Forum:New Wikia Forums?

So I'm creating this topic to broach the topic of the newer Wikia Forums module. At this point, we are still using the old DPL based forum system which creates articles and is really not a very efficient way of doing stuff. I'd like to propose the enabling of the wikia forum module as it would provide more benefits and a more structured forum system to actually have meaningful discussions, rather than having to deal with edit conflicts on popular topics. If the newer forums are indeed enabled, then these existing DPL based ones will simply be archived: they'll still be viewable but can't be edited.

Here are two links to other wikia's using the newer forum module system if you are not sure what this proposal is talking about: Elder Scrolls Wiki Forum and Community Central Forums.

This proposal will NOT enable Message Walls on user talkpages

Place your signature under the section of support, neutral or oppose and feel free to leave comments in the discussion section, thanks :)

Support
--Speysider Talk Page 13:15, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

--TheUltimate3 (talk) 13:39, February 5, 2014 (UTC) (Condition: It is limited to the Forum. The Talk Pages as we have them now should remain as is)

— S im A nt 13:41, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

--Soul reaper (talk) 13:51, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

--Elveonora (talk) 13:52, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

--Cerez 365 ™(talk) 13:55, February 5, 2014 (UTC) Seen it in use already. It should work fine. Will it change the old forum pages as well though?

--Jacce | Talk | Contributions 16:42, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

-- Idontcareaboutmyname (talk) 17:55, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

--White Flash (Contact) 21:59, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Neutral
Seelentau 愛議 13:27, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Discussion
Main question before I pick a side, what is the potential downside to the new forum. (There is always a downside to anything. And I don't know anything about the new forum) does Wikia Prime sniff around it? Will be be Viz's lapdogs? Will we be forced to eat porkbutts and taters? (Not a bad thing)--TheUltimate3 (talk) 13:19, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * Having been using it a lot on another wiki where I'm active on, there doesn't seem to be any downsides that would negatively impact things, other than threads getting slow when they have over 250 replies, but that is unlikely to happen. --Speysider Talk Page 13:21, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * It's up to UltimateSupreme and Dantman I believe, Simant too.--Elveonora (talk) 13:26, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * I used to be against it, but having used it on Metal Gear Wiki I find its much better formatted for these types of things. Plus there's always user blogs to fall back on if needed. The only thing I've noticed is that people seem to become more inclined to have discussions for the sake of discussions, rather than talking about anything important. However, if that's a problem you can simply have an admin remove such posts and overtime they'll stop happening.--Soul reaper (talk) 13:28, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * Does the new forums add to those long comment sections I've seen on places like the Avatar Wiki? I would really like to avoid that like the damn plague.--TheUltimate3 Allied Shinobi Forces Symbol.svg (talk) 13:30, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * @Elve: I'm pretty sure that anyone who can access the AdminDashboard can enable this.
 * @Others: Just for reference, if you don't know what I'm talking about, see these links: Elder Scrolls Wiki Forum and Community Central Forums.
 * @TU3: I'm not sure what you mean, are you referring to the sections under articles? If so, all that does is list 2-3 threads on the forums which has been tagged with that topic. Personally, that would actually encourage discussion on the wiki since we're not really known for encouraging any kind of discussion :/ --Speysider Talk Page 13:31, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * Also, since I saw this on Edit Summary @Elve: No, Naruto Answers uses the DPL forums we have here. See the links above for what I'm talking about. --Speysider Talk Page 13:35, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * Oh. I like those. Those are nice...--TheUltimate3 Allied Shinobi Forces Symbol.svg (talk) 13:38, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * The talkpages are controlled by a different module: Message Walls. I hate Message Walls and they are not required for using the newer forum system. [since I saw the comment by TU3 in his support] --Speysider Talk Page 13:41, February 5, 2014 (UTC)


 * Yeah, Avatar Wiki has a different comment system that isn't connected to the forums. Wikia tried to force them onto newer wiki's a while back but for older ones like this I believe they were automatically left as disabled and have to be manually activated through the Wiki Features section of the Admin settings area. The Forums also have to be activated through here and are on a separate button so there's no risk on one activating the other.--Soul reaper (talk) 13:51, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Like it, much more organized and easy to browse through--Elveonora (talk) 13:51, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * @Cerez: The current forums (aka, these ones) will be left untouched so they can still be viewed if the link is known: the only thing is that a notice will be at the top of these DPL-based forums and threads with a link to the newer ones and these will be immediately locked for all editing. :) --Speysider Talk Page 13:57, February 5, 2014 (UTC)


 * Pretty sure this was brought up a while earlier and my reason for declining it then still remains the same. Look at any page at the end, which would ultimately lead to discussion of every page to go into the forums making talkpages moot. Forums are primarily only to discuss improvements to the wiki as a whole. To remove that part with css is a TOU-V.
 * Btw, setting it up isn't just as easy as to click a button.--~Ultimate Supreme  14:15, February 5, 2014 (UTC)


 * I doubt talkpages would be made redundant from this change. That's making a big generalisation of something that may not even happen. As long as the appropriate forum sections are made and the policies are made clear on what the forums are for, I don't see why it can't be trialled for a couple of months. --Speysider Talk Page 14:17, February 5, 2014 (UTC)


 * So every page must have that "Discuss on the Forums" link at the bottom?--TheUltimate3 Allied Shinobi Forces Symbol.svg (talk) 14:22, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * Correct, but it will only actually list anything if a thread is actually tagged with the article's name. If no threads are tagged with the article's name, the bottom bit will simply be a placeholder. Personally, I say trial it for a month or two, see what happens and go from there. :) --Speysider Talk Page 14:25, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * Hm. I do enjoy test runs.--TheUltimate3 Allied Shinobi Forces Symbol.svg (talk) 14:27, February 5, 2014 (UTC)


 * Though unlikely, if the test run isn't much of a success and the forums are reverted back to normal, the threaded ones won't be easily accessible.
 * The wording of it can be changed though to meet our needs--~Ultimate Supreme  14:46, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * Agree with UltiSup, plus activity is lower than it was before because anon's can't edit on the wiki, so we should be trying to get more activity from members in general. There's only so much editing you can do before you need to do something else: forum games or off topic discussions in a threaded style forum would help imo. --Speysider Talk Page 15:39, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * Hey UltiS, would it be possible to implement something akin to the option on Naruto Answers to disable commenting. Possibly work it into the page forms templates or something. That feature that would allow people to comment on articles would be the only reason I'd oppose this.--Cerez 365 ™Hyūga Symbol.svg(talk) 17:49, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * Actually, the area that UltiSup is talking about doesn't actually cause commenting to be allowed on articles: it's like a preview of topics that have been created on the forums and tagged with that article's name. So, say I create a topic on the new forum and tag it with the topic Naruto Uzumaki. The topic is still on the forums, but the system simply lists that topic on the Naruto Uzumaki page. You can't comment from the article itself: you would click the topic link and it would direct you to the thread on the forums. The ability to comment on articles is done with a different module. An example of what I mean: Check the bottom of the Skyrim article and you can see what it actually does. :) Just thought I'd clear up things since there appears to be some confusion. --Speysider Talk Page 17:54, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

If this is like the forum's from the Avatar Wiki, yeah, I can see it working. I also hated the article comment thing. At least when they started using the new forum, they turned off article comments (they still left it on in the fanon pages though). Article comments transform the recent changes page into hell. Omnibender - Talk - Contributions 18:11, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
 * Yep Omni, it's the same forums used on the Avatar Wiki. :) --Speysider Talk Page 18:17, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

So, there seems to be an overall majority to enable the new forum system. Does anyone else have any questions they'd like to ask in this topic ? Note that as soon as the new forum system is enabled, you will NOT be able to respond in this topic and will have to make a thread in the new forums if there is any feedback you'd like to give. --Speysider Talk Page 20:35, February 5, 2014 (UTC)