DPR Update DPReview forum update: timeline and what to expect

Michael Fryd · Oct 25, 2025

beneix said:
Mark Ransom said:

Bob A L said:

R6iiowner said:

...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

...and very often, what makes posts long on the current forum is that some people quote everything from the post they are replying to, not just the pertinent bit. This is actually an area where the new forum will be superior – quotes will automatically have a maximum size on screen and if you want to see the full quote you have to expand it.

How does the new system know which part of the long quote to show?

if it is using AI to identify the relevant portion, that would be great.

If it is just picking a portion at random (or using the beginning), then it may be showing a portion with no relevance. I am not convinced that this is better than showing the whole thing.

panther fan · Oct 25, 2025

meow said:
I had a thread about that a while ago. The answer was no, old posts will be incorporated in the new forum. Yes, a total mess.

I think people don't realize that Xenforo isn't a normal forum software that will run on this server. It's a 100% hosted service. DPReview staff will have limited access, I guess only through a web interface that allows them to do minor changes to the look of the forum. They won't have anything like FTP access to the server. Everything, including moving the old forum posts, will be done by Xenforo staff.

This is probably the reason for the choice of Xenforo. They don't have to employ someone or someones able to handle their own forum.

I didn't know this either until I visited the Xenforo site. I just thought it was yet another forum software that I hadn't heard of before.

They don't need to do much to allow the Internet archive to backup the form. Basically just give access to the backed, or hand over a snapshot.

panther fan · Oct 25, 2025

Jack Hogan said:
DPR has by far the best forum experience online today IMHO. It's visibly clean and efficient, it allows to quickly scroll through new posts (flat) or to follow interesting subthreads, even from years ago, without having to waste time searching through and reading every post in between (threaded).

When DPR was being shutdown a while back a redux forum was created based on XenForo. My experience is that the two are not in the same league in terms of clarity and usability. I hope you'll be able to compensate for at least part of the difference.

Best of luck,

Jack

The Forum is what makes Dpreview Dpreview. The articles and reviews have been surface level for a while. So whenever there is something new people read and watch reviews at other sites but then come here to Dpreview to discuss them.

Doesn't matter if it's other news sites, other review site other technical sites. People come gere to discuss them in the Dpreview Forum because the forums on other pages either don't exist or are terrible.

Not sure this move pays off long term for Dpreview. But if the alternative is going under as happened almost in the past you have to do what you have to do

Alan Sh · Oct 25, 2025

Mark Ransom said:
Alan Sh said:

Mark Ransom said:

gscotten said:

If the new system controls this type of quoting as it appears it will, it will be a HUGE improvement. My apologies for the quote, but I wanted my point to be clear.

Click to expand...

Nobody ever claimed this forum was perfect. But for ALL of us it was good enough, and for many it was the best ever.

Click to expand...

I never considrered it 'good enough'. I could always see places it could improve - and XF seems to be going that way. So, it's not "ALL of us" - maybe "ALL of us minus one"

Click to expand...

My reply was based on the assumption that if you didn't consider it good enough, you wouldn't be here.

Yes, I can how that might appear to be the case. But I come here because of the people and the comments and the reviews and I accept the current limitations. If XF can do it better FOR ME, then I will consider it 'good enough'.

Alan

bobnn · Oct 25, 2025

Bob A L said:
Good luck on the endeavor. I see a chance that this schedule possibility increases the loss of participation from what was previously hinted. 5 days with no accessibility gives much more time to get comfortable in some other arena. Some won't go that long without loosing interest. I suppose I assumed that we could still play here until the new playground was ready, but apparently that doesn't work.

I'm guessing that the 5 days of read-only access is needed to move everything to the new forum. This content has value, everything is a tradeoff.

David Eastwood · Oct 25, 2025

I participate in two online forums (‘fora’ for the pedants among us.) This is obviously one.

The other (guitar-related) is currently running on a prehistoric version of vBulletin, and appears to be slowly grappling with the need to get onto a supported platform.

Here we currently have a threaded view. There, it’s flat, with a quoting mechanism that seems to work just fine. Either is subject to misunderstanding and thread bloat.

When the current upgrade conversation came up, my first thought was “what about threaded view?” - and then I realized that I enjoy the other place just as much.

Besides, if I can cope with Sony menus from NEX5N to A6000 to A6500, I’m sure I’ll be able to manage whatever XF has to offer.

It’s the content that makes this place, not the vehicle.

JeanPierre Martel · Oct 25, 2025

When a URL points to a specific post on the ‘old’ dpReview site, will the URL be parsed and lead to the same post on the ‘new’ forum or will we get a 404 error ?

Puppy2007 · Oct 26, 2025

Will the new forum retain the original uploaded picture quality as the old one or resize/compress them to something like Facebook garbage?

I always use big desktop monitor to browse the forums so the quality matters.

EDIT I see, there are two different posts about the new forum. The other one answers the question

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/68467400

André BARELIER · Oct 26, 2025

Phil Askey said:
I created the original threaded forum system, which at the time was fairly groundbreaking.

Thank you Phil. I have always admired the way this system was designed, and it has remained at the top for so long because it's absolutely awesome.

I will really miss Threated view.

ZeDestructor · Oct 26, 2025

Mathew Anderson said:
Thanks! The updated forums will also have a Dark Mode, if that's what you are interested in?

Good to hear that there will be a dark mode from the get go, but I really do hope that a "black mode" also becomes a thing for those of us with OLED monitors.

Right now I find the current Dark mode too bright that I use the excellent, but quite CPU- and memory-hungry Dark Reader browser extension instead of switching to dark mode.

tbcass · Oct 26, 2025

gscotten said:
tbcass said:

Mark Ransom said:

Jack Hogan said:

gscotten said:

If the new system controls this type of quoting as it appears it will, it will be a HUGE improvement. My apologies for the quote, but I wanted my point to be clear.

Click to expand...

Have you tried snipping? Just takes one second and it is considered good etiquette anyhow.

Click to expand...

It's almost impossible on my phone, but I struggle through it anyway.

Click to expand...

Snipping on a phone is very difficult.

Click to expand...

So is scrolling down through a dozen screens looking for the one-line comment someone added. It is even a pain on a large monitor.

That doesn't change the fact the snipping is difficult on a phone and fairly easy to do on a computer. It's but one reason why I much prefer reading posts on a computer with a mouse.

Gryphon69 · Oct 26, 2025

Thank you for the update.

Any change that is meant to ensure the sustainability of this invaluable resource is of course welcome.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I will be missing Threaded view dearly.

I wonder: if you couple the demise of Threaded view with the (very welcome) removal of the rule capping threads to 149 posts, how can a long thread be readable without some sort of hierarchical index of the posts? Is there really not going to be any workaround for achieving the same/a similar result?

Maybe there’s something that I am missing in how the new forum experience is going to be like. I watched the video but it has not dispelled my doubts.

Mark Ransom · Oct 26, 2025

JeanPierre Martel said:
When a URL points to a specific post on the ‘old’ dpReview site, will the URL be parsed and lead to the same post on the ‘new’ forum or will we get a 404 error ?

They explained it somewhere else, don't remember if it's this thread or another. The old link will still work, but you'll be automatically redirected to the new post location.

Now since the new forum won't be threaded, my question would be: do you go directly to the post you want, or are you dumped to the top of the thread and need to find it for yourself?

Mathew Anderson · Oct 26, 2025

Puppy2007 said:
Will the new forum retain the original uploaded picture quality as the old one or resize/compress them to something like Facebook garbage?

I always use big desktop monitor to browse the forums so the quality matters.

EDIT I see, there are two different posts about the new forum. The other one answers the question

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/68467400

Uploaded photos will be unaltered. You will be able to redownload them again as you can now.

Mathew Anderson · Oct 26, 2025

Mark Ransom said:
JeanPierre Martel said:

When a URL points to a specific post on the ‘old’ dpReview site, will the URL be parsed and lead to the same post on the ‘new’ forum or will we get a 404 error ?

Click to expand...

They explained it somewhere else, don't remember if it's this thread or another. The old link will still work, but you'll be automatically redirected to the new post location.

Now since the new forum won't be threaded, my question would be: do you go directly to the post you want, or are you dumped to the top of the thread and need to find it for yourself?

Thanks for confirming, this is correct. You will go to the same post you would normally go to. There's no change there.

Mathew Anderson · Oct 26, 2025

Thanks!

JeanPierre Martel · Oct 26, 2025

Mathew Anderson said:
Mark Ransom said:

JeanPierre Martel said:

When a URL points to a specific post on the ‘old’ dpReview site, will the URL be parsed and lead to the same post on the ‘new’ forum or will we get a 404 error ?

Click to expand...

They explained it somewhere else, don't remember if it's this thread or another. The old link will still work, but you'll be automatically redirected to the new post location.

Now since the new forum won't be threaded, my question would be: do you go directly to the post you want, or are you dumped to the top of the thread and need to find it for yourself?

Click to expand...

Thanks for confirming, this is correct. You will go to the same post you would normally go to. There's no change there.

Thanks for the answer. I’m reassured.

Hike Pics · Oct 26, 2025

That's good to know. I guess I will have to turn off my Skip Redirect plugin for the site.

BryanHL · Oct 26, 2025

Dale Baskin said:
Phil Askey said:

I created the original threaded forum system, which at the time was fairly groundbreaking.

Click to expand...

It's been a fantastic system for so many years. Thanks for creating it and creating a space for this community to grow.

I am finding it difficult to process how you can comment in this situation.

It's like the judge thanking the revolutionary for all his good qualities before the hangman pulls the lever...

Roland Karlsson · Oct 26, 2025

The DP forums are, IMNSHO, the absolutely most sleek forums around. The design is compact and extremely easy to follow and beautiful. In particular the black variant.

All other forums have a bloated design, that takes up more space with less information. Making them slower to use and harder to get an overview.

Now, I do not know how the new DP forums looks. I do not know how they feel to use. I hope my fears are wrong. But, it is likely to be a degradation, both looks and user friendliness. Hope that is not the case.

DPR Update DPReview forum update: timeline and what to expect

Forum Pro

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Leading Member

Leading Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Forum Pro

Member

Forum Pro

Forum Enthusiast

Veteran Member

Community Manager

Community Manager

Community Manager

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Forum Pro

Similar threads

Keyboard shortcuts