Perhaps there’s a way to go through the database and add a hard return after every [ QUOTE ] and before every [ /QUOTE ]?
Also, the techies who manage the board have already tried porting an older version of the database so I assume they would have noticed if quotes are broken.
Wait a minute. Even if I decide not to post something, it’s going to hang around on their servers forever?
Does it only save the latest version? If so, I can get into the habit of wiping out a post I decide not to make, instead of just closing the window. But if that doesn’t wipe it off the server, I may need to take to composing posts in my own text program instead. I expect what I did decide to post to be online potentially forever; but I don’t want everything I decided not to post to stay on the boards indefinitely.
Another habit I’ll have to get out of. I usually consolidate as much as possible, and often deliberately put the quote marks on the same line as the text.
I’m guessing the unposted message saves are like how Gmail handles drafts. If I write an email message in Gmail but don’t send it, it remains in drafts indefinitely. I can go to drafts whenever I want and either send the message as is, edit it and then send or just discard it.
When you return to the thread, the reply box is already populated with what you typed last time… You can edit, post, or cancel.
If you are in the middle of posting and you click to go to another thread, the reply box to the first thread stays open. It follows you around. (In that tab or window. You can open other tabs and make replies in them without seeing the reply box for the unposted reply.)
If you close your browser or the window and never return to the thread, I guess it stays there as a potential reply forever. Best to hit Cancel if you want to not post something.
Yes, there is a Drafts section in your profile / control panel.
I haven’t even gotten out of the new user tutorial in PM, but so far, I really like the place. I love the humorous tone of discobot. 
See y’all on the demo board soon.
When recovering accounts on Discourse for people with bad emails, there should probably be some kind of validation that the person contacting you is really the account holder. I’m sure you’ll get emails like “Hi. I’m LongLostUser and I forgot what email I used on SDMB. Please reset my email to llu@nigeriamail.com so I can reset my pw.”
One way to do it securely might be to have a skeleton version of the old SDMB running on some other URL. Just have the account stuff and not the forums. When someone contacts you about the login problem, tell them to update their email on the skeleton SDMB. Assuming they can log in there, they could update their email and then the mods could copy it over to Discourse.
So drafts can be deleted from there and that will delete them from the server?
Yup. Under Activity choose Drafts, then hit Remove and it’s gone.
I’ve just done some messing around and it looks like it handles abandoned topics and replies differently. I started a test topic and hit the back button. That was stored in “Drafts”. When I hit the back button with a reply, it stayed as a floating reply, but there was a cancel button. When I clicked it, I had the option to delete it completely or save it to “Drafts”.
It looks like we’ll be able to mute topics. I haven’t been able to find anything that mutes users. There’s a setting that mutes notifications and PMs from them, however.
ETA: It’s not as complicated as it sounds and is fairly intuitive. It’s just a matter of a tiny bit of patience finding what you need.
Go to someone’s profile, and there will be a button marked Normal. Change that to either Mute or Ignore.
Mute means that you can still read what they post, but you won’t receive notifications about them when they @ you or reply to you.
Ignore means that you can no longer see what they post. They can still see what you post. If they post in the middle of a thread, you won’t see it (a link with 1 ignored post will be shown that you can click on if you want to). If they start a thread, you’ll see that they posted, but the post will say ignored content. If they’re quoted, you’ll see that they were quoted, but that’ll say ignored content, too.
You can only ignore someone for (last I checked) 4 months.
You can also mute or ignore people (or restore them to normal) from your control panel.
Do not copy their user name and paste it into the box. It won’t work. Type in the first few letters of their name, then select from the list.
Don’t forget to Save Changes.
My bold.
Oh God, I’ve been desperate for someone to restore me to normal for decades. Maybe it will finally happen!
The Wiz couldn’t do it.
Did you click your ruby slippers together and wish *extra *hard?
A lot of these “new” Discourse features … they’re common features on other boards I use. Most of these features have become standard order on message-board platforms like Invision over the past 5 years or so.
Discourse sounds overly “ticky” and fussy … but if a lot of unused features can be somehow hidden away, the SDMB should work pretty much as expected.
Another thing to be aware of is you flag reputation. Mod response to your last 100 flags (reports) is saved, and the software will prioritize an individual’s flags based on those previous responses.
If the mods clear or ignore lots of your flags, the system won’t take future reports very seriously. If they agree with lots of your flags, the system will prioritize your future ones.
The good news is that admin can set it so that every flag is always shown. But they’ll still see your flag reputation on every report you make.
Aside:
And dear god for the sake of all that is holy and just foreverandever amen, please change the flag autorespond messages from the insipid default tripe.
Thanks for letting us know. We agree there is an issue and we’re looking into it.
Grrrrr growl snap bite hiss
My guess is that a lot of the features you’re seeing in the demo version or in other sites using the Discourse software, like the flags, won’t be present when we switch, because the admins here are going to try to make things the same as much as possible. For that reason, I’ve not really looked at the demo site.
No flags = no report button.
Could always have a “report post” e-mail link on display. Or a “report post” link that would add a post to a hidden topic that only mods/admins can read.