XenForo 2.0 Discussion

[Teapot]

Yes, code maybe shining new but GUI still look like this: http://csb.stanford.edu/class/public/pages/sykes_webdesign/05_simple.html

In your opinion. To me, it looks like a modern web application - and I say that having offered critical feedback on its visual style. Perhaps suggest exactly what you feel needs improved?

 

[Ernest L. Defoe]

I'm just curious why is everyone is ripping on the new default theme. How many out there is actually gonna use the default theme? Yeah some will use it but change the colors but a majority will purchase a premade theme or commission a custom theme to be made. They have said in the past that they want the new look to be as recognizable as the current default theme and they have done that while making it look a little more modern.

 

[Alpha1]

I think it is because people have waited with anticipation for quite some time, to see a demo that shows mainly feature parity. Most new features are subtle or cant be show now. The most obvious difference is the style. And some of the new features are style related: like the off-canvas menu, html emoijs, CSS improvements, responsive media embeds...

But there are differences that have gone unnoticed. For example:

Widgets aren't just for sidebars though. The what's new overview page is made up of widgets so you can configure what you want to show there.

This seems to be enough to create widget pages / portal pages.

 

[Steve F]

I'm just curious why is everyone is ripping on the new default theme. How many out there is actually gonna use the default theme? Yeah some will use it but change the colors but a majority will purchase a premade theme or commission a custom theme to be made. They have said in the past that they want the new look to be as recognizable as the current default theme and they have done that while making it look a little more modern.

I think the minimal approach is good, it's less I'll have to overwrite, rewrite or remove for our customer's styles.

 

[audiokid]

I disagree. What's ugly about it? Looks clean and sensible to me.

+1
I too like the clean look.

 

[vbresults]

I'm just curious why is everyone is ripping on the new default theme. How many out there is actually gonna use the default theme? Yeah some will use it but change the colors but a majority will purchase a premade theme or commission a custom theme to be made. They have said in the past that they want the new look to be as recognizable as the current default theme and they have done that while making it look a little more modern.

It looks that way, and as a developer I can empathize. That said, if you look closely, comments on the style aren't really about the style per-se, but an expectation, spoken or unspoken, about 2.0 having a 2016 type of UI that will give them an obvious reason to "buy".

For prospective customers, buy simply means buy, for existing ones, buy means upgrade -- even if it doesn't cost anything, there are natural barriers to such upgrades, and these customers are looking for a good reason to do it, whatever that is for them.

2.0 in it's early stage isn't far off the mark here. It just needs a different type of UI to wrap the wonders under the hood, which can be as simple as a very different type of style from what we are used to. Admins preferring the standard can use the original 2.0 style.

A reddit-type layout as a primary option would be welcomed by many. A poll I opened on TAZ a few months ago showed that half of the respondents would be willing to move from XenForo if such an option was available, the demand is there. Look at WF's feed, and threads.

Except for adjusting the like system to support positive and negative values (+1 and -1), this is mainly at the style level, more easily within reach versus something that would entail rewriting several major parts of the backend, yields better results, and everyone is happy.

 

[James]

XF2 has been completely rewrote from the ground up with feature parity and then some. You're not being charged an upgrade fee or anything over your current renewal cost to move to it and yet seem to have the reaction that you're going to be forking out for another vB5 disaster.

Oh and it's such a shame XF didn't develop a style framework so that you can use a different style other than the default...

 

[Mouth]

Wondering if XF2 and official add-on's (RM, ES, MG) will be released at the same time, or if XF2 will come out and official add-on's follow shortly after?

 

[TPerry]

Yes, code maybe shining new but GUI still look like this:

Oh lord help us... the GUI/Style (which we CAN change up) isn't as modern as the underlying code (which we CAN NOT easily change up). Hmm... let's see, which would I rather have
A) A style that I won't use at all and will have modified extensively (either myself or by purchasing a style)
or
B) Code that is "modern" in design aspect and not as hard for developers to develop for and that I have no real control over.

Uhhh.. color me stupid, but I'll take the latter option please.

 

[Naz]

Wondering if XF2 and official add-on's (RM, ES, MG) will be released at the same time, or if XF2 will come out and official add-on's follow shortly after?

They're aiming for the former.

 

[Ernest L. Defoe]

Oh lord help us... the GUI/Style (which we CAN change up) isn't as modern as the underlying code (which we CAN NOT easily change up). Hmm... let's see, which would I rather have
A) A style that I won't use at all and will have modified extensively (either myself or by purchasing a style)

That was my whole point behind my post. Most people are gonna modify the default whether it be CSS changes or just color changes. If they don't want to do that they will purchase a style or use a free one. Why so much emphasis is being put on something that less than 2% of people will probably use on their forums is ridiculous. The underlying update to the code is the main goal to make it faster and better developed for others to develop for it is the main goal.

 

[n00bsaibot]

I lol'd hard

 

[back]

I've just tried the XF 2 demo. I like the new style, looks pretty modern. However some functions need improving for more efficient use of the forum as user.

Here is my 10 point feedback list with some suggestions and wishes how forum using can be improved more efficiently:

1. Show 2 different lists of threads based on last post OR based of the start of the thread:

Listing of new threads = sort all new recent opened threads chronically
Listing of active threads = sort of topics, based on last posts.

For this you can better use the name ''active threads'' and ''new recent threads'', instead of ''new posts''.

BTW Please also apply some form of automatic refresh after 5 or 10 seconds so you'll always see a live version.


2. Manually select (dropdown menu) the max amount of threads/posts shown in 1 single page:

Topic list:
50
100
500
1000
2000

Posts per page:
50
100
500
1000
2000


3. Add a button which can show you ALL posts of a thread in 1 single page.

So you'll get one very long page. For power users this is way more efficient.


4. Who is online now?

The current setup is way to complicated. I just want to see a simple list which shows the users who are online right now (and what their last action was).

5. Button in a thread: Show only posts from the person tho opened the thread.

Gives you a list of only the posts of the person who opened the thread.

6. Give users the option to show the forums list without avatars. For true power users it has no function.

7. Make 'Private Conversations' more like a private forum where you can also CC people or forward a conversation like how email works.

However I can assume that some people don't want that their 'private discussion/chat' can be shared. Gives users the option to restrict that any third party can be added to a private discussion.

8. Add live updates, realtime loading of new posts by ajax in the core. So you'll get 'live' threads without the need to manually refresh the page.

9. Add SSL proxy of posted images, also offer some form of realtime resize for large images.

10. Add support for external CDN hosting and use of hosted libraries.

11. Add Cozy view, compact display for pc with minimal whitespace and max amount of info. Without unnecessary stuff like large avatars.

 

[back]

I have no issues with the editor in XF1 and in fact I prefer it considering it's possible to drag and drop links and images (from a web page). which isn't possible with the new editor.

The new editor looks nice but it miss some basic functionality.

1. You can't drag drop some text or links to the editor
2. You can't move parts of selected text inside the editor.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I haven't played with it much but I've been reading the feedback comments here. I'll say this

XF1 default theme is blah
XF2 default theme is blah

so. what.

Having a framework that is better for devs to use to develop addons so that someone who wants to build a community with powerful functions that work the way they want it to is way more important in the long term than a theme that catches people's eyes like BANG. JMO.

I've already noticed quite a few tweaks that I'm assuming are a result of backend coding changes. Like hovering over the convo/alerts/etc doesn't automatically pop up an overlay, you have to click it. I like that. The overlay automatically popping up made it work unexpectedly when you clicked at the same time it was popping up, leaving me to have to explain how it works to someone not used to it. Lots of little things like that is what I'm expecting to find.

But really I'm already tired of people saying it's "meh" but that's just me. Like Russ Steve said, less junk for him to have to re-code the better. There are other solutions that are snazzy right out of the box, XF has never really been geared towards that from what I've been able to gather, it's been geared as a framework to build on and I think it looks like XF2 is going to be even better, even if that means the default out of the box is even more of a framework and less default-feature-rich than XF1 currently is. IMO if you want to have a forum that has the potential to compete with other forms of social interaction, you can't make it full of features that might be awesome now but would suck it down a hole of uselessness 2 years from now. You make it as adaptable as possible so that it can survive and evolve and thrive for much longer (even if "much longer" means 5 years).

Again. JMO.

 

[Steve F]

Like Steve said, less junk for him to have to re-code the better.

Fixed...

 

[back]

How can XF increase your productivity?

I would add:

1 Single page button. Show all posts of thread in 1 page. (single page view)
2 Dropdown menu in lists where you can select max threads/posts per page.
3 Button to filter only show posts of the 'selected' person in a thread

4 ajax auto refresh page, like live add new posts/updates and alerts including browser notifications
5 Improve private messaging system like a mailbox where you can also forward messages or a private group conversation or chat.
6 Add floating windows for chats, editor and messages like what they have in Gmail.
7 Avoid infinite scrolling and always use pagination.
8 Reputation calculator of a profile on basis of posts.

 

[sheel]

@back Again your post contains things that make no sense.
Eg. there is no "reputation" in the first place

 

[ForestForTrees]

A reddit-type layout as a primary option would be welcomed by many. A poll I opened on TAZ a few months ago showed that half of the respondents would be willing to move from XenForo if such an option was available, the demand is there. Look at WF's feed, and threads.

Wow, those links are pretty sweet. I'd kill for a thread listing where we could have some sort of thread ratings. People want a way to find our best content quickly. We wouldn't need a dislike button, but some way to like a thread would be nice.

And the idea of Reddit-style nested replies feels like it is becoming more standard these days. Sometimes I miss it. Like thread ratings, it's a big enough redesign that I'd only be fully confident if it were in the core.

Nonetheless, those are two pretty huge asks and perhaps the XF2 innovations will make those types of things easier.

Thank you to the XF development team. While I have only limited exposure to the core code, I gather it is excellent and only getting better.

 

[surfsup]

Wow, those links are pretty sweet. I'd kill for a thread listing where we could have some sort of thread ratings. People want a way to find our best content quickly. We wouldn't need a dislike button, but some way to like a thread would be nice.

And the idea of Reddit-style nested replies feels like it is becoming more standard these days. Sometimes I miss it. Like thread ratings, it's a big enough redesign that I'd only be fully confident if it were in the core.

Nonetheless, those are two pretty huge asks and perhaps the XF2 innovations will make those types of things easier.

Thank you to the XF development team. While I have only limited exposure to the core code, I gather it is excellent and only getting better.

what software is warrior forum using now? Weren't the on vbulletin previously?