Discord is working on forum-like features for more overview on chats
Chatapp Discord is going to test some new features, which should, among other things, make it easier to get an overview of topics discussed in text channels, similar to the overview that a forum offers.
The new feature gives users “a channel that serves as a home for more organized conversations within your community, a bit like a forum,” according to Discord. The company shares a screenshot that shows that multiple channels fall under a mother channel, which gives an overview of what is discussed per channel.
Discord’s volatility compared to forums is a more often-spoken criticism of the chat app. Many online communities are moving to Discord and while that offers many features, archiving and retrieving discussed content is not one of them. Discord conversations also cannot be found through a search engine, but conversations on forums or a subreddit, for example, can.
Furthermore, Discord is working on a similar function, but for when entering a server. Some sort of homepage should give users an overview of what has been discussed a lot on the entire server lately. Server administrators still do this by hand in the form of announcement channels, but they often only take the big news with them.
The last feature Discord talks about is “new tools and automations to help moderators and administrators keep their communities safe.” The company did not provide more details.
The features are not yet widely available, but only to a group of testers. Discord states that users “may see these features on the larger servers you are a member of.”
Discord was initially marketed as a chat app for gamers. However, that tagline was released in March of 2020, around the start of the pandemic, and it is now “your place to talk”. The chat app supports communication via text, audio and video. In addition to a webcam, the latter can also take the form of a shared screen. A paid subscription to Discord offers things like more emojis, higher video quality, bigger uploads, and more.