[ 06/24/2025 - just a few edits to an old post. It could use a rewrite now that we have more users and categories…]
Changing the platform that this group uses for communication and as a repository for information would involve a good deal of effort. The Discourse site that has been set up has been stripped down to create something not too different from Google - the main part is a chronological list of topics not unlike the Google Group site when you sign in. Lots of us never go to the site but just use email.
In this Update, I’m hoping to address questions and concerns about losing the ability to use email to create new topics and reply to other people’s posts.
Choosing the option
Google Groups gave you a few options in your membership settings / subscriptions selection setup to say how you wanted to receive postings. (lower middle)
Discourse similarly has a digest mode (a summary of postings since you last visited the site) and an each email mode. This last option is called “mailing list” mode. You specify your option on the Preferences / email page: (the selection is near the bottom)
An initial email
To create a new topic for discussion, just send an email (Discourse has different topics Categories, but to keep things simple, we will use one email address and have all new topics go into the General category):
As we are still in the keep it simple phase, you can continue to create topics via email in the General category. Or, you can use these addresses -
Questions and Answers nonsuch+q-a@discoursemail.com
Upgrades and Great Ideas nonsuch+upgrades@discoursemail.com
Site Feedback nonsuch+feedback@discoursemail.com
(I’m using a gmail account in this example.)
You draft a new email. The subject of the email will become the topic’s title. (We have things set so that the topic title can’t be too short - it has to be descriptive. If this turns out to be a PITA, we can change it))
Discourse will start a new topic
Taking a look on the website to see what’s happening - when Discourse gets the email, it opens a new topic (or call it a discussion thread) in the General category. You’ll notice that in the selection line across the top of the topics window, it shows one new (to you) topic.
When we click on it, no surprise, the posting contains what was in the email.
Discourse Sends Out the Posting to Everyone in mailing list mode
It then sends out an email to everyone in mailing list mode - the posting in your inbox (this is a test person using Outlook mail):
Your Reply
You can click the Visit Topic button in the email to go to the Discourse site where you will go directly to that topic, and from there can scroll through the topic thread, reply, do a search or whatever, OR, you can click the usual email reply arrow and compose your response from within email and send it (as you would in Google).
When you hit send and the reply arrives in Discourse, it becomes part of the topic thread.
To My Surprise, A Third Posting
While I was setting this up, taking screen shots, and preparing this text, Brian popped in and responded to my topic. That resulted in my getting another email.
Rearranging Topics
Discourse lets us organize topics into categories. I mentioned that initially, for simplicity, all email postings will be going into General. At any point during or after the topic discussion, the topic may be moved out of the General category into something more appropriate - Maintenance, Cruising, Projects, etc. - whatever categories we want to create. All email replies will still find their way to the correct topic.
One Difference - Corrected
A previous draft stated that in mailing list mode, Discourse only showed the latest reply. Actually, there is a selection on the email preferences page:
Include previous replies at the bottom of emails: Always
This will give you the full thread with no stray content and no missing posts, which happens sometimes in Google.
A Side Note
When you login in to Discourse, it opens a session and it will keep that session open in your browser for 60 days. So unless you logout, for a couple of months you can go back to Discourse and won’t need to login on that browser (Chrome or whatever). That makes using the Visit Topic button painless.