XF 2.4 XenForo 2.4 status and what's new under the hood?

Where are we?​

TL;DR: We're working hard to release XenForo 2.4 ASAP, but it's taking longer than expected due to scope changes and strategic decisions to wait for certain upstream developments that will benefit the long-term roadmap. Here's an analogy to explain why:

Software development is like planning a cross-country expedition with multiple destinations.

When you set out for version 2.4, you're not just driving to the next town over. You're charting a course through unknown territory with several strategic stops planned along the way - each representing a major milestone or feature release.

But the challenge is the landscape keeps changing along the journey.

• New roads open up (better technologies emerge)
• Bridges get washed out (dependencies break or become obsolete)
• You discover scenic routes that would benefit all future travellers (opportunities for architectural improvements)
• Weather conditions shift (market demands or user needs evolve)
• Your vehicle needs unexpected maintenance (technical debt must be addressed)

You can't just focus on reaching the immediate next stop. You must consider how each decision affects the entire journey ahead. Taking a shortcut to reach 2.4 faster might leave you stranded when trying to reach 3.0, 4.0 or even 5.0.

This is why scope changes occur: experienced developers are constantly recalibrating the route based on new information, ensuring the expedition can successfully reach not just the next destination, but all the strategic waypoints that follow.

The delays aren't detours, rather they're course corrections that keep the long-term journey viable.

To be slightly less cryptic, these are some of the specific challenges we have faced along the way:

A new Tiptap version is coming​

When we announced that Tiptap is coming to XenForo 2.4 it was 95% complete, and we then took a bit of a pause to work on other projects, which we have talked about since and will be discussing in this thread. Since then, Tiptap have announced Tiptap V3 which is currently in beta. Given how core the editor is to the forum experience, it makes a lot of sense to ship XenForo 2.4 with Tiptap V3 rather than Tiptap V2 as originally planned. While the changes involved are not too extensive, we also don't want to ship 2.4 with a dependency that is still in beta and subject to change. While we are not planning to wait for Tiptap V3 to be stable, necessarily, we do at least want to give it a little bit more time so we have a higher degree of confidence that we're shipping a stable editing experience.

We started talking about a rewrite (again)​

While this is not currently the direction we've decided to go in, it's responsible for us to at least consider all routes available to us to help us reach our destination.

After nearly 8 years since the release of XenForo 2.0, many of the technologies we use are showing their age, many of the decisions we made have started to slow us down more than we would like, and as a framework, XenForo becomes a less productive framework to work with. The solution to this problem can be to start from scratch, but we have ultimately decided that this is not something we need to do at this stage.

Instead, over the next few versions, including 2.4, we will be attempting to make iterative architectural changes to the framework so that we all have greater tools at our disposal to improve both the developer and user experience, particularly focusing on the implementation of developer tools and features that have become commonplace in other frameworks, such as Laravel.

Some of our best features are simply not finished​

There are one or two features that we see requested consistently from customers in our community forums and feedback channels, and we're excited to confirm they are coming in 2.4! However, it serves no one well if we release such highly-anticipated features before they are ready and before they have the usual level of quality, polish, and extensibility you would expect from a XenForo release. We'd rather take the extra time to get them right than rush them out and disappoint users with a subpar implementation that requires immediate patches or lacks the flexibility for customisation. We'll be sharing exciting details about what these features are and how they work in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

We can't keep up!​

I just counted and there are about 15 features that have been merged or are pending to be merged into XF 2.4 that we haven't announced yet. Some of these are smaller and aren't worthy of a dedicated HYS of their own (so they'll probably be rolled into a "miscellaneous" HYS or two), and some of these are going to be mentioned below, but while we have been "cooking" (as the kids say these days) it has meant that things like code reviews, and writing HYS posts hasn't been easy to balance. There is also potentially more stuff coming from generous contributions from esteemed developers such as @Xon and @digitalpoint, assuming we have time to implement (otherwise they will wait for... a future version).


With all of that now being said, while 2.4 is taking longer than we wanted, we have been busy and we are very much nearing the end of development.

And, while disappointing (to all of us) it is important to maintain perspective. XenForo 2.2 was released in September 2020. XenForo 2.3 was released nearly four years later. XenForo 2.4 is not 3 more years away.

But, you clicked this to find out what's new, right? So let's go.

 

[CedricV]

Not quite left the forum though, have you. Would your new forum software provider allow you to post on their forum even though you were not a customer?

Oh there's times when I browse randomly. And yes, they would actually.

 

[Wing]

Here’s how I see it:

Everyone venting about “poor communication” seems to think that bi*ching like this will magically make XF open up more. It won’t. If the owners wanted to give a running commentary on their internal delays, decisions, or development challenges, they absolutely could. They’re not stupid, and they know exactly how their silence looks. But they’ve chosen not to operate that way.

Clearly something hasn’t gone to plan for them. That doesn’t mean they owe us blow-by-blow updates. It just means they’re dealing with whatever is happening behind the scenes in the way they think is best.

At the end of the day, you bought a software licence, not shares in XenForo Ltd. A licence gives you access to a product that is still best-in-class. Renewals are optional. But buying a software licence doesn’t entitle anyone to question the company’s internal communication style or development pace.

People can be disappointed or frustrated, that’s fine, but some of the outrage feels like it’s based on a misunderstanding of what you actually purchased. You bought a great bit of software for very little money, use it or don't.

So now you’re fine with people being frustrated? Atleast stay with the same tune…(same goes for all the other XF defenders that have constantly told people off over the last couple years) instead of posting stupid nonsense like this:

 

[JamesBrown]

So now you’re fine with people being frustrated? Atleast stay with the same tune… instead of posting stupid nonsense like this:
View attachment 330199

It wasn't nonsense, it was a light comedic moment. This thread needs that now and again. But I understand your frustration, hopefully there will be a release for you soon. If the wait is too long, maybe you could consider getting a girlfriend.

 

[mjda]

At the end of the day, you bought a software licence, not shares in XenForo Ltd. A licence gives you access to a product that is still best-in-class. Renewals are optional. But buying a software licence doesn’t entitle anyone to question the company’s internal communication style or development pace.

People can be disappointed or frustrated, that’s fine, but some of the outrage feels like it’s based on a misunderstanding of what you actually purchased. You bought a great bit of software for very little money, use it or don't.

While this is technically true, when I bought XF a big part of why I did it was because of Mike and Kier, and how involved they were with the community. I understand that wasn't something that was legally part of the deal but I'd argue that there are a LOT of folks here who chose XF for the same reason back then, and probably a lot who have now left because that's all gone.

Then there's the fact that they promised the communication to be better. If it wasn't important, and wasn't an unwritten "part of the deal", why bother even saying that? Why not just come on here and tell us that communication isn't part of the deal and what goes on behind the scenes isn't any of our business? At least at that point communication would no longer be expected. I can only speak for myself, but I tend to take folks at their word. So if a company tells me they're going to communicate better, I expect that to happen, whether it's part of the deal or not.

 

[nodle]

Everyone venting about “poor communication” seems to think that bi*ching like this will magically make XF open up more. It won’t. If the owners wanted to give a running commentary on their internal delays, decisions, or development challenges, they absolutely could. They’re not stupid, and they know exactly how their silence looks. But they’ve chosen not to operate that way.

You guys are 46 pages deep now, multiple users are complaining, and still no official response. They don't care, or they would respond, plain and simple.

 

[FTL]

Here’s how I see it...

Corporate apologism extraordinaire by a customer who should know better. Nice.

 

[smallwheels]

While this is technically true, when I bought XF a big part of why I did it was because of Mike and Kier, and how involved they were with the community.

It doesn't change the presence if you mentally live in the past - it is gone.

I understand that wasn't something that was legally part of the deal but I'd argue that there are a LOT of folks here who chose XF for the same reason back then, and probably a lot who have now left because that's all gone.

Which seems reasonable. It is like it is and some of those that liked the past but not the presence drew their consequences as they - probably rightfully - assumed the future won't be like the past either.

Then there's the fact that they promised the communication to be better. If it wasn't important, and wasn't an unwritten "part of the deal", why bother even saying that? Why not just come on here and tell us that communication isn't part of the deal and what goes on behind the scenes isn't any of our business? At least at that point communication would no longer be expected. I can only speak for myself, but I tend to take folks at their word. So if a company tells me they're going to communicate better, I expect that to happen, whether it's part of the deal or not.

Well, face it: They broke their promise, for whatever reason. Either you can deal with the situation somehow or you have to move on sooner or later. The only question is wether there is an alternative that overall suits you better. If there is: Go for it. If there isn't you should probably stay and for the sake of your own mood (and the mood of others in this forum) let the past go and arrange with the presence. It may be sad and not how you'd like it - but it is the reality. And if you are unable to find a better one probably the best you can have. Customers vote with their feet, it is the only (and ultimate) power they have. It is hard to believe that the XF crew did not realize that a lot of people are not happy with the way XF play their cards - still they don't change it but continue. This is a statement in itself, unfortunately.

 

[JamesBrown]

Corporate apologism extraordinaire by a customer who should know better. Nice.

I should know better! So sorry for falling short of your expectation.

 

[FTL]

I should know better! So sorry for falling short of your expectation.

"Apology" accepted!

 

[mjda]

It doesn't change the presence if you mentally live in the past - it is gone.

Which seems reasonable. It is like it is and some of those that liked the past but not the presence drew their consequences as they - probably rightfully - assumed the future won't be like the past either.

Well, face it: They broke their promise, for whatever reason. Either you can deal with the situation somehow or you have to move on sooner or later. The only question is wether there is an alternative that overall suits you better. If there is: Go for it. If there isn't you should probably stay and for the sake of your own mood (and the mood of others in this forum) let the past go and arrange with the presence. It may be sad and not how you'd like it - but it is the reality. And if you are unable to find a better one probably the best you can have. Customers vote with their feet, it is the only (and ultimate) power they have. It is hard to believe that the XF crew did not realize that a lot of people are not happy with the way XF play their cards - still they don't change it but continue. This is a statement in itself, unfortunately.

Yeah, I agree with everything you're saying. I'm not living in the past, but I haven't forgotten it, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish we'd get back to that. I guy can dream, right? Seriously, though, I can only take people at their word. I still don't believe they intentionally lied to us. I think they probably did want to communicate better. It just didn't happen, for whatever reason, and now it seems like it may never happen. If it does, great! If it doesn't, then it is what it is. I'll always hope for better communication, though, until it happens or I move on.

To answer the question of if there's an alternative that suits me better, for me, that's a resounding no. Not right now. I still think XF, updates or not, is the best option for my sites, and it's not even close. If I didn't think that then I wouldn't be here. I'd either be working on moving my sites to something else or I'd have already finished moving them to something else. Either way, I wouldn't continue wasting my time here.