Why Bitcointalk do not have alternative front-ends?

[libert19]

I dont have much idea how development things work but I'd like to ask.

[EFS]

Why is it needed? Bitcointalk does its job by providing a platform where people can freely express their opinions. It doesn't need any cosmetic changes.
There are SMF themes but they are disabled due to security reasons.

[mk4]

The least you can do is to install those CSS-modifying browser extensions. Other than that, no.

What kind of front-ends are you interested in anyway? Other types of front-ends exists on other social platforms like Twitter and Reddit.

[Gladitorcomeback]

I dont have much idea how development things work but I'd like to ask.

Have you face any problem with current theme? from 2009 to until now everything working well and no one has filed a case about it. If this forum were any magazine or news website then it would be useful to use front-ends for better look. As EFS mentioned this forum is just to express our idea and we are doing well in current theme.

If wee see the primary goal of front-ends then I think everything is fine and no need of any change

The primary responsibility of a front-end developer is to ensure that the visual and interactive aspects of a website or application are user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing, and functionally efficient.

Source

[libert19]

What kind of front-ends are you interested in anyway? Other types of front-ends exists on other social platforms like Twitter and Reddit.

Yeah those type, that overhauls the base version and managed by other than bitcointalk devs.

Have you face any problem with current theme? from 2009 to until now everything working well and no one has filed a case about it.

You sure? We get posts asking about mobile friendly every few months.

[TryNinja]

No public API means it’s very hard to create custom front ends, mobile apps, CLI, etc… you could just create your own interface that gets and posts data through raw requests and web scraping, but the performance wouldn’t be great. Also, there is probably no demand. Why create something only 5 people will use?

I might play around with this idea someday (sounds fun).

[Gladitorcomeback]

What kind of front-ends are you interested in anyway? Other types of front-ends exists on other social platforms like Twitter and Reddit.

Yeah those type, that overhauls the base version and managed by other than bitcointalk devs. 

Using Facebook and Twittter jn the mobile browser are same like forum(not fully mobile friendly). Actually you want mobile app because fully mobile friendly interface and other function is possible in app.

We get posts asking about mobile friendly every few months.

If already these thread created then creating new one make any sense and also number of user who requested this feature are very low (almost zero compared to whole member)

[SamReomo]

I dont have much idea how development things work but I'd like to ask.

I don't thing that improving the design of the site or upgrading it in anyway will be a good step. The forum is based on SMF (Simple Machines Forum) code and that's known for the simplicity and faster loading times. If it's upgraded in anyway then it will lose the way it was developed because this forum works even on older devices without any lagging issues and if it get bloated with new design something that social media sites have then it will lag for some users who still used low end systems.

[Upgrade00]

There is an option to change the current theme on your profile, but the feature along with a few others is disabled now. It either was a security concerns or theymos could not manage to keep it updated.

There are several extensions and user scripts that can help to adjust the theme but no onsite option.

[aysg76]

I would say the main target of forum was to create a useful bitcoin community having important discussions and front end related things don't matter a lot in that case although it still has decent theme so providing alternative front ends won't do much.But if you say we can implement dark modes as an alternative but totally different theme is not at the moment.But as the technical expert @TryNinja has said he might play around and provide you some alternate experience  

[BenCodie]

More than one front-end that is seamlessly deployable would require a completely separate, decentralized and open source database and backend. This is possible with web3 and the new internet, SMF on the other hand is not at that level and probably won't be for a long time (if ever)...and even if so, BitcoinTalk is still on SMF v1.x.x...while SMF itself is way past v2.

It would be a great to have this option to extend usability to those used to other platforms. Maybe that's an idea for the new forum software, if they think a decentralized or web3 approach is the way forward and if the resources/manpower is there to try and beat SMF's classic and arguably unbeaten use case for bitcointalk.

[libert19]

What kind of front-ends are you interested in anyway? Other types of front-ends exists on other social platforms like Twitter and Reddit.

Yeah those type, that overhauls the base version and managed by other than bitcointalk devs.

In that case, i believe WAP verison (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?;wap) match your description. Although i expect almost nobody use it.

I wouldn't expect anyone to use it with such interface either

[robelneo]

I dont have much idea how development things work but I'd like to ask.

There are default themes admin can choose to activate, admin also can give users a preference to change their theme



Or he can choose a theme here, there are free and paid themes

https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?action=themes

You can always find new themes for your forum from the SMF themes area - https://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/. You can browse them on the website, read the comments, and download them to your computer and then upload them to your forum from there.

If you run into any questions with themes, each theme published on simplemachines.org has a dedicated topic about it where support and comments should be directed to.

Bitcointalk uses the oldest default theme it has the cleanest interface so members can concentrate on topics and discussions.
I love this version it's easy to navigate other themes are not as clean as this version there are annoyances for users

[DYING_S0UL]

Is it actually needed? I don't think so. And if yes, Theymos would have made it already. If it's fulfilling it's purpose perfectly then we don't need anything extra to it. Of course you can use custom add on/extension to make it suitable for other devices like tabs or mobile. But that's all there is to do.

For me I use a extension which lets me resize Bitcointalk for my mobile. Because in normal mode, you have to zoom in to read and write which is a headache.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bitcointalk-mobile/fmhjiiegclklmfdmnnlbbehhpdpekomk?hl=en

Bitcointalk uses the oldest default theme it has the cleanest interface so members can concentrate on topics and discussions.

I also love the old theme because it is a classic. It gives a nostalgic vibe.

[libert19]

There are default themes admin can choose to activate, admin also can give users a preference to change their theme

<<image cut>>

Or he can choose a theme here, there are free and paid themes

https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?action=themes

You can always find new themes for your forum from the SMF themes area - https://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/. You can browse them on the website, read the comments, and download them to your computer and then upload them to your forum from there.

If you run into any questions with themes, each theme published on simplemachines.org has a dedicated topic about it where support and comments should be directed to.

Bitcointalk uses the oldest default theme it has the cleanest interface so members can concentrate on topics and discussions.
I love this version it's easy to navigate other themes are not as clean as this version there are annoyances for users

what I mean by alternative front-end is completely different unrecognizable bitcointalk with possibly the features that are missing from what we use right now, not just changing theme.

Also, regarding theme liking it's subjective, you like current better maybe just because you are used to it.

The themes contain alert/notification icons, what's reason they are not included in bitcointalk/why is backend not developed?

For me I use a extension which lets me resize Bitcointalk for my mobile. Because in normal mode, you have to zoom in to read and write which is a headache.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bitcointalk-mobile/fmhjiiegclklmfdmnnlbbehhpdpekomk?hl=en

Thank you for sharing, I wasn't aware of this extension, it actually does decent job.

[Upgrade00]

what I mean by alternative front-end is completely different unrecognizable bitcointalk with possibly the features that are missing from what we use right now, not just changing theme.

So the New Forum Software then?
This has been in development for several years and is well past the expected deadline for it to be fully functional.

It should definitely be recognizable so we don't lose the feel of how the forum is now but get some of the features that is most requested by the users, like a mobile friendly version and some additional inputs.

There is very little talk about the new forum software now that I'm not expecting anything to come up soon.

[Saisher]

 what I mean by alternative front-end is completely different unrecognizable bitcointalk with possibly the features that are missing from what we use right now, not just changing theme.

You have to be specific on exactly what you mean if you are a member of another forum and they have features that are not on this forum you have to tell us what they are, all SMF forums' features and additional features are based on modification software coming from a third party developer.
Like all the others here I'm more comfortable with this version and its features if there are things that need to be added it should be something that will not compromise the forum's security.

[virasog]

Why is it needed? Bitcointalk does its job by providing a platform where people can freely express their opinions. It doesn't need any cosmetic changes.
There are SMF themes but they are disabled due to security reasons.

To be honest, this is the best forum when it comes to readability. The forum is simple, there are no annoying ads and the ones in the signatures will never distract your conversations/reading.

Personally, I would not want the admins to change its front end or even apply any SMF themes.

[libert19]

Appears people here don't here understand what alternative front-end means, only Try-Ninia seems to know what i'm talking about.

For example, if we talk about reddit frontends, no changes happen on original website. But there are other frontends developed and managed by other people with their own personalised features, Teddit being an example.

[BenCodie]

Appears people here don't here understand what alternative front-end means, only Try-Ninia seems to know what i'm talking about.

For example, if we talk about reddit frontends, no changes happen on original website. But there are other frontends developed and managed by other people with their own personalised features, Teddit being an example.

Reddit probably have a large library of developer api's which make "teddit" possible. I would assume that there would be a lot of work on BitcoinTalk as it is currently to enable support for creating alternative front-ends. I think that drawing comparisons from BitcoinTalk (a community-run forum running on a heavily customized version of SMF 1.x.x) to Reddit (a company with ample development resources and a (probably) much more scalable codebase) isn't the best one to draw.