# Site software upgrade message **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [March 24, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601 "2021-03-24T18:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/1 "2021-03-24T18:07:37Z")
I just got a popup box telling me that the site has a new software upgrade (I think that was the wording, I should have copied it before I ditched it) and giving me an option to get it or to cancel. I cancelled, on the grounds that I didn’t know what I would have been agreeing to. Anybody else get this? And/or know what was it about? ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/2 "2021-03-24T18:09:46Z")
I didn’t get anything. Was it a pop up generated by your OS, or in the style of Discourse? ---
**Author:** ![CorpusNeptune](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corpusneptune/32/17561_2.png) [@CorpusNeptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CorpusNeptune)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/3 "2021-03-24T18:10:39Z")
Yeah, I didn’t get anything, either. Maybe it was just your browser? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/4 "2021-03-24T18:11:39Z")
You don’t have any “site software” on your computer, it’s all done through the browser. I have no doubt it would have installed malware. ---
**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:** [March 24, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/5 "2021-03-24T18:13:38Z")
Do you use an App to read the Dope on your Phone/Tablet? There should be no PC/Laptop based software upgrade. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/6 "2021-03-24T18:34:34Z")
I remember it as looking like a smaller Discourse window, but I didn’t think to take a screenshot and might be remembering it wrong. If it shows up again I’ll screenshot it. I’m on a desktop, a mac mini. I also was puzzled about any claim that I needed to do anything about any updates Discourse was doing to Discourse, as I’d assumed that would all be taken care of within the site’s own processes. Will presume that the thing was a malware attempt of some sort. Thanks, all. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/7 "2021-03-24T19:38:26Z")
Did you ever install Discourse as an app? That is an option, at least, in Chrome. It shows a little icon that will let me install the website as an app. I tried it out (since I knew it was legit), and all it does is load the site in a separate window and put an icon on my desktop. I think it may also have kept a opt of the actual JavaScript and such locally. If you ever did that, (and didn’t then uninstall it like I did) I could see it telling you to install an upgraded version. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/8 "2021-03-24T21:56:16Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Did you ever install Discourse as an app? No. I’m just going to the web page in a browser, usually Firefox; no apps or plugins involved. Browser requests for updates do happen, but they don’t look like that one did. (And I don’t update directly from those, but from the browser’s own update menu; though they do generally seem to be legit.) ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/9 "2021-03-25T04:56:50Z")
Yes, we are looking at improving this so it is less of a popup OK/cancel dialog and more of an unobtrusive notice… > **["This site was just updated" popups are annoying](https://meta.discourse.org/t/this-site-was-just-updated-popups-are-annoying/181125)** > > I’m a regular user on a Discourse forum, and I usually have many tabs open with many discussions. The problem is what when Discourse finds an update, I get the same popup in every tab. Clicking Refresh in one tab doesn’t refresh all other tabs (at... It’s not super common for the software to get updated, so you won’t run into this, like… every day. Or even every week. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/10 "2021-03-25T05:08:32Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > Yes, we are looking at improving this so it is less of a popup OK/cancel dialog and more of an unobtrusive notice… > > ["This site was just updated" popups are annoying - feature - Discourse Meta](https://meta.discourse.org/t/this-site-was-just-updated-popups-are-annoying/181125) > > It’s not super common for the software to get updated, so you won’t run into this, like… every day. Or even every week. Not sure I want to sign up for that site just to say this, so I’ll say it here: multiple tabs isn’t some pathological part of the site. It’s just how I surf the Internet. I’m going to open multiple threads in different tabs, and then go read them. There isn’t any site that I use for extended periods where I don’t have multiple tabs of it open. It’s nothing wrong with Discourse at all. That said, I didn’t happen to have any tabs open when the changeover happened, or I might have noticed the dialog. I’m not a big fan of modal dialogs, period, so I would have noticed. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/11 "2021-03-25T08:08:17Z")
Multiple tabs is also the most common response to my complaints about feeling lost when stuff disappears in Discourse after i read it. “Huh?, Why did you refresh that tab with a list of topics at all? Why didn’t you just open all the topics you are interested in in separate tabs and leave the first one alone?” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/12 "2021-03-25T14:27:19Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > we are looking at improving this so it is less of a popup OK/cancel dialog and more of an unobtrusive notice I don’t think that’s the one I saw. If it does show up again I’ll take a screenshot. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/13 "2021-04-05T03:52:02Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I just got a popup box telling me that the site has a new software upgrade It’s exactly this, a popup box. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/rizqpYq.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/rizqpYq) But soon it will be de popup-boxed (the software UX term for this is “modal dialog”) and look like this [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/lus7b2K.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/lus7b2K) I’m fairly certain that (the first picture) what you meant, but if it isn’t, please let me know. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/site-software-upgrade-message/938601/14 "2021-04-05T11:42:59Z")
I don’t think that was it; IIRC, it didn’t just say the site was just updated, it said something about new software. As I said, I should have taken a screenshot, and if it ever shows up again I’ll do that.