What if Xenforo shut down?

[CedricV]

I was thinking about something that could happen to any of us, whether we're running a large webmaster forum or just a small community site. What if your forum software shut down? It could be due to a variety of reasons, like the company behind the software going bankrupt or deciding to discontinue the product. Regardless of the reason, it could be a real nightmare for anyone running an active forum.

So, let's discuss this scenario. What would you do if your forum software suddenly shut down? Would you try to find an alternative software and migrate all your data to it? Or would you consider creating a new forum from scratch? How would you communicate the situation to your community and keep them engaged during the transition period?

Personally, I think it's important to always have a backup plan in case something like this happens. It's a good idea to keep a copy of your forum's database and files, as well as to have a list of alternative forum software that you could use if needed. It's also a good idea to keep your community informed about any changes or issues, so they don't feel left in the dark.

So, what do you think? Have you ever experienced something like this before? What did you do? Let's discuss and share our experiences!

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Wouldn't it be appropriate to ask the company's contingency plans. If they go out of business, as an extreme example, would they make the software open source, so others can freely take it over. Or sell the business.

Not that I am expecting any of this to happen, of course, or wish it to happen, but it would be nice to know.

 

[whynot]

Don't panic.

Should the enemy hit Microsoft with an atomic bomb it would not mean that I could not use Windows anymore.
Should XF cease to exist that would not mean that I could not use their software anymore.

 

[CedricV]

Don't panic.

Should the enemy hit Microsoft with an atomic bomb it would not mean that I could not use Windows anymore.
Should XF cease to exist that would not mean that I could not use their software anymore.

Pure hypothetically of course. I'm not afraid this would happen.

 

[Forsaken]

Move to a different platform?

I would likely be moving to Flarum (which is something my partner and I have discussed for some projects). My issue is the lack of functionality, and the horrible administration and moderation tools, so it would likely end up being forked and worked on by my team (and possibly having to hire more developers).

IPS is not an option due to my opinion on members of that team, issues I've had with business decisions they make, and just the sheer ego/arrogance I've seen and experienced over the years. I also am not a huge fan of the way most things work, and the community... Is somehow worse than here at times . Sad, but I used to love IPB for 1.x and 2.x.

WBB is... Problematic if you're not German if you're not experienced. I used to release mods and styles with a friend on WBBMods, and the way Woltlab treated resource providers who were not German was pretty terrible. I also find the software to be hit and miss on what I want.

vBulletin is not an option because it just is not worth the time to consider.

Discourse is also not an option as it has all the flaws of Flarum, and none of the benefits in my eyes.

Or there is just maintaining XenForo for my own purposes and continuing to work from there .

 

[ForumExplorer]

If XF went down and disappeared I'm sure something else would appear on the market or one of those other software free or paid would take over and people would start converting their XF forums over to those software's.

 

[Suzanne O]

if Xenforo shutdown, i'd move back to vBulletin
But i'd try smf.

 

[Faust]

I would probably move my forums to IPB. But don't think that will happen any time soon,,, however never say never. We haven't seen any communication from developers for 2+ years, which isn't good sign either.

So far my forums works well with XF, however there's still lots of room for improvements.


Anyway, always need to be prebared for such situations. But to be honest I really want to try IPB for my next project.

 

[l3ta]

It would be the end of my forum

 

[Mendalla]

The software does not need the company to run, so keep running on the final release of XF until I have a suitable replacement or someone picks up the IP and either supports it or open sources it to allow others to do so.

Alternatively, we have a cousin/rival site running Flarum that was started by another of our founding admin team so work with him to get our users moved there and add some functionality (his implementation of Flarum is still pretty primitive), switch the domain to point at his site, and put the site on read-only as an archive.

 

[cwe]

If I were using a cloud service that went poof and had no ability to recover my database for importing into a new solution, it would be the end for sure.

As I have my own dedicated server and own the database, I'd likely just migrate to a new platform just like I've done in the past moving away from phpBB and vB.

 

[Rhody]

This is a question VB customers should be asking themselves, not Xenforo

As long as you have your daily offsite backups, you can always move to another platform and do a conversion. Just because a company goes under doesnt mean that the software wont continue going for years to come, either, with community bug fixes.

I'm not at all concerned about this scenario.

 

[Arantor]

I don't think the OP was suggesting the scenario would happen, more 'but what if' - it's good to have a properly prepared escape plan, regardless of whether you believe you'll need it or not.

As for 'the software shutting down', don't assume that 'the company going bust' is the only cause for concern. I give you IPS: the forum vendor who currently has a self-hosting edition, who has said they will keep it for the next 2 years at least, all the time while it is "viable", but that their cloud offerings are a much larger percentage of their revenue and that cloud is propping up their self-hosting. Which means for IPS customers, it is very possible that they'll be cut off from their software and be pushed into either moving to the cloud (starting at $50/month for basic forum, $89/month for IPS suite and rising sharply) or moving software entirely.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Which means for IPS customers, it is very possible that they'll be cut off from their software

How do they get "cut off from their software?"

 

[Arantor]

How do they get "cut off from their software?"

There is a realistic chance that the self-hosting edition will stop being supported entirely, which means no bug fixes, no PHP updates, no security patches - and in any country that has GDPR going, you can't really be a data controller (which you are as a forum owner) on a software that you know is unmaintained because if there is a vulnerability, you are liable not the vendor, that's what being unmaintained gets you.

 

[Ravenfreak]

It would absolutely suck if Xenforo was abandoned, not that I think it would be anytime soon. However, I would just migrate to another platform if that was to happen since I self host anyways. I think this would greatly affect people using the cloud service more.

 

[TPerry]

I'd simply find a comparable script that offers the abilities that I desire for my users.
Odds are it would probably end up being either (highly doubtful) Wotlab or a free script. I'm not a "fan" of SaaS as I want to be able to run other sites for the monies I put into my hosting.

 

[Mendalla]

There is a realistic chance that the self-hosting edition will stop being supported entirely, which means no bug fixes, no PHP updates, no security patches - and in any country that has GDPR going, you can't really be a data controller (which you are as a forum owner) on a software that you know is unmaintained because if there is a vulnerability, you are liable not the vendor, that's what being unmaintained gets you.

But it would still run, meaning you can keep going on it for a while until you have a replacement and can import to the replacement. Versus hosted/SaaS where the company going down basically takes everything down with it.

 

[Mr Lucky]

But it would still run, meaning you can keep going on it for a while until you have a replacement and can import to the replacement.

Yes, it's a bit like buying a Toyota, then a coupe of years later Toyata shut down. You can still drive your car.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Yes, it's a bit like buying a Toyota, then a coupe of years later Toyata shut down. You can still drive your car.

No. I drive a Hyundai. Then suddenly the ads say it isn't a Hyundai, it's a Hyoondee. It's no longer the car I thought I bought.