Xenforo philosophy, fanboys, and "bloated software"

Markos

Well-known member
I like the Xenforo's philosophy, the very user friendly UI/UX, the design etc. "Make it simple" sounds good. I don't like an extremistic view of semplicity according to which only the basic and fundamental features are required in a simple forum software with an usable/user friendly interface and any "complex" feature (like referrers, reputation system etc.) it's contrary to Xenforo's experience. Here my argomentation:

1) I see that the 90% of the features suggestion has of reponse by the anti-bloated-fanboys (acronym ABF): "this should be a mod" (from the users). If the feature suggested is present in an addon of vb/ipb, the ABF writes: "in vb/ipb this is not present in the core; the same system should be in xenforo". If the feature is present in the core of vb/ipb they reply: "IPB/VB are bloated! It's not useful to ispirate to a bloated software".

2) The "Anti-bloated-fanboys" are usually against any type of ispiration from VB/IPB (bloated, and "old-style" forum software). Because XF is the new generation of forum software, it doesn't see on these forum.

(Ok, it's my point) - Ok, we don't like bloated software, excessive useless features, but a commercial software should be complete for any level of community, little and big. Ok that need time, more time, we can be patient and wait. Xenforo can't be a popular software with a poor feature set. Everyone has its one opinion, but i think that an extremistic view of "simplicity", in the long term, will damage the development of Xenforo. That is my opinion based on osservation of the feedback/suggestions made by the users and the correlated discussions. Sorry for my worse english. I'm hoping to see a costructive discussions about the topic. :-)
 
Some very good points there, Maximilian. I suppose I would fall into the "Anti-bloated-fanboys" category. However, I'm certainly not against the idea of the expansion of features, just ones that are just there for the sake of being there. I'm actually very much looking forward to XenForo becoming a feature-rich application with plenty of room for flexibility and customization.
 
I've heard that many users are saying that for them vB/IPB is very complicated ..
I like what i see here , xF is like a Chrome amongst the browsers .

It's true, XF it's more simple, but imho there are not complex feature/functions. There are a way to do a feature, that can be simple or complicated.I see many gaming communities populated by noobs that has features like referrers, reputation system very simple to use. You can make every feature simple, with a good idea.

A great italian sculptor has writed: "the semplicity are a complexity resolved"

The problem is that it's not useful to have a very restricted core with 500 mods, with all the security, resource and updates problem.
 
I personally like the idea of a very tight core, that fulfills all of forum functionality and then a very open modification system that both XF and 3rd party groups use to expand on that core. That way the control of what features and services your site has is in the hands of the site owners. So far I like what I see on that front with XF :D
 
I think speed is an important function of a forum software. Look at vb4 and all it's speed issues. I don't use the CMS or Blogs yet I'm burdened with a slow forum do to so many features added to the core product.

Ideally xenForo will make features that will not slow down the speed by using separate tables and queries for features that are not core functions.

Personally I prefer to have as little features as possible and plan on turning off many of the features already considered core items.
 
I personally like the idea of a very tight core, that fulfills all of forum functionality and then a very open modification system that both XF and 3rd party groups use to expand on that core. That way the control of what features and services your site has is in the hands of the site owners. So far I like what I see on that front with XF :D

The problem in modifications are if you don't are a coder or you can't permit to pay a coder to doing custom work for your forum. Free mods are often unsupported, badly coded, very rarely uptated, and there are a security risk in some cases...IMHO the numbers of mods and code/db modifications will be very limited to prevent security/perfomance problems. I prefer a feature offered officially and with professionalism than an amateur-mod with all the problems...
 
I do not believe it is this black or white... Some features/add-ons are very popular but still shouldn't be a core feature. Others are not that popular but it makes sense to include them anyway. We as a community can only give our opinions and arguments, ultimately it's the staff who should decide what should be a core feature and what not. Again, this process is a bit more complex than just looking at likes/popularity.

The principle of simplicity is a good one I believe. It's not only a trend on the web these days, it's also clearly appreciated by admins and end-users. This obviously should not get in the way of much needed functionality, but so far it's not my impression that is has been.
 
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