XenForo Cloud discussion

[Alpha1]

I don’t know what you mean by multi site install. Are you asking if we’re cramming multiple sites onto the same server like shared hosting? No, that’s not an approach we’d take.

No, what I mean is if you've built a version of XenForo that can run multiple websites from one software install. Similar to how WordPress has a multisite version.

 

[Kier]

No, it’s not that.

 

[woody]

If I read this correctly, the $60/mo includes the software pricing and installation. A new Xenforo install with all the bells/whistles/etc is $395 for the first year, renewals are $95/year....divide your first year by 12, so roughly half of your monthly cost is in software, half in server/support.

$720 for year one hosting when it includes $395 of included software/installation doesn't suck. For year two, if your foray into forums is successful, move to your own hosting solution, or enjoy the ease of auto-updates, lack of server admin/management headaches, and traffic growth and accept that the year-two added costs are well worth your first year successes.

 

[Alternadiv]

There isn’t currently a process by which you can download the files and database on an adhoc basis but you’re absolutely correct that the data is owned by the subscriber and therefore will be made available in circumstances where it is required, such as the subscription being cancelled.

On this note, what about dev installations? Could a backup be acquired for a localhost install? Or — better yet — could you guys clone a site as a dev environment?

 

[Chris D]

If I read this correctly, the $60/mo includes the software pricing and installation. A new Xenforo install with all the bells/whistles/etc is $395 for the first year, renewals are $95/year....divide your first year by 12, so roughly half of your monthly cost is in software, half in server/support.

$720 for year one hosting when it includes $395 of included software/installation doesn't suck. For year two, if your foray into forums is successful, move to your own hosting solution, or enjoy the ease of auto-updates, lack of server admin/management headaches, and traffic growth and accept that the year-two added costs are well worth your first year successes.

That's not necessarily how we calculate the price but definitely a good way to weigh up the costs versus self-hosting.

On this note, what about dev installations? Could a backup be acquired for a localhost install? Or — better yet — could you guys clone a site as a dev environment?

Nothing to announce just yet

 

[Digital Doctor]

Will Xenforo Cloud have it's own independent addons ?

Are existing addons definitely incompatible ? or is it that you don't want to initially support existing addons as they may be too hard to support ? Will existing addons have the option to become "Xenforo Cloud" certified ?

 

[Chris D]

We have nothing to announce regarding add-ons at this stage.

There is no add-on installation capability at all as it stands and the only add-ons that are available are those that are pre-installed, which is our own add-ons.

 

[Digital Doctor]

Will Xenforo Cloud and Xenforo have different codebases ?

 

[Chris D]

No.

 

[Kier]

No.

Or more specifically, XenForo Cloud is built on top of XenForo.

 

[Lee]

Will I be able to migrate an existing community to xenForo cloud if I opt to use these services?

 

[Kier]

Will I be able to migrate an existing community to xenForo cloud if I opt to use these services?

Yes

 

[Lee]

Excellent, thank you!

 

[Kier]

…although as we’ve said before, third party add-ons are not supported in the initial XenForo Cloud offering, which may limit the ability to migrate for some communities.

 

[M@rc]

How about if someone wants to move away from xenForo Cloud? How would they get their data? Would there be an additional one-time fee for you to do the dump and get a zip of the files, especially if it's a large forum?

I'd assume a tool will be available to do this without having an xenForo staff member manually do it, but just confirming.

 

[deslocotoco]

Hello people. I lost this discussion thread about the new service.

I have some couple of questions about this. The price is very fine for me, i can work with that. But, U$ 60 monthly, what is included? License renew for all the official add-ons?

- How the scalability will work for a very busy Forum? My Forum is going to be online 24h/7d week without a problem?

- And In terms of storage? How this is handled? I ask because I'm going to implement the Media Manager in this year if Gods permit, and what's going to happen in the server side if many users are watching a video or uploading one?

- I can't contract the service right now because i have some add-ons, like AMS and Forum Live Statistics and some others. In the future, 3th party add-ons are going be supported? When the time comes, i can transfer my Forum to the XenForo right away.

- XenForo can handle the storage in services like Amazon Web Services, Ocean, etc., can this be implemented when i move to XF Cloud?

That's it.

 

[ekempter]

I have run my forum for over 2 decades. I have migrated to many genres of forum software. I have yet to find a hosted solution that could sufficiently support a forum run as a business. It seems that you may be catering to hobby forums and are eyeing a new revenue stream. Third party add-ons and template mods are a must from my perspective.

 

[Chromaniac]

I am happy with this announcement. It is not a product that works for me. But it is something that could eventually fix a lot of problems with the platform. WordPress went through the same cycle and launching wp.com ended up fixing a lot of issues resulting in a much mature product for everyone.

As already discussed, I hope that this would eventually result in integrated support for addon installs and upgrades and cloud service components that could eventually be offered to non-hosted users (Elasticsearch comes to mind). This could also maybe result in a hosted solution for paid addons which should help with developers coming up with a cool product, charging funds for it and then disappearing.

 

[Paul B]

components that could eventually be offered to non-hosted users (Elasticsearch comes to mind)

XFES is already available to non-hosted customers.

It's entirely up to the hosting package whether it can be installed and used - that is never going to change.

I have cheap shared hosting and have XFES.

 

[l3ta]

Love it. Addon integration is a must to get more customers, tho. But having XF host your site and deal with all the backend is a dream come true. I'm sure many newbies are going to go that route. So, how many tiers are there in the XF Cloud? Does it go all the way to cloud 9?