Spherical forums

General Discussion => Site Comments => Topic started by: DaVince on June 11, 2017, 08:07:07 am

Title: Discord server
Post by: DaVince on June 11, 2017, 08:07:07 am
Join our Discord server! (https://discord.gg/6YkCzUQ)


~~Old message below~~

I've been thinking... How much interest would there be in a Discord server?

For those not in the know: Discord (https://discordapp.com/) is a persistent chat application. Much like IRC, but allows multiple chatrooms in one community, and keeps the chat persistent so you can pick up where you left off at any time and not miss anything.

I've noticed that there is real potential to revive communities through the Discord chat application, especially small ones like ours. It certainly got things a lot more active and lively in another small community I moderate (telefang.net), and I've heard the same from people in other niche communities.

The nice thing about Discord is that it's accessible anywhere (including a web version), and it allows for quick sharing of not just chat messages, but also images and files. It's basically a really integrated, friendly system, and it really encourages interaction more, with both old and new members. (Also markdown support in chat is nice)

But I don't know the community's stance on setting up something like Discord for Sphere. It took a little while before I myself was convinced, but thinking about it, this would be a really nice way for the community to keep communicating, especially since we have almost no new people coming to the forums anymore.
Title: Re: Thoughts about a Discord server?
Post by: Radnen on June 11, 2017, 02:13:39 pm
This looks pretty good to me! I guess it's like a gamer's version of slack.
Title: Re: Thoughts about a Discord server?
Post by: Eggbertx on June 11, 2017, 10:45:27 pm
It sounds like an interesting idea, and I'm on Discord for other communities, but I'm not sure if this one would have much of a use for it.
Title: Re: Thoughts about a Discord server?
Post by: DaVince on June 12, 2017, 02:03:56 am
I don't know. I can't help but feel this would be a good fit, to be honest, since it's a little more 'live'. I've encountered random curious people stumbling into a discord community and sticking around as they really got to know the people and what it's all about. Especially when it's properly advertised (clear links on the website and social media).

I might set one up soon just to test, even if it might see little use at first. We'll see.
Title: Re: Thoughts about a Discord server?
Post by: Chad Zechs on September 08, 2017, 04:03:37 pm
While I'm taking a break from the Discord communities I frequent (for mental health reasons), I'm down for this.
Title: Re: Thoughts about a Discord server?
Post by: Rhuan on September 08, 2017, 04:10:05 pm
looks like a good idea to me
Title: Re: Thoughts about a Discord server?
Post by: mezzoEmrys on September 09, 2017, 01:58:11 am
I'd love to have a discord, since it'd give a good place to chat about stuff that can feel a bit too whimsical to commit a whole forum thread or post for.
Title: Re: Thoughts about a Discord server?
Post by: casiotone on September 09, 2017, 07:47:54 pm
Sounds good to me. Forums are pretty old school at this point!
Title: Re: Thoughts about a Discord server?
Post by: DaVince on September 10, 2017, 05:16:48 am
All right! I don't have much experience managing a server, but I made one (https://discord.gg/6YkCzUQ)! There are a few basic channels to get started, though we probably won't need many.

Note that I set a requirement that your account needs to be verified and exist for more than 5 minutes before you can chat, just so we don't get spammers. So if you're new to Discord, you're going to have to wait a few minutes before you can join in!

Moderators will be able to manage users/spam as well as add/modify channels and custom smileys, so whoever's interested in that, lemme know!

 I'll be putting some links to this in a few more places now. :smiley:
Title: Re: Discord server
Post by: Ma3vis on September 13, 2017, 03:36:52 pm
I agree with Radnen, but prefer Slack tbh -- as that's what pixelart communities like pixelation use
@Casiotone Don't however agree with considering forums as outdated, as they're great content aggregators if designed properly
Can't say I agree with the current site design tho, do prefer the old one but will certainly adapt to the change if necessary
Title: Re: Discord server
Post by: DaVince on September 15, 2017, 06:11:48 am
Quote
Can't say I agree with the current site design tho, do prefer the old one but will certainly adapt to the change if necessary
Any particular feedback? The theme itself is just ElkArte's default as I'm very slowly working on a custom theme myself (based on the current Spherical front page), so any suggestions will be welcome.
Title: Re: Discord server
Post by: Rukiri on September 27, 2017, 11:32:57 am
One thing about forums is they need to be well designed, PHPbb doesn't cut it anymore unless you have a thriving community! 
Xenforo has become the most popular bb software as of 2017, IP.Board is still also a great choice, I myself chose xenforo.

I personally prefer discord over slack but that is just me :)
Title: Re: Discord server
Post by: Eggbertx on January 17, 2018, 07:48:13 pm
I do like Discord, but does it seem like it kind of killed forum activity? This wouldn't be the first time I've seen this happen to a community.
Title: Re: Discord server
Post by: Fat Cerberus on January 17, 2018, 07:52:26 pm
I do like Discord, but does it seem like it kind of killed forum activity? This wouldn't be the first time I've seen this happen to a community.

I don't know, the majority of the discord activity has been me and Rhuan trying to figure out bugs and stuff, back and forth conversations that don't really lend themselves to the bulletin board format anyway.  We've had lots of people join the discord channel, but none of them really talk, so...

It's more that we don't have that many members to begin with, I think, and they all have lives outside of Sphere.
Title: Re: Discord server
Post by: mezzoEmrys on January 19, 2018, 02:18:37 pm
There's usually a cycle of increased and decreased activity, usually relating to the status of projects and how many people are excited for them. I definitely don't help the problem, since I usually just lurk, but this sort of cycle is pretty natural in the Sphere forums.
Title: Re: Discord server
Post by: DaVince on January 25, 2018, 07:03:16 am
I do like Discord, but does it seem like it kind of killed forum activity? This wouldn't be the first time I've seen this happen to a community.
Rather than that, I've noticed that when there's a lot of activity on the Discord, there tends to be more activity on the forums as well, and when the Discord is quiet, the forums are also quiet. In our case, I guess Discord promotes quick development and discussion of things which then find their way back to the forums.
Title: Re: Discord server
Post by: Eggbertx on January 28, 2018, 01:00:12 pm
Hmm, maybe I'm just projecting in this case then. I mean, I'd want whatever's best for a community, Discord server or forum, and if a Discord server turned out to be better for us in the long run, then so be it, but forums seem to be a better long-term "medium" for this kind of community because messages are more permanent, so that was my concern.