Developer access to Alpha Testing XenForo 2.0

[EQnoble]

XenForo generally goes from beta 1 to stable within 6 weeks (4 betas, 2 RCs). That is not enough time to re-write products that are thousands of lines of code. Especially on a platform they've never seen before.

And you are talking about people who try to make a living doing this, what about people who only know base php and have to bust their balls (and spend more time) to make a small addon, trading the merits and points on this is stupid and the community should not be heard at all on this issue because it invokes a field of favoritism and elitism even if it is not intended or implied.

The whole preview is purely a business decision and is much better suited for xf to just choose who is in, require part of the agreement to state that nothing gets said under penalty of law and then move on from there.

This is MUCH more favorable than watching people make lists of people who should get access...

On a separate note this thread makes me realize something, so thanks for that much I guess.

For now I am going to back to the square, I hate running in circles.

 

[The Sandman]

Buzzmaker:

Even a quick glance at our Suggestion Forums will show that we've had bucket loads of feedback and suggestions from customers. Sometimes, implementing these suggestions requires seriously fundamental changes to the system, with ramifications for both our own code and that of add-ons, and we don't feel that a change with such far-reaching effects is appropriate for a x.X-level release (like 1.4).

However, a major version X.x-level release such as XenForo 2.0 gives us more latitude to make significant, sweeping changes, and changes of this magnitude should be expected throughout XenForo with the new version.

Buzzkiller:

Don't necessarily expect the first version of 2.0 to ship with loads of new features.

In theory it is possible for a new version to actually have less features, as the version change is to do with the underlying codebase, not the feature set.

 

[TeflonDon]

Unless they let everyone in early, there's going to be someone who feels like it was unfair. As with any release, I'll wait until the essential addons I use are compatible. Obviously the sooner the better as we all know how anxious we get during a new release so hopefully some sort of alpha system can be worked out. If not, Kier has already made a suggestion on how developers can prepare for 2.0 and I imagine more suggestions and helpful information will come down the line when we get closer to a release.

 

[The Sandman]

Mike and I aren't even in a position to describe the extent of the backward compatibility breaks at this point (although we know that they will be extensive).

Quite frankly, the prospect of 2.0 has horrified me for some time now

It sounds though that the transition is definitely being taken into account and planned for. Sure, it will be a scramble - but look at it this way - XF 1.0 was brought to market relatively quickly and it's managed to do fantastically well for 4 years. despite adversity. I would think XenForo 2.0 has a lot of advantages over 1.0 - a lot more potential. I predict the 2.X line will set the standard for forum software and live through many years and many upgrades.

 

[FredC]

It sounds though that the transition is definitely being taken into account and planned for. Sure, it will be a scramble - but look at it this way - XF 1.0 was brought to market relatively quickly and it's managed to do fantastically well for 4 years. despite adversity. I would think XenForo 2.0 has a lot of advantages over 1.0 - a lot more potential. I predict the 2.X line will set the standard for forum software and live through many years and many upgrades.

Glass half full kind of guy huh?

 

[dawg]

I think it's a good idea in theory, but you know it won't turn out that way. If the guys pick out a select few Devs and Designers, then they'll be accused of favouritism or of giving their backing to a certain few people... and then the rest of the people who release addons and styles will want access... where will it end.

This is the best point. I see many names of good designers and coders left out of the original post in this thread. I agree it would be nice for administrators but i dont think it would ever be a good PR move by Xenforo.

 

[napy8gen]

Who would qualify as a developer or designer?
Surely not anyone who has released a resource?
In which case, what would the criteria be?

Put these Guys in first, Most Active Authors = http://xenforo.com/community/resources/authors

If these suggestion to include developers and designers to see and test 2.0 first, I hope suggestions and voice from this group will be considered important.

 

[EQnoble]

Put these Guys in first, Most Active Authors = http://xenforo.com/community/resources/authors

If these suggestion to include developers and designers to see and test 2.0 first, I hope suggestions and voice from this group will be considered important.

Not really, I'm on that list and I'm no more important than you or any other person on the planet when it comes down to it. I can think of at least one individual (even on days when my memory is shot) who would be better suited than myself to provide tactical input and feedback and in general be involved in that whole process of development testing.

I am not going to list the reasons why I say that other than there is more to establishing a control group than just sorting and filtering raw numbers and data.

 

[Marcus]

A longer public beta phase would be fine for authors so they have enough time to adopt their products.

 

[Paul B]

The beta phase wouldn't be deliberately extended for that reason.

 

[Marcus]

The last two beta point releases took over a month, I am fine with that.

As for the "average" coder some very basic approaches on how 1.2 will differ from 1.1 would be very nice to know, too. Like which framework (and version) will be used etc.

 

[Shelley]

Who would qualify as a developer or designer?

Surely not anyone who has released a resource?

In which case, what would the criteria be?

1. Who would qualify as a developer or designer? Someone that has never designed nor developed
2. Surely not anyone who has released a resource? Agreed
3. In which case, what would the criteria be? People that have never posted and have been inactive for more than a year

Personally I don't think by announcing this so early has done anyone any favors. From now till 2.0 your going to get debates going around in circles and people bickering when names are listed who should make the alpha testing team.

Here's an idea. And don't shoot it down so quickly if you disagree...

Choose whoever you feel will do the best at testing and reporting bugs since it's your decision, your software, your right to choose who makes the alpha team. If people have issues with it, tough and if you tip toe on BS criteria and sugar coat it's your going to get plenty of these threads going around in circles till 2.0.

Job done.

 

[Sheldon]

Choose whoever you feel will do the best at testing and reporting bugs since it's your decision, your software, your right to choose who makes the alpha team. If people have issues with it, tough and if you tip toe on BS criteria and sugar coat it's your going to get plenty of these threads going around in circles till 2.0.

Same thoughts I had....

What I'd like to see... 2.0 BETA released to the public (after the early testing, configuring, etc done by whoever is selected) and no one know if anyone "got in". Oh well. Hopefully it all works out, and benefits us as end-users regardless of the approach taken.

 

[Kier]

From now till 2.0 your going to get debates going around in circles and people bickering when names are listed who should make the alpha testing team.

Assuming we decide to run such a program at all, we're not going to be bound by strict criteria, we will do what is best for us and for the community. At the very least there will be an extensive public beta process, over and above that, we just don't know yet.

I'll say again, now really is not the time to start discussing who gets access to code that hasn't even been written yet. We're getting perilously close to having to close this thread, so let's all just take a step back.

 

[feldon30]

If the guys pick out a select few Devs and Designers, then they'll be accused of favouritism or of giving their backing to a certain few people... and then the rest of the people who release addons and styles will want access... where will it end.

https://www.google.com/search?q=fallacy+of+fairness

Developers who contribute a lot of mods, or large, complex mods, to the XF community are important to the sales and word-of-mouth of the product. It is important that their mods work on day one with XF 2.0 when it becomes available. It's also important that they can give feedback early on if the XF team are going to add/change something that would make a certain type of modification difficult or impossible.

The importance of the XenForo ecosystem is more important than a few bruised egos.

 

[feldon30]

End users are the least qualified to make such a decision.

Many of them use add-ons which are poorly developed yet rate them highly, simply because they know no better.

The documentation for best development practices -- both inline and here on XenForo -- is rather inadequate, so developers make the best of the situation. If you have specific feedback about a specific mod, please feel free to share it with the developer of that mod and, more generally, with the community in the Development Resources forum in a thread such as "Please don't do X".

 

[Paul B]

There is little point if the developer ignores the advice given.

 

[Chris D]

Which definitely happens. In a perfect world, a bad practice would be identified in a developer's code and that developer informed and that developer learns and fixes the issue. 9/10 that does happen. Not all developers actually care that much. Which does tie in nicely to the assertion that it shouldn't be tied to download count

But, ultimately, I will be happy with whatever decision KAM makes. No doubt some people will feel disappointed by whatever decision may happen in the future. But if it results in a better product because the right people have TESTED it for the good of the core software instead of themselves, then ultimately there should be no disappointment. Besides. We're all going to get it eventually, and that's the best bit

 

[Shelley]

Assuming we decide to run such a program at all, we're not going to be bound by strict criteria, we will do what is best for us and for the community. At the very least there will be an extensive public beta process, over and above that, we just don't know yet.

I'll say again, now really is not the time to start discussing who gets access to code that hasn't even been written yet. We're getting perilously close to having to close this thread, so let's all just take a step back.

Developer access to Alpha Testing XenForo 2.0

You might want to revise the title because already there is a division forming between people and the title of the thread is essentially who should get access to 2.0 code aka the god code. I'd save yourself a headache and kick this thread to "What happened to my thread land" and allow general discussion regarding 2.0. If not, better stock up on the paracetamol.

 

[Jay]

Before this discussion goes on an artificial hiatus, I just want to endorse Chris Deeming's idea of paid access. ~$175 USD/lifetime or $40 USD/year.