Any news about Xenforo 3.0, can we expect modern forum?

[qnkov]

Hello. For half a year, I have been looking for a modern forum system to start an anime/manga site with various features. For example, a video system for watching movies/episodes, a way to add manga/anime as pages with information about them, topics with posters, etc. I saw that all of this is possible with Invision Community.

I waited to see version 5, but it turned out that the self-hosted platform is extremely expensive and has functionality limits. They also changed the way we acquire add-ons, significantly restricting options, and almost no themes exist for their latest version.

On the other hand, XenForo seems like a better alternative in terms of user base and price, but the forum and themes, in general, look like they’re from the early 2000s. I understand that some may find this nostalgic, but it looks incredibly outdated and is not visually appealing.

That’s why I’m wondering what exactly to expect with version 3.0. Can we anticipate a modern interface similar to Invision Community? I really don't want to go to invision as they may drop self-hosted in next version, as they aim for big comapanies, not common users now.

 

[Wing]

This situation really sucks.

I am genuinely wondering if 2.4 or 3.0 ever comes out. 2.4 should have come out more than a year ago(!) and Kier seems to have gone AWOL a long time ago.

The XF teams should just be honest about this whole situation. Be fair to your customers.

I mean, there’s a reason why we all have been talking about this subject so much over the last 3 years. Even after thousands of pages of posts with similar feedback or concerns - nothing really has changed.

 

[Brad P]

I’ve been with XenForo since the very beginning and still genuinely believe it’s the best forum software out there from a core stability/usability standpoint. But I think a lot of long-time customers are now just looking for some clearer communication on the direction of things moving forward.

@Chris D , you seem to be the only developer/community-facing presence consistently active lately, so would it be possible to give the community some kind of update on where things currently stand with XenForo and Kier?

Not asking for promises or release dates, just a bit more transparency really. A lot of us have invested well over a decade into the platform and want to feel reassured about the future direction of it.

 

[dutchbb]

Post in thread 'If XenForo's finished, what's next?'

Dec 5, 2025

Let me address a few concerns floating around.

I apologise for the recent silence. Work on XenForo 2.4 is ongoing. A new HYS is coming soon, and we are targeting a release for some point in 2026. As for 2.3.8, we’re aiming to release that before Christmas, or shortly after the New Year.

To be blunt, this year has been incredibly difficult for the team personally. We've faced a wave of health issues, bereavements, and family emergencies. When a small team gets hit with this much "real life" all at once, productivity takes a hit. It’s noticeable, and we know we didn't get it right this...

• Chris D

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• 

 

[smallwheels]

Be fair to your customers.

The customers should be fair, too, and you are not.

I am genuinely wondering if 2.4 or 3.0 ever comes out.

2.4 should have come out more than a year ago(!)

Obviously you ignore everything that has been said about that topic. In December last year Chris has clearly set the timeline for 2.4 to "some time in 2026":

Post in thread 'If XenForo's finished, what's next?'

Dec 5, 2025

Let me address a few concerns floating around.

I apologise for the recent silence. Work on XenForo 2.4 is ongoing. A new HYS is coming soon, and we are targeting a release for some point in 2026. As for 2.3.8, we’re aiming to release that before Christmas, or shortly after the New Year.

To be blunt, this year has been incredibly difficult for the team personally. We've faced a wave of health issues, bereavements, and family emergencies. When a small team gets hit with this much "real life" all at once, productivity takes a hit. It’s noticeable, and we know we didn't get it right this...

• Chris D

• 
• 

It seems pretty obvious that 3.0 won't be released before 2.4 but only a while later. Maybe you should read the thread from that cited posting on.

Over the last 12 month there were four releases:



So it is not as if nothing would be happening.

This thread started as a constructive debate about what one could or should expect from a modern forum, mainly in the sense of ui (b/c that is what 3.0 is about). Once more, the notorious whiners have taken over the thread recently and started again to do what they did last autumn in countless threads: Endless whining and complaining and in endless loops repeating themselves, linving in a dream world and in complete ignorance of the thread topic and the information that has been around. Nobody needs that and it is completely destructive.

 

[Brad P]

The customers should be fair, too, and you are not.



Obviously you ignore everything that has been said about that topic. In December last year Chris has clearly set the timeline for 2.4 to "some time in 2026":

Post in thread 'If XenForo's finished, what's next?'

Dec 5, 2025

Let me address a few concerns floating around.

I apologise for the recent silence. Work on XenForo 2.4 is ongoing. A new HYS is coming soon, and we are targeting a release for some point in 2026. As for 2.3.8, we’re aiming to release that before Christmas, or shortly after the New Year.

To be blunt, this year has been incredibly difficult for the team personally. We've faced a wave of health issues, bereavements, and family emergencies. When a small team gets hit with this much "real life" all at once, productivity takes a hit. It’s noticeable, and we know we didn't get it right this...

• Chris D

• 
• 

It seems pretty obvious that 3.0 won't be released before 2.4 but only a while later. Maybe you should read the thread from that cited posting on.

Over the last 12 month there were four releases:

View attachment 337699

So it is not as if nothing would be happening.

This thread started as a constructive debate about what one could or should expect from a modern forum, mainly in the sense of ui (b/c that is what 3.0 is about). Once more, the notorious whiners have taken over the thread recently and started again to do what they did last autumn in countless threads: Endless whining and complaining and in endless loops repeating themselves, linving in a dream world and in complete ignorance of the thread topic and the information that has been around. Nobody needs that and it is completely destructive.

I think that’s where a lot of the frustration is coming from lately. Most of us long-term customers understand software development takes time and nobody is expecting daily updates or unrealistic promises, but the silence over long periods starts creating uncertainty.

A lot of customers vbuilt communities, businesses and projects around XenForo because of the confidence we had in the platform and the people behind it. That trust is still there, but I think people just want to feel connected to the direction of the platform again.

Chris has honestly carried a lot of the visible communication side recently, which people do appreciate, but it would definitely help calm concerns if there was a broader update about the future vision and where things stand overall.

 

[smallwheels]

but the silence over long periods starts creating uncertainty.

Sure. But atm there is a time frame set "some time in 2026" and it has not run out. Yet, the very same people that made this forum a horrible, useless and toxic place last autumn by taking over and destroying thread after thread with whining start now to do this again. In all fairness: If you (not literally you) are in sorrow about delays or the release date of 2.4 or the communication (which is all understandable): Create a thread for that instead of destroying others, completely ignoring the thread topic. In the end it will only be a repetition of last year's debate anyway as there are no new arguments that one could post.

 

[Semper]

Giving a range of 12 months even for software development is not reasonable, especially when at the end of the 12 months we will hear "finally it will probably be in 2027"… delay, as usual.

I left more than 18 months ago now and I no longer connected to XenForo, a few weeks ago I came back to take a look and I was half surprised that nothing had changed except a few HYS...

 

[Brad P]

Sure. But atm there is a time frame set "some time in 2026" and it has not run out. Yet, the very same people that made this forum a horrible, useless and toxic place last autumn by taking over and destroying thread after thread with whining start now to do this again. In all fairness: If you (not literally you) are in sorrow about delays or the release date of 2.4 or the communication (which is all understandable): Create a thread for that instead of destroying others, completely ignoring the thread topic. In the end it will only be a repetition of last year's debate anyway as there are no new arguments that one could post.

That’s fair, and I do agree there’s a difference between constructive discussion and threads getting completely derailed. I don’t think most long-term customers raising concerns are trying to intentionally make the place toxic though.

A lot of it probably comes from people caring about the platform because many of us have been here for well over a decade now. When communication slows down, people naturally start speculating and repeating the same concerns.

But you are right that constantly dragging every thread into the same debate doesn’t really help either, especially when this thread was originally about XF3 expectations rather than wider frustrations around communication.

 

[philmckrackon]

Go buy Vbulletin and stop complaining.

@Anthony Parsons . Just want an update. I'm worried about what it will break. Thankfully I can test on copies of my working sites but a lot of others do not have that luxury.

 

[smallwheels]

Giving a range of 12 months even for software development is not reasonable

Based on which knowledge and experience do you claim that?

especially when at the end of the 12 months we will hear "finally it will probably be in 2027"… delay, as usual.

If you already know that, why do you require a shorter time frame or a more exact date? To be precise, the wording was: "we are targeting a release date some point in 2026." Targeting. Not promising. And this non-exact timeframe was a learning from the past, where targets were taken as promises and unexpected delays hit the team. So they got more realistic Yet you demand unrealistic promises - and complain at the same time that they would be broken. You think you know it better. Based on which foundation? Apart from that: This is a thread about 3.0. There is - as far as I know - currently no timeline for 3.0. It comes after 2.4 and 2.4 is targeted for some point in 2026. You are not even a customer. So why do you even care?

I'm worried about what it will break.

Nothing will break with 3.0 before it is released. So you can relax as it does not even have a date on it. This thread is about news about 3.0 (there are none) and expectations what people would like to see in it. If you are worried that something may break be assured: It is probably quite a shot until 3.0 and if you are worried you can simply stay on 2.3.

Thankfully I can test on copies of my working sites but a lot of others do not have that luxury.

Don't you think before you can test it 3.0 would have to be released? Apart from that: Nobody forces you to upgrade and even less directly after release. You won't win a price for that, not even with 2.4. once it get's released. And possibly you won't be able to upgrade immediately anyway if you are using add ons as many of them probably will have to be updated first. So what's your point?

 

[Tamer]

Talking, talking, and just talking. Probably the Illuminati.

 

[Semper]

So why do you even care?

Why not?
Who are you?

 

[JamesBrown]

nothing really has changed.

Well certainly not in the moaning department it hasn't. Same old, same old.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Who are you?

I'm nobody. I was one of the first registered here when XF opened out of VB, within the opening minutes. I have spent tens of thousands of early addon development, including financing the VB4 importer when XF first opened, as it only had a VB3 importer. Spent thousands on licenses and additions to support XF through all the early legal crap. Blah blah blah blah... still nobody, just an end user.

What the majority wanted from Xenforo - stability, performance, not rushed updates, no rushed features, no bloating the software with popular addons. These are all the mistakes made in VB and Invision, which become bloatware. Xenforo is not meant to be constantly updated with nonsense, it was software that everyone wanted stability and the ability to modify without heavy database calls.

People keep forgetting all these basics, or have no idea about them. If you bloat software, it comes with serious problems. There are developers who make amazing designs for this software. They keep the look of your site modern. Devs making amazing addons to mimic popular features in social media platforms. This was always the intent and purpose of Xenforo. You don't want XF devs focused on chasing ever changing Internet security/spam measures. Leave it to the end user on what they want, need, for their setup. VB collapsed and is a nothing platform today because of all these mistakes. They listened to end users wanting constant updates, more features, more, more, more, and to run the damn thing you needed a 4 core CPU server for a basic install.

If you have no idea about the history, ask questions / do some research back into earlier discussions and history of Xenforo.

What you think you want, isn't really what you want, if you have any idea about the history of VB, which was the biggest platform, until it wasn't. If you don't understand the performance consequences of additions and features, then you shouldn't be asking for them to begin with.

 

[Semper]

I'm nobody.

I know.

if you have any idea about the history of VB

I used vB since 2000.

What the majority wanted from Xenforo - stability, performance

So it takes them 2 years to check if 3.0 will be stable? And so much for 2.4? And where did you read that I wanted an endless addition of additional options?

still nobody, just an end user.

I still know.

 

[smallwheels]

So it takes them 2 years to check if 3.0 will be stable? And so much for 2.4?

Obviously not. Seems you are not interested in or able to a constructive discussion but just want to troll.

I left more than 18 months ago

This would then have been in or before September 2024. 2.3 had been released just before that (in July 2024) and 2.4 was announced on September 18th 2024, at that time with an pretty optimistic release corridor assumption: "We are currently targeting a release between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025." You may recognize or ignore that even back then this was not a promised release date (as the moaning department insists) but a more or less vague assumption (that turned out to be way too optimistic) and a timeframe of 6 months.

So when you switched away from XF 2.4 was not delayed (and possibly not even announced) which makes your argumentation somewhat weak.

Of course, parts of what had initially been planned to be in 2.3 (new style) had been announced to be shifted into 3.0 already back in September 2023, when 2.3 was announced. So it shouldn't have come in as a surprise. The announcement of 2.4 may have come in as such, as in December 2023 it was communicated 3.0 would be announced in 2024 (which it obviously wasn't, for reasons that were explained in the 2.4 announcement): "Behind the scenes, exciting work is continuing on XenForo 3, which will release in 2024."

Of course you could know all that, being obviously more eager for new XF releases than I am, and maybe you do know it. It is obvious, that the predictions of the XF team lacked reliability in the past and that communication from the XF team is no doubt an annoying and ongoing issue. Yet still your postings ignore all the communication and explanation that have happened over the last years - either b/c you are not interested in what has happened or deliberately to enforce your trolling.

 

[Semper]

Obviously not. Seems you are not interested in or able to a constructive discussion but just want to troll.

This would then have been in or before September 2024. 2.3 had been released just before that (in July 2024) and 2.4 was announced on September 18th 2024, at that time with an pretty optimistic release corridor assumption: "We are currently targeting a release between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025." You may recognize or ignore that even back then this was not a promised release date (as the moaning department insists) but a more or less vague assumption (that turned out to be way too optimistic) and a timeframe of 6 months.

So when you switched away from XF 2.4 was not delayed (and possibly not even announced) which makes your argumentation somewhat weak.

Of course, parts of what had initially been planned to be in 2.3 (new style) had been announced to be shifted into 3.0 already back in September 2023, when 2.3 was announced. So it shouldn't have come in as a surprise. The announcement of 2.4 may have come in as such, as in December 2023 it was communicated 3.0 would be announced in 2024 (which it obviously wasn't, for reasons that were explained in the 2.4 announcement): "Behind the scenes, exciting work is continuing on XenForo 3, which will release in 2024."

Of course you could know all that, being obviously more eager for new XF releases than I am, and maybe you do know it. It is obvious, that the predictions of the XF team lacked reliability in the past and that communication from the XF team is no doubt an annoying and ongoing issue. Yet still your postings ignore all the communication and explanation that have happened over the last years - either b/c you are not interested in what has happened or deliberately to enforce your trolling.

You are a good advocate for the XF case. But don't take it too seriously, we're only talking about forum software. I left for 18 months and when I came back almost nothing changed, that's all I see.

 

[smallwheels]

You are a good advocate for the XF case.

Not really and I am not even interested in being that. I am just annoyed by the everlasting moaning and the false claims and disinformation tied to that which then leads to misled information, misled expectations and a spiral of destructiveness as the consequence. We've seen that in autumn last year and also what the outcome was for the culture of and the mood in the forum. Not desirable.

But don't take it too seriously, we're only talking about forum software.

The moaner's department seems to take it very seriously as they behave like they are tortured and their life would depend from 2.4 and 3.0 to be released within the next five minutes. Also, for many customers on here their forum is important, so naturally they take new information and new releases seriously. Finally, and this is way more important to me, the XF crew probably takes it very seriously, too, as the software is their product. In fact, it is expected from them to take it seriously by the customers and they probably do. So if you are not a troll it is a matter of respect towards others to stick to the facts.

 

[Wing]

Not really and I am not even interested in being that. I am just annoyed by the everlasting moaning and the false claims and disinformation tied to that which then leads to misled information, misled expectations and a spiral of destructiveness as the consequence. We've seen that in autumn last year and also what the outcome was for the culture of and the mood in the forum.

What’s hilarious is you’ve been saying this for 3 years now. Yet the reality shows - nothing has actually changed in regards to Xenforo. Eventually people take notice of this instead of remaining delusional.

 

[Tamer]

Just because you feel enlightened doesn’t mean you need to make a spectacle of it.