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.

 

[Jimsef]

Maybe, but I'm not too convinced by it as it's not hard for a legitimate person to register there.

I'll register a test account to see what the experience is like as I haven't done it in years now. Thing is, I don't wanna let a bunch of spammers in too easily, or I'm forever checking and deleting them. That was happening some time back and it got really annoying. No real members, just spammers, sometimes several a day. . Don't need that.

The other forum that I manage doesn't have as robust a registration process (runs latest XF software) and that gets quite a lot of spammers trying to register, with no real users. It's much quieter than mine too, sometimes flatlining for weeks. I'm not the owner however, so I just put up with it although I'm an admin there and could change the setup to stop this. I've suggested ways of improving it though, so maybe one day they'll be taken on board. It's felineforums.com, in my siggy.

I use cloudflare and ban a load of countries which helps. Also helps to recruit some good mods.

 

[Wing]

Maybe, but I'm not too convinced by it as it's not hard for a legitimate person to register there.

I'll register a test account to see what the experience is like as I haven't done it in years now. Thing is, I don't wanna let a bunch of spammers in too easily, or I'm forever checking and deleting them. That was happening some time back and it got really annoying. No real members, just spammers, sometimes several a day. . Don't need that.

The other forum that I manage doesn't have as robust a registration process (runs latest XF software) and that gets quite a lot of spammers trying to register, with no real users. It's much quieter than mine too, sometimes flatlining for weeks. I'm not the owner however, so I just put up with it although I'm an admin there and could change the setup to stop this. I've suggested ways of improving it though, so maybe one day they'll be taken on board. It's felineforums.com, in my siggy.

Tbh, we’ve been good with anti-spam by just setting a super unique and custom required question field for registration that is still easily guessable by real humans.

No captcha or cloudflare required

 

[zappaDPJ]

Maybe, but I'm not too convinced by it as it's not hard for a legitimate person to register there.

I agree it is a balancing act but in my experience it's reasonably easy to deter spammers while allowing genuine registrations an easy passage. In the main I use the same process as @Wing has suggested.

Tbh, we’ve been good with anti-spam by just setting a super unique and custom required question field for registration that is still easily guessable by real humans.

I find the right Q&A generally lasts at least a year or two and is 100% effective. If and when it does fail you just set a new one.

 

[FTL]

I agree it is a balancing act but in my experience it's reasonably easy to deter spammers while allowing genuine registrations an easy passage. In the main I use the same process as @Wing has suggested.

Oh definitely a balancing act and I've had a few registrations this year of actual members with very few spammers getting through and sitting in the approval queue, like perhaps just one or two. I don't want to go into the specifics of the anti-spam settings I use in case it tips them off, but it's nothing fancy, I assure you. However, they're effective.

 

[Suzanne O]

Oh definitely a balancing act and I've had a few registrations this year of actual members with very few spammers getting through and sitting in the approval queue, like perhaps just one or two. I don't want to go into the specifics of the anti-spam settings I use in case it tips them off, but it's nothing fancy, I assure you. However, they're effective.

I remember being able to post on your sites at one stage. A shame i can't come back on there.
I also use the approval queue for nearly all of my registrations but with cloudlflare turnstile which works like a dream.

Even when @zappaDPJ was admin on his site (before selling it off) I enjoyed it.

A shame that a few trolls and other people ruined it.

 

[Agentos]

You get a sad face Like as I fear that you're unfortunately right and the highlighted bit is the core of it. Look, my forum never took off all that well and now it's dropping further, with the handful of regulars, such as they were, posting much less than before. Very frustrating, I tell you, especially as those are quality members who really add value for myself, themselves and other members when they post. I've lately had a new member that's bucking that trend, but I need more like that for momentum to build.

It's a good thing that I run it as purely a hobby forum without ads as otherwise I'd have shut it down long ago if it was any kind of business venture.

Finally, if yourself or any xenforo.com member reading this does actually want to join, just DM me here and I'll create an account for you, bypassing all the antispam hoops with a fully active account.

No one will stay on this forum longer. The style is off-putting. You need to put more work into the style and promotion

 

[Jimsef]

No one will stay on this forum longer. The style is off-putting. You need to put more work into the style and promotion

Surely the point of forum software is to have a basic style that is easy to customise and build on? From what I see XF is exactly that.

 

[Agentos]

Surely the point of forum software is to have a basic style that is easy to customise and build on? From what I see XF is exactly that.

It's ugly to be honest, but it gives you a lot of opportunities to create a beautiful style. We're just here for information.
Create a forum for a specific target. Forums with discussions about everything don't stand a chance these days, because people choose Reddit. It has to be a specific target and it's best if the forum also attracts with its appearance.

 

[Agentos]

Even though the default style is ugly, let's treat it as a basis for creating something beautiful. Xenforo is the best forum engine in the world

 

[cdub]

Even though the default style is ugly, let's treat it as a basis for creating something beautiful. Xenforo is the best forum engine in the world

The default style is not ugly

 

[Suzanne O]

It's ugly to be honest, but it gives you a lot of opportunities to create a beautiful style. We're just here for information.
Create a forum for a specific target. Forums with discussions about everything don't stand a chance these days, because people choose Reddit. It has to be a specific target and it's best if the forum also attracts with its appearance.

Nah it's not. What's ugly is https://www.proboards.com with what Vertical Scope have done to it. Even vB looks ugly

 

[Agentos]

The default style is not ugly

I used too strong a word.

 

[D.O.A.]

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!

1) some type of social groups?
2) digital casino, until authorities intervene

 

[Suzanne O]

1) some type of social groups?
2) digital casino, until authorities intervene

View attachment 324351

Speak with @DragonByte Tech for the social groups for his add-on

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Nah it's not. What's ugly is https://www.proboards.com with what Vertical Scope have done to it. Even vB looks ugly

Jeez, when did Vertical Scope buy ProBoards?

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Regarding the standard XenForo style, I've actually stopped using other themes and switched all my forums back to it. It's clean and gets the job done. Most people are accessing my forums via smartphones, so a simple, clean screen is what I like.

My latest project:

Nissan Armada NISMO Forum

Forum community for owners and enthusiasts of the Nissan Armada NISMO high performance full size SUV

nissanarmadanismoforum.com

 

[Agentos]

Regarding the standard XenForo style, I've actually stopped using other themes and switched all my forums back to it. It's clean and gets the job done. Most people are accessing my forums via smartphones, so a simple, clean screen is what I like.

My latest project:

Nissan Armada NISMO Forum

Forum community for owners and enthusiasts of the Nissan Armada NISMO high performance full size SUV

nissanarmadanismoforum.com

Your forums designs are for a specific target group and that's why it works for you.

I couldn't use the default style on the forum. I just want to have a beautiful style and I spend a lot of time on it to make it happen.

 

[Mr Lucky]

I just want to have a beautiful style

Do you have any links to examples to demonstrate the beautiful style,?

 

[FTL]

No one will stay on this forum longer. The style is off-putting. You need to put more work into the style and promotion

Saying no one is staying there due to the style is a bit strong, innacurate and tbh, kinda offensive. I've got some regulars on there and a rather non-trivial number of threads and posts built up over time, so while not where I want it to be, it's hardly dead either and a whole lot more active than some wastelands that I've seen.

The theme was created in the early days by a member when I set up the forum in 2021, in no way a professional theme designer, so he just tweaked the standard light theme but it's easy on the eyes. I want to upgrade it with a theme from @Russ (a very professional theme designer) for a fresh new look at some point and perhaps change the domain, away from the nerd theme which I feel is holding it back. I've got some .com domains registered and will likely pick one of them to change to.

Promoting isn't a bad idea though and I have thought about it.

The whole thing is actually on hold for now due to a few factors that I won't go into here, so don't hold your breath for updates to the forum. In the meantime, it chugs along steadily.

Finally, you say you've got a beautiful theme. Well, why don't you link to your forum and let us all judge for ourselves if it's really all that hot?

 

[FTL]

I remember being able to post on your sites at one stage. A shame i can't come back on there.

You know very well why I banned you and we discussed it further here in a pm almost two years ago, but you then stopped replying. If you really want to come back, message me in that pm/dm, address my points, letting me see that you've changed your attitude and have some contrition and I'll see if I want you back. Yes, banned members may get a second chance if they change their ways and it's happened before.