@marusaky Good post. The real issue with Flarum is that even the most minor of changes requires a extension, which is crazy. With NodeBB, you can make changes on the fly very easily, and without too much effort.
There is an element of learning when it comes to making changes to any platform, but Javascript is not difficult at all once you get used to it, and there’s also extensive support for jQuery (and hundreds of code snippets on the internet you can easily adapt and tailor to your own needs)
For years, phpBB used to reign supreme - now it’s incredibly dated, and always did have the most confusing admin panel I’ve ever seen.