Original DPR is migrating to XenForo

I did not say that, I said:

Sounds like fun - see here for example (244 posts to read before you can post).

Ask Microsoft Copilot to read the thread. lol
It read the whole thread and replied in less than two seconds - - - welcome to the future!

Here's a brief synopsis of the ~598 replies to the DPReview forum thread titled “Upcoming forum changes: investing in our community's future”1:

Forum Upgrade Announcement
The thread begins with an official post from Dale Baskin, Managing Editor at DPReview, announcing a major upgrade to the forum infrastructure.

DPReview is transitioning to a modern platform called XenForo, aiming to improve usability, mobile responsiveness, photo sharing, messaging, and personalization.


Community Reactions
The replies span a wide range of sentiments and concerns:

Positive Feedback
Many users welcome the modernization, especially the mobile-friendly design and enhanced photo galleries.

Some appreciate the transparency and proactive communication from the DPReview team.


Skepticism and Concerns
A number of users express worry about losing the simplicity and familiarity of the current system.

Concerns about potential paid memberships, data migration, and feature loss are common.

Some fear the new platform may prioritize aesthetics over functionality.


Technical Questions
Users ask about:
Whether existing posts, threads, and galleries will be preserved.

How usernames, bookmarks, and subscriptions will transfer.

The timeline and expected downtime during migration.


Nostalgia and Resistance
Longtime members reminisce about the forum’s 25-year history and express resistance to change.

Some lament the loss of the “old-school” forum feel and worry about alienating veteran users.


Meta Discussions
The thread itself becomes a microcosm of forum culture, with side conversations, jokes, and debates about forum etiquette, moderation, and community identity.


Overall, the thread reflects a passionate and engaged user base grappling with the tension between preserving tradition and embracing innovation.
Would you like a breakdown of the most common themes or concerns raised in the replies?

References (1)
1Upcoming forum changes: investing in our community's future. www.dpreview.com/forums/post/68444187

Wow, didn't know AI can do that!

It's a crazy world, Ted.
If you ever engage with these AI bots - - - do not give them any personal information about yourself (when signed in), as they will remember it for all eternity.
copilot.microsoft.com/

The question asked for the above response was...
Can you give me a brief synopsis of the ~598 replies to this DPReview forum thread.
www.dpreview.com/forums/post/68444187

Thanks for the advice, Greg!

So, to save money, they dich the best forum software on the WWW ( from user point of view) and swap over to a bog standard software that is used by the other sites in the corporate stable.

It all stinks of a historic site dying a slow death. Already, I hardly visit anymore as it has lost most of the best posters. The forums were moderated to death before the aborted closure, and traffic has been declining as people are seemingly loosing interest in photography.

its been self distructing since camera sales became more important than actual photography, moderators stepping in and basically sandbagging any long standing member that gave there personal thoughts on cameras. the site has now become the same as our camera club concentrating on begginners, our club is falling apart for the same reason.

hardly a third world problem but anyway i always use threaded on man y forums.

discuss.pixels.us is none too friendly either. A Mod just told me:

Nothing like dire threats to make one's blood run cold ...

@davidwien

I have never seen an ad anywhere on the internet for over 20 years.
That includes eBay and YouTube.

I use two Firefox Extensions/addons on my Mac mini desktop computer.
NoScript version 13.0.9
And… uBlock Origin version 1.66.4

Wonder if their new platform is intended to defeat uBlock ?
Somewhere, somehow, in the midst of all that spin, there must be a reason to risk losing 50% of their membership.
Otherwise, it's leadership à la Trump.

This idea that threaded posts is hard to do seems very odd to me. These posts are stored in a database (I assume). All you need to do is add a field to the post record that can contain the record id of any post it is a reply to then just display the replies under the parent post slightly indented. You could even do that in a flat mode: instead of displaying posts in linear chronological order, group them by parent id.

I expect there are all sorts of complicated reasons why this is not possible but at first blush it seems trivial. We are talking about computer systems after all. Storing organising and displaying data is what they do!