Sponge XenForo

[xxmarijnw]

XenForo is a great forum tool, however if they are going to use it, its just going to look like Bukkit.

[xxmarijnw]

Thank you. I also think Discourse is much more modern and easy to use.

[patrickfreed]

I prefer pretty much any traditional forum software over Discourse. Everything is so dynamic in this system (e.g. hover over this to see likes, scroll down to get to next page, etc.) I’m also not a fan of the minimalist youtube-commenets-esque post design.

XenForo was nice and clear, though I don’t really think spending $140 for it is entirely necessary. There are other free alternatives that are static, clear, and better organized than Discourse.

[Dan]

@xxmarijnw

XenForo is a great forum tool, however if they are going to use it, its just going to look like Bukkit.

Not exactly. There are many different themes that you can get for XenForo that would make it look different.

[xxmarijnw]

@Dan

Not exactly. There are many different themes that you can get for XenForo that would make it look different.

No matter what theme you pick it won’t look (very) different from Bukkit or Spigot. Its still the same software.

[Dan]

@xxmarijnw

No matter what theme you pick it won’t look (very) different from Bukkit or Spigot. Its still the same software.

You do have a point there.

[OreCruncher]

I actually don’t like the software. I would prefer something else. That being said, I come back because I need to keep abreast of what is going on.

[abraxasDMG]

I don’t want to start a fight, but I do not understand why is it so important that Sponge has to be different under all accounts?

Forum software used for Bukkit (and even Spigot got mentioned here) looks the same (or similar) like 90% (if not more) of other forums of any kind in the world. The reason for that is because the “traditional” forum look, feel and functionality is almost identical in the leading products in that field (for years).

Having said that, it seems that people are bored with forum software being used for forum needs. They want something new and wild and exciting. OK, fine.
Just, when you criticize, try to have at least some objectivity. You do not like something, or like something better. No problems. Please just do not serve your likes and dislikes as a factual things and the only relevant sources of wisdom, and allow other people not to feel like idiots.

[ClearPixels]

The answer to it all.

[jflory7]

I definitely think garbagemule put it best:

@garbagemule

This is an attitude I see a lot in the Sponge community, and it is extremely dangerous. Realize that Bukkit lived for a very long time, and would have continued to live for even longer, sans current circumstances. There is a reason for that, and it’s that Bukkit did something right. Underestimating or overlooking that something (or the many somethings) is probably the dumbest thing you can do when creating a successor. Staying away from “stuff Bukkit did” just because Bukkit did it is irrational the moment you give it second thought. I wish more doomsayers would understand that.

Steering away from Bukkit in every sense possible isn’t a wise decision. sighs

[Andrew_Yunt]

Xenforo is better… This forum is too hard to use.

[thtredstonegui]

Prior to the sponge forums here, I’ve only seen Discourse used once (been in place for two years on a site I use) and I feel that although it’s very different to other forum software, it is actually great once you get used to it.

Discourse may lack familiarity that XenForo might hold, but it’s a great piece of forum software and I think many that oppose its continued use here will find themselves warming to its nature.

[Vegitakicker]

I quite enjoy the simplcity for Discourse. However, for longer discussions, it seems to fall a bit behind. But if there’s going to be a move, then I’d suggest Invision Powerboard or Woltlab BurningBoard, both are great forum software.

Of course, some free / open source alternatives will do the job as well.

[jflory7]

@Vegitakicker

However, for longer discussions, it seems to fall a bit behind.

This is primarily one of the reasons why I think an actual migration from Discourse should be considered, because I feel that this is another reason why Discourse falls short.

[GenPage]

@jflory7

This is primarily one of the reasons why I think an actual migration from Discourse should be considered

This will most likely not be considered for a while. Discourse is currently meeting our needs. It’s possible later on down the line it will be brought up again, but currently our priorities are different.

[Vegitakicker]

You surely have some devs that knows their way around modifying this software, adding a page break every 25 posts for example would vastly improve the experience.

[armed_troop]

The neon-green navigation bar is quite useful (at least to me) for jumping up and down within a long conversation thread.

[ValkyrieMC]

Eh, I prefer XenForo or even free forum hosting sites like Jcink or something. I guess I prefer the layout and the easy customization. I also think that XenForo or Jcink is much easier to navigate and easier to customize different features available.

[simon816]

It’s only minor but something I don’t like is that the endless content loading means that the browser scrollbar does not represent the size of the page or my position in the page. It also means the page cannot have a footer, and the suggested topics/other things are harder to scroll into view.

I hope Discourse has some stats page or something like SMF as it’s interesting to know that stuff.

[The_Doctors_Life]

My points for this are…

1. Most people are coming from “other” server types that used “different” software, but most people joining the forums for the first time don’t want to have to learn how to use something different from almost every site out there.

2. Even though I am pretty active on this forum I would prefer looking through tabs maybe with a “Recent Posts” bar on the side, when going through forums especially when I need help or something I don’t want to have to figure out if I were just moving to the sponge community how to use something when I Need Help.

(Sorry If this is a little hard to read)