Davyc

You can check out my own alterations to the Clubs feature and if you like it I can send you the changes I made 🙂
https://moviebuffs.org/clubs/
The default theme is dark but click the sun symbol in the menu bar and you can see the light version.

A new version will be available soon for 4.7. 
Recently I discover that another plugin generates errors that are wrongly assigned to this app. 
I don't know if this is your case, but since I have to do all the testing for 4.7 this is the time to do a recap of the malfunctions you have.

You can check out my own alterations to the Clubs feature and if you like it I can send you the changes I made 🙂
https://moviebuffs.org/clubs/
The default theme is dark but click the sun symbol in the menu bar and you can see the light version.

Page speed aside, there was really no need to remove the core CSS from the templates. I agree that most users do not need it so they would of course simply ignore it; but the ones that do need it had the option to view, understand, learn and modify if they wanted to.
CSS is basically harmless and any issue that may come up we could just restore the file to the original version so this shouldn't strain IPS support.
Basically: us self-hosters are already getting hammered with the cloud only features. There's no need to remove features too now.

Many thanks for the help - it kind of throws me when something is working fine one day and then goes awry the next lol.  If this happens again I'll follow these instructions now that I know what to do.  I can also access the error logs now without that red bar warning.
Many thanks again and to @Nathan Explosion for chipping in - I found that table BTW 🙂
 

Have you tried running analyse on that table first of all? You dont really need to be looking for full text if that resolves the problem

This suggests there's some kind of issue with the FULLTEXT index on the table, analyzing it should correct it - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/64397678/mysql-match-relevance-score-causes-double-value-is-out-of-range-error/71500119#71500119

Glad you managed to get the issue resolved

@Jordan Miller You raise some interesting and valid points in your posts, but you always refer your attention to 'business' and forget that there are thousands of hobbyist clients who tend to get left out.  It may not be your intention to do so, but whenever you post something it always includes the word 'business'.  This may seem like nitpicking and IPS may be more focussed on business clients, but there are others who contribute to the IPS coffers.  It may be prudent to be more inclusive so those who created the foundation for IPS are not left feeling out.
To the point of your post.  As a hobbyist and someone who enjoys the experience of a forum based site (at present I get more of a kick from the creation aspect rather that the using thereafter) the drag of SM is the sore point when it comes to generating interest and contributors.  It's not that what we hobbyists do that may appear uninteresting, it's getting people off the SM wagon into a new environment.  There are probably numerous contributing factors that may lie at the root cause for this lack of interest, but that is the big issue for hobbyists.  Finding a niche that has not been covered already and has sufficient interest from a large number of people to get the ball rolling is really tough, and it doesn't matter what software is employed in a new venture; WordPress, IPS, Xenforo, Simple Machines, MyBB the list goes on.
Using SM to generate interest is a non-starter.  I use Twitter to promote my site and my Tweets drive traffic because what I post is apparently of interest, but it's a one way ticket because the people consume the content and then return to Twitter to comment on it rather than register and comment directly at the source.
I doubt that I'm alone in this parody of high interest on SM but low interest in registering at the source of the interest.  It's a symptom of the way people engage in this day-and-age.  It seems as though it's an effort to go through the short process of registering.  The other factor could also be that they are not interested in spending time learning how to use a system that may appear to be cumbersome to use on their mobile devices.
Sign of the times perhaps.

For my part, I would be happy if all CSS were readable, as before, for reference even if not editable. The latest patch shows modified CSS and allows reverts of existing changes but unchanged CSS are still hidden and therefore, you can't use search.
It was so useful being able to search for something (even something as simple as a colour) and then quickly locate the code, copy it and then paste a modded version into custom CSS.

Appreciate you weighing in! 

I don't personally use subscriptions, but an associate of mine, who I recommend IPS to and maintain his site for him, does use subscriptions. In fact they are at the heart of his site; I won't say community because a lot of people subscribe, but they don't actually contribute to the site.  That's not a bad thing where his ambitions lie as it's more of a business model than a community model, but the subs work really well in conjunction with Stripe.
So I would wholeheartedly advocate the use of the subscriptions feature for anyone who believes they may have a use for it.  It's not for everyone, but if you can use it I can say that it's a great tool 🙂
 

From my own experience it depends on the setup.
There's probably no usage if you're ONLY using forums, but once you use also other content types, it can really help a lot to "categorize" all the different stuff.
I'm also not a fan of allowing people to create their own clubs, instead they can request one which is a just a custom form with a title, description and "internal explanation" field and  it's an administrator/moderator privilege, to control this which really helps to avoid the mess.
 

On an admin level, spam through the conact-us is the worst problem i have. I basically do not read any contact-us message anymore and wait for people really wanting to contact me to find the email address.
For my community i would join others :
- people tend to be more and more assertive and less open to contradiction, this basically kills the interest of a forum
- It is hard to find a balance between the core group of regular users and newcomers or occasionnal users that may hesitate to parcipate because they don't belong to the "core".

I don’t think that discussions going in circles is something that would require moderation. I only step in when things escalate, because that can be very damaging for a community. 

You're right. Sorry about that. Definitely realize there are more facets to community other than business. Thanks for bringing that up. 🙏 

@Jordan Miller You raise some interesting and valid points in your posts, but you always refer your attention to 'business' and forget that there are thousands of hobbyist clients who tend to get left out.  It may not be your intention to do so, but whenever you post something it always includes the word 'business'.  This may seem like nitpicking and IPS may be more focussed on business clients, but there are others who contribute to the IPS coffers.  It may be prudent to be more inclusive so those who created the foundation for IPS are not left feeling out.
To the point of your post.  As a hobbyist and someone who enjoys the experience of a forum based site (at present I get more of a kick from the creation aspect rather that the using thereafter) the drag of SM is the sore point when it comes to generating interest and contributors.  It's not that what we hobbyists do that may appear uninteresting, it's getting people off the SM wagon into a new environment.  There are probably numerous contributing factors that may lie at the root cause for this lack of interest, but that is the big issue for hobbyists.  Finding a niche that has not been covered already and has sufficient interest from a large number of people to get the ball rolling is really tough, and it doesn't matter what software is employed in a new venture; WordPress, IPS, Xenforo, Simple Machines, MyBB the list goes on.
Using SM to generate interest is a non-starter.  I use Twitter to promote my site and my Tweets drive traffic because what I post is apparently of interest, but it's a one way ticket because the people consume the content and then return to Twitter to comment on it rather than register and comment directly at the source.
I doubt that I'm alone in this parody of high interest on SM but low interest in registering at the source of the interest.  It's a symptom of the way people engage in this day-and-age.  It seems as though it's an effort to go through the short process of registering.  The other factor could also be that they are not interested in spending time learning how to use a system that may appear to be cumbersome to use on their mobile devices.
Sign of the times perhaps.

That is so true. It makes me laugh when I hear people say that life begins at 40, 50 or 60 its just not true.
One thing young people should realise is the elderly are an invaluable source of life knowledge and experience and instead of being dismissive of them, listen to them.
In my experience you learn something 10 minutes after you needed to know it. The elderly already know so take advantage of the resource.

@Jordan Miller You raise some interesting and valid points in your posts, but you always refer your attention to 'business' and forget that there are thousands of hobbyist clients who tend to get left out.  It may not be your intention to do so, but whenever you post something it always includes the word 'business'.  This may seem like nitpicking and IPS may be more focussed on business clients, but there are others who contribute to the IPS coffers.  It may be prudent to be more inclusive so those who created the foundation for IPS are not left feeling out.
To the point of your post.  As a hobbyist and someone who enjoys the experience of a forum based site (at present I get more of a kick from the creation aspect rather that the using thereafter) the drag of SM is the sore point when it comes to generating interest and contributors.  It's not that what we hobbyists do that may appear uninteresting, it's getting people off the SM wagon into a new environment.  There are probably numerous contributing factors that may lie at the root cause for this lack of interest, but that is the big issue for hobbyists.  Finding a niche that has not been covered already and has sufficient interest from a large number of people to get the ball rolling is really tough, and it doesn't matter what software is employed in a new venture; WordPress, IPS, Xenforo, Simple Machines, MyBB the list goes on.
Using SM to generate interest is a non-starter.  I use Twitter to promote my site and my Tweets drive traffic because what I post is apparently of interest, but it's a one way ticket because the people consume the content and then return to Twitter to comment on it rather than register and comment directly at the source.
I doubt that I'm alone in this parody of high interest on SM but low interest in registering at the source of the interest.  It's a symptom of the way people engage in this day-and-age.  It seems as though it's an effort to go through the short process of registering.  The other factor could also be that they are not interested in spending time learning how to use a system that may appear to be cumbersome to use on their mobile devices.
Sign of the times perhaps.

I agree that they are a great source of potential users, but they are less likely to leave a platform where they have hundred, thousands, tens of thousands or even 100K followers to a site that has a handful.  I suppose it depends on whether what you are offering is devoid of interest on SM and you can corner a niche, but then that's the magic bullet in finding a niche that isn't covered on SM.  Basically, you need an audience to capture an audience.
To ignore SM media as a competitor and try to spin it as a source for your own site is a bit of a misnomer. Of course it's a competitor and a hugely successful and popular one, that's why they have millions of users and for someone wanting to capture their attention it's a ready-made platform.  To entice them away from that multitude you have to offer them something they can't find there.
I'm not saying that it's pointless trying, we have to try, but we also have to admit that it's an uphill struggle and not one that will resolve itself in a short space of time.
If you can find a niche that's not already covered (good luck on that one) in this day and age, then you may have something to work with.  Back in the day, before the rise of SM, opening a site would instantly attract registrations, which would quickly follow by more as the word spread.  I remember my first site, using the then free version of Invisionboard, I had hundred of members within a week.  Sadly, those days are gone.
I take my hat off to anyone opening up their own site now.  My advice to them would be to make sure you have acquired a small audience that are ready to join up and help you build something, hopefully, magnificent.  If you are starting up and have found a niche that no one else has yet cornered and there is a ready-made audience gagging to join up, then good on you.  But if you are starting up on your own no one has your back and you're treading on territory already well covered, then I feel for you.
Business models are a different breed from hobbyist models and if they are well-established with a good solid customer base then they may benefit from using the IPS suite.  Startups are less likely to do this, unless they are an online business and need a shopping site, as they will be spending all of their time, money and energy getting their business off the ground.  Perhaps this is why IPS are geared towards Corporates as they are already established.  I don't blame IPS and I don't lay any blame at the software - it's just the way of the world and it is ever evolving and businesses need to evolve with it or they will soon be left behind.
I would like to see the hobbyist market be more inclusive in communications as it is still a big part of IPS, probably more in numbers than in monetary terms, but we do like to be notice for our small contributions 🙂
 

I use the option of Pages creating the Topics for comments to do two things at once.  Even with shorter stuff because there's the Article which I want/need to promote and the forums for the chatter about said article.  I am in several Press guilds and while I'm not published in MotorTrend or Car & Driver, I do rub elbows with them and would like my articles to look professional and not just a post on a forum.
I'll select some articles to share tomorrow.

You can do this in the language file and change it to whatever you want - there are numerous instances of the word "forum" or "forums" so it's a matter of trial and error which ones affect what parts of the board.

 

Your icons may look different from mine but you get the idea.
Once you hit translate just search for the word you want to change - in this instance "forum".
I changed mine to discussions - as below:

If you don't want to display it at all then things become a little more complex - you can either edit the template files, or use CSS to hide it.  If you mean in your URL then there is a translation change you can make that affects the name of the application, but I would advise against that as some third party apps, or even future IPS updates, may require it.
It's doable, but may come at a price.  I'd just change the name in the translation rather than trying to get rid of it.
Hope that helps 🙂
 

I don't know about you, but I'm wondering if it's perhaps overdue that IPS got stuck into a huge performance and speed based review and implement it in the next medium sized update! I think a lot has changed in recent years in relation to site performance. Core Vitals in Lighthouse as many admins will be aware are now much more important in terms of SEO ranking, performance isn't just for the obsessed enthusiasts any longer!
Google Search Console tells me that on one of my IPS Communities, my Mobile Pagespeed test result sucks, just 28%-30% at present, so I started checking a few things under the hood. I like to keep my sites high performing, so I was quite surprised it was so low. 
One thing I found out in minutes looking at the optimisation list and then checking my IPS configuration is that if you have the IPS Lazy Loading feature enabled, it doesn't apply to your uploaded images in Advertisements or Post Author Member Group Icons. Both are shown in my topic view so I get scored down on mobile in particular.
I think it's now time that Native Lazy Loading was offered, either as a choice or as the default if enabled.
Also where possible IPS should support Local WebP conversion via the Task Manager.
I know some of us sometimes bash IPS for not delivering more obvious updates like Gallery, Blog, Pages and Commerce improvements for the sake of instead quick things like disabling features but IPS4 is quite a huge behemoth these days, no matter your pricey VPS, CiC, use of Redis pools etc.
More performance improvements I'd like to see considered include...
(Now admittedly I'm basing this list on a similar big audit that another website framework I invested in conducted and implemented last year. These are the options you can now simply toggle off/on as a result in their Dashboard. They can make a huge difference to bloat.)
Dynamic Modular Framework
Enable this to allow the IPS Framework to only load code that are actually used on the page, and process the logic for the features in actual use.
Dynamic CSS
Dynamic CSS could greatly reduce CSS file size by dynamically generating only the styles and assets necessary for the features and modules you actually use. This eliminates most if not all CSS file bloat and greatly improves load times.
Dynamic Icons
Font Awesome is 2 generations behind. The FA4 icon font could be broken up into various subsets. These subsets are loaded only when needed based on the modules and features used on each page. If you need access to the entire icon font on all pages (for example, if you are using lots of FA icons in a custom theme or want to allow members to insert them via the post editor), then you could disable this option and load the entire icon font library on all pages.
Load Dynamic Stylesheet In-line
This option dequeues the IPS style.css file and prints the needed contents in-line. This removes a render blocking request and improves the PageSpeed scores of individual pages. However, it also prevents the style.css file from being cached. Since the stylesheet is often smaller when dynamic or critical, it could be recommended to keep this option enabled. Accepted there are some potential CSP-related security concerns with inline CSS an or JS.
Critical CSS
Critical CSS greatly improves website load times and Google PageSpeed scores by deferring non-critical styles and eliminating render-blocking CSS requests. Critical CSS often covers what most users see when first loading the page, so called 'above the fold' content.
Critical Threshold Height
When Critical CSS is enabled, IPS would determine an "above the fold threshold" and defer all styles for elements below the fold. However, this threshold is just a estimate and can vary on different devices. Increasing threshold height will deffer fewer styles, resulting in slightly slower load times but less of a chance for Cumulative Layout Shifts to occur. If you are experiencing CLS issues you can then increase or lower the threshold 'height' via a drop-down low, medium, high setting.
Dynamic JavaScript Libraries
When enabled, IPS would only load external JavaScript libraries when they are needed by a specific sections or modules on the page. This removes unused JavaScript from the main scripts bundle and improves load times.
Improve Google Fonts Loading
Enable caching of Google Fonts and load them inline. This reduces render-blocking requests and improves page load times. Also presents an opportunity to switch to the Google Fonts API, to offer a dynamic dropdown list to allow admin to choose from all available GFonts. The Task Manager could check for and cache new versions of selected fonts in use weekly.
Limit Google Fonts Support For Legacy Browsers
Enabling this option will lower the size of Google Fonts and improve load times, however it will limit Google Fonts support in some very old browsers. You can turn this off to increase support for losers insisting on their older insecure browsers at a slight cost to performance.
Defer jQuery And jQuery Migrate
When possible, jQuery and jQuery Migrate could be moved to the body to speed up load times. If a third party plugin registers jQuery as a dependency, it would be moved back to the head.
Enqueue jQuery Compatibility Script
Some third party scripts may be incorrectly enqueued without declaring jQuery as dependency. If jQuery is deferred, these scripts could break. If you are experiencing console errors after enabling the "Defer jQuery And jQuery Migrate" option, you can enable this option, which will load an additional compatibility script that will attempt to solve the issue. (You can turn this feature off if everything is working fine without it).
Defer Additional Third Party Scripts
Warning: This can cause JavaScript errors in some cases and should be used with care. When enabled, scripts registered by plugins and themes will be deferred to improve performance and jQuery will always be loaded in the body.

It would be useful to be able to set Sort By defaults from the menu options available - for example: 

If I wanted to set 'Highest Rated' as default click it and then have a save button at the bottom - this way it will always be the default when access the page.  Why?  Because not all sort by options are available in the ACP (whether as an oversight or whatever) having the ability to do this would be a boon for everyone wanting to default to a choice of their own.
The image below is from another software:

Add this to your custom CSS file and determine which font you want to change in mobile view.  The example below changes the normal font size so experiment with the size until you get where you need to be 🙂
If you want to change a different font size then you will need to know which font it is.  The @media command determines when to change the font size when a smaller screen is detected.
@media (max-width: 979px) { .ipsType_normal { font-size: 16.0px; } }