Forum Feedback Migrating away from XenForo

[Renegade]

In the 3rd quarter of the current year, we will migrating from XenForo to Discourse. Its still some months away but just wanted to let you all know in sufficient advance.

Progress on XenForo as a platform has stalled for years now. It was a promising solution but something happened with them. The last good release which had new features and improvements was several years ago. It is still a good platform and the developers have done well to keep it contemporary as far as the inner workings of the solution are concerned. But it pales in comparison to the constant leaps that Discourse has taken on the usability front.

I have been following Discourse since almost a decade now and have visited it time and again to see the progress that they have made. To some it might look overwhelming at first since we are used to doing things a certain way, but as you get used to it you realize that the usability of that software is unparalleled as of now.

Have been experimenting with the migration and features since a month. Their migration script is shit slow and single threaded so will take us 7 days to migrate the database, need to figure out a way to overcome that. Plus they do not have a market rating system or add-on. Which I will have to develop. For which I will have to learn Ruby on Rails. So these are the two main reasons why it will take us that long.

Plus I have also experimented with building a mobile app using their APIs and it looks straightforward. Have managed to get a bare bones proof of concept prototype done in a couple of days. Wanted to check all the boxes before deciding, whether we need it or not. However their PWA is really head and shoulders above XenForo so a mobile app is not needed and therefore not a higher priority.

This is a post migration setup with most of the default settings. Still tinkering with things. By the time we migrate, they would have overhauled the default look so things would most likely look different from this.



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[Quantum_Buddy]

It looks good even if it's just a prototype with all the color filters and topics /month.

 

[Kaching999]

In the 3rd quarter of the current year, we will migrating from XenForo to Discourse. Its still some months away but just wanted to let you all know in sufficient advance.

Progress on XenForo as a platform has stalled for years now. It was a promising solution but something happened with them. The last good release which had new features and improvements was several years ago. It is still a good platform and the developers have done well to keep it contemporary as far as the inner workings of the solution are concerned. But it pales in comparison to the constant leaps that Discourse has taken on the usability front.

I have been following Discourse since almost a decade now and have visited it time and again to see the progress that they have made. To some it might look overwhelming at first since we are used to doing things a certain way, but as you get used to it you realize that the usability of that software is unparalleled as of now.

Have been experimenting with the migration and features since a month. Their migration script is shit slow and single threaded so will take us 7 days to migrate the database, need to figure out a way to overcome that. Plus they do not have a market rating system or add-on. Which I will have to develop. For which I will have to learn Ruby on Rails. So these are the two main reasons why it will take us that long.

Plus I have also experimented with building a mobile app using their APIs and it looks straightforward. Have managed to get a bare bones proof of concept prototype done in a couple of days. Wanted to check all the boxes before deciding, whether we need it or not. However their PWA is really head and shoulders above XenForo so a mobile app is not needed and therefore not a higher priority.

This is a post migration setup with most of the default settings. Still tinkering with things. By the time we migrate, they would have overhauled the default look so things would most likely look different from this.

View attachment 225841

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That looks fantastic.

 

[kiyooo1]

is techenclave self-hosted or cloud based?

 

[Party Monger]

You can wait a year or two, as the current setup looks modern enough already and I dont think anyone's missing anything.
Till then request a better migration tool from them. More forums will want to shift if Xenforo progress is stalled.

Perhaps you can find something with app support for android atleast.

Edit- The mockup I see has a different layout, even a different theme would suffice. As long as core functionality is stable with Xenforo you can stich with it, till shifting becomes easy and a no brainer.

 

[Kloud]

The new-look looks promising.

But from what I have seen, changing the software has killed forums.

• XDA is one example. Yeah, it had many problems, but the forum software wasn't one of them. When the layout was changed, instead of adjusting to the new thing, people moved to telegram.
• Xbhp. They didn't change the software per se, but they revamped thoroughly. And, most people didn't like it. I then rewrote their entire CSS, and people liked my unofficial theme (including a mod or two) more than the official one.
• Tomshardware? I don't remember what they changed, but it was a long time ago. Readership dropped substantially.

Forums and the internet (the way we know it) in general are dying. You guys should also look into diversifying the business.

 

[bssunilreddy]

In the 3rd quarter of the current year, we will migrating from XenForo to Discourse. Its still some months away but just wanted to let you all know in sufficient advance.

Progress on XenForo as a platform has stalled for years now. It was a promising solution but something happened with them. The last good release which had new features and improvements was several years ago. It is still a good platform and the developers have done well to keep it contemporary as far as the inner workings of the solution are concerned. But it pales in comparison to the constant leaps that Discourse has taken on the usability front.

I have been following Discourse since almost a decade now and have visited it time and again to see the progress that they have made. To some it might look overwhelming at first since we are used to doing things a certain way, but as you get used to it you realize that the usability of that software is unparalleled as of now.

Have been experimenting with the migration and features since a month. Their migration script is shit slow and single threaded so will take us 7 days to migrate the database, need to figure out a way to overcome that. Plus they do not have a market rating system or add-on. Which I will have to develop. For which I will have to learn Ruby on Rails. So these are the two main reasons why it will take us that long.

Plus I have also experimented with building a mobile app using their APIs and it looks straightforward. Have managed to get a bare bones proof of concept prototype done in a couple of days. Wanted to check all the boxes before deciding, whether we need it or not. However their PWA is really head and shoulders above XenForo so a mobile app is not needed and therefore not a higher priority.

This is a post migration setup with most of the default settings. Still tinkering with things. By the time we migrate, they would have overhauled the default look so things would most likely look different from this.

View attachment 225841

Subscribe to this thread to keep track of any updates that I post along the way.

Looks like another transformation is coming to TE. eagerly waiting for it to happen.

 

[Renegade]

is techenclave self-hosted or cloud based?

It is self hosted.

You can wait a year or two, as the current setup looks modern enough already and I dont think anyone's missing anything.
Till then request a better migration tool from them. More forums will want to shift if Xenforo progress is stalled.

Perhaps you can find something with app support for android atleast.

Edit- The mockup I see has a different layout, even a different theme would suffice. As long as core functionality is stable with Xenforo you can stich with it, till shifting becomes easy and a no brainer.

They are not really concerned about a migration tool for XenForo from what I have seen. Discourse is open source and free, they do have a SaaS model for businesses or anyone willing to pay.

That is not a mockup, that is how the forums look as of now. We do have a long time frame and we will migrate when it becomes a no-brainer with tangible benefits, not for the heck of it. Not saying that mobile app is not a priority, just that it can be done relatively easily once we migrate and therefore lower in priority than migration.

The content discovery on discourse is really good, be it related topics, search or hot topics. It even has Wiki integrated where community members can turn topics into wiki and update content, thinking of all the buying guides that we can maintain.

If the add-on is developed inhouse then it can be tailored to the communities needs than be generic. It opens up possibilities in other areas too.

The new-look looks promising.

But from what I have seen, changing the software has killed forums.

• XDA is one example. Yeah, it had many problems, but the forum software wasn't one of them. When the layout was changed, instead of adjusting to the new thing, people moved to telegram.
• Xbhp. They didn't change the software per se, but they revamped thoroughly. And, most people didn't like it. I then rewrote their entire CSS, and people liked my unofficial theme (including a mod or two) more than the official one.
• Tomshardware? I don't remember what they changed, but it was a long time ago. Readership dropped substantially.

Forums and the internet (the way we know it) in general are dying. You guys should also look into diversifying the business.

You are right. Migration sucks the life out of the forums due to two reasons, users are not able to adjust to the new and primarily coz SEO completely goes for a toss. The best part about the discourse migration tool is that is handled the redirects from old topics to the new automatically, something that I have never seen before with XenForo, vBulletin and IPB. 12 years ago when we migrated to XenForo, we got crushed due to google ranking updates and lack of proper redirects.

Its risky but not doing anything also is. Forums are not what they used to be, maybe the saturation of AI might change it when people crave for human interactions. Esp those which are not laden with filth.

If people are done with TechEnclave then so be it, but till then we will not make it an old age home with rotary phones.

If you have some suggestions on the diversification bit then all ears. No better time than the present to try something different.

 

[Quantum_Buddy]

It even has Wiki integrated where community members can turn topics into wiki and update content, thinking of all the buying guides that we can maintain.

It's a good thing to have a separated wiki instead of a thread/forum made for reviews.

 

[NarwhalBacon]

Its risky but not doing anything also is.

I'll be honest; with certain things, I hate change. I've set my preferences to the old look of TE rather than the new one. That being said, this one line is the crux of it. So I guess we'll have to get used to it, when it happens. All the best to the team!

 

[ibose]

we will not make it an old age home with rotary phones

I did not realise it is that bad.
The SEO is right up there. And to be honest, most new folks flocking here and even paying, are in it for the Marketplace. There is no other such an unique avenue which is held to high standards.
But I don't see why we cannot migrate as long as we keep it as a collaborative effort with the TE community .

 

[Renegade]

Will setup a test site for everyone to play around with a good couple of months before the migration, so that we can iron out all the feedback. Can also post a short series of how to videos for you all to look through and understand what can be done where.

----

Everywhere I go, its littered with tiny life improvements.

Everyone can setup their own navigation and select the links to the categories that they find most useful.




Chat Channels on the left nav and on the right window.

 

[Kloud]

I see the discourse has infinite scrolling pages for discussions. I'm sure it has some good strategy to manage a very long content. I hope it doesn't crash the reader's browser to load 500-page thread that it imported from xenforo. . I hope it's SEO ready too.

Whatever, you end up doing, a small suggestion, make it easier to use than this instance of Xenforo. Xenforo is already easier to use than most other forums. The default UI of discourse might look overwhelming for people who are used to seeing traditional forums.

If you have some suggestions on the diversification bit then all ears. No better time than the present to try something different.

From an SEO perspective:

1. Do a proper technical SEO audit. It doesn't look good.
2. the forum has 3 million indexed pages, out of which 1.5 million are redirects. For example, no need to index the folder /whats-new/. (for some context, team-bhp has less than a million pages)
3. De-index threads that are not tech related. The number of organic visitors (~20K?) needs to match the amount of content. Unrelated subjects dilute the tech expertise.
4. The forum needs to show that it follows tech trends. 5090 getting launched? The forum should have a thread with the title, 5090 reviews.

From a diversification/business perspective:

1. Convert all store links posted on the forum to affiliates. The way Desidime does it. They don't get in anyone's way like the unrelated full-page ads we see on mobile browsers. And, they'll also fund the other diversification instruments.
2. Been requesting it for many years, and I'll request it again. Run escrow. We need it. We haven't had anything good in India since eBay got acquired. This is your plan B when internet forums do die eventually.
3. White-label the high quality tech stuff that we don't have easy access to. All YouTube channels do it. Something like key caps or some exotic material mouse pad. These things don't need a service center.
4. Carve out a tech sub-niche for yourself. Like how team-bhp has reviews and monthly sale figures. Not all people want to chit-chat. They go there to take their monthly dose of reviews.

 

[k_m_Arya]

2) If TE is running escrow services, then it would need to comply with IT rules which would inevitably hike product prices since there would be some fixed costs like tax filing/ maintaining accounts. Also, not sure how much GST would apply here.
3) White label stuff like PTM 7950, mouse switches, backpacks

 

[PunkX 75]

One suggestion, albeit not an important one, but a small QoL one - let a thread starter have a tag attached to them (discussion starter) like how OCN does. This would help people identify the OP in longer threads.

 

[Kloud]

If TE is running escrow services, then it would need to comply with IT rules which would inevitably hike product prices since there would be some fixed costs like tax filing/ maintaining accounts. Also, not sure how much GST would apply here.

eBay with all its infra had commission like 5%.

Say TE charges 3% fee for cheap items. It'll split into 2.54% going to TE and 0.45% which is 18% GST that will go towards adding more potholes in your roads. TE could charge a lower fee like 1% for expensive items.

For an additional fee, they could also arrange logistic service using, say, shiprocket.

Accounting isn't hard when you have a system in place. I'm sure they already maintain books.

 

[k_m_Arya]

It's 13-15% for ebay

Selling fees

We charge two main types of selling fees: an insertion fee when you create a listing, and a final value fee when your item sells.

www.ebay.com

 

[ibose]

eBay with all its infra had commission like 5%.

Say TE charges 3% fee for cheap items. It'll split into 2.54% going to TE and 0.45% which is 18% GST that will go towards adding more potholes in your roads. TE could charge a lower fee like 1% for expensive items.

For an additional fee, they could also arrange logistic service using, say, shiprocket.

Accounting isn't hard when you have a system in place. I'm sure they already maintain books.

You do realize that ebay has full time dedicated staffing and is not built by volunteers. Not saying what TE should or shouldn't do but calling out what will be required if TE goes that route.

 

[Kloud]

It's 13-15% for ebay

It used to be around 5%-7% for Indian eBay. I used to be a top seller.

You do realize that ebay has full time dedicated staffing and is not built by volunteers. Not saying what TE should or shouldn't do but calling out what will be required if TE goes that route.

Yup. Business is business.

But, is it worth hiring for?

Tell me, how many times did you wish OLX had an escrow? There's a giant void for this in India. Somebody will fill it someday. And, when they do, instead of participating in the marketplace here, we'll PM each other requesting to put your products on that new third-party escrow service.

 

[ibose]

Tell me, how many times did you wish OLX had an escrow? There's a giant void for this in India. Somebody will fill it someday. And, when they do, instead of participating in the marketplace here, we'll PM each other requesting to put your products on that new third-party escrow service.

And why do you think escrow has not caught on till now anywhere when it comes to selling used stuff ?