plan future releases

[requo]

I would like to ask for a plan with a schedule for future releases. 2.2., 2.3., ... 3.0 I need to know the planned major changes and features and the scheduled time for new forum installations.

I am a satisfied user of Xenforo, I like it, but I miss it and some of the comunites I manage, functions that solve eg addons (no long-term maintenance security), or that provide another forum solution (IPB, VB ...)

This plan would help me decide when it would make sense to wait for an integrated feature (even longer, but need to know it will sometimes), when to deal with an addon and when to switch to a different solution with a particular community.

For example:
Blogs
Sell / Buy Trade in
Articles
Groups / clubs
... etc.

Can you help me, please?

 

[Ozzy47]

This has been asked many times before and XenForo does not offer a roadmap.

 

[TickTackk]

There are a number of other projects on the back burner waiting to bubble up in the near future, and we are sure that you will be pleased when you see what we've got cooking.

That's only known information about what the future holds.

 

[Robust]

For example:
Blogs
Sell / Buy Trade in
Articles
Groups / clubs
... etc.

These would probably never be added to XenForo's core itself, perhaps added as official add-ons. There isn't high enough demand for blogs or groups at least so I wouldn't expect XF to dedicate resources to making those.

And given XF's current release schedule of one x.X release every 1-1.5 years I wouldn't expect such a far ahead roadmap anyway.

 

[frm]

I wouldn't expect such a far ahead roadmap anyway.

I'm almost positive that they have a whiteboard in their office (or an electronic roadmap) of what they want to do with XF which is constantly changing or evolving. I just know, from a business perspective, it's best for them to not release anything publicly until it's "developed" (as in a HYS thread, since I believe at that point it's "developed" and being tested for a final release in a RC [release candidate]).

This is because if they released a roadmap of 2.2, 2.3, ... 3.0, competitors might pick and choose which is most popular with behind the scenes employees selecting which is best for their forum to beat XF to the punch as well as create private groups to see what they want so it's not a mess (3rd party developers included).

XF is a great software for a forum but is lacking only in 1st party addons to bring it up to 2020 standards. Though, there are few/many that don't want some of those features implemented and to keep forums simple, like in the 1990s. But, the only way to compete moving forward, in my opinion, is to update core as well as add 1st party addons to expand on XF and make it more of a "social media" (I know a forum is) platform in the sense that Facebook, Instagram (Media Gallery), GitHub (Resource Manager, but maybe not that complex), etc.

I have no gripes with it besides multilingual, and fingers crossed, it's in 2.2.

 

[Ozzy47]

To all intents and purposes this is their roadmap:

https://xenforo.com/community/forums/xenforo-suggestions.18/?order=first_post_likes&direction=desc

 

[Robust]

This is because if they released a roadmap of 2.2, 2.3, ... 3.0, competitors might pick and choose which is most popular with behind the scenes employees selecting which is best for their forum to beat XF to the punch as well as create private groups to see what they want so it's not a mess (3rd party developers included).

There's barely any innovation in the forum industry. Being the first at something isn't really a special advantage in this industry either. It's going to take much more than any extra feature a forum would reasonably add to force people to migrate platforms.

2.2 is probably still up to 6 months away, 2.3 will be a year or two after that if I had to guess based on previous timelines, etc. It'd be a pointless roadmap even if they did have one. It's so far away that priorities can easily change in the time period.

XF is a great software for a forum but is lacking only in 1st party addons to bring it up to 2020 standards.

You don't need 1st party add-ons. There's plenty of good quality add-ons in the RM. The reason there's no proper solutions for many of the things you want to see XF make is because it's not economical. To build something like blogs takes a large amount of developer time, and you cannot sell enough copies at a reasonable price publicly to make a profit off that. XF might have slightly better luck selling copies because people are more inclined to buy XF add-ons, perhaps because of the variance in RM add-on quality, but I still can't imagine it'd be that profitable, and there's definitely far more economic uses of their time.

to expand on XF and make it more of a "social media" (I know a forum is) platform in the sense that Facebook, Instagram (Media Gallery), GitHub (Resource Manager, but maybe not that complex), etc.

If forums aim to try replace social media they will epicly fail and become redundant. Instagram and GitHub do a better job at what they're aimed to do than any built-in forum solution could. Forums have a distinct purpose and the goal should be to further what they're good at, not try to reinvent other areas of social media and compete in an area they cannot.

 

[frm]

Being the first at something isn't really a special advantage in this industry either.

There is such a thing called "first-mover advantage" in business. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Posting a roadmap of exact changes would determine that and it wouldn't be a bet as a company that I'd make.

2.2 is probably still up to 6 months away

Yes, and I'm fine with that. If you see their Wikipedia or go over releases, you can easily determine when 1st, 2nd and 3rd point releass are made.

2.3 will be a year or two after that if I had to guess based on previous timelines

You might be correct about that estimate.

There's plenty of good quality add-ons in the RM.

Not arguing that one bit. But, you've been around here since 2012. You must've seen developers come and go already. I've invested money in a lot of add ons for my site that I had to uninstall and develop myself because the "good quality add-ons" disappear or are updated much more slowly than XF 3rd point releases are for very simple, 15 line code fixes.

If forums aim to try replace social media they will epicly fail and become redundant.

Forums will never replace social media. However, they can become more user-friendly and be designed in such a way where there are layers.

For instance, take a look at Facebook.

• First layer: Post a picture of a dog, done.
• Second layer: See events in the area or join groups
• Third layer: Much more features most will never touch

I only point this out because most, if not all forums, put the third layer of Facebook out front and don't allow for people to adjust to all the different features: They're just thrown in their face and it's expected of them to learn it or leave, and most leave (if from social media).

Forums have a distinct purpose and the goal should be to further what they're good at, not try to reinvent other areas of social media and compete in an area they cannot.

See above. Never said reinvent the wheel, but, make them easier to use and then have features that are hidden deeper within the software that people can enable and use.