MaximilianKohler @ MaximilianKohler @lemmy.world

Posts

13

Comments

193

Joined

2 yr. ago

I had lots of important content I posted to reddit, as did other members of the community. The subs I ran weren't fluff subs.

Forums are different for sure, but I think they're similar enough. There's even a phpBB front-end for Lemmy.

I picked Xenforo for my own reasons, but there are plenty of free forum software (which I listed in the link) that can be used.

I think the one thing missing is a way to federate forums.

It's true that I'm also struggling to use the fediverse for my own needs, and opted to move my communities to a forum instead. But for this issue, I found this:

Awesome Lemmy Instances has a list where you can see how many instances block/are blocked by each other https://github.com/maltfield/awesome-lemmy-instances

It seems like it would be difficult to keep track of all the instances that have/haven't banned the communities/instances you're interested in.

Like if someone wanted to move to an instance that hasn't banned these piracy communities, how would they even know where to look?

EDIT: I found this:

Awesome Lemmy Instances has a list where you can see how many instances block/are blocked by each other https://github.com/maltfield/awesome-lemmy-instances

Would you mind sharing it?

I'm responding to your comment in my "Detailed guide for migrating Reddit subs to a forum (Xenforo). Including reddit-like titles, and threaded comment view." thread.

I added a "see it in action" link https://gist.github.com/MaximilianKohler/3bdedd0185283ac30c1f1422f9626947#customizations-i-used

Also, it seems that my post was deleted without any reason/notification and I don't see a way to message the mods. They have a modlog that just shows an endless loading icon. There is also no access to your content after it's deleted, unlike with reddit.

More drawbacks of Lemmy to add to the list. And more confirmation that I made the right choice in going for my own forum over Lemmy.

The pricing changed just last month so it’s no longer effectively free for small users but it’s relatively cheap (for now).

Well it was only free for 1 year. After that, you'd be paying for the EC2 instance. It's roughly the same now. You can get cheaper hosting than EC2 but you're paying a bit more for SES.

I looked at the prices you quoted for other services and they seem ridiculously high

Yeah it's nuts. I think people with zero technical knowledge who want something fast are the ones paying for those services. It's surprising there's so many of them, but there is the fact that all the search results are dominated by their SEO blogs so it's very hard to learn about other options.

But even if you're not technically knowledgeable you can pay someone a month's worth of what those other services charge, and they can setup a self-hosted server for you.

For example, even using SES, if you attempt to originate too many emails to one provider in a single call, they may start rejecting everything - I had to put counters into the code to limit how many gmail addresses would be sent with each iteration. SES also rate limits so you need to manage that somehow.

I haven't had any issues with this. The starting rates are pretty generous and I've been approved for the increases I requested.

You’ll also need to be mindful of the bounce rate and complaints

Sure. Same as with any provider.

Yes, it's all set up. Finished it about a month ago. I had an existing static website and I added the forum to a subdomain.

Yeah I saw that. I like it. I've seen people complain about the phpBB UI, so that made me shy away from using it for my website even though I personally like it.

I started looking into forums some months ago, and in that time Lemmy has already come a long way, to where I think Lemmy would possibly be the better option soon. But I wanted to get my site up and running ASAP.

A few things that factored into my decision:

• I think Reddit and its alts need the features of /r/enhancement and /r/Toolbox.
• I don't like the default UI of Lemmy. It's too bloated. I'm using old.lemmy.world now but it's definitely lacking in features and a bit buggy (IE: I have to switch to the "regular" site to edit my post).
• I saw beehaw defederate due to lack of mod tools.
• lemmy.world showing Lemmy's vulnerabilities (ddos, security, etc.).
• I'm still familiarizing myself with Lemmy and the fediverse. It's a bit complex.
• The voting system has its upsides and downsides. I think no downvote button is the best option.
• I don't like the time-based nature of reddit-type sites. With forums, you don't need to always be there to answer right away. Discussions can take place over longer periods of time.
• As you say, a full step-by-step guide is essential.
• I'm now very hesitant to trust any 3rd party. I'd have to trust that the Lemmy instance I choose won't do the same thing reddit did to me.

I wasn't really considering hosting my own Lemmy instance at the time. But I think it can be installed onto a subdomain of any website?

Yep, that's why I listed it separately. I used a script for highlighting comments on reddit: https://archive.fo/kgsfz

Perhaps it would be simple enough to modify it to work on lemmy.

EDIT: Saidit has it built-in.

I moved to my own forum because the alternatives are:

1. Trust that the lemmy instance I choose won't do the same thing reddit did.
2. Host my own Lemmy instance.

For #2, Lemmy isn't polished enough, so I went with a traditional forum option that's been around for a while.

For me, it needs features from RES, Toolbox, highlight new comments, etc.

I meant that I'm on desktop and that UI is terrible for me. I would have assumed it was targeted towards mobile.

I gave it a try and that UI is not for me. I'll keep using old.lemmy.world

I agree completely.

I should probably have mentioned that Alexandrite is meant for desktop!

I'm so confused by this.