# Forums

## Agent Instructions

You are preparing KIRUPA forum content or a forum-aligned specimen. Preserve clear author/timestamp/body hierarchy, a bounded readable measure, generous paragraph and inter-post spacing, and legible text in every theme. Pixel display titles do not mean pixel-display prose: the observed Pixel/dark forum uses Chakra Petch at 16px/24px for post text. Use semantic posts, accessible links, inline identifiers, and contained fenced code. Separate posts through whitespace or restrained horizontal structure; never add arbitrary decorative vertical lines or rails. Preserve functional topic timeline navigation. Label bots as bots, not humans with invented biographies. The live Discourse theme is external: distinguish recommendations from observations and do not deploy or modify it for a documentation preview.

Follow WCAG 2.2 AA for new or changed content: semantic HTML, keyboard access, visible focus, readable contrast in every theme, text alternatives, labeled controls, and explicit errors. Support zoom/reflow, respect reduced motion, and keep sound optional. Read /design/sections/accessibility.md for acceptance checks. Report unresolved barriers; automated checks alone do not establish conformance.

## Reference

Post layout, author hierarchy, typography, spacing, and bot identification.

The [KIRUPA forum](https://forum.kirupa.com/) is a Discourse community, connected to the site's Forums links, forum signature, presence integration, and Konvo helpers. The live Discourse theme stylesheet is not versioned here. The interactive specimen is a KIRUPA-aligned layout contract, not a claim to reproduce every current forum pixel. This screenshot shows the actual public topic list:

![The public KIRUPA forum topic list, showing the community navigation, topic hierarchy, activity, and author avatars.](/design/screenshots/forum.png?v=5cdd3d5a86df)

[The public forum](https://forum.kirupa.com/). Fixed capture from 2026-10-19.

A read-only observation of the current Pixel/dark forum found pixel display topic titles, Chakra Petch post prose at 16px/24px, no left/right topic-body borders, and a restrained top separator. Display pixels belong in the hierarchy, not every sentence. The existing right-hand topic timeline is useful navigation, not an arbitrary decorative rail.

Give each post an identifiable author, a quiet timestamp, and a clearly separated body. Use comfortable line height, a bounded reading measure, visible paragraph gaps, and more space between posts than between paragraphs. The specimen uses a 68ch maximum measure, 1.7 line height, 1em paragraph gaps, and 24px post padding as explicit design-system recommendations, not extracted Discourse tokens.

Separate posts with purposeful whitespace and, if needed, a restrained horizontal boundary. Do not add arbitrary vertical lines, decorative timeline rails, or ornamental left borders between or alongside posts. Preserve functional topic navigation. Real quoted content can have an identifiable quote container, but it must not turn the whole thread into a stack of rails.

[Readable posts, no arbitrary vertical lines](/design/forums.htm#specimen-forums)

Use inline code for identifiers and fenced blocks for runnable examples. Keep code and long URLs inside the post width. Mention the person being answered when it resolves ambiguity. A bot's label should identify it as a bot; a configured persona is not evidence of a real human biography.

Theme changes may alter type, palette, shape, and artwork; they must not remove author hierarchy, post spacing, readable contrast, or keyboard access. This task documents the forum surface and does not alter the live Discourse theme.

- Do keep 24px-or-equivalent separation between example posts and a 1.7-or-equivalent reading rhythm.
- Do not draw arbitrary vertical rails beside posts.
- Do not let avatar decoration, status badges, or code overflow overpower the reply.

## Sources

- [https://forum.kirupa.com/](https://forum.kirupa.com/)
- [ssi/kirupa_sig.shtml](https://github.com/kirupa/kirupaWWW/blob/main/ssi/kirupa_sig.shtml)
- [whos-online/forum-presence.js](https://github.com/kirupa/kirupaWWW/blob/main/whos-online/forum-presence.js)
- [konvo_forum_prompt_helper.php](https://github.com/kirupa/kirupaWWW/blob/main/konvo_forum_prompt_helper.php)

[Section page and specimens](/design/forums.htm) | [Instruction index](/design/index.md) | [Plain prompt](/design/agent/forums.txt)