For example, I got a message from the user “system” saying “Thanks for spending time with us.” I have no time for these automated distractions and I would like to disable them, but there is no option to mute the system user as with other users.
I also would prefer not to see notifications about badges that I have earned.
Is there any way to improve this or do I just have to accept these infuriating nudges in order to participate here?
It is possible to disable badges globally for the whole Discourse forum in admin settings. They likely were enabled by default, I’d be fine with disabling them if others support this idea.
This website is a https://www.discourse.org deployment. Probably need to look for feature requests there.
Also you may consider setting up email notifications (which do not notify you about new badges) and simply ignoring in-app notifications on this forum. The “system” user hasn’t bothered me ever since that “Thanks for spending time” message.
I too dislike this and disable it on every Discourse I join - it’s buried in Preferences → Interface, scroll to the bottom and look for “Skip new user onboarding tips and badges” and tick it on. There are a ton of things in Discourse settings to dig through while you’re in there, fine tune your experience.