Today marks 1 year since we transitioned from phpBB to Discourse, and lots of good has come out of it! Some things have been a bit different, and there’s still always more to adjust. We have some pretty big updates today, so let’s get into it!
TL;DR:
- Vote in certain forums
- Mark topics as ‘solved’ in help forums
- Additional reactions
- Follow specific users
VOTING
Since switching to Discourse, we’ve had a lot of users request some changes to layout and behavior of the forums. We try to accommodate as many of those as possible, but it’s simply not always and option… Nevertheless, we want to prioritize future requests left in The Suggestion Box so for that reason, we’ve enabled Discourse’s voting ability! In that Forum, you can now vote for requests you’d like to see. This allows us to see what the biggest priority is! Simply press the “Vote” button by the title of the post, and we’ll review it from there!
SOLVED TOPICS
We have a few forums that are used specifically for help, Security Systems Help and General Fire Alarm Help. They now have the ability to mark a topic as “Solved” when a solution is met! As the Author of the original topic, when someone answers your question, click the “Solved” button on their post, and that will help others jump to a solution should they have a similar issue. Makes finding answers to questions really easy!
We’ve also enabled this feature in “The Suggestion Box” as well, so when a feature is implemented, we can mark it as “Solved.”
REACTIONS
Since setting up Discourse, we were only able to “like” a post (a feature that was heavily requested back when we had phpBB) but now, we have the ability to be a bit more creative with our Reactions! When hovering your mouse over the “like” button, you’ll be greeted with new emoji’s, similar to Facebook’s reactions.
On mobile, press and hold the like button, and you’ll see the same reaction options.
FOLLOWS
You can now follow other users to see their posts! Simply go to the user profile either by searching, or by clicking their username, and press “Follow”.
You can view a feed of recent activity from JUST people you follow on your profile (example) and also see who follows you, and manage who you follow. Please note that who you follow is public.