Welcome to the New Mars Forums at MarsRoverBlog.com

Mars Forum
#1

Long overdue, perhaps, but I have migrated the forums to Discourse, a modern forum software application. It has many more features than the old system, including better support for mobile devices, robust moderation features, ability to edit your posts, and more. I hope you will give it a try.

You may already have a user account. If you have posted in the old forums, a user account may have been created for you during the migration process. Browse some existing threads to check. If you used a valid email address when posting, you should be able to “claim” your user account by using the “Forgot Password” feature, which will email you a link to choose a new password. If this doesn’t work, please let me know (you can email me at mark at my firstnamelastname dot com). If you chose not to use a valid email for your past posts, you may still be able to claim your account – send me a message and I will see what might be possible. Of course, you can always register for a new account – valid email required but never published/shared.

Moderators Needed. As in the past, I won’t be able to spend much time in the forums. That said, Discourse has built-in features for moderators. If you plan to be an active member going forward, and you are trusted by the community, please let me know. I think we need at least one moderator, perhaps even two or three.

I can tweak the display settings. Discourse has various settings for the styles and structure of the forums. I made some decisions about these, but they are easily changed based on community feedback. Some examples:

  • I chose a Dark theme (black background). Because Dark Mode is pretty popular these days and it seems like a good fit for a forum about space exploration. But this can be changed… :wink:
  • The home page of the site currently shows “Latest Topics” … from all forums. This is a great way to see what is new without diving into each forum. You can browse to the Categories page for a conventional view of each of forums (the same forums/categories have been migrated from the old system). But the home page can be changed to look more like the categories page…

Most of all, your feedback is appreciated. I know that many forum members may have moved on, and that is understandable. That said, the migration was a significant effort, and I hope you will give it a try. Please reply with any feedback – Discourse even supports Private Messages, if you prefer! – or email me if trying to claim a user account.

#2

Yipee, at last…
Thanks, Mark!

1 Like
#3

Looks good, and I just re-registered. Thanks! :slightly_smiling_face:

#4

Thanks very much. With new missions to Mars and other happenings, I hope
traffic here increases. The old forum software was beastial so the change is
greatly appreciated.

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#5

I like the new format! Thanks Mark.

#6

Tried a few entries on a topic, and found that it is necessary to have an active readership with posters to continue with topics. Hopefully the 2021 landings and orbiters will motivate some to add to the conversation this year.
I was offering 3D red/blue anaglyph paper eyeglasses again this year, so anyone interested can mail an address to 3Dmars@mail.com for one to several sets which I will send in a simple #10 paper envelope. There is no cost for the glasses, I found they are much cheaper in quantity, and most all readers here need one or more.

I had several ‘usernames’ in the previous software, and I need to discover how to incorporate them all in a registered current username.

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#7

Note that the new forum software has a lot of settings that I can tweak. If you think there us sometime that might make things work better, let me know. There may be a setting for it.

Also, note that one admin feature is “merge users”. If can identify multiple “users” that are actually you, then I can merge them together under one of the user accounts.

And while I don’t follow Mars news as closely as most active forum members, I am definitely looking forward to the Perseverance landing!

#8

Mark looks like you made Mars exploration fun again.

1 Like
#9

I was unable to find an edit button. Wanted to add another image. Can’t post more than 3 times. Anyone know how to edit?

#10

Time to crank this this Forum up. Hort would love to see the “pictures.”

#11

If you hit the “3 dots” icon, you should see an edit (pencil) icon…

#12

Popping in to say hello as the new Mars adventure gets under way, thank you Mark for the forum.

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#13

Long live Hort, Henrey, Winston, Barsommer.

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#14

Remember the popcorn berries. It showed a evolution.

image

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#15

Hi darwin when I did a search for the old forum Hort’s name came up in a post from 2015 with a link to his pics to get me in the mood . https://www.flickr.com/photos/hortonheardawho/

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#16

When it came to images on the Mars Rover Blog. Hort was our Tom Brady.

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#17

We got a rock guy. We still have an atmospheric guy. We really need an image guy. Whose going to fill those shoes.

#19

I found that the software after my working on a topic steadily, removes the title and access to the same topic, as though I was required to stop posting on the particular topic.
It was possible to access the topic eventually, but only through an indirect route.
It was a strange experience to find it missing from the listings of topics across all the lists and selections, and groups of topics.
I had to use the replies on the username to access the topic again. Reminded me of an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

1 Like
#20

Why we are complaining Mark, please change my thread name to Accent to Mt Sharp. Thanks!

#21

Mark
I have been trying for a long time now to regain access to MRB. My email address is still the same. Grateful if you would help.

LWS Lyall Winston Small