I’m trying to build a messaging feature in my project and really like this layout and feature set.
Any chance this forum’s source code is on github somewhere?
Thanks –
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Thanks a lot!
For some I thought it would have been built with Meteor – alas – I’ll at least be able to see the concepts, schema, etc…
Is there a good Meteor based forum that I can learn from, and where I can look at source code?
Telescope is pretty solid.
Learned a lot from it.
No, I didn’t really know about it… I’ll check that out. Thanks.
I guess since it seems to have started a while back from what I can tell, is it up to day in terms of patterns and practices? I guess if this is my only option, it doesn’t matter… haha.
It’s updated on a regular basis. As you can see in his blog. The creator is also an author of Discover Meteor.
You should really read this!
I know my opinion is unsolicited, but as someone who’s built these sorts of things for a living, I think Discourse is pretty horrible. Cluttered with gewgaws that add nothing but visual load, plus pseudo-threading…yuck. Telescope is a bit cleaner but lacks the “swiss watch” solidity that would really distinguish Meteor as ready for primetime. There’s still a bit of flicker and assembly lurching that I’d consider embarrassing to deliver to a client.
Hopefully these critiques are taken in the right way as improvements to work towards. Yes I know most (even high-budget) websites are truly dismal in terms of flicker and assembly and visual load but that shouldn’t let us off the hook as professionals. I want to see Meteor do remarkable things flicker-free and latency-free and it’s just a matter of programming to those standards. I don’t see the architecture as inherently clunky. Developments like flow-router might bridge some of that gap, plus a much-needed replacement for the tap:i18n kludge.
I just suggest if you’re going to copy, copy the good stuff. This ain’t that.
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Thanks @spicemix, I really appreciate your feedback.
In terms of the good stuff, are you talking about Telescope or something else?
Well Telescope is better than this, but even, say, Facebook is better than Telescope. And with Facebook as standard why not copy that. Everyone knows how Facebook works. I don’t like Facebook’s implementation particularly, but it’s clean and predictable and smooth. This Discourse thing is comments for nerds. With git diffs on edits, gamification, completion bars, I mean, gmab.
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Two things I really like here – and would love to find a package for – are the replay ‘drawer’ that pull-ups from the bottom of the browser window. I also like the quote system – I wish this functionality could be had somewhere.
… oh, and the floating bar on the right that shows which post you’re on.
I don’t really need a forum, just a simple messaging system – much less than Discourse, Facebook, or maybe even Telescope.
The reply drawer is bad IMO because you have lost context for your post. Instead it has to be linked by “post number” but the posts aren’t even numbered! Better to move the comment editor inline to where the comment will go so it’s clear when you’re doing a reply fail and breaking the threading. Oh, they break the threading for you anyway! LOL.
And note the partial fulfillment on the quoting system. If you select text and click reply, you get the text quoted, nice enough. And you can quote again from another post, in the same post…but you can’t using the " double quote button on the editor itself. Instead you have to select the text and press Reply again…which would make you think you’re abandoning your earlier post. But you aren’t…instead the new quote gets appended (without whitespace, and without noting your earlier text which may now be scrolled off is still there, potentially embarrassingly). What they should do then is change “Reply” to “Quote” on all the other posts, because semantics have changed.
That they chose to spend their time on gewgaws rather than core usability considerations speaks ill of this implementation as a model for future development. Sorry to be so severe. But it’s constructive severity.
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No – this is great feedback. I haven’t seen too many take things so seriously here (so far) – debate and honest feedback is healthy IMO.
How would you put the ‘replies’ in context? I see most software just opens a new page or modal – both can be jarring.
Your quote functionality critique is noted.
Also, yes, I like the look and feel here.
Thank you for taking it that way…it can “really harsh on someone’s vibe, dude, to be so negative.” But you’re as good as your standards and standards should never be shamed.
Since this is all JavaScript/DHTML (do those terms still apply?) you can put your comment editing DIV anywhere in the DOM you want and you will get flow around it. So rather than an absolute positioned “drawer” you can put the editor right under the place the comment will end up, and preview it right in that context. You can even move it postfacto to the correct position if you want. That’s how I did my first one of these ten years ago at the dawn of Ajax. Why do worse?
Your being mystified at how Discourse is supposed to work is precisely the brunt of my critique. It’s a broken design.
No but you’re by all means welcome to do so. They can have my two cents free of charge. =)