I never used discourse, but will check to see if I find anything that is better there.

Might want to check https://www.discourse.org/features

On the first glance, the interface looked known to me. That is because I have been part of the 99designs community which is based on similar/same forum. From UX point of view, its a better option, easy to navigate, read through and good with all other features like badges, profile info etc. attaching below - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YASJMVljrWf0H4zd3AMYPqZCAdwHm7BZ/view?usp=sharing