Is Discourse the Right Software for this Forum?

[smacz]

I’ll finish the quote of mine that was started:

@smacz

…Many singularly-focused forums (ours is “The SAFE Network”) do benefit from this type of model, as it leads to both easily index-able threads as well as constructive, focused discussions. This allows not just the “best” reply at each step in the conversation to be followed, but all of the responses that could have legitimate points to be shown.

A hierarchical structure would facilitate off-topic discussions that happen as a natural offshoot of the original topic. This structure is better suited for sites where any topic about any subject is welcome, and off-topic discussion is the norm. This is not the case with this forum. One reason for this is that it facilitates vying for the spot of the “best” reply at each step in the conversation, which has the potential to obfuscate subsequent posts.