About the XF update

[sbj]

Since this announcement 2 months has past and I wonder about the current status.

No new developer was added to the team since then, and I see less and less activity from the official developers. There is also no XF update since the last one which was 15 months ago.

Should we be concerned at this point because I am.

Thanks.

 

[andybond]

Concerned about what exactly?

Security releases and bug fixes are actively being released. Chris D is on here frequently addressing issues and updating things.

Are you asking when is 2.2 coming?

 

[Ozzy47]

No update? XF received an update on Jan 27th.

 

[sbj]

I am not concerned about the security of the software, as you say indeed it gets taken care of. I would say this is the best side of XF since the beginning. They never slowed their fixes in that regard. Nevertheless I am also expecting progress with the software and I feel we are left behind at this point compared to modern technology and I thought the last update will help about this problem, as they wanted to hire someone. But so far there is no sign of life yet and I just wanted to ask.

 

[webbouk]

The very latest uptodate all singing all dancing software won't attract users to your forums, your content and member activity does that.

Any new version will be ready ....... when it's ready

 

[gerryvz]

After several years of playing around with XF (since April 2015, when I bought my first license), I finally migrated my vBulletin 4.2 system to XF 2.1 on March 10, 2019. I migrated to the latest version available, version 2.1.0, which was released in January 2019. Literally three days after migrating, XF released version 2.1.1.

In the exactly 11 months (to the day) since March 10, 2019, we have had XF 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, 2.1.5, 2.1.6, and now 2.1.7 recently released. Roughly, that's a release about every 5-6 weeks.

While pretty much all of the releases have been bug- and security fixes, I find it difficult to believe that folks feel that XenForo development is slowing down, has less and less activity, and is falling behind.

If you've ever been on vBulletin 4.x .....now THAT's a situation that one can credibly say that development slowed down and fell behind. Actually, it stopped cold in its tracks long about 2013. After 2015, vBulletin 4 was 100% tumbleweeds from a development perspective.

While I DO wish that the XenForo developers would provide a little more of a roadmap -- particularly from a technical standpoint -- into general directions of what is coming, what is being investigated, and so forth, I certainly could never claim that the development has slowed down.

 

[Max Taxable]

While I DO wish that the XenForo developers would provide a little more of a roadmap -- particularly from a technical standpoint -- into general directions of what is coming

I wouldn't give competitors any roadmap, or share publicly any innovations I'm planning, were I xenForo.

 

[sbj]

Look, I am not a new member. I am pretty much following XF since 2010, while owning a license since 2013 and I am active in the community trying to help people as much as I can. Also I am planning a lot of new stuff for my small community and I think I am being successful for the niche I am in.

Security releases are done periodically every 6-8 weeks. That is not what I am talking about, please stop mentioning this.

They pretty much said in their last update that they are behind their schedule (which I suspected for a long time anyway). They were not talking about the security patches. I am talking about the main core software. IPS announced apps for their members last week. Nobody is talking about vB. XF devs apart from Chris stopped participating in the community for many many years now. Now one can say that this is intended to focus on development, but here we are. The last feature to the system was added 15 months ago. Do I expect too much thinking that 15 months are enough time to see a new update? And how long does it take it to hire another developer as they announced they will do so?

I am advocating everywhere and keep suggesting to everyone to get XF as their forum solution. You don't need to convince me how good XF is. That is besides my point. I am concerned about the progress and involvement of the developers. The front mainpage is still using their (modified) XF 1.0 version. 10 years past and they didn't update their main page. The modern world evolves much faster. Maybe my expactations are high, maybe not.

 

[andybond]

XF devs apart from Chris stopped participating in the community for many many years now

Kier has been active : https://xenforo.com/community/members/kier.2/#latest-activity
So has Mike : https://xenforo.com/community/members/mike.3/#latest-activity

They pretty much said in their last update that they are behind their schedule

I have missed this thread , could you cite it for me?

 

[Ozzy47]

I have missed this thread , could you cite it for me?

An update from XenForo

Recently, we've had a few questions regarding our progress towards version 2.2 of XenForo, so it feels like the time is right to post an update to keep you all in the loop. First things first, we have to say that 2.2 isn't as far along as we would have liked. However, it is now our primary...

xenforo.com

 

[Chris D]

A few things.

1) XenForo 2.1 was released exactly one year, one week and a few days ago. Not 15 months ago.

2) Kier and Mike are still active developers of XenForo. I’m not sure how many times we will need to repeat this point. Short of giving everyone public access to our git logs to prove just how active they are in development I have no idea what else to tell you or how else to say it.

3) It seems presumptuous to assume that we haven’t yet concluded our recruitment. In fact, we have and this was pivotal to XF 2.1.7 taking shape as wholly as it did, despite it being slightly earlier than planned due to the security issue.

4) In addition to 2.1.7 all hands have been on deck for 2.2 and the updated XF homepage (and associated systems). We will continue to work collectively on 2.2 until it is ready but for obvious reasons we won’t be giving a running commentary on development. All I can do is assure you that progress is being made towards our goals, and we’re excited to show everyone what we’ve been working on.

 

[andybond]

An update from XenForo

Recently, we've had a few questions regarding our progress towards version 2.2 of XenForo, so it feels like the time is right to post an update to keep you all in the loop. First things first, we have to say that 2.2 isn't as far along as we would have liked. However, it is now our primary...

xenforo.com

I even liked the thread ! Whoops. Thanks for the link though @ozzy47

To an extent I understand your frustrations @sbj but if we look at the release gaps between point versions of the software, they fluctuate hugely. I too requested a roadmap.

Keep the faith I say.

 

[Ozzy47]

I too requested a roadmap

That had been discussed many times, and it's something that they won't do.

 

[andybond]

That had been discussed many times, and it's something that they won't do.

Understood, and happy to accept that its part of what Xenforo is , or isnt.

 

[sbj]

@Chris D
Okay, thanks.

Does this mean you hired already someone? That is what I understand from point 3.

 

[Max Taxable]

Understood, and happy to accept that its part of what Xenforo is , or isnt.

I don't understand the whole roadmap thing. Telling your competitors, your plans. I don't grok.

 

[andybond]

I don't understand the whole roadmap thing. Telling your competitors, your plans. I don't grok.

It can be as vague as you like. It gives an insight into things you might like to introduce. I work in the Wintel environment and we have roadmaps. Helps me to understand where we are going.

 

[Ozzy47]

Does this mean you hired already someone? That is what I understand from point 3.

You would understand correctly.

 

[Ozzy47]

It can be as vague as you like.

They have a vague roadmap,

XenForo suggestions

Please post any suggestion that you'd like to see as part of XenForo here. If you have a suggestion for an official add-on, please use the correct add-on suggestion forum. If you have a suggestion for a third-party add-on, please post it in the add-on's thread.

xenforo.com

 

[sbj]

Not that I think a roadmap is what I miss, but we are not in the Cold War anymore. We are not hiding nuclear weapon technologies. Today every decent dev knows about the latest technologies anyway. There are no secret features nobody heard of before.

@ozzy47
Okay, thanks. That is good news actually.

Can the public know who it is then?