I wanted to share some feedback about the current forum design and see if anyone else feels the same way.
Personally, I find the current forum structure a bit confusing and visually overwhelming. I’ve been part of other communities that used a very similar layout, and in some cases it seemed to make participation more difficult, especially for newer or less technical users.
For me, the forum feels somewhat chaotic and harder to navigate than more traditional forum platforms. I often find myself struggling to quickly locate discussions, follow categories, or keep track of ongoing conversations.
I realize many people may like the current setup, and if changing the forum software isn’t realistic, that’s completely understandable. However, I’d be interested in seeing whether there are options to simplify the user experience or make the layout feel more organized.
As an example, I personally find forums such as the Linus Tech Tips forum much easier to navigate. The structure feels cleaner, more intuitive, and less visually confusing, which makes it easier to stay engaged with the community.
I’m curious if others have had similar experiences, or if there are existing customization options that could help improve navigation and overall usability.
I’m by no means an expert on forum software, but I do know that the one that is in use here is called Discourse, and that it is a pretty common choice. Personally, I don’t much care for it, either - tech (support) forums in particular really massively benefit from having a threaded view option, but apparently, almost no one does that anymore…
I thought my account didn’t even work at first because I couldn’t reply to either of the “introduce yourself” threads. Was surprised to discover that I could see reply icons in other threads. idk if that’s a failure of Discourse (which I’ve had no issues with in other places) or the configuration here
Yeah, I agree. I find this forum a lot harder to navigate than most others I use.
No hate toward the Framework team, but the tagging system and overall layout feel more complicated than they need to be. I’d love to be more active here, but it can sometimes take 10-20 minutes just to figure out where to post something or find the discussion I’m looking for.
Hopefully they consider simplifying things or even switching to a much better system in the future.
Yeah, I’ve noticed that too, and it’s honestly pretty frustrating. I’ve had multiple instances on desktop where I clicked on one post and somehow ended up on a completely different thread. The first few times it happened, I genuinely thought I had done something wrong.
Like I said before, this isn’t directed at the Framework forum staff at all. I just think the current UI isn’t very intuitive. For me, it feels confusing and harder to navigate than it needs to be, and I’d personally prefer a more traditional forum layout.
I really enjoy more “oldschool” forums like MacRumors. I understand that threaded discussions are not mobile-friendly, but I don’t understand how Discourse became the standard forum software for everything; is it really considered better or just easier to set up?
Hello! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I am working on ways to improve the current forum experience, so I appreciate this kind of feedback. It’ll take some time before changes roll out but feel free to share examples like above of places you do find easier to navigate or engage in. Thanks!
I might have missed something (especially as a new user), but i find it hard to access the pencil icon to indicate if a post is solved or not. If the Framework team prefers to mark solutions instead, that’s fine, but that should be made clear somewhere.
Another thing: on mobile, it would be nice to view other replies while editing. I find it hard to switch back and forth.