposed adding SCIM protocol support to Discourse for user and group management, with pfaffman discussing potential implementation paths read more.

Installation

• Sidekiq shows activation emails being sent to email address nil: simon provided troubleshooting steps for email delivery issues, suggesting a rebuild and checking server requirements read more.

Activity by the @team Group

• Lilly was active in resolving issues related to My topics not in latest?, Trouble with new Fontawesome 6 icons in theme components, and Category endpoints not working.

• awesomerobot contributed to discussions on Autoscrolling and provided solutions for Removing stat from Home.

• simon offered insights and solutions in topics such as Category endpoints not working and Sidekiq shows activation emails being sent to email address nil.

• HAWK participated in discussions about Having more Trust Levels? and provided guidance on SEO & Forums.

• tobiaseigen engaged in conversations about Approve unless allowed groups setting and Where can I find EXPLICIT step by step instructions to navigate to the section where I can invite people?.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you again next week!