Thanks
@Paul B for merging this.
Here's my 2c (apologies in advance for my Tarzan English and some innevitable "bed spilling"
):
Background (in my days...)
I've been using forums since the BBS times. Both as a user/member, and as a moderator and administrator.
Tried different software over the years and seen their pros and cons.
XenForo
My impression of XenForo (first as a user, now running my own forum) is that it's pretty good.
It looks as if a forum user/admin did what I did (i.e. used and tried different forum software for a while), then made a list of what's good, and what needs to be added or improved. Then built a forum software that ticks all those boxes.
No unnecessary stuff that will make it difficult to build, secure, and keep up to date. Nope. That's left to the add-on/extension developers to build and maintain on their own.
The devs' choice of what should be in the "core" and what should be left out is pretty good and reasonable IMO. Sure, there are some things that
I (me, me me me) would like to see included, but objectivelly, that's my problem (though some of that stuff is announced for the 2.3 version & I'm looking forward to it
). I think it's fair to say that they drew the line correctly. And it's good to see they don't include every feature that everyone (or even a greater number of users) suggests - as that has its costs down the line.
Regarding the updates' "pace" - I suppose that forum devs are normal people with lives and families. Can't really expect them to work night and day. Hiring more devs may not speed things up (not really, not for every project), and it would definitely cost more (XenForo price, and update costs are really reasonable and don't look like a cash-grab scheme).
Also, the now forgotten & obsolete discipline of "beta testing" seems to be alive and well with XenForo. Instead of shipping update after update (for update sake?), XenForo devs appear to be actually testing and caring about the quality.
IPB
"IPB" (formerly known as "Invision Power Board," and now as "Invision Community) seems to be concentrating on their cloud solution, and leaving the self-hosted option as an extra (needless/neglected?). That, more than their pricing, was why I decided to go with XenForo. Another aspect is that the IPB seems like a do-it-all solution, while XenForo seems to be concentrated on "just" forum (I suppose you can do more than that with XenForo too, but the software's "emphasis" is clear).
For some people, this could be an advantage. For me it is a disadvantage.
Of course, no one can please everyone. It is perfectly fine if you think XenForo is not a good fit for you. It does have its cons (along with its pros).
Final thoughts (i.e. more drivel )
Building software that is powerful (and feature-rich), good, swift and secure is not easy. And every choice has its pros and cons, just as every feature has its costs (not just in terms of money).
My impression is that XenForo devs know what they're doing (a rare thing nowadays), and that they care about building a good product.
The IPB boards I've used, as a user/member, are great - no doubt. It is where they seem to be heading towards that I don't like (again, your choices, tastes and preferences may differ - that's OK).
Relja
BrevityIsNotMyVirtue Novović
