XF 1.5 How do most theme developers deal with versioning.

[rainmotorsports]

I am getting ready to build a base, call it a framework if you must, of all the modifications that will be in most of my themes. I am wondering how other theme developers deal with older versions.

I get the sense that between 1.2 1.3 and 1.4 this isn't a big issue. Some of the added features dont get rendered since nothing is triggering checks or filling in data for those variables. But are there any issues with 1.4 themes on 1.2 for example?

I worry about it a little more with 1.5 now that the 2 official plugins have a version split. It used to be a little easier to just support the latest version of the plugin but now if you are supporting 1.4 then you are also supporting the latest of the older versions of the official plugins.

 

[Steve F]

We don't generally have any users that ask for older versions. With XenProduct manager it is possible to download past versions of the style if you updated the product to do so. I can't think of a time when someone needed an older version though, most want the latest compatible XF version.

I wouldn't recommend running a 1.4 style on 1.2 simply because templates will be different leading to functions being called that are not present in 1.2 among other weirdness you may see with merging system on updates.

 

[rainmotorsports]

Thanks @Steve F for the input. I actually have XPM as well but free themes the RM also does the same thing and that is always a thought.

It makes sense. Most of the people stuck on an older version are either pre 1.2 (shudder) or have a ton of custom development and are not usually looking for a theme. I wouldn't worry too much if I had an existing portfolio to update, starting out public releases on 1.5 had me a little worried.