Options for new discussion forums

[Narflex]

For context, read this first:

https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67179

Now bring on the discussion about what we should do for the forums going forward.

[wayner]

I don't know if I have used Discourse before. Any suggestions on existing forums on Discourse that we could check out?

One other question - would it make sense just to move to reddit? Or would that be problematic as control over the forum lies with reddit and if it died then so would the forum?

There is an existing SageTV subreddit that was created years ago but is almost never used.

[jusjoken]

I believe the downloads currently fail if used for plugins.. Even from the new plugin repo as they are accessed using HTTP and the site refuses that recently. So perhaps when moved it should be setup for https access.

We could also just move any pkugin related downloads to the GitHub opensagetv repo where we store most of the current downloads that had to move from bintray etc.

k

[Narflex]

I've never used Discourse before either...that's the only option if we want to use something hosted by Google for open source software discussions. But if the community wants to use something else somewhere (such as reddit) then they are free to do that of course...and if that is the preference, then i won't bother setting up the Discourse site and just provide a static archive of the site.

Here's a Discourse site I just found. They seem to use Categories instead of Subforums: https://forums.metallica.com/

[wayner]

That Discourse site looks fine from my perspective. Like other new forums it seems to be less hierarchical with forums and sub-forums. But there are categories that seem to be like sub-forums.

Given the fact that there is less traffic these days there may be less need for various sub-forums anyhow. But then it would help if people use tags.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by Narflex

I've never used Discourse before either...that's the only option if we want to use something hosted by Google for open source software discussions. But if the community wants to use something else somewhere (such as reddit) then they are free to do that of course...and if that is the preference, then i won't bother setting up the Discourse site and just provide a static archive of the site.

Here's a Discourse site I just found. They seem to use Categories instead of Subforums: https://forums.metallica.com/

Too busy for me... Time to move on SageTV has been great for a while. Thanks for setting this up though for SageTV users it has been a blast.

[emveepee]

Several PVR related Discourse serrver here that I follow

Channels DVR https://community.getchannels.com/c/channels-dvr/9
CoreElec https://discourse.coreelec.org/
TabloTV https://community.tablotv.com/
Khadas https://forum.khadas.com/

I still prefer MyBB look and feel for vBulletin updates, after the Kodi forum hack it is good to look at security. Whatever forum is the most secure would be my choice.

Martin

[Narflex]

Regarding security...the one that Google approves for running on their own infrastructure (Discord) is likely the best bet.

[JustFred]

Any chance of keeping the locator service running? I've found it to be very useful. Yes, I know that there are free dynamic DNS services that are (sort of) an alternative, but my experience with them has been a mixed bag. Nothing seems quite as reliable as the locator service.

Thanks again for 20 years of Sage goodness! I continue to use it exclusively (and contribute to it's source code). And just made a pull-request to the OpenDCT source.

[KryptoNyte]

Wow, 20 years. Thank you, Jeff!

Having the history of this forum static, and then another forum where we can still discuss - that would be fantastic. I don't know enough about it to have an opinion I'm afraid.

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by JustFred

Any chance of keeping the locator service running? I've found it to be very useful. Yes, I know that there are free dynamic DNS services that are (sort of) an alternative, but my experience with them has been a mixed bag. Nothing seems quite as reliable as the locator service.

So we sort of could do that...we'd just need to change the URL in the source code to point to some other server and then have it running there (but then you'd also need to have all the clients/servers updated to use that new host as well). There's likely no way I'd be able to keep it running w/ the locator.sagetv.com domain though.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Narflex

So we sort of could do that...we'd just need to change the URL in the source code to point to some other server and then have it running there (but then you'd also need to have all the clients/servers updated to use that new host as well). There's likely no way I'd be able to keep it running w/ the locator.sagetv.com domain though.

Hi. Are all these changes etc. due to money, time, outdated tech?
If it’s a $$ thing, I imagine some of us would be happy to help out.
My worries about anything related to Google is that they randomly dump things with very little notice. And then we’d be back to square one.
Besides this forum, I mainly use two others - FIAT500USA, and XWeb. Both are simple to navigate, but I know nothing of their tech, hosting servers etc.
Discourse doesn’t look very nice? Kinda messy, in a simplistic way, which probably doesn’t help…

Not being that forum-tecnically wise, can you explain the ‘plug-in updater’ concept - how would updates continue going forward, automatically, or by needing to be more technically astute?

June 1st is coming awfully soon - will we be losing anything wildly important?

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Narflex

So we sort of could do that...we'd just need to change the URL in the source code to point to some other server and then have it running there (but then you'd also need to have all the clients/servers updated to use that new host as well). There's likely no way I'd be able to keep it running w/ the locator.sagetv.com domain though.

And yes, thanks for 20 years of what is still the most flexible, home-dvr software available. I can only imagine how insanely great it would be now if you had kept it rolling, h265, 4k, etc. We’ve all enjoyed what you’ve done for the community

Is this you winding down your involvement, or just the way things are delivered?

[jusjoken]

The plugin updater has not been used for many years.. Stuckless contributed code to replace the functionality with the currently used GitHub based plugin repo so there will be no effect to its loss.

k

[jusjoken]

The locator service may be used by many who may not visit the forums and see this announcement. If it is going away or if the URL or process may change perhaps it should be disabled early which may spark a few more users to the current forums to get involved in this discussion.

k

[sic0048]

Honestly I though this forum would have disappeared shortly after the Google transition. Thank you for keeping it alive all these years!

I know discord is "the norm" today. While I have several things I subscribe to on that service, I actually rarely look at it. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks I guess.

I appreciate the fact that you are trying to save the old content too. Honestly that is the most important thing during this transition. The knowledge collected here over the years is invaluable and it would be a shame if we lost it.

As far as forum design, I generally use the "new posts" feature to look at new content, or the "search" feature when trying to find a specific topic, so topic layout isn't that critical to me.

Still, I think it is good to break it up the different elements of the software (Windows, Linux, Placeshifter, etc). Then the customizations should still be separated too.

Obviously the old V9 and V7 stuff doesn't need to transfer over (unless you are able to pull the forum data over) and I don't think the International groups are utilized enough to warrant separating them.

Lastly, adding some logical separation for the current and ongoing open source development is critical.

Just my 2 cents.....

[Narflex]

Turning down the existing forums is mainly because of maintenance reasons. Since Google owns the SageTV domain/trademark/site contents they dictate the security requirements. They've finally gotten to the point it's just too much to try maintain this (as you'd imagine, security requirements change over time)...and at the same time the hosting company is changing their environment...so it'd be a pile of work from multiple directions to keep it going. I'll still provide the same level of support I have over the recent years, that won't change.

We *could* turn off the locator service early...but might as well keep it going as long as it can be. And there's no way to put some kind of warning in there about it.

[jusjoken]

Originally Posted by Narflex

We *could* turn off the locator service early...but might as well keep it going as long as it can be. And there's no way to put some kind of warning in there about it.

I guess as long as the URL for the current forum is used for the new forums or at minimum a redirect then when the locator service ends or changes then user who head to the old forum link should be able to discover a solution.

Perhaps a pinned post on the new forum could be...How to fix/replace the locator service.

k

[AlphaCrew]

I'm fine with whatever is decided, as long as my SageTV system continues to work and we can discus things.

I really appreciate, beyond words those who have kept SageTV up and running after the Google purchase. You guys are awesome!

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by AlphaCrew

I'm fine with whatever is decided, as long as my SageTV system continues to work and we can discus things.

I really appreciate, beyond words those who have kept SageTV up and running after the Google purchase. You guys are awesome!

Ditto that. And sometimes really old info comes in useful, like finding drivers or properties hacks for external tuners, etc. Having access to at least being able to read old entries would help. If that won’t be available, then we’ll need a way to download the old site?