XF 2.4 general discussion, feedback, complaints, random off topic posts, etc.

[Mendalla]

We’ve had seven already, do you think there will be more? I’m very looking forward to the editor.

The editor is the main reason I might do 2.4 but until I have it running on my dev, I can't say for sure. There's a good chance I'll hold for 2.4.1 or even 2.4.2 if I see even minor issues.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

I’ve been running a million forums for most of my life and I’ve never had anyone complain about the editor.

 

[dutchbb]

I think you can connect your account to reddit
Have a look at your acp under connected accounts.

Connected accounts is something else, that is just a link to your reddit account. With content discovery i mean the front page feed of reddit. Similar to Latest activity feed on XF, but only the threads with info (so more like new posts?).

If you added your magic to that though you'd have a good forum.
Think of the content over the looks.

My mate's forum for example https://www.bigfooty.com/forum
Has a lot of stuff on it.
It's not a social media site like reddit but it has discussions like what reddit do.

That would be hard to do with vbulletin.

Discussion on reddit is the same as every forum, just with a comment structure instead of threaded.

 

[FTL]

We’ve had seven already, do you think there will be more? I’m very looking forward to the editor.

I'd forgotten that we had. Just checked and can see them there. I still think there might be the odd one or two before release, perhaps.

Yes, that new editor sounds interesting.

I'm not judging it but my experience is that the more dramatic a change, the more work it makes for IT. And on my site, I am IT. Just look at the mad scramble to fix add-ons after the changes in 2.3 (which had little impact on me, thank God). And that was not actually a big change, even though it was a breaking one for add-on builders. Just think what 3.0's overhaul of styling is going to be like. So changes like that require thought and care, not just "oo, shiny. Let's do it."

I love to see "quality of life" features for sure, but they are only improvements if they don't cause more work through bad design or broken implementation. So, I say it again, take the time to give me a few well-done, tested features rather than rushing out half-baked ones to meet perceived demand. IME, the software industry has become obsessed with pumping out "kewl nu featurez" rather than putting out useful ones. I would rather see XF buck that trend.

We're not so diametrically opposed here.

Yeah, bigger changes generally mean more pain, true. If I remember correctly, they said that 2.4 will strive to maintain compatibility with everything which should minimise that pain, so fingers crossed. 3.0 sounds like it could be difficult for admins with those breaking style changes.

And, sure, quality over quantity anytime. The reputation of quality of this software to work properly in most instances is one that the devs should strive to maintain and I'm sure they do.

As I said to Mr Lucky above, I'd forgotten that the HYSs had already been released, so judge away. Of course, we still gotta reserve full judgement until we see the final product and perhaps with a patch or two for the inevitable teething troubles.

 

[geekgasm]

I have an expired license with both the addons and the branding-free option. I need a forum system for an upcoming gaming community. Besides XF, I have two IPS licenses, one WoltLab Suite license, and one vBulletin license. All with the branding-free option and expired, of course. Financially speaking, the XF renewal makes more sense and is what I will do.

My question is: Should I renew my XF license right now and start the community, or should I wait for 2.4? I don't want to get vested and then not be able to upgrade properly after a major version upgrade. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Sim]

should I wait for 2.4? I don't want to get vested and then not be able to upgrade properly after a major version upgrade

It's already been made clear that 2.4 will mostly focus on "quality of life" improvements - meaning behind the scenes changes that won't have a major impact on your ability to upgrade.

I think you'll be fine to launch a new site on 2.3 now and then upgrade to 2.4 once it is released.

 

[Alpha1]

I would wait for the new editor.

 

[Sim]

I would wait for the new editor.

Why?

The current editor works perfectly well for the majority of users and the new editor in 2.4 should not impact on any site upgrades unless you've customised the editor functionality.

 

[Alpha1]

A new editor can be disruptive as users need to find the functionality in different places. But it depends upon when XF2.4 is released. If its right around the corner it may be useful to wait for it. But we don't know how long it will take.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Unlikely. I haven't seen any fanboys, or anyone saying XF can't change or wanting their community to die or being a problem.

Literally every post over the past 5 pages from you,

I'm sure you are aware that is blatantly not true.

I don't hold back with either criticism or praise - whatever seems justified.

Can confirm. You voice criticism when warranted. But that's not enough in the eyes of some. You must completely transform yourself into an enemy of the people and continually remind everyone why you are more superior to everyone else because you've found what you deem to be a better forum solution and vehemently express negative opinions about everything else otherwise you're just a silly fan boy.

 

[tajhay]

 

[Wing]

I'm sure you are aware that is blatantly not true.

Then why do you not agree that XF needs a major overhaul for 3.0 (needed yesterday tbh), to breathe new life into the forum scene of social interactions/tap into the new generation of users?

Again, the writing is on the wall with the current state of slow and small updates. We are bleeding out. The brand is not what it used to be, so people are desiring a new chapter to attempt to bring Forum innovation back into the main stage of things.

 

[dvduval]

Possibly websites themselves are going to be even less valuable with ChatGPT and other LLMs getting bigger. People will chat with bots more than humans. Surely, it will reduce usage by a good 10% or more. Forums will still survive, but usage will keep dropping.

My main concern is development is only going to get faster because of AI, and if Xenforo keeps updating slowly, it is simply going to fall behind too much, and people will find alternatives.

 

[Suzanne O]

Then why do you not agree that XF needs a major overhaul for 3.0 (needed yesterday tbh), to breathe new life into the forum scene of social interactions/tap into the new generation of users?

Again, the writing is on the wall with the current state of slow and small updates. We are bleeding out. The brand is not what it used to be, so people are desiring a new chapter to attempt to bring Forum innovation back into the main stage of things.

Maybe it's just you being an impatient customer.
For me personally i'm concentrating on the fun side of my own forum and adding more things.
My crew wanted more reactions so those were added.

 

[JamesBrown]

Then why do you not agree that XF needs a major overhaul for 3.0

You can keep your major overhaul. That's the last thing I want or need.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Then why do you not agree that XF needs a major overhaul for 3.0

Because I am entitled to my own opinions.

However I believe the style is going to get a major overhaul and I’m looking forward very much to that, hoping it makes customising easier and allows for more versatility with less frustration for those of us less expert at code.

I’m often trying new things because I find it interesting and sometimes fun. I’ve just done a major overhaul of my site which I think is an improvement. The members are not so bothered. For many, ad long as they get alerts and can post and reply that’s all they need.

The main stuff I work on though is SEO and that seems to be going well. I do have some niggles about that so have posted suggestions in that regard. But sadly with little response. But I’d very much welcome some changes and improvements.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Then why do you not agree that XF needs a major overhaul for 3.0 (needed yesterday tbh), to breathe new life into the forum scene of social interactions/tap into the new generation of users?

Again, the writing is on the wall with the current state of slow and small updates. We are bleeding out. The brand is not what it used to be, so people are desiring a new chapter to attempt to bring Forum innovation back into the main stage of things.

XenForo, in my opinion, doesn’t need a major overhaul to cater to the new generation of internet users. All it needs is a What’s New page with an OPTIONAL new age layout. All the functionality already exists with the exception of discussions being scrollable on a single page with the ability to interact right there.

One page.

 

[Swiftman]

Yeah, to be frank, all of this talk of a major overhaul to the foundational structure of internet forums being desperately needed sorta just seems like cope from people whose sites are shrinking—likely for reasons that don't actually have anything to do with the software.

Social media isn't the enemy, it's an asset that can drive new membership to a well-run, well-structured, original-content-rich Xenforo forum. Social media isn't some existential threat. If the discussions taking place on social media are a threat to the discussions taking place on your forum, I'd say that's a problem with the quality of the discussions taking place on your forum, not a grand software challenge that Xenforo needs to solve for you. Xenforo could deliver you the ideal Facebook competitor but if the discussions that take place via that theoretical software are as passing, vapid, and hollow as the ones taking place on Facebook right now, your forum is doomed to fail regardless.

There's a ton I want to see out of Xenforo in the months and years ahead—the new editor, a new, modern theme, and, most notably a new homepage/What's New page that centers threads in a simple, user-customizable, orderable, filterable, savable, format very akin to ThemeHouse's Feeds addon. But, notably, the vast majority of the things I want from Xenforo are things that social media platforms DON'T provide. I don't want Xenforo to compete with centralized social media platforms by trying to follow their model, I want Xenforo to compete with centralized social media platforms by continuing to iterate and improve upon the things that make internet forums uniquely desirable when compared against social media.

 

[Mr Lucky]

All it needs is a What’s New page with an OPTIONAL new age layout

Well I'd prefer not New Age but OPTIONAL sounds good.

Mind you I'm very open to suggestions and I'd like to see some examples of what people suggest to improve on what most forum users seem happy with, ie a list of latest posts. I tried the Themehouse Feeds for a while and nobody liked it.

 

[Wing]

@JamesBrown @Mr Lucky @Swiftman , so with your attitude - what is even the point of XF 3.0?
Again, this leads back to the original comment pages earlier... as to why its baffling you guys would rather just stay on this current course. We all love XF and what it is currently, but sitting here as its been now for years - is not going to keep XF around.

This also leads us back to the circular argument of "why is more options" and flexibility for modernization a bad thing? If in the end, there is the option to keep your sites stuck in the current look and feel that we have from 1.0 and 2.0?

You guys seriously are making no sense, and this is exactly what will allow XF to eventually die out. @Sal Collaziano I agree with you, there really is not much that needs to be done to bring fresh life into XF, especially modernization of just a couple of the frontend pages would go a long way. But again, people here remain ignorant. Sorry for becoming emotional about this, but I am sick of the loyalist attitude here that is literally allowing Xenforo to run its course and die - when there truly is tons of potential to bring this software back onto the grand stage of Public Discource as it once was. Like I said earlier as well... just adding VOIP channel functionality would go a long way for new node modes and sharing of in house live group chat node streams that we see users enjoy greatly on other platforms.

XF 1.0 was ground breaking. XF 3.0 can be as well.