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The Discourse Reader node enables you to fetch and analyze topics from your Discourse forum, making it ideal for community monitoring, content analysis, and automated responses.

Node Inputs

Required Fields

  • Number of Topics: Specify how many topics to fetch from your forum

Optional Fields

  • Use Dates?: Enable date-based filtering
    • Date Range: Choose from predefined ranges (last 7 days, last month, etc.)
    • Use Exact Dates?: Toggle for custom date range
      • Start Date (UTC): Beginning of date range
      • End Date (UTC): End of date range

Node Outputs

  • Topic Titles: List of topic titles from the forum
  • Topic URLs: List of links to each topic
  • Topic Replies: List of replies for each topic

Node Setup

Example Workflows

1. Community Sentiment Analysis

Discourse Reader → Categorizer → Slack Message Sender
Setup:
- Fetch last 7 days of topics
- Use the AI Categorizer node to analyze sentiment
- Send weekly sentiment analysis summary to Slack
Benefits: Track community mood and trending issues

2. Auto-Response System

Discourse Reader → Extract Data → AI Filter → Airtable Writer
Setup:
- Monitor new topics continuously (setup a time based trigger)
- Extract key information (category, urgency)
- Filter for support requests
- Log in Airtable for team tracking
Benefits: Quick response to community needs

3. Content Curation

Discourse Reader → Summarizer → Extract Data → CSV Writer
Setup:
- Fetch top discussions
- Generate concise summaries
- Extract key points and insights
- Export to structured format
Benefits: Create digestible content roundups

4. Knowledge Base Enhancement

Discourse Reader → AI List Sorter → Notion Page Writer
Setup:
- Gather frequently discussed topics
- Sort by relevance and engagement
- Create organized knowledge base
Benefits: Turn community discussions into documentation

Best Practices

  1. Date Filtering
    • Use date ranges for focused monitoring
    • Consider timezone differences when setting exact dates
    • Use the Datetime node to pass the date dynamically if exact dates is enabled
  2. Topic Management
    • Start with smaller topic numbers for testing
  3. Integration Tips
    • Combine with AI nodes for automated analysis
    • Use notification nodes for important updates
The Discourse Reader node streamlines community management by providing automated access to forum discussions and enabling sophisticated analysis workflows.
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