The idea of "Discordification"

[BradKML]

As observed in element-hq/element-meta#1476 and quotient-im/Quaternion#425 and mujx/nheko#462
It might be good to discuss the ideas of how discord is different from Matrix/Element, in regards to FOSS and UX usability. The Vector userbase is still arguing over how things should be done, and Mirage can lead a good example to clarify what the main goal is.

[mirukana]

• Custom emotes and stickers: I have a particular interest in this, I'm looking towards MSC2545 as a base
• Emoji reactions to messages: I plan to implement it, but I don't really care for standard emoji myself, so no promise on the date unless someone else wants to step up
• Multi-room search: Matrix supports this and we will naturally have it once message searching is implemented
• Automated key sharing: we'll do that between trusted devices only, will be much easier when we have cross-signing
• Communities: from what I'm hearing, the situation with current communities is a mess and nothing is specced, so I'll think about it when a clear vision is established
• Mass role-based operations: I plan to add multi-selection for the room and member list views, similar to how messages can be selected and mass-copied/removed. Then we can extend the filter field to support filtering by criterias like role/power level.
• Audio chat: I'm looking towards Jitsi if it has stable E2E support and can be implemented natively without widgets
• Widgets in general: besides figuring out the UI, this is doable by using Qt WebEngine QML components, but support must be optional; I don't want Mirage to depend on this enormous package that takes literal days to compile.

Dedicated issues should be created for all these different topics; there's a lot of different "instant messaging software" ideas to discuss, and they shouldn't be grouped in a "become like a certain other product" meta-issue. We of course can borrow ideas from other clients when they do something right, but I don't plan on making Mirage a Discord clone.

I haven't used Discord since 2016, so I don't know how it has evolved since then, but most applications today all look the same and focus on dumbing down their interface in an effort to appeal to the lowest common denominator. What I strive for is a software that can be embraced by power-users, without sacrificing on UX or complicating what should be simple and take the least amount of clicks ─ I am personally appalled by Element's latest trend of hiding elements as basic as what rooms you've joined, or who's part of a room, behind extra subcontrols and other "show more" links.

[BradKML]

@mirukana the main issue I have with "dumbing down for the sake of it" is the Discord, indeed, is made to handle large amounts of community participation from an account: It is made to handle the high social activity. Other than that I hope that each issue can have its own issue page.

[MRAAGH]

So is the point of this borrowing good ideas from other clients, or making it easier for Discord users to switch to Mirage? @BrandonKMLee

[erkinalp]

haven't used Discord since 2016, so I don't know how it has evolved since then

It evolved a lot, and become way more complex than it used to be.

[BradKML]

@MRAAGH borrowing GOOD design ideas from Discord (since it is getting complex), and applying it to Mirage.

[theotheroracle]

would note that communities are deprecated and spaces are in beta

[ptman]

Spaces are in beta and soon to be out of beta. There is support for permissions based on room membership. The voice chat isn't similar to discord currently.

[alarig]

Are spaces implemented in mirage? I didn’t find any option to activate it.

[MRAAGH]

@alarig Nope, no spaces in Mirage (yet)

[alarig]

Thanks for the info, I’ll wait then! It’s the only missing feature for me :)