You might have noticed a new look today after I ran an upgrade on the software we use called Discourse. Since many of the updates are security releases, we kinda have to take the features with them too…
So from Discourse themselves… here’s the new stuff. Honestly probably of limited usefulness for many of us, but I figured I’d share them in case the community sees something cool and wants to run with it.
What’s new
🫶🏽
You can now add groups to DMs
We’ve made it easier to start a chat conversation with just the people you want. You can now select one or more groups when creating new DMs or when inviting people to an existing DM. All members of the group with chat enabled are added to the DM, and there is no difference between adding a group or adding its members individually.
Mobile chat footer redesign
We improved the chat mobile interface with cleaner navigation between channels, threads, and DMs, as well as from within a thread to the main channel and from chat to the forum itself.
Enable passkeys by default
Passkeys authentication is a quick, safe and convenient alternative to traditional passwords, and it is now supported in Discourse. To use it, site members register a passkey in their User Preferences > Security screen. Once that’s done, they can use their passkey to log in (and their browser will automatically suggest the passkey as a way to log in).
Preparations for Ember 5 upgrade
We will soon be upgrading our version of the Ember Javascript framework. 3.2.0.beta4 includes banners to warn admins about incompatible themes and plugins. For more information about the upgrade, and how to prepare your themes/plugins, check out the announcement.
Access permissions are changing (from trust levels to groups)
We are about halfway through the project of changing how access is given to features. Going forward you will be able to specify one or more groups whereas in the past you could only specify a trust level. Learn more and see which settings have been updated so far.
Easier access to chat threads
We’ve made it easier to find and participate in your followed chat threads with the My threads link in the sidebar. You can also see all the active threads in your chat channels within the thread panel, so you can find conversations that are interesting to you.
Improvements to group chat channels
Group chat channels got some much-needed improvements - they are easier to create, you can add users to existing group chats, and you can give your group chats fun or descriptive names.
Chat mobile redesign
We’ve updated chat’s design on mobile to make it easier to get around and more enjoyable to use. More improvements are planned here that will continue to improve upon chat’s mobile experience.
Experimental admin sidebar navigation
We have been working on some changes around how the navigation structure will work in the admin areas of Discourse. The first part of this work is moving the admin menu to a sidebar, hidden behind an experimental admin setting.
Chat improvements
Chat continues to become easier and more fun to use. Threads now display images in oneboxes and a new back button makes it easier to exit threads. Users now have a grace period allowing them to edit their chat messages after posting without (edited) showing on the message. And users can now specify a chat indicator preference for Only Mentions.
Say hi to AI Bot!
The new AI Bot uses the power of conversation to help you get any of your questions, suggestions, recommendations, or comments answered in seconds. All you have to do is ask!
Spoiler alert and footnote plugins now bundled into core
There is no need to install these plugins separately now that they are bundled with Discourse core and enabled by default.