Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Discourse (software)

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Development status
  
Active

Written in
  
Ruby, JavaScript

Developer(s)
  
Civilized Discourse Construction Kit, Inc.

Initial release
  
2013 (4 years ago) (2013)

Stable release
  
1.7.3 / February 14, 2017 (22 days ago) (2017-02-14)

Repository
  
github.com/discourse/discourse

Discourse is an open source Internet forum and mailing list management software application founded in 2013 by Jeff Atwood, Robin Ward, and Sam Saffron. Discourse received funding from First Round Capital and Greylock Partners.

Contents

From a usability perspective, Discourse breaks with existing forum software by including features recently popularized by large social networks, such as infinite scrolling, live updates, oneboxing, expanding links, and drag and drop attachments. However, the stated goals of the project are social rather than technical, to improve online discussion quality through improved forum software.

The application is written in JavaScript and Ruby on Rails and uses the Ember.js framework. PostgreSQL serves as its back-end database management system. The sourcecode is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2.

Server requirements

The following software is required on a server to run Discourse:

  • Ruby
  • Rails
  • libxml2
  • PostgreSQL
  • Redis
  • ImageMagick
  • Docker

    • Version 1.7

    Version 1.7 added the following features:

  • Improved Mobile Progress Expansion and Back Button
  • Revamped Categories Page
  • Setup Wizard
  • Onebox Everywhere and Start Topic With a Link
  • Redesigned Email Summaries
  • Advanced Search UI
  • Enhanced Groups Pages
  • Email Forwarding Support
  • Public Security Program
  • Safe Mode
  • Ember 2.10 Latest

    • Version 1.6

    Version 1.6 added the following features:

  • enhanced security from formal security penetration testing efforts by Vertex Technologies and Nest Labs
  • vertical timeline
  • clearer, easier polls
  • convert topics to private messages
  • merge multiple posts
  • duplicate link warning
  • easy, contextual unsubscribes

    • Version 1.5

    Version 1.5 added the following features:

  • 5× faster topic page
  • improved badges
  • user summary page
  • customize all text and email content
  • group and category mentions
  • better incoming email support and group private messaging
  • mobile editor toolbar and preview

    • Version 1.4

    Version 1.4 added the following features:

  • better dark theme support
  • improved, simpler UI
  • full page search
  • image upload improvements
  • easier category ordering
  • mobile layout simplified
  • anonymous user call to signup
  • topic whispers
  • improved embedding
  • better performance

    • Version 1.3

    Version 1.3 added the following features:

  • anonymous posts
  • desktop notifications
  • civilized mute
  • better polls
  • post approvals
  • cleaner default style
  • user directory
  • simpler pins and banners
  • more flexible invites
  • more code language highlights
  • improved importers
  • better performance

    • Version 1.2

    Version 1.2 added the following features:

  • export your posts
  • improved emoji support
  • better custom profile fields
  • cleaner category styles
  • combining stars and bookmarks
  • official tag plugin
  • official Akismet anti-spam plugin
  • even more importers: vBulletin, phpBB, Vanilla, Ning, Kunena, Discuz!, bbPress, Simple Machines, Drupal, and myBB
  • better topic list performance

    • References

    Discourse (software) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA