TL;DR
The Unity Forum is being migrated and not deleted.
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Important Dates:
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July 12 Unity Forums read-only
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July 15 Unity Discussions read-only
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July 18 Unity Forums go live on Unity Discussions
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The data is being preserved:
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All topics with at least 1 reply or 1 like.
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All topics younger than 90 days, including topics without replies or likes.
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All staff topics.
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All sticky threads.
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All attachments will be migrated.
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All private messages of migrated user accounts will be migrated, including attachments.
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Current Forum thread and post URLs will be preserved as redirects to their new matching content:
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Embedded media will be migrated.
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SEO will be preserved.
Hi everyone,
As we mentioned last year , we have been planning to migrate the Unity Forums to Unity Discussions for a while and are excited to announce that we launched a closed beta earlier this week. Our goal is to migrate by the end of July.
Alongside migrating the forum data, we are also working on a redesign of Unity Discussions to integrate the contents of both platforms into a cohesive system. This will create a unified hub for all your inquiries, discussions, collaborations, and more. Please note, that the current state of Unity Discussions does not reflect the new design and informational structure. We’ll share more details about that as soon as possible. In the meantime, here are the main reasons why we are moving away from the old forums.
- A unified community platform: By consolidating our forum and Q&A sites, you’ll have everything you need in one location. This integration not only simplifies finding answers, showcasing projects, and engaging in discussions but also fosters a stronger sense of community. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or a curious newcomer, you’ll find ample opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals, share your knowledge, provide feedback, and discover official announcements across different areas of interest.
- Enhanced functionality: The new platform comes with a host of features aimed at improving usability and information discovery. Highlights include customizable notifications based on search queries, topic filters based on families of related tags, more robust anti-spam tooling, and bespoke functionality and styling for different topic types, like the ability to mark a reply as the solution in a “Question” topic.
- Better scalability and optimization of community operations: Migrating to a unified modern community platform will allow us to reduce running costs and focus more of our efforts and resources on developing a great platform for all of you. Once we launch, you can expect to see more frequent and regular updates to the platform than before. Through access to the built-in API, we will be able to integrate Unity Discussions closer with internal and external Unity services, for example by automatically gathering and forwarding “Feedback” topics related to certain product areas to the right teams without requiring them to manually sift through entire categories. The end goal is for us to improve the general user experience, help users achieve their goals, and improve the connectivity and engagement between Unity and the Unity community.
We understand that change can be disruptive, but we’re committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for all our members. We appreciate how much you care about the community and recognize the amazing contributions and rich history that have been created in the Unity Forums over the years. We are doing everything in our power to honor this legacy while also addressing long-standing issues related to accessibility and discoverability of content.
Here’s what you can expect during the transition period:
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Communication: We’ll keep you informed every step of the way through announcement posts on the Forum and on Unity Discussions. Please stay tuned for our next update in early July.
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Transition plan: The transition will happen as follows.
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The new design and structure of Unity Discussions will be user-tested in a closed beta.
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The data will be migrated to Discussions. This is already in progress.
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We strive to minimize the period during which Forums and Discussions are unavailable to users. You will be notified in advance of the dates when each site will go read-only. Below is the high-level plan:
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Mid-July: The Unity forums will become read-only and remain in this state until they are shut down. During this time, you can continue to post your questions through Unity Discussions Q&A.
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Right before the Forums shut down at the end of July, Unity Discussions will become read-only for approximately two days to finalize the migration.
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Redirects for migrated forum content will be set up to ensure that old links to forum posts will continue to work without interruption.
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Data migrated into Unity Discussions
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Users:
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All valid user accounts that created at least 1 post or 1 like will be migrated.
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If a forum user already has an account in Unity Discussions, their account information and data will be added to their existing account.
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Avatars will be migrated unless the existing Discussions accounts already have an avatar selected.
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Post and like history will be migrated.
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Signatures will be appended to user bios in Unity Discussions, but they will no longer appear under user posts.
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Account settings will not be migrated.
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Topics (threads) and posts:
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All topics with at least 1 reply or 1 like.
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All topics younger than 90 days, including topics without replies or likes.
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All staff topics.
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All sticky threads.
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Topics and posts with at least 1 reply or 1 like, but no activity in more than 24 months will be migrated as “closed”.
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Current Forum thread and post URLs will be preserved as redirects to their new matching content.
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Embedded media will be migrated.
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Quotes, code blocks, inline codes, collapsable sections, and styling options supported by markdown will be migrated.
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BB code formatting for font type, font size, font color, and text alignment will not be migrated.
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Private messages:
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All private messages of migrated user accounts will be migrated.
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Attachments:
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All attachments that have file names will be migrated.
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Support: We are here to listen to you - our team will be on hand to address any questions or concerns you may have. Please use this thread to share them.
We can’t wait to embark on this journey with you. Thank you for your continued support and participation.
Your Unity Community Team
Edit 06/28/24: Added a TL;DR summary at the top, clarified that all threads with at least one like will be migrated, and adjusted the threshold of non-activity for topic closure during the migration from 12 to 24 months.
Edit 02/07/24: Added FAQ and preview screenshots of the new design.
Edit 03/07/24: [Shared the dates]( Update about the future of the Unity Forums and Unity Discussions page-6#post-9921951) on which the forums and Unity Discussions will become read-only, and when the migration will be complete. July 12 Unity Forums read-only, July 15 Unity Discussions read-only, July 18 Unity Forums go live on Unity Discussions.