Presentation Modes

Last updated: Sep 26, 2026Status: Current Alpha guidanceAudience: Operators and evaluatorsApplies to: DiscussionBridge Alpha

DiscussionBridge separates content direction from comments presentation. A page may originate on a platform or in Discourse, while its discussion can be shown in any mode supported by that adapter.

Astro Simple and Full do not require DiscussionBridge for Discourse or a Content Connection. Installing the Astro package does not obligate an operator to install the Discourse plugin. Interactive and either governed publishing direction do require the plugin and connection. See the Astro install and operate guide.

Astro is the only current supported platform with that plugin-free integration. Ghost, Hugo, Statamic, and WordPress require the receiver plugin and an enabled Content Connection for every DiscussionBridge presentation or publishing path.

Simple

Simple renders comments as native host-platform markup. It is lightweight, accessible, and contains no Discourse application shell or receiver secret. The current plugin-free implementation is Astro-specific. On another platform, reader-facing output may be credential-free while the adapter installation remains receiver-backed.

The first bounded batch is shown immediately. Show more comments reveals additional bounded batches up to the adapter’s hard ceiling, then the reader continues in DiscussionBridge for Discourse. Static profiles may ship a sanitized build-time fallback. Depending on the adapter, current replies are refreshed through a credential-free browser request or a bounded server-side cache, so the refresh path must be documented and tested for that platform.

Simple should show:

a Comments heading;
an Open discussion route;
No comments yet. when the topic has no public replies;
author, date, content, and stable reply link for each displayed comment;
the official locally bundled Discourse wordmark linked to https://www.discourse.org/powered-by when forum policy enables it;
an independent, centered Connected by DiscussionBridge credit unless the adapter operator disables that credit.

The Discourse and DiscussionBridge credits are independent. Disabling one must not automatically disable the other.

Full

Full uses Discourse Core’s standard comments embed. On Astro this is a supported plugin-free integration. Discourse owns the rendered comments, truncation and Show more… behavior. The Core setting embed_truncate defaults to enabled; operators should document whether they retain that default or show all supported embedded comments.

Astro Full does not require a Bridge Record or receiver credential. It resolves from the exact canonical page URL, so allowed embed hosts and canonical identity must be correct. Ghost, Hugo, Statamic, and WordPress do not expose this as a standalone plugin-free DiscussionBridge integration.

Full should still present the independent DiscussionBridge credit when the adapter’s credit option is enabled. It may also present the forum’s ordinary Discourse branding according to forum policy.

Interactive (`interactive`)

Interactive is the Bridge-backed, comments-only Discourse application surface. DiscussionBridge for Discourse attests the exact record/topic mapping and omits the companion first post from the iframe so the host article is not duplicated. Discourse owns sign-in, session, composer, replies, quotes, likes, editing, moderation, accessibility, and application behavior.

The default product viewport is bounded and scrolls internally instead of growing the host page without limit. Exact dimensions are adapter configuration, not Discourse content policy. Verify desktop and mobile layout, signed-in and signed-out behavior, cross-origin cookies, focus, and internal scrolling.

If readiness fails, show an honest bounded diagnostic or fallback. Do not silently load another forum, topic, or presentation mode.

During the compatibility window, adapters also accept the historical fullInteractive input and normalize it to interactive. New configuration, examples, interfaces, and generated output must use interactive. The legacy input will be removed only at a separately announced breaking boundary.

From Discourse Content Plus Discussion

When Discourse supplies the article, the adapter renders the sanitized first post once as platform content. The associated discussion then shows replies to that same topic. A Continue/Open discussion link is useful, but it does not replace the comments surface when the profile claims comments.

Source/provenance belongs after the article content and before the discussion, not as unexplained machine JSON or a detached footer. Transport fields, revision markers, adapter versions, and source IDs may be retained in durable state without being dumped into reader-facing prose.

Every supported profile should verify headings and table of contents, tables, code blocks, links, images, Mermaid diagrams, inline and block math, and responsive media in both directions.

Package capability and deployed qualification are separate claims. Do not call a renderer supported merely because the adapter ships an asset: the asset must be installed by the consumer and the exact deployed profile must pass a real fixture. In particular, math support needs an actual mathematical-expression fixture rather than a source-code or escaped-text match.

Platform navigation and forum topic navigation are independent. A platform adapter may build an On this page navigation from rendered h2/h3 headings. For To Discourse topics, a connection’s Generate topic table of contents option adds the DiscoTOC marker only when enough source headings exist and the official DiscoTOC component is installed. Changing the setting does not silently rewrite existing topics.

Mermaid and math need presentation support on both sides. DiscussionBridge for Discourse uses the appropriate Discourse components/settings; platform adapters bundle or provide their own safe renderer rather than depending on an arbitrary third-party CDN.

Branding And Ownership

Comments remain Discourse-owned even when rendered natively. The host platform owns its article layout. DiscussionBridge owns the declared connection, identity, transformation, retry, provenance, and presentation boundary.

Site naming, long-page navigation, footer ownership, crawler policy, and analytics are deployment concerns rather than comments modes. Apply the shared target in Adapter Operating Models without making presentation-mode code responsible for Matomo, Umami, or site chrome.

This is not user synchronization. A transported source author may be credited or mapped to a selected Discourse user, but that mapping does not create shared login, permissions, or cross-platform identity.