XF 2.3 ?

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That would likely be the approach taken for features such as that but it would still result in various complaints.
Something like a decent Social groups with an integrated public viewable/group viewable calendar would be ideal as a 1st party add-on, being able to be chosen by those who want it (like XFRM and XFMG). What it would bring is the knowledge of stability for it, instead of the dependence upon a 3rd party being around for a length of time.
Other stuff like WebP support and similar suggestions should be core.
 
When i used IPS i found that it's restricted in that you can't do anything to the forum itself. But you had to pay every 6 months for a license.
It's good but does it allow people to post on it if there's so many restrictions? When i used it i found it difficult to retain members because of the limitations it used.

When i went to vBulletin i found that you had to fill out a config form every time you wanted to use the software. It was complex to use but we were able to use it. It wasn't compatible with the current PHP levels you needed to have. New one is.
It's now less complex. But has packed a big punch with everything on it all at once.
17 built in styles that you can use to your hearts content.
Built in blogs and groups. Not bad.
A cloud system where the staff upgrade your forum for you.
A comment section under each post.
All for about $350AU per licence.

Here with XF you have to renew your license for a year.
But you get some small and easy changes to the software and not many upgrades.
When you get an upgrade i find that it's important to get it done so that you can use the software without having issues on it.
You can get plenty of your own styles which do cost a bit of money.
So you'd probably understand if XF were to use a couple of built in styles in later releases.

Personally i find that it's silly by some stubborn XF users when it comes to upgrades that they don't bother with it. Whilst they might be happy it's slowly causing members of theirs to move away to other forums.

I always like to keep my members happy. The amount of aggressive resets on my forum is because of the amount of dumb complaints by those who think it's funny to complain.
 
not necessarily "modern presence", but suggestions that have been out for years and not closed or any action taken upon.

Social Groups
Setting order of sticky/pinned threads
Multiple Prefixes
Ability for Admin to disable certain 2FA points
Event Calendar (hopefully tied to Social Groups)
TRUE Ignore/block feature
Admin defined "whats new" page
Email throttling
Re-use of attachments (for those that don't have the gallery add-on and can embed them)
Multi-quote in conversations (as suggested by a current XF developer)
WebP support

Most these (except 2FA selections) are pre-2015 suggestions to name just a few that would be of benefit to many.
What I want in 2.3, in order of importance:
  1. Alternative content front page for improved content discovery and user retention (current what's new page is barely usable, it's so bad...). The page will serve as the HOME, while forum will serve as the classic "forum list". But it is optional, so those who only want the old forum list, can of course do that.
    • Live Filtering (click and it will sort the list, for example imagine something like prefixes, and it will update the content live based on what prefixes you are marking from the sidebar).
    • Feed system (you select the content you want to see, people want the content to reflect what they are interested in viewing!). Has media support from the main post. (f.ex images).
    • Thread voting, similar to Reddit. So popular/good content goes to the top, uninteresting content stays much lower.
    • Different layout for different devices for better user experience and better mobile rating by search engines etc.
    • Infinite scrolling.
  2. WebP support. (LONG overdue!)
  3. XF core speed/optimization to improve vital areas like LCP and CLS. Things like:
    • Lazy loading images outside of main rendering by default.
    • Defer/asyc to all non-essential xore XF js by default.
    • Improvements to delivery of core XF javascript that are essential for page rendering/function (can anything be trimmed/removed etc)? Almost a second for "blocking" main thread waiting for js loading. For example moving away from jquery.
    • The new cookie notice is really hurting LCP.
    • Font display:swap by default for making sure visitors see text while the font is loading.
    • Leaner sized css.php
    • Etc..
  4. Trending Content features. Show trending content based on replies, interactions (likes etc), views.
  5. SEO improvements. See notes from the Google developer posting here, on suggested improvements.
  6. Remove/update froala editor. So many bugs..
  7. Fully integrated push notifications.
  8. Universal "create" button from home page and forum. Then you can select the content you wish to create.
  9. Improvements to the search capabilities in XF.
  10. Popular API integrations, for example like Zapier.
Currently, XF is miles behind IPS on many areas when you see what they have added in the last years since XF 2.2, (even if you discount their special apps like club, event etc), so I really hope that XF 2.3 will bring XF back on top.
These are all excellent suggestions.
 
I'd love to see the What's New page totally revamped.

I want every single piece of content submitted to be shown and I want to be able to interact with it on that page. Reply to profile posts, reply to threads, comment on gallery images, share things to my news feed - so that anybody following me see's the content too.

Would require a total revamp of the system tho.
 
Here with XF you have to renew your license for a year.
Just a slight clarification.

The license is a one-time $160 charge. Once that's paid, you can use the version that is current at that time and also any upgrades in the subsequent year.

The $55 annual renewal is for maintenance and support.

It's the software model that's been common in the corporate world for decades (upfront charge to license the software, annual payment for support and maintenance including upgrades) and what I still prefer to the SAAS subscription model.

Whilst they might be happy it's slowly causing members of theirs to move away to other forums.
Maybe? We stopped upgrading for two or three years (just neglect, not really intentional) and completely missed 1.4, jumping from 1.3 to 1.5 when I realized we had fallen behind and did an upgrade. I don't think anyone but admins noticed until I announced the maintenance window for the upgrade. Someone who is on other XF or competing software sites might notice missing features, but most of my crowd are only on my site and otherwise use social media. We lost no one that I know of for that reason (for other reasons, like blowups or moderation, sure).
 
Alternative content front page for improved content discovery and user retention (current what's new page is barely usable, it's so bad...). The page will serve as the HOME, while forum will serve as the classic "forum list". But it is optional, so those who only want the old forum list, can of course do that.
I would go further and suggest this should be done as a "framework" to make customization and building your own homepage easier. Yes, an out of box one, but then give us lots of ways and tools to make changes to it without having to get into the nitty-gritty of templates.
 
That would likely be the approach taken for features such as that but it would still result in various complaints.

I'd bet five of my British pounds.
You're undoubtedly right, but whatever they do in that regard is going to result in complaints. But if it comes to never offering certain features because everyone can't use them or forcing everyone to migrate to their Cloud hosting so that all their customers can - which would force out all those who couldn't afford the Cloud hosting, and therefore wouldn't be able to use any of it - I vote they choose to make certain features available only to some. :cool:
 
I would go further and suggest this should be done as a "framework" to make customization and building your own homepage easier. Yes, an out of box one, but then give us lots of ways and tools to make changes to it without having to get into the nitty-gritty of templates.
Think of the software you like to use as your internet service provider.
look at all the pros and cons of the software.
go from there
 
Think of the software you like to use as your internet service provider.
look at all the pros and cons of the software.
go from there
I think ISP is a simpler decision than software these days.

Find the companies that can deliver the bandwidth you need at the location you need with the SLA you need at a price that fits your budget, then compare those. To be honest, where I am, we often still don't have much choice for ISP. I have a location at work where we need enterprise-grade fiber and only one provider can deliver at that location and even that's not 100% sure yet.

Software, you often have lots more in terms of specific requirements. It needs to do this, do that, allow me to do x and y, and so on. And usually more options to do that review for. And there will be some can come close enough that you need to eyeball them and decide if they meet the requirement or not. Our parent company spent two quarters or so comparing options for a new ERP system.
 
I'd love to see the What's New page totally revamped.

I want every single piece of content submitted to be shown and I want to be able to interact with it on that page. Reply to profile posts, reply to threads, comment on gallery images, share things to my news feed - so that anybody following me see's the content too.

Would require a total revamp of the system tho.

Exactly! We think alike. Yes, and it is necessary to stay in the times.. Current approach may work for some (especially established forums that already have a healthy population of members), but at least if you are a new forum trying to break out now in combat with reddit, facebook, discord and the likes, some innovation is needed to help along. Similar to what me, Lee and others have suggested. And it isn't just among younger demographics, a lot of older people just use Facebook groups now, because it is "easy".

I at least like to think that the long delay isn't just because of staff changes/cloud development, but also because the scope they had in mind for 2.3 was larger than originally expected, and for it to be done properly, they needed significantly more time to develop.
 
I think ISP is a simpler decision than software these days.

Find the companies that can deliver the bandwidth you need at the location you need with the SLA you need at a price that fits your budget, then compare those. To be honest, where I am, we often still don't have much choice for ISP. I have a location at work where we need enterprise-grade fiber and only one provider can deliver at that location and even that's not 100% sure yet.

Software, you often have lots more in terms of specific requirements. It needs to do this, do that, allow me to do x and y, and so on. And usually more options to do that review for. And there will be some can come close enough that you need to eyeball them and decide if they meet the requirement or not. Our parent company spent two quarters or so comparing options for a new ERP system.
It's the same with choosing forum software or buying a new mobile phone.
Do your research.
 
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Meanwhile, we’re waiting for XenForo WebP support 🥹

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