It’s been 20 years since I started managing online communities.
Back in 2005, I created my first community on phpBB - a popular platform at the time.
Over the next two decades, I switched platforms multiple times:
phpBB → vBulletin → xenForo → custom solution → Jatra.
Along the way, I also ran communities on Circle, Slack, Discord and WhatsApp.
In my last role, I built a community for a funded startup using Discourse.
You know what? Jatra was born out of my own frustrations with existing community platforms including Discourse. You name a platform - and I’ve either used it or engaged with a community running on it.
Need for Discourse Alternative
Let me set the record straight: Discourse is a good platform. It has its own strengths and it’s actively maintained. If Jatra didn’t exist, Discourse would probably have been my choice, but reluctantly.
Boring UI from 90’s
Discourse flaunts is uninspiring, boring UI from the 90s. “Why fix it, when it’s not broken?” seems to be their approach to building their UI.
The problem with a dull UI is that it silently kills your engagement.
Members won’t complain about it, but looking at text-heavy UI repels users.
I knew this subconsciously, but it wasn’t until someone mentioned it in one of the WhatsApp groups I’m part of that I realized I wasn’t alone.
Of course, Hacker News has plenty of comments about Discourse’s UI. Take a look:
Of course, there are few posts praising the Discourse UI and I’ll leave that judgement to you.
Complicated Admin Panel
I’d tolerate an average UI - but Discours’ Admin Panel is a horror story. The platform has been under active development for more than 10 years; and the team has added almost every feature you can think of.
But with zero attention to user experience (UX) for the admins. Simple tasks like:
Creating a new channel
Creating a new tag
Editing user details
will require you to navigate the options jungle. I take pride in my technical background; but even I could not figure out simple options and settings.
Complex Installation and Maintenance
Okay, I know that they have a cloud version where you don’t have to install it. But one of the main reasons many people prefer Discourse is that it can be installed.
You need a good technical expertise (Ruby On Rails) to install the software and some server administration experience. While this option may help you save costs initially, the costs that most people don’t factor in include-
Managing traffic spikes
Managing frequent software updates
Installing and maintaining plugins
Frequent server backups
Protection from DDoS attacks
If you enjoy managing servers - go for it. But if you wish to focus on building your community, consider the hosted version - either from Discourse or Jatra.
Heavy Focus on ‘Discussions’
This is not specific to Discourse, but most of the community platforms rely on forum-like 'discussions’.
The world of communities has evolved, and now you need to think beyond discussions. Keeping users engaged simply via discussions is difficult.
What if your community platform could host:
Discussions
Chats
Events
Real-time Quizzes
Jobs
Webinars
Chat Rooms
Reviews
Directory
…and more natively?
Sounds interesting? Well, that’s Jatra for you!
Average Mobile Experience
While Discourse is responsive - that it adapts its layout to the viewer’s display size, the experience has never been smoother.
Most of your community members will use their iPhones and Androids to access your community - and it’s essential to offer them a better mobile experience.
Jatra : The Discourse Alternative
As I said, Jatra is a result of my own frustrations with existing community platforms. There are two main problems Jatra solves:
Getting new users automatically
Keeping users engaged
Those are the most basic problems every community has. Jatra solves this by:
Automatic SEO: All your public content is powered by SEO for organic growth
Multiple Post Types: As I said, we support discussions, articles, chats and more natively
It means - you can create multiple content to keep your users engaged. Users absolutely love it and keep coming back to your community.
Case Study: Jatra Powered Community Grows Quickly
I’ve been running a case study (domain name hidden) of a Jatra powered community. Before I share more, take a look at the traffic growth the community has experienced in the last 3 months:
Now a few interesting facts:
The community has about 137 pieces of content (mix of QnA and Articles)
First content was written in October 2024
No special SEO efforts were implemented
This community has began appearing in Google search and also onboarding users on daily basis. The part that excites me more is that the community growth is always exponential.
Let’s Build Your Community
If you are looking to shift away from Discourse, consider Jatra. Feel free to contact us or create an account on Jatra.club.
We offer one:one community building support to all our customers. It’s like having an experienced community professional to work with you on your community.
If you have questions, post them below. I’ll be happy to answer them for you.
