Like the new forum visual

BillDaCostaWilliams · January 16

I'm assuming it's not only me viewing this forum with a cleaner, friendlier interface of late.

billyshakes · January 16

It looks like the mobile version. My guess is that the "skin" that is normally used isn't applied over probably just the basic template. For me, the forum has been really "laggy" the last month or so. Slow to load. Slow to navigate. And the search function almost completely ineffective. E.g. I type in "spaced repetition" and it says no results found. I later find the post titled "Anki - spaced repetition" or similar. So there might be some back end issues going on and either the switch is intentional or it is just not loading the skin to go over the header, etc. Do you have problems with loading speed, Bill?

MichaelHorowitz · January 16

This is actually the default skin. It's basically the same thing we've always had but just not embedded in the site. I'm just trouble shooting some issues so that's why the default skin is active.

wim · January 16

@MichaelHorowitz Have you considered switching the forum software to something more modern such as discourse? I think you'll find it superior to vanilla.

MichaelHorowitz · January 16

@wim Generally Vanilla has worked quite well. However, the company was sold a while back and there's been little support for the open source version since then. So I'll have to switch software at some point but I'm not looking forward to the export process.

Buco · January 18

As Bill said, lately the forum has been slow for me. Interestingly, it was flying yesterday, today takes a while longer but not as bad. Also forum search engine has been ineffective. Few days ago I searched for something I posted and the forum couldn't find, used web browser search and found it.

MichaelHorowitz · January 18

The search issue is related to the lack of support. We use to have a more advanced search plugin but it got too old and started causing problems so we only have the basic search now. No one is developing plugins anymore for Vanilla so that's why I'll be switching it over at some point.

strombolimusik · January 19

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/116615#Comment_116615

Hey Michael, the fact that you keep this going (in any form) is greatly appreciated. It's really an institution of the North American GJ community, as are you. Thank you!

Jangle_Jamie · January 19

I don't seem to be able to comment on the picks thread for some reason (I get odd error messages coming up). I'd like to say that I love my Dugain acetate picks (3.5mm)!