I guess this is sorta applicable thread. But have we considered a different forum software? I have asked about it before but never really got a response. This site looks the same as it did when I joined almost a decade ago.
I own a couple other forums, and we use IPboard. No need for taptalk or anything like that because it has a mobile skin and a free mobile app. Also, it's like $125 to set up and $25 to upgrade, so cost is nothing since I know this board operates on donations.
It has features like being able to quote multiple posts, you can like posts, there are lots of cool things you can do with it that are pretty basic for most forums these days, and it would alleviate the need to have any 3rd party software.