Forum updates & features - Rework of several menus

Hmm, I’m sure it used to be that way. Maybe it has changed.

Actually I guess it has changed, this is the search shortcut listed for me now:

Screenshot 2021-12-02 at 21.31.11

Anyway, I don’t want to drag this off topic.

You may have missed the “twice” part? On Chrome, pressing twice Ctrl-F indeed switches from the Discourse search to the browser search. You can try on a long thread, such as this one.

I didn’t know this double shortcut trick, thanks @lightbulbjim.

I have totally missed it! :laughing:
Thanks for pointing it out!

A small update was applied and added new emojis.

:smiling_face_with_tear: :disguised_face: :pinched_fingers: :anatomical_heart: :lungs: :ninja: :man_in_tuxedo: :man_feeding_baby: :person_feeding_baby: :mx_claus: :people_hugging: :black_cat: :bison: :mammoth: :beaver: :polar_bear: :dodo: :feather: :seal: :beetle: :cockroach: :fly: :worm: :potted_plant: :blueberries: :olive: :bell_pepper: :flatbread: :tamale: :fondue: :teapot: :bubble_tea: :rock: :wood: :hut: :pickup_truck: :roller_skate: :magic_wand: :piñata: :nesting_dolls: :sewing_needle: :knot: :thong_sandal: :military_helmet: :accordion: :long_drum: :coin: :boomerang: :carpentry_saw: :screwdriver: :hook: :ladder: :mirror: :window: :plunger: :mouse_trap: :bucket: :toothbrush: :headstone: :placard: :transgender_symbol: :transgender_flag:


So… You can now revive mammoths (and dodos!)
:mammoth: :dodo:
And also revive polar bears when they’ll be soon extinct.
:polar_bear:
What more could one ask?

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:smiling_face_with_tear:

1 Like

5 posts were split to a new topic: [canceled] increasing image size

You can now embed Instagram posts. It will show a preview. Clicking the media will redirect you to Instagram, which means that you can’t play the video directly on the forum post, but that’s better than nothing :slight_smile:

Video:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CX_lIBNI-yC/
(there’s a tall white space at the bottom :point_up_2:, but I can’t fix this)

Picture:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf9MHYosgoB/

Gallery:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgCkwu8ueDF/


(very minor feature)
Also, you can now edit your pictures upload titles directly in the post editor preview:

chrome_Jtt0JlLMOS

Images titles are used in place of the pictures when they are not shown, for example in an excerpt.

Example with pictures of which titles weren’t set (it uses the file name by default):

Example with a picture of which the title was manually set (A beautiful magpie):

Obviously, only a few people will take the time to rename their pictures, but since the feature is here, it’s worth mentioning it. :smile:

7 Likes

Is it just me or do those Instagram embeds not work on mobile?

(Android 12, Firefox mobile)

I don’t know. It works on Chrome on Android 8.

Can you take a screenshot?

Check you haven’t enabled “strict mode” (which may now be the default behavior on Firefox). It disables any external content from social networks. And prevents them from tracking you.

2 Likes

Right you are. I did indeed have that enabled, and changing the setting has made them appear.

3 Likes

Creating tables with the formatting syntax on this forum is tedious (unless you really like pipes and dashes, I won’t judge).

I’ve added a tool that adds two features.

  1. You can now create a table with a visual editor:

  2. You can edit existing tables directly from the posts (however, you can’t edit them with the visual editor from the message composer, it remains the realm of pipes and dashes):

:information_source: Use right-click to display the builder actions like adding or removing rows and columns.

:warning: The table builder is a brand-new feature. There are a few bugs, and the builder will be improved over time.


Unrelated, you can now delete a picture directly from the message preview when using the post composer:

3 Likes

Oh so that’s why you edited the table. I did wonder, and thought your addition of just larger heading text was a little odd.

I like it. I suspect many people might struggle to even find | on the keyboard, so I can see this being very useful.

Yeah, because the table now have a large top padding because of the button, I changed the table titles so the readibility (is that a proper word?) is a bit better. I did a few tests… :sweat_smile:

I’ve temporarily disabled the table builder. As a brand new feature, there are a few bugs that can break tables, so I’ll wait for them to be fixed before re-enabling the feature.


Table builder’s back. :sparkles:

Hi!

The forum software is evolving - a bit - again.

The Hamburger menu image has been reworked.

From:

To:

It has new shortcuts, you can customize which categories you want to have shortcuts to, and there’s also a direct link to your personal messages at the bottom.

:information_source: There is a setting that I can enable that will make this menu a togglable sidebar. The sidebar will be shown until you click the hamburger again, so everyone can choose if they want or not have the sidebar on screen.

It would look like this:

Since this setting affects everyone, I’ll make a poll in the future so you can choose if you prefer to have this togglable sidebar (it implies the hamburger icon before the forum’s logo) or not.
Or maybe I’ll activate it as a sidebar for some time (like 2 weeks, a month?) and see what you prefer after trying both options.

In either case, the sidebar is automatically disabled on mobile.

As the sidebar contains links to categories, I think it’s a good choice if you have, as the forum’s homepage, the latest topics instead of the categories + latest topics (default homepage).

You can change your own homepage in your preferences:


Another revamped menu is your “personal menu” (does it even has a name? :thinking:), when you click on your avatar image, in whch you can now filter your notifications by type:

Your “profile menu” (that’s a lot of menus…) is the last icon:
image


They aren’t drastic changes, mostly layout tweaks and a bit more customizable options and filters. It should not change how you use the forum, except for power users.

And for mega-power users, you can use most of the forum’s features using keyboard shortcuts, try typing ? or click the keyboard icon image at the bottom of the hamburger menu. :keyboard: :ninja:

3 Likes

Once you go sidebar you never go back! But as you say, if you want to disable it you just hit the hamburger and it disappears. And you can toggle it whenever you like, for instance if you want to focus on reading something without being distracted by the sidebar.

If/when you enable chat, it integrates nicely into the sidebar too. I would almost go so far as to say that the sidebar is a must if you enable chat.

The new menu is the sidebar (in terms of contents), just in a popover rather than a side panel. But mobile uses a sliding sidebar instead of a popover, so it’s kinda both :face_with_raised_eyebrow: .

3 Likes

I set the hamburger menu as a togglable sidebar. It brings more usefulness this way and it’s also, in my opinion, the way it’s meant to be from the perspective of Discourse’s developers.

1 Like

I’m beginning to like it.
On a smartphone, it’s the same as before, correct?

1 Like

For me, it’s still the same as it was before on a mobile :slight_smile:

2 Likes