# 16 months later I’ll finally admit it, I like the new SDMB forum SW **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247 "2021-04-18T14:15:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/1 "2021-04-18T14:15:59Z")
When did we make the change? I think it was at the end of December 2019. Is that right? At first I loathed the new software. Avoided it like covid. But it’s been slowly growing on me. And now finally I have to admit, I like it. To remind, this is what it looked like on 26 December 2019 (imgur post, click to see the full screen) — [[Album] The old SDMB format, from 26 Dec 2019. ![](https://i.imgur.com/Lwuu4Io.png?fb "The old SDMB format, from 26 Dec 2019.") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/Q7feVcY) . I just realized that covid-19 and the new forum SW arrived around the same time! So, what was your forum software adoption experience like? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/2 "2021-04-18T14:25:21Z")
The cutover was in June of 2020. Overall I like Discourse and I got use to it pretty quick. Of course I really like the fact that the Straight Dope is no longer falling apart at the seems like it was on the old software and database. For the life of me, I still can’t figure out what SW means though. Please explain this one? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/3 "2021-04-18T14:28:15Z")
I’m guessing “software”. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/4 "2021-04-18T14:30:09Z")
Yes, software. I guess that was too cryptic, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/5 "2021-04-18T14:31:29Z")
I figured, because SDMB South West is still in beta testing. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/6 "2021-04-18T14:31:35Z")
Makes sense, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/7 "2021-04-18T14:32:10Z")
Discourse is the new software. Can someone remind me, what was the old? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/8 "2021-04-18T14:33:25Z")
vBulletin® An old and outdated version. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/9 "2021-04-18T14:33:25Z")
vBulletin(?) Hey! You ninja’d me, you Mod, you! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/10 "2021-04-18T14:34:53Z")
A _very old_ version of vB, at that. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/11 "2021-04-18T14:38:40Z")
I do like how your screenshot captures the old board in its glory, with the thread on server timeout errors. Regardless of how anyone feels about cosmetic issues, that alone was well worth the change. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/12 "2021-04-18T14:40:32Z")
vBulletin. Thanks. And I certainly don’t miss these, that’s for sure — [[Album] The old SDMB software, outdated vBulletin. ![](https://i.imgur.com/N09zHsj.jpeg?fb "The old SDMB software, outdated vBulletin.") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/hKBXsDH) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/13 "2021-04-18T14:58:54Z")
I like it but it’s still annoying when old links to threads don’t work (i.e. a post in an old thread is referring to another old thread, but now the link is broken). Are those ever going to be fixed? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/14 "2021-04-18T15:13:30Z")
I’m a moderator on a board that uses Xenforo, and overall I mildly prefer that to Discourse. But overall Discourse is fine, except for infinite scrolling. I thought I’d probably get used to that, but I still find it clunky and unpleasant. Not a huge deal, though. Even with the loathsome infinite scrolling, the new SDMB is a vast improvement over the days when we were using a dreadfully out-of-date version of vBulletin. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/15 "2021-04-18T15:19:11Z")
I’ve liked it from the beginning, and now I like it even more. For the way I used vB, this is so much easier for me to keep track of threads, to see who replied to my posts, to be alerted when I’ve been tagged in a thread, etc., instead of running vanity searches, which I might not do for weeks at a time (when it came for searching mentions of my username, I’d often go months without searching, so if I was called out in a thread I was not participating in, I would not see it.) Overall, it’s just a much better user experience for me. I really can’t think of one thing I preferred on the old vB board. Plus I like that we can link to things with graphical previews, we can post pictures, etc. (I know some of that could have been and wasn’t for reasons enabled on the vB site.) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/16 "2021-04-18T15:53:11Z")
On the old vB it was easy to see, for a given thread, a ranking of the post counts by poster. Is that doable with Discourse? It probably is but I haven’t found it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/17 "2021-04-18T15:58:05Z")
The Op has a little area that shows Created, Last Reply, replies, views, **users** , links and then the users. **If you click the down arrow** it expands to show the posters and most popular links. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/18 "2021-04-18T16:51:12Z")
Got it. Thanks! ETA — clearly, I’m still getting familiarized with Discourse. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/19 "2021-04-18T18:49:12Z")
I had to do some adjusting. I doubt I’ll ever like as well as I liked vBulletin but as other folks have pointed out, we didn’t have the option of vBulletin in working order, we had a choice between vBulletin staggering around in terminal death throes mode or something else that could perform the basic functions of message board that wasn’t falling into unresponsiveness every other day. The search capability is even worse, which is very frustrating because it was pretty awful under the old software. I was hoping for an improvement not a deterioration. But greater familiarity with how Discourse works has helped with even that. Instead of a single search for “New Posts”, have two saved URLs, one that apparently opens new _threads_ and the other which opens “my posts”. I think I’m still missing some threads that have had new activity on them but it’s hard to be certain of that. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247/20 "2021-04-19T01:02:48Z")
A feature I like in Xenforo, which may exist in Discourse and I just don’t know about it, is that you can see at a glance, among all the threads listed, whether you’ve posted in a thread. That’s nice for threads you haven’t thought about in a while. Am I missing something with Discourse that should tell me whether I’ve posted in a thread? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/16-months-later-i-ll-finally-admit-it-i-like-the-new-sdmb-forum-sw/940247.md?page=2)