Random thread about the state of XenForo

[Floyd R Turbo]

If this is xF in it's infancy, I can't wait until it is considered mature. Because from my perspective, it was a cinch to set up, update, install add-ons, configure, etc. But then again my background is something along the lines of I got my first 8088 PC in 1986 and was programming in BASIC while most kids were playing soccer, but my programming stopped in college when I wasn't into that. Call it missed opportunity, the www 'came out' while I was in college and I have friends who became millionaires within years of quitting college because of it. So I know nothing of php because it doesn't look much like FORTRAN which was the last language I "learned"...but I can muddle my way through it, thanks to this site and google.

 

[DRE]

Infancy my arse. Been out since 2010

 

[Sheldon]

Infancy my arse. Been out since 2010

I think most are saying infancy with the LLLOOONNNGGG term outlook being seen. Most don't create software with an assumed life of 5 years.

 

[DRE]

I think most are saying infancy with the LLLOOONNNGGG term outlook being seen. Most don't create software with an assumed life of 5 years.

Last year I thought the Xenforo community was still in it's infancy, but due to lack of interaction and innovation from some key people it seems like it's now in complacency.

 

[Sheldon]

Last year I thought the Xenforo community was still in it's infancy, but due to lack of interaction and innovation from some key people it seems like it's now in complacency.

I understand how others now see the "lack of interaction" argument... When XF was first starting, sure, they wanted feedback, needed solid groundwork to build there foundation from. They have that now.

There are not many companies that interact with it's customers on the level Mike and Kier did early on.

I cannot see the lack of innovation argument myself.. as said before, XF is still in it's infancy. Long term outlook. Some of the innovations requested would most definitely come at a cost of other things, and then there would be complaints on that.

I suppose it is all in how you look at things. Some will not be happy with anything. Some will complain to complain. Some are content with what is before them. Those always stay true, the only variable is what product/idea is being discussed.

 

[FredC]

Let's not forget that because of a certain bogus lawsuit the product sat dormant for at least a year. That downtime was a devastating blow to the software development and the community rift that was created As a result.. We even lost some good third party devs in that time frame because XF production had stalled.. I believe XF has a bright solid future but it will take awhile before the damage IB created is not felt in some shape or another.

 

[DRE]

I'm not calling out KAM. They're doing a great job.

 

[DRE]

Let's not forget that because of a certain bogus lawsuit the product sat dormant for at least a year. That downtime was a devastating blow to the software development and the community rift that was created As a result.. We even lost some good third party devs in that time from because XF production had stalled..

Yeah that's probably why it's like that. Kinda forgot about it. Good point.

 

[Martok]

Last year I thought the Xenforo community was still in it's infancy, but due to lack of interaction and innovation from some key people it seems like it's now in complacency.

How on earth do you come to that conclusion?!

I'd say you're completely wrong on this. In the 13 months since I moved to Xenforo there have been major changes in the software in 1.2 and 1.3 (responsive design being one), the launch of two excellent galleries (Xen Media Gallery and XenGallery), the release of the superb Featured Threads add-on which is now pretty much a full portal, Push alerts from Xen Pushover and [bd] Pushover, plus many other add-ons from various authors.

Plenty of decent new stuff!

 

[DRE]

How on earth do you come to that conclusion?!

I'd say you're completely wrong on this. In the 13 months since I moved to Xenforo there have been major changes in the software in 1.2 and 1.3 (responsive design being one), the launch of two excellent galleries (Xen Media Gallery and XenGallery), the release of the superb Featured Threads add-on which is now pretty much a full portal, Push alerts from Xen Pushover and [bd] Pushover, plus many other add-ons from various authors.

Plenty of decent new stuff!

Cause I came from a more powerful forum software, vBulletin 4.x series. There wasn't whole lot of addons available at first but it quickly gained steam. Same could be said of on here but it's way slower going. That's understandable since Xenforo is a new software but ideally, the addon creators who jumped ship from vBulletin to Xenforo still haven't brought over some of the best vBulletin addons yet. Instead they keep creating stuff other addon creators have created, over and over and over and over and over again. For example, where the heck is my Points Market System and a good Shop addon? Where is my (you knew it was coming) casino?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Luckily I came in after the IB lawsuit was settled (much after), I learned about xF and a saltwater aquarium convention in Florida last September from the owner of 3reef.com, who is currently in the process of converting his big board over. So everything I have seen has been killer from the get-go...

....but the original point of this thread was that there are still some unreliable people providing services, etc. I know of only one personally and I believe I have made it pretty clear why.

 

[Lisa]

Cause I came from a more powerful forum software, vBulletin 4.x series. There wasn't whole lot of addons available at first but it quickly gained steam.

It gained steam because it already had a huge third party developer base from the 3 series - and a lot of them converted their 3 series addons to the 4 series, while adding new things. XenForo, on the other hand, didn't have that, so it's a slower process. As people keep telling you, it's in its infancy. These things take time.

 

[Martok]

Cause I came from a more powerful forum software, vBulletin 4.x series. There wasn't whole lot of addons available at first but it quickly gained steam. Same could be said of on here but it's way slower going. That's understandable since Xenforo is a new software but ideally, the addon creators who jumped ship from vBulletin to Xenforo still haven't brought over some of the best vBulletin addons yet. Instead they keep creating stuff other addon creators have created, over and over and over and over and over again. For example, where the heck is my Points Market System and a good Shop addon? Where is my (you knew it was coming) casino?

'Best' add-ons is a personal point of view. The 3 add-ons you really want I have no interest in whatsoever. Maybe add-on creators don't see the same demand for these as they do for the add-ons I've listed and others created this year.

 

[DRE]

It gained steam because it already had a huge third party developer base from the 3 series - and a lot of them converted their 3 series addons to the 4 series, while adding new things. XenForo, on the other hand, didn't have that, so it's a slower process. As people keep telling you, it's in its infancy. These things take time.

It shouldn't take this long...

'Best' add-ons is a personal point of view. The 3 add-ons you really want I have no interest in whatsoever. Maybe add-on creators don't see the same demand for these as they do for the add-ons I've listed and others created this year.

...it shouldn't take this long especially considering how much money people are waving around in the addon requests subforum.

 

[Paul B]

Cause I came from a more powerful forum software, vBulletin 4.x series. There wasn't whole lot of addons available at first but it quickly gained steam. Same could be said of on here but it's way slower going. That's understandable since Xenforo is a new software but ideally, the addon creators who jumped ship from vBulletin to Xenforo still haven't brought over some of the best vBulletin addons yet. Instead they keep creating stuff other addon creators have created, over and over and over and over and over again. For example, where the heck is my Points Market System and a good Shop addon? Where is my (you knew it was coming) casino?

It shouldn't take this long...
...it shouldn't take this long especially considering how much money people are waving around in the addon requests subforum.

So if vB4 is that much better, the question has to be, why did you switch to XenForo?

 

[DRE]

So if vB4 is that much better, the question has to be, why did you switch to XenForo?

Cause it's faster. Just like with cars, more power doesn't always equate more speed. I was using vB4 and Xenforo at the same time on the same server, almost the same amount of addons and user activity when I noticed.

 

[craigiri]

It must be remembered that XF is only 2-3 years old in some ways due to the slowdown and costs involved in the litigation. No doubt that, and the global recession, didn't help things much.

Builtwidth shows 50K+ sites using VBB and another 50K which have used it in the past. I don't put total faith in those numbers, but any way you look at it that's a bigger and more mature market for add-ons...or at least it has been.

XF shows a heavy uptrend, but still only 7K sites using and 4K in the past.

These things tend to move slowly. XF needs to sell the unit - then they get installed and (maybe) go live. Then they get popular - or not. Then the admins may need expansions and add-ons.

Wait a few years. I'm willing to bet the market matures and more stable developers - some who are here already - prosper.

 

[Paul B]

Cause it's faster. Just like with cars, more power doesn't always equate more speed. I was using vB4 and Xenforo at the same time on the same server, almost the same amount of addons and user activity when I noticed.

Speed and performance are irrelevant though when all you complain about is the lack of features and add-ons.
It's not as if you've got a huge site with thousands of members online simultaneously, so any half decent server would have been able to cope with your vB 4 installation.

I really do question the logic of switching software and then spending the next three years complaining.

 

[Mike Edge]

Any server is going to start running slow when you have a 150+ add-ons installed, several conflicting with one another.

 

[DRE]

Speed and performance are irrelevant though when all you complain about is the lack of features and add-ons.
It's not as if you've got a huge site with thousands of members online simultaneously, so any half decent server would have been able to cope with your vB 4 installation.

I really do question the logic of switching software and then spending the next three years complaining.

I was talking about cars in my last post to see if you'd get my drift but you didn't so I'll break it down some more. You wanna cut out the excess weight when racing cars right? Don't need AC and a stereo system etc. You build it for speed. That's what Xenforo is. A race car that's taking years to tack on all the other amenities vBulletin 4.x series already has.