Perspectives from a new Xenforo user

[Frode789]

Hi all. So I recently bought Xenforo, and I'm overall very happy with that. Great piece of software, even though I see room for some improvements. I moved from many "years of service" in the line of phpbb3, as the code behind it was really starting to show its age.

Anyway, what I find to be a odd is the amount of addons/themes that you have to buy, and even more, how high priced many of them are. I don't have a problem buying addons/themes, I understand that people have spent hours making them, and would like some return for it. So I can see that, but it is natural for me to compare to other software, such as phpbb and wordpress, which even have major mods for free. So you pay 140$ for the whole Xenforo forum package, with a year of updates and support, yet even small addons charge 40$ here and there. Some even barely maintained. When I look at the amount of downloads, then it isn't a lot. Perhaps lower prices on old/small addons? That could make them more interesting for more users.

PS: I am not whining over it (I simply do not buy them unless I find the price reasonable to the quality of the addon), merely an observation from a new Xenforo user.

 

[Paul B]

You don't have to buy them.
XenForo works out of the box.

 

[Frode789]

You don't have to buy them.
XenForo works out of the box.

If you don't think addons is an important part about the forum/CMS package, then you are missing something obvious. For instance Wordpress. Yes it works, but addons is what makes it go the extra mile, and all free.
Also I did say:

I simply do not buy them unless I find the price reasonable to the quality of the addon

So this isn't some big issue, it is just an observation which is odd, compared to most other CMS/forum softwares out there.

And towards the community, both for the authors and users:

Some even barely maintained. When I look at the amount of downloads, then it isn't a lot. Perhaps lower prices on old/small addons? That could make them more interesting for more users.

 

[Paul B]

If you don't think addons is an important part about the forum/CMS package, then you are missing something obvious.

I don't believe I said that.

I use add-ons myself:


I was responding to your claim that "you have to buy" them.
You don't "have" to buy anything.

Besides which, there are hundreds of free add-ons, far more than there are paid.

 

[Chris D]

Besides which, there are hundreds* of free add-ons, far more than there are paid.

Thousands, actually. Nearly 2,000 free releases in the RM.

 

[Martok]

Many of the add-ons are free. I am using 22 add-ons, 18 of which are free. The free add-ons aren't all small ones either, some are more extensive like Widget Framework which also gets a lot of support, again for free, from @xfrocks.

Of the 4 paid add-ons I have (3 from the same author), the prices vary from £5 - £40. £5 quite frankly is not a lot for an add-on that fulfils a particular need, it wouldn't even buy a couple of pints of beer where I live. So I look at add-ons at that price as a 'thanks, here's a pint and a bit from me' for this. My two 'expensive' add-ons are Featured Threads from @Brogan (which I got when it was offered at a lower price but would still buy it now at its current price) and Xen Media Gallery from @Chris Deeming. I didn't just jump into parting with my money for these, I considered my needs, the reputations of the authors and the extent of the support they offer. My decision to buy from both was the right one, these resources are superb and there has been a heck of a lot of work that has been put into them. Both authors listen to those who have purchased, give support and continue to make improvements to their products.

Coming from phpBB myself, paid add-ons and forum software was all new to me. I don't have any regrets in making the move to the 'commercial' world and don't begrudge a penny that I've spent on XF or the paid-for add-ons and still enjoy a lot of free ones too.