#Discord Forums and You!

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

uneven cedar
#

cool

arctic knot
#

cant wait for this to be available to everyone

shadow crypt
#

first

waxen fiber
#

I wonder how the experience with the forums are so far. I see that the normal channels are kept. It seems, that the forum system will not replace them?

it's for me hard to judge if a post is worth a forum thread or a message in a normal channel is the better choice. sometimes discussions get very interesting but moving those into a thread isn't possible i think.

maiden panther
#

the feedback channel is a forum

waxen fiber
# maiden panther the feedback channel is a forum

Yes, I noticed that and wondered why the other areas are not a forum (because in traditional Forums like Polycount there would be for example an area for 3D, another for 2D, etc) and if maybe you guys in here notice that the forums aren't so uesful? I'm trying to figure this out for my own server and as USlackers had already a lot of time to test the feature, I wanted to know what the experiences are.

maiden panther
waxen fiber
maiden panther
#

most of the regulars here didn't want them for any of the topics covered by chat channels (me included) but they're looking at using them in selected cases later

#

The reasoning being that people help in the active channels because they're hanging out chatting, they won't be there to answer questions if it's not a more general discussion...
Also UE already has an official forum for the people who prefer that format (after all this is not even an official Discord or anything)

maiden panther
zinc dust
#

This is a new type of channel that discord is rolling out to servers, the Forum channel. We have been graciously granted the feature to use on Unreal Slackers for us to test out and see how it works. We moderators have decided that we would like to try out this feature first with the Server Feedback channel before rolling it out to other topics and channels.

Since this is a new feature with many new buttons and options, We would like to ask that you contain any discussion regarding the Forums feature itself to this thread. You can (and are encouraged to) make new posts suggesting how to use this feature elsewhere on this forum, but please do not make threads for the sake of making threads. We would like to keep this forum on topic for feedback and suggestions for this discord server.

Please post responsibly!

unknown.png
zinc dust
#

first

prime pendant
#

second :P

brisk rampart
#

third!

tough granite
#

I'm pretty anxious to hear what people think about this feature. We have lots of ideas for how to use them in other categories, but we want to hear from the community first.

hardy rover
#

Brain is fried from the recent hours of internal discussions lol

prime pendant
#

would this help with the searchability of questions & answers in channels like #cpp ?

zinc dust
#

we're thinking pretty hard about that

hardy rover
#

Roy especially

prime pendant
#

cool Awesome

#

:)

zinc dust
#

lol

brisk rampart
#

Can you search for posts or not yet?

hardy rover
#

I don't think you can target a Post directly, but the Search includes them.

signal raven
#

So shiny

zinc dust
#

yeah, you can search a term like "replication" and it would show you all threads that such a post had it

smoky otter
#

true first

zinc dust
#

plus each forum gets its own tags

tough granite
#

There's no filter for in:post or something like that, but yes, posts are indexed for search.

brisk rampart
#

Would be nice in a future if each channel forum has their own indexed posts or such for easy filtering and search

tough granite
hardy rover
#

There are tons of pros and cons for Forum Channels/Posts, they most certainly won't work for everything we do here on Unreal Slackers, and they do have their Limitations that come up when one starts planning things out, so there will still be a lot of back and forth before this expands. Yet, we are very excited about this and hope for it to improve the overall experience ❤️

tough granite
#

For example.

unknown.png
prime pendant
brisk rampart
#

Yeah, seems cool nonetheless

zinc dust
#

lol

lusty ruin
#

We are brainstorming different approaches.

#

We want to be aware of the "social" aspect that the current Channels provide.

zinc dust
#

and i couldn't come up with a good enough play on "War and Peace" so instead i said "The Programming Category Manifesto"

hardy rover
lusty ruin
#

When considering something for a Forum.

tough granite
prime pendant
#

got it - so it's the mods that can create forums I take it?

zinc dust
#

yeah

tough granite
#

Like any other channel, yes.

lusty ruin
#

Yes, users can make Topics.

#

Within a Forum

tough granite
#

But you guys will be able to create posts in each forum channel.

zinc dust
#

users can make topics, or we can set it so only mods can make topics

prime pendant
#

so it's like mini servers inside the server

zinc dust
#

yeah

tough granite
#

Sort of.

hushed pulsar
tough granite
#

Yep. We just got early access today.

hardy rover
#

There might also be Forum Channel in the future with pre-defined Topics. Where the Users can post into those Topics, but can't create any.

lusty ruin
hardy rover
#

That was also part of the Brainstorm session, but nothing more about that yet.

lusty ruin
#

We are open to suggestions.

#

Since this is also new to us.

#

We arent 100% sure how to approach it.

prime pendant
#

with regards to #cpp, there could be forums for common things we encounter every day like (not) hot reloading etc.

#

more of a guide I guess

zinc dust
#

might be worth splitting this off into a post

lusty ruin
#

@prime pendant If you have a suggested format, make a new Topic

brisk rampart
#

Nice, if you follow a channel it pops up under

unknown.png
zinc dust
#

but one of the ideas we had was making a 'programming qna' forum and converting #cpp into like #cpp-lounge

tough granite
#

If you have a specific channel or category suggestion, go ahead and create a new post. This channel is mostly for feedback on the forum feature itself, i.e. usability, what you like/dislike, etc.

zinc dust
#

but make a thread about it! this is what the forum is for!

lusty ruin
#

We are aware the experience is different and will be working to ensure we dont tread on what people like about Discord.

hardy rover
#

We won't replace 100% of the server with forum channels. We still want to have the social aspect of chats

lusty ruin
#

The experience is important to us.

tough granite
#

It's the best of both worlds, though. Browse like a forum, chat in real-time. I think it has a lot of potential.

lusty ruin
#

Just as much as organization is.

hushed pulsar
tough granite
#

Yeah. We are not going to convert everything into forum channels. Only where they make sense, and we're carefully considering where to use them.

brisk rampart
#

Channels like #events seem good for this

lusty ruin
#

Yep, make a Topic if you think so 😛

zinc dust
hardy rover
#

Lots of the help channels that exist would benefit from the forum post approach. And it even allows for merging some into more generic forum channels and utilizing tags instead for the different topics.

#

But at the same time, we don't want to take away the more chat like approach of channels that already exist

#

So yeah. Will need some careful planning

hushed pulsar
#

If you want social chatting, #lounge is for you

hardy rover
tough granite
hardy rover
#

People might want to socially chat about a specific topic. So keeping that is definitely a priority

zinc dust
#

yeah, #lounge is our go-to example of a channel probably wont ever become a forum

hardy rover
#

Only ones you posted in

zinc dust
#

only if you post in that thread

hardy rover
#

And only as long as you follow them

#

You can unfollow them

zinc dust
#

and you can also leave the thread by clicking the "following" button or right click ont he title and unfollow it

#

they go away

hardy rover
#

Or rightclick it on the left

tough granite
#

Yep, you can unfollow here.

unknown.png
brazen plank
#

So far - it's kind of meh. Just slightly glorified threads.

lusty ruin
#

It will take some getting used to, but this is also why we are taking it slow. We dont want to go overboard on a new Feature if ultimately it doesnt serve to improve the experience.

trail flower
#

How do you read the original thread post?

lusty ruin
#

You scroll to the top unfortunately....

#

Discord should add a method for going directly to the OP or otherwise seeing it.

zinc dust
#

but in this thread's case, it's pinned

lusty ruin
#

I manually Pinned it.

brisk rampart
#

You can only see the pin by directly clicking the channel under feedback tho

lusty ruin
#

Of course, thats how Pins work.

zinc dust
#

yeah, you need to access the 'full view' of the thread

lusty ruin
#

Its clunky for sure.

brisk rampart
#

Oh, you can do it like this too

trail flower
#

At least in the desktop version you can't see the content of the initial thread post, so... There's little incentive to put anything more than the title.

brisk rampart
trail flower
#

Maybe there's a hotkey for skipping to the very top...

brisk rampart
#

Yes

#

Home

royal mountain
#

can we have forum signatures

zinc dust
#

no

#

no gangtags either

royal mountain
zinc dust
#

and no you can't buy an avatar for someone else

royal mountain
#

redtitle me

zinc dust
#

"I documented the entire mass plugin and all i got was this lousy tshirt"

trail flower
#

Home works well enough. Strangely doesn't go all the way to the top around a quarter of the time. Stochastic programming.

zinc dust
#

also, this is good info to collect for us to give feedback to discord about

brisk rampart
#

Lousy tshirt sounds nice

zinc dust
#

we did get very early access to this feature

#

to my knowledge, we're one of like 12 servers total that has it

#

on all of discord

trail flower
#

Also not sure where to find the "Guidelines" in the desktop app.

lusty ruin
#

I have no doubt there will be ongoing improvements made.

brazen plank
#

From what I can tell about forums is that it is a glorified thread thing. We already have something similar in Godot. Have a channel where the permissions ONLY allow you to create/talk in a thread. Boom, you have this forum feature.

zinc dust
#

and tagging is very useful

brisk rampart
#

Looks cool 😎

royal mountain
#

this is just a nicer UI for it I guess

brisk rampart
#

There's a cute cat too

royal mountain
#

kinda running out of screen space though lol

brazen plank
hushed pulsar
zinc dust
#

pfist asked for it

#

there was a pentagram, goats blood, candles

hushed pulsar
#

naisu

zinc dust
#

the whole deal

#

a discord programmer appeared in the center of the summoning circle very confused, but it worked

#

😛

brisk rampart
#

Seems to only show online / offline the ones who actually interacted in the post

unknown.png
#

Pretty nice

royal mountain
#

are these searchable?

zinc dust
#

yeah megafunk

brazen plank
#

I would like it if Discord found a way to allow you to browse the rest of the server, while still having the forum thread/thread on the side.

trail flower
#

Desktop or mobile? Desktop if it's wide enough it moves the thread to the side.

brazen plank
#

I mean, I should be able to be in here, paying attention to this thread; while also being able to navigate to #cpp or #multiplayer, and this thread should still be on the side.

royal mountain
#

good enough for me

upbeat isle
#

this featur is cool

trail flower
brazen plank
#

Specifically with threads/forums.

royal mountain
#

ah, if you click the title of the thread while it is open it hides the thread list

#

neat

upbeat isle
tough granite
upbeat isle
tough granite
hushed pulsar
trail flower
tough granite
#

Oh yeah, I got the window down to a the size where it disappears.

indigo tendon
#

LOL

woven sequoia
tulip vale
#

I think this is a good idea for individual help, as questions in the channels tend to flood away with other messages.

remote coral
#

I think the only gripe with Discord forums is that the thread view only took about 1/6th of the screen, at least in PC, maximised 1080p

hardy rover
remote coral
hardy rover
#

Yeah, you can "fullscreen" it if wanted

#

You can also move the splitter

#

If you want it to be more than 1/6

scarlet plume
#

So what's a forum channel exactly?

#

Oh I see.

#

My initial feedback is that, unless it supports subforums, having them all under 1 channel isn't focused enough.

tough granite
scarlet plume
#

Well, and I may very well be wrong here because I've only had a look around for a few minutes, but from what I can see...

#

Let's take the cpp forum... I don't see the difference between it and the #cpp channel.

#

If you wanted cpp forums dedicated to specific issues, which I think is the goal, you'd need a cpp equivalent of "Feedback"

#

(channel type)

tough granite
#

You're referring to the post about whether #cpp should be turned into a forum?

scarlet plume
#

No.

#

I think #cpp is a great general discussion channel.

#

But I think an additional cpp forum where you can look up specific issues would be great.

#

Basically a threaded #cpp

hushed pulsar
#

agreed

tough granite
#

So you're suggesting two channels: a cpp discussion and forum channel?

scarlet plume
#

Yeah.

#

They serve 2 entirely different purposes.

tough granite
#

Hm. Can you elaborate on why? At first you said you see no difference between a cpp forum and the current cpp channel, so I'm having trouble following you.

scarlet plume
#

Because the "cpp forum" that lives under feedback is literally just another channel where people will talk about cpp.

#

It isn't a forum, it's just a channel in effect

tough granite
scarlet plume
#

Okay so, I have entirely mistaken something.

tough granite
#

What you're referring to is a post where people are discussing whether there should be a cpp forum. It's a post under #969360633386655744, not an actual cpp forum.

scarlet plume
#

When it said "cpp forums" I thought it was meant to be a cpp forum, but ti's actually just a thread started about cpp forums.

#

Yeah.

tough granite
#

Bingo. 👍

scarlet plume
#

However, I think my point still stands.

tough granite
#

#969360633386655744 is a forum, and everything you see there is a post about different feedback requests.

scarlet plume
hushed pulsar
tough granite
#

What purpose would a non-forum channel serve? Just hanging out and talking about C++?

scarlet plume
#

Pretty much.

#

An entry point.

hushed pulsar
#

You cant remove an channel thats been going for so long, imo
its also the most active channel

#

it has been carrying this discord sorta

scarlet plume
#

The forums can have dedicated issue support/discussion whereas the cpp channel is just a general chat channel about cpp

#

I suppose it's already possible just by starting threads in #cpp, but it doesn't have a great interface (finding threads)

tough granite
#

Yeah, that's why we haven't turned on threads. Not really a fan of the interface, and frankly, I think forum channels are better for that.

hushed pulsar
#

yea, forum channels have better UI/UX

tough granite
#

Forum channels have tags, which can function as subcategories.

#

So it's unlikely we'll create a dedicated C++ forum channel, but more likely a general programming one with tags for blueprint, C++, python, etc. Still brainstorming though. It's a lot to think about.

#

We're not going to implement forum channels in a way that balloons the number of channels even higher. If anything, we're hoping to leverage them as a way to consolidate.

scarlet plume
#

Yeah that's perfect.

#

Perhaps 1 forum per channel category?

#

Like one for programming, one for content (is that applicable?) one for dev ops, etc.

#

I guess not all of them need one.

tough granite
#

Maybe. That might work for some categories, but some are very broad.

#

That would collapse 3 channels into one without losing the ability to find conversations about those specific topics. You can filter the post list by tags. 🙂

hushed pulsar
#

I would support that, good idea

hushed pulsar
tough granite
#

So far my vision is to make the channel list more approachable and using tags to retain the granularity we have now, and perhaps even build on it. So it's easier for people to find the initial topic, then get more specific as needed.

tough granite
#

Maybe the tag would be Editor Scripting.

#

And that channel would be folded in as well.

#

Hard to say. "General Programming" is very, very broad.

tough granite
#

There's no way to convert an existing channel to a forum, for obvious reasons.

#

Of course, any text channels that are merged/replaced with a forum channel would be archived, not deleted.

#

So all the previous knowledge in those channels would still show up in search. We don't want to lose that.

scarlet plume
#

I'm not sure Editor Scripting would be enough, you don't really want BP, Python, Lua, etc too all come under a single tag.

#

Do you have the ability to collapse channel histories btw? Or would you archive those 3 example channels and start a new one?

tough granite
scarlet plume
#

That's a bit shitty.

tough granite
#

It's to be expected. How would you convert a text channel to a forum channel? They're completely different.

#

There's no way around it other than keeping all existing channels and adding forums on top of them, which we are not doing.

hardy rover
#

Actually, Nick, we haven't decided on that yet

#

We wanted to keep Social Channel in one way or another

tough granite
#

There is no way we're leaving every channel as is and adding forums on top.

hardy rover
#

You will have to keep some form of social channel for the topics though

#

You can't remove the concept of #cpp

tough granite
scarlet plume
tough granite
scarlet plume
#

Yeah. I'm not suggesting you've done something wrong. 🙂

tough granite
#

OK just wanted to be clear. 😄

#

That one is out of our hands.

hardy rover
#

Roy's idea was to make a second Forum, alongside the Q&A one, but have the Posts in that one be created by Mods (and users can't create posts in that second forum). Those posts would then be cpp, blueprint etc., as inside of them it's just a normal chat.

scarlet plume
#

I'd probably get rid of #plugin-dev and make it a forum.

hardy rover
#

But it's just an idea I guess

scarlet plume
#

It seems almost ideal for that situation. 1 forum thread per plugin.

hardy rover
#

Not for discussing existing ones

tough granite
#

Yeah.

scarlet plume
#

Ah. Okay.

#

Well, if that weren't the case. 😛

hushed pulsar
hardy rover
#

But with the concept of a programming forum, #plugin-dev could very well die?

hardy rover
hushed pulsar
#

So multiple Q&A channels, not just one for everything?

hardy rover
#

To put it simple, without using current channel names, there COULD be:

  • Programming Q&A Forum
  • Graphics Q&A Forum
  • Content Creation Q&A Forum
  • UI/UX Q&A Forum
#

Which each of those having tags to sum up what was previously 10 channels

#

But it's just an example to give you a better idea

#

If have no idea which channels would become which forums atm

hardy rover
scarlet plume
#

I think we need a forum to discuss it!

#

😄

hardy rover
#

You are in one :P

hushed pulsar
#

I think one Q&A channel for everything is better, goal should be to decrease the overall amount of channels

hardy rover
#

Yes, but we also don't want to remove the social aspect of discussion channels

scarlet plume
#

Does the forum feature allow you to prevent anyone but mods creating threads?

hardy rover
#

I think so, that would be the idea for a social forum

tough granite
hardy rover
#

Where the posts are cpp, blueprint etc. to replace the current channels. But haven't thought that out yet

scarlet plume
hardy rover
#

In a perfect world we might be able to put channels into "groups/categories", which would then be the Forums. So you grab whatever current channels fit together, and make a Q&A Forum for them. And then somehow figure out what to do with the original channels, and how to somewhat keep that chatting of them alive without having so many extra channels.

hushed pulsar
tough granite
hushed pulsar
#

ouch

hardy rover
#

Yeah we can't bundle too many channels

tough granite
#

And that wouldn't help the channel list be more approachable.

#

There needs to be some topic separation.

hardy rover
#

Like, Network stuff might not fit into #programming-forum, as there aren't enough tags

#

But that's thereotically fine, they didn't need #bp # cpp tags until now

tough granite
#

Indeed. Hence why a single forum channel couldn't support an entire category in most cases.

hardy rover
#

Pretty sure the single forum channel is just a misunderstanding (:

tough granite
#

It's one of many proposals.

hardy rover
#

We should prepare some sort of example layout at some point

#

So it's easier to communicate what we actually mean

tough granite
#

Yeah. I'm going to spend some time fleshing out my ideas today in a visual format.

#

It's too much to keep track of in just text conversations.

hardy rover
#

100%, I'm also starting to repeat myself a lot lately here

hushed pulsar
#

Which are the 10 most used channels in this discord?

tough granite
#

Depends on what you mean by most used. Number of users? Number of messages?

hushed pulsar
#

Number of messages I guess

hardy rover
#

I would say Chatters is more important

hushed pulsar
#

10 channels with the most activity

hardy rover
#

I can post 1 word per message and it would blow up the message count

#

The two general channels, blueprint, cpp and graphics

#

Which is no surprise

#

(ue5-general actually skyrocketed, jesus)

hushed pulsar
hardy rover
#

Those channels are very melting pot like

#

That's why they are so super busy

#

But the general channels are also kinda a good example of something that might better not be replaced by a forum

#

An I specifically say replaced here

tough granite
#

By messages:

  1. cpp
  2. ue5-general
  3. lounge
  4. blueprint
  5. ue4-general
  6. multiplayer
  7. graphics
  8. gameplay-ability-system
  9. animation
  10. ai

By chatters:

  1. ue5-general
  2. blueprint
  3. ue4-general
  4. cpp
  5. graphics
  6. animation
  7. multiplayer
  8. lounge
  9. work-in-progress
  10. introductions
#

That's based on the last 28 days.

hushed pulsar
#

ty!

hardy rover
#

Yop, not sure how much worth Messages is

#

But it's similar anyway

tough granite
#

I think they're all worth taking into account for different reasons.

hardy rover
#

You could try to somehow guess that e.g. cpp is a lower number if chatters that have longer conversations

#

Or so.. idk

#

Or the people just love to post small sentences and spam the hell out of discord :D

fossil sinew
remote coral
tough granite
#

I figured that might happen with the new IK retargeting, control rig, etc.

remote coral
#

Also maybe forum thread for #work-in-progress and #released channel?

tough granite
#

Like a dev log.

prime pendant
tough granite
#

They're definitely not out of early access yet.

prime pendant
#

is this the same

unknown.png
tough granite
#

No. That's a text channel.

#

Forum channels have this icon.

unknown.png
prime pendant
#

hm you're right - it did give me the two lemons icon fwiw

#

I guess it was a rouse :P

tough granite
#

Did you see the option in the Create Channel dialog?

#

Yeah seems like it was a bug.

prime pendant
#

all I got was this

unknown.png
remote coral
prime pendant
#

seems to be a discord bug like pfist was saying

upbeat isle
#

same yea I got it for one of my servers but can't actually create the channel, lol

prime pendant
#

I think that means we're very special :P

upbeat isle
remote coral
smoky dirge
#

So this is a forum that's not searchable from the web? 🤦

upbeat isle
#

Ig that's the one disadvantage about Discord..

brisk rampart
#

Well, it's self contained in the server, like discord stuff has always been

smoky dirge
brisk rampart
#

There's the actual Unreal Engine forum in case
Discord has always been more of a post your problem and get answer in this case, then if you really looking for a particular issue use the search option

So the problem here would be things getting archived, and this is probs why this feature will not be used for programming stuff unless they address that somehow

real carbon
#

This is cool :)

unique panther
brisk rampart
#

That's good then :D

upbeat isle
tough granite
upbeat isle
#

cool

slender cobalt
glossy plank
#

I can't imagine someone following on UE and missing the monthly content.

#

lol

hushed pulsar
#

Forums is missing the option to Sort by Relevancy, not just Recent Activity or Creation Time

icy sedge
#

thinking about the whole forum thing, the unreal community as a whole would probably benefit from keeping forum stuff on the official page, rather than spreading knowledge across several sites

from all the suggestions, dev-blogs would be something that would fit this server tho

trail stirrup
#

like #work-in-progress ?

icy sedge
#

yea, just not that messy, as everyone would only be allowed to have one post

#

work in progress is chaotic with everybody posting their latest updates (which is probably one of the reasons i never look into it)

scarlet plume
#

It'd be great to be able to convert a regular channel into a forum channel. Have all the chat go into a pinned "General" thread and then all the threads that've ever been started in the channel appear as threads in the forum.

robust mortar
#

wot?

scarlet plume
#

Just a musing.

formal mason
#

this is so cool

slender cobalt
#

I still think that help things should be forums I personally never check the unreal forums ( another thing to log into keep bookmarked just isn't worth it) but being able to have help things in forums here provides a few benefits they are searchable if you had a question you asked before and it came up again you don't have to try and find it again and it's less likely for your question to get buried by someone else asking a question right after you

formal mason
maiden panther
misty geyser
#

I feel this forum thing is too much clutter.. I don't like this feature (have used forums extensively in 90s, even worked at a forum software company)

#

Its too hard to keep track of

trim kernel
#

Please just dont turn the helpchannels into these

formal mason
hardy rover
#

Pretty nice example why it's sometimes really hard to be a moderator of a big server and deciding over changing something haha

hushed pulsar
#

It's hard but it has to be done.

smoky otter
#

Why

upbeat isle
#

Honestly

#

2/10

#

#unreal-news I'm more disappointed that it was posted late than if it was not posted at all

#

and yes I did see it first day and yes I didndt remind u to post it but I did think aobut it and just didn't remembeer if u were posting sales or not plus how would u miss it anyways u shouldve gotten an email

#

Anyways gtg to eat

trail stirrup
#

wait, how is this related to forums

upbeat isle
#

I don't know I'm just posting feedback

#

This is the feedback category

#

Lol

scarlet plume
#

You could post a new thread!

upbeat isle
#

But there wasn't really anything to discuss

trail stirrup
#

maybe it wasn't worth posting then

upbeat isle
#

Of course it was

scarlet plume
#

Not really.

upbeat isle
#

I say it was

hardy rover
#

Then make a new thread and don't derail other discussions

upbeat isle
#

But there were no other discussions

tough granite
upbeat isle
upbeat isle
#

please help me

#

ok nv I will make a new post for ths

slender cobalt
#

This isn't a help forum If you need help inside unreal go to one of the help channels this is for feedback on the server and forums as a whole

upbeat isle
#

Known

surreal dragon
#

How many posts can be pinned at once?

upbeat isle
#

50?

hardy rover
#

In one forum you can pin one thread afaik

#

Not sure that's your question

fierce beacon
#

Discord Forums is only for discord partners ?

hardy rover
#

I think they are just not rolled out for everyone yet?

slender cobalt
#

Yeah they will be for everyone at some point but as it stands right now they are only rolled out to partners

reef jetty
#

wow its cool really party_manny

distant zealot
#

This is such a cool feature!

slender cobalt
#

Was there ever a response to using forums in WIP so we can do one forum per project/person