Vbulletin or Discourse

[kevlaw]

@filmore

You’re right that it’s essentially the same as the old board, but there are enough differences that the experience isn’t the same.

Thank you for this. I value your input.

Have you heard of the Satir Change Model? It was originally about making changes within a relationship like a marriage but it seems to apply to all kinds of change, including the introduction of new software. It tries to explain what happens when someone or something interrupts the status quo.

(just check out the image here - bummer that I can’t just post the image)

Satir Change Model

From: Managing Yourself Through Change | Dale H. Emery

People have a mental model that the change should be making things better (otherwise, why would we even make this change, right?). But it doesn’t get better right away. It gets worse. Much worse. Not everyone experiences every change this way but enough seem to that it’s a useful way to think about what to expect.

People should expect things to get worse because there’s always an inevitable period of chaos. Some people are ready to give up but those who don’t will eventually find the higher plane where things get better.

I can’t promise that everyone will eventually find this higher plane but I expect that most will. Future Dopers will laugh “Remember how we used to think vBulletin was better than Discourse! Hahahaha!”.

If you haven’t read Dinsdale’s testimony in this thread, you should check it out:

Anyone else seriously considering leaving?

I was a bit confused at first, but now that I’m used to the new interface I like it much more than the vBulletin one. It’s easier to find what I’m looking for and I like the way links are being processed.

@Old Dinsdale

Don’t wish to host a pity party, and don’t suspect anyone will really care too much one way or the other, but I’m wondering if anyone else is thinking that it isn’t worth trying to figure out the new site.

A few days later…

@New Dinsdale

For those of you who are disenchanted, everyone uses these boards differently, but take it from the Luddite who started this thread - at this point I would not express an opinion as to whether I liked the old or new formats better. Took me a while to figure our a way to switch among forums and to move w/in threads, but now that I have, the new setup serves my purposes just as well as the old.

My advice to anyone still struggling with the new design is to try to find a place of Zen. If you still can’t figure out how to get around and read and reply, ask for some help.

If you are already reading and replying, you are 90% of the way there. Just let everything else wash over you and withhold judgment for a while. Maybe it will get better for you too.