Latest 2.3 Finished Release Recommendations

[SeriousRat]

We are planning on updating to Xenforo from 4.2.5 and moving our entire forum. This will also include any additions as needed to reminate our current forum, SeriousOffshore.com. We utilize Adaware for Ads, and Dragonbyte software for our slider and classifieds. And we will move to a larger updated server and an different updated OS. So, the questions are:
Wait for the final 2.3 to be released? (Hopefully soon?)
Join/buy now and utilize the current 2.3 Beta 7 to test and then modify when the final is released?
Join/buy now and utilize the existing 2.2.13, then redo when 2.3 is released?

We pay an administrator to do all of our major work so we do want to do what makes the most sense.

Any thoughts?

Thanks, Paul

 

[James]

I see no reason not to purchase now and do a few test imports, use a dev site to start your journey.

Note that XF 3.0 comes with a complete new style so any style changes you make will need to be completely redone - and 3.0 isn't going to be far behind 2.3.

 

[M@rc]

Join/buy now and utilize the existing 2.2, then redo when 2.3 is released?

I would do this unless you're planning to use heavy private/custom addons.

 

[SeriousRat]

I see no reason not to purchase now and do a few test imports, use a dev site to start your journey.

Note that XF 3.0 comes with a complete new style so any style changes you make will need to be completely redone - and 3.0 isn't going to be far behind 2.3.

When you say, not far behind, you're talking at least a year though, correct?

 

[Sim]

Assuming you've got quite a bit of dev work to get ready for the migration, I'd start developing / testing with XF 2.3 beta - by the time you're ready to launch, it should be out of beta and ready for production use.

 

[Forsaken]

When you say, not far behind, you're talking at least a year though, correct?

Think the target is before end of the year, but it is primarily going to focus on a new style and a new editor.

 

[Paul B]

I'd start developing / testing with XF 2.3 beta

That's what I would do.

Assuming the importer works with 2.3 (I haven't tested it).

 

[SeriousRat]

Is testing the importer with 2.3 in your near-term plans?

Or do you want us to be the guinea pigs??

 

[Paul B]

Yes, the importer will be tested once 2.3 is stable.

Feel free to try though if you wish - any feedback on issues will be helpful for updating it as needed.

 

[⭐ Alex ⭐]

guinea pigs

Maybe you'd like to upgrade to SeriousLabRat and test the importer with a complicated data set such as your forum.

And we will move to a larger updated server and an different updated OS

I see your site is not using cloudflare. You can actually use a smaller web server if you offload the work to serving cached content to cloudflare, and offload attachments to their R2 buckets.

After successfully importing from 4.2.5, I suggest you look into this Cloudflare addon and its FAQ section as it can decrease the amount of bandwidth, compute power, and storage space your server will need.

If Cloudflare saves you money or you already have some spare budget, also highly recommend you get the XenForo Enhanced Search addon to make searching your forum smooth as butter left out to stand for over an hour.

 

[SeriousRat]

We may use the one server and add another Xenforo forum. We have had great luck with HiVelocity, and upgrading to an even better one is not much different in total cost. The OS is not fully supported anymore anyway, so an update is mandatory. I thought that everything I've read the new 2.3 is much faster than the current 2.2.13? Does Cloudfare make that even better?

My Administrator already said we should buy the Enhanced Search.

I'll send this to him in a link and see if he wants to be a Lab Rat.....

 

[Paul B]

There are quite a few improvements in 2.3 with regards to performance.

XF 2.3 Thread 'Boosting performance in XenForo 2.3'

Sep 26, 2023

In today's 'Have you seen...?' entry for XenForo 2.3 we're going to look at how we've zeroed in on enhancing performance, ensuring your community has a swift and seamless experience. We're going to take a deep dive into the advancements we've made and how they stack up against various performance metrics.

But, before we get into the individual changes, let's take a quick look at the baseline - this is our current Performance score as calculated by Lighthouse for the XenForo Community forum list:

​

Here's the performance scores for some other forum software...

• Chris D
• Replies: 201
• Forum: Have you seen...?

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[SeriousRat]

That was one of the things I read about performance. Thanks for the confirmation.

 

[James]

We may use the one server and add another Xenforo forum. We have had great luck with HiVelocity, and upgrading to an even better one is not much different in total cost. The OS is not fully supported anymore anyway, so an update is mandatory. I thought that everything I've read the new 2.3 is much faster than the current 2.2.13? Does Cloudfare make that even better?

My Administrator already said we should buy the Enhanced Search.

I'll send this to him in a link and see if he wants to be a Lab Rat.....

Yeah, adding cloudflare will make things even faster. and it's free. And you can offload attachments to cloudflare too. Cloudflare will then serve them from a local data centre to your users thus reducing latency.

 

[MySiteGuy]

I see your site is not using cloudflare. You can actually use a smaller web server if you offload the work to serving cached content to cloudflare, and offload attachments to their R2 buckets.

Storing attachments in R2 buckets seems to be overkill since it's not a large forum. Standard Cloudflare caching of attachments should be sufficient. The online time I've seen storing attachments separately from the main site make any sense is if they have huge attachment bandwidth requirements.

 

[⭐ Alex ⭐]

Storing attachments in R2 buckets seems to be overkill since it's not a large forum. Standard Cloudflare caching of attachments should be sufficient. The online time I've seen storing attachments separately from the main site make any sense is if they have huge attachment bandwidth requirements.

If it's not a large forum then chances are all attachments will fit in Cloudflare R2 free tier which frees up their vps storage and opens a window to eventually having the option to downgrade to a small cloud instance $2 - $10 per month, or one with configurable and downgradeable storage.

 

[MySiteGuy]

A site that size will already fit on a low tier VPS, so the storage space isn't an issue. This seems like a solution in search of a problem.

 

[FTL]

We are planning on updating to Xenforo from 4.2.5

You're gonna be waiting a while. A really long while, if ever. lol.

 

[Paul B]

You're gonna be waiting a while. A really long while, if ever. lol.

They mean from VB 4.2.5 to XF.

 

[FTL]

Would've helped if he'd actually specified that. Makes much more sense now.