Disappointed With IPB 2.2

[theclub]

l'm glad to see you acknowledge the suggestions members post, and l see something l asked for, the searching of secondary groups, has been included.

However, if you use a suggestion, it doesn't take that long to say so in the thread, and close it, that way we know we are being listened to.

Many of the suggestion may seem trivial to you, but save a lot of time and effort: l made the suggestion that when you delete RSS articles you delete the oldest ones first, by this not happening they have to be deleted one page at a time on the forum.

BTW, is there a reason the smilies don't work when you click on them? Or is that a new feature too?

:) <-- added manualy!

[amr.salah@live.com]

I think IPB need some new features with some improve to admin cp like adding multiforum in one time and some ajax with enable and disable .. there is a lot of thing need to be done

[N.U.]

Well I can't really say that I am disappointed in 2.2. Mainly because I haven't seen the bare bone of it. All I've got out of it has been from this forum.

From what I have seen, I'm really not happy with the user side of things. IMO I think to much is going on. Lot of stuff has been just simple put into a menu other then doing the design work to fix it or make it better. Some examples.

The text editor, I agree with most of what everyone has said that it needs more space. OK but everything was put into menus which to me looks messy. I think it should have more of a feel to what a real application has in terms of buttons and less drop down menus. While I like that IPS listen and put a side menu back to it, the whole point of why you remove it in the first place doesn't replace the fact that it still cause the text area to be small in signature view and pm view.

The overall changes to the system seem to be very little, the overall look is the same, if you remove all the drop down menus added, it looks the same. In anything those drop down menus make the forum overloaded with javascript and cause the pages to load that much slower. I know in this age of high speed who cares right? Well it may be fine for old forum users like myself, but what about the new people who will be joining this new version?

Lot of my members on my own forum told me that lot was going on and they had a hard time getting use to the system. This effect is what I have on vbulletin. As one said its over mod with stuff that for the most part is unless. I fear that IPB become the same. While I agree that some level of new features need to be added some of this stuff is a little more so to the point of "Yeah we can do that".

I mean really does the card need to be a drop down menu? Out of all the changes that where made the Profile and members list got the most changes? What about the UCP? What about the calendar? The PM system?

Then there is all this talk about 3.0. I'm sorry I though we where on 2.2 now? If 3.0 is coming out some time in the near future and its going to be totally overhauled as some have said why upgrade to 2.2?

The real test for me will be the mod features and acp. Because I can deal with members who 'Barneys Girlfriend' about features. I can change parts of the software to fit my need. But if the acp is to hard to do task then I may as well pass. I wont know however until I see it first hand. I am wondering if the adding and removing a mod to the forums has been fixed. Small forums ok, big forums a nightmare to change things.

[Sam A]

not to be against what you posted but the one thing in BOLD red is added

That has nothing to do with it.

[Septerra]

I dont think we should consider IPB 3.0 right now. The main focus, should be now. Say if it takes one year for each +0.1 release, come on, get real, how many of us actually want to wait at least 15 years until 3.0? If the disappointments are not that complicated to fix and can be done in a reasonable amount of time, then it should be fixed now. Each year comes with new things anyways adding on to more possible troubles, so best to get the structure firm right now.

[Keith J. Kacin]

I dont think we should consider IPB 3.0 right now. The main focus, should be now. Say if it takes one year for each +0.1 release, come on, get real, how many of us actually want to wait at least 15 years until 3.0? If the disappointments are not that complicated to fix and can be done in a reasonable amount of time, then it should be fixed now. Each year comes with new things anyways adding on to more possible troubles, so best to get the structure firm right now.

But you also have to take into account that new/changed features will delay things more. It would not only add time to develop, but also for a security audit, further QA'ing, and more betas to test.

Personally, I would rather see the enhancements in a future version, as it gives time to properly code, test, and ensure everything is working properly.

[Desert_Punk]

Well I can't really say that I am disappointed in 2.2. Mainly because I haven't seen the bare bone of it. All I've got out of it has been from this forum.

From what I have seen, I'm really not happy with the user side of things. IMO I think to much is going on. Lot of stuff has been just simple put into a menu other then doing the design work to fix it or make it better. Some examples.

The text editor, I agree with most of what everyone has said that it needs more space. OK but everything was put into menus which to me looks messy. I think it should have more of a feel to what a real application has in terms of buttons and less drop down menus. While I like that IPS listen and put a side menu back to it, the whole point of why you remove it in the first place doesn't replace the fact that it still cause the text area to be small in signature view and pm view.

The overall changes to the system seem to be very little, the overall look is the same, if you remove all the drop down menus added, it looks the same. In anything those drop down menus make the forum overloaded with javascript and cause the pages to load that much slower. I know in this age of high speed who cares right? Well it may be fine for old forum users like myself, but what about the new people who will be joining this new version?

Lot of my members on my own forum told me that lot was going on and they had a hard time getting use to the system. This effect is what I have on vbulletin. As one said its over mod with stuff that for the most part is unless. I fear that IPB become the same. While I agree that some level of new features need to be added some of this stuff is a little more so to the point of "Yeah we can do that".

I mean really does the card need to be a drop down menu? Out of all the changes that where made the Profile and members list got the most changes? What about the UCP? What about the calendar? The PM system?

Then there is all this talk about 3.0. I'm sorry I though we where on 2.2 now? If 3.0 is coming out some time in the near future and its going to be totally overhauled as some have said why upgrade to 2.2?

The real test for me will be the mod features and acp. Because I can deal with members who 'Barneys Girlfriend' about features. I can change parts of the software to fit my need. But if the acp is to hard to do task then I may as well pass. I wont know however until I see it first hand. I am wondering if the adding and removing a mod to the forums has been fixed. Small forums ok, big forums a nightmare to change things.

First off I'd suggest that you download the beta and take a look around the ACP...you will not be dissapointed (imwo)! Second you can turn off the new profile portal system and switch back to the old style.

Lol the hype around version 3.0.0 is rather annoying, considering it took us seven stages of 2.1.x just to get to 2.2. Hell we don't even have an expected time scale for 2.2.0's Final release.

[Charles]

It is a hard line we must follow.

In this topic we have two pages of people saying that we did not add enough. In another topic in this very forum we were called bloatware. Which is it? Well neither really.

It is all down to what you are looking for in a product.

Some of our customers want fewer features or at least the ability to turn things off. Other customers want every feature ever imaginable. Again, we have to find that line.

Version 2.2 is full of enhancements - granted many of those are at the code or admin level - but they are there. What we have done with 2.2 will make addition of features easier while at the same time allowing new featuers to be completely optional to the customer.

We will be posting a lot more information in the coming weeks and a lot more in general overall. There is an IPS company blog that will come out after 2.2's release - we plan on using it to keep everyone more involved in the development process. There will also be news about how our development process itself has changed and how that impacts future releases.

We hear you :)

[lOgOl]

we plan on using it to keep everyone

more involved

in the development process

this is what i

[Charles]

this is what i

[Brandon C]

We will be posting a lot more information in the coming weeks and a lot more in general overall. There is an IPS company blog that will come out after 2.2's release - we plan on using it to keep everyone more involved in the development process. There will also be news about how our development process itself has changed and how that impacts future releases.

We hear you :)

This sounds promising :)

I believe that an IPS company blog that is regularly updated with all of the happenings and maybe even some inside info at IPS would be great, not just for IP.Board's development, but for IP.Nexus and IP.Dynamic, including updates on where IPS stands with beta status for certain products currently in beta.

[Charles]

This sounds promising :)

I believe that an IPS company blog that is regularly updated with all of the happenings and maybe even some inside info at IPS would be great, not just for IP.Board's development, but for IP.Nexus and IP.Dynamic, including updates on where IPS stands with beta status for certain products currently in beta.

The corporate blog will be for everything. Keep in mind our other products are developed by different people so it doesn't really impact the board or anything.

[MindTooth]

We will be posting a lot more information in the coming weeks and a lot more in general overall. There is an IPS company blog that will come out after 2.2's release - we plan on using it to keep everyone more involved in the development process. There will also be news about how our development process itself has changed and how that impacts future releases.

We hear you :)

I liked that part.. One of the bets thing with this forum, is to read the blogs of the developers..

Birger :)

One thing I notised before I posted this reply. Why the hell is there two places where you can choose which smiley to add? That is for sure bloat. However, the reply screen is pure awesome :D Nice work...

[Desert_Punk]

One thing I notised before I posted this reply. Why the hell is there two places where you can choose which smiley to add? That is for sure bloat. However, the reply screen is pure awesome :D Nice work...

lol and only one of them actualy works (drop down menu) :blink:....

[OverDriveAdamJ]

not to be against what you posted but the one thing in BOLD red is added

The highlighted red is nothing but internal cleanling that the user never will see. What I am referring to is the absolute lack of documentation that gets updated with new features. The "Help" button at the top of IPB forums. That literally has not changed since v1.x. The help pages themselves need to be rewritten by someone that is skilled in communicating with end users. Dumb them down. Explain what is going on and why the option is useful for them. Another one is the lack of admin control panel documentation, feature by feature where it has the inline help right there for the admins of the product they are buying from you. Making it much more obvious help is available with a little question mark there to open up the help for that option. The PDF document you've written is a teriffic start. It explains things quite well. And others have said you intend to make it an HTML document and link to it throughout the AdminCP. That's a good step. And I'm glad to see it get done. I am just disappointed it has not made it to this release. The inconsistent error pages thrown at unwitting users asking them to login with inconsistent login forms with "useful links" so far down in HTML table hell that they are long since unuseful. Refinement is sorely needed. That is what I was referring to, sir.

It is a hard line we must follow.

In this topic we have two pages of people saying that we did not add enough. In another topic in this very forum we were called bloatware. Which is it? Well neither really.

It is all down to what you are looking for in a product.

Some of our customers want fewer features or at least the ability to turn things off. Other customers want every feature ever imaginable. Again, we have to find that line.

Version 2.2 is full of enhancements - granted many of those are at the code or admin level - but they are there. What we have done with 2.2 will make addition of features easier while at the same time allowing new featuers to be completely optional to the customer.

We will be posting a lot more information in the coming weeks and a lot more in general overall. There is an IPS company blog that will come out after 2.2's release - we plan on using it to keep everyone more involved in the development process. There will also be news about how our development process itself has changed and how that impacts future releases.

We hear you :)

Many of the "features" are just extra AJAX here and there. I agree with many that were included, they were needed. I've said that prior. The improved post editor, the improved attachments system. Albeit bloated like some say, these complaints can be fixed by allowing on/off switches in the admin cp. Much of my topic I linked to was desperately asking for refinements to be made, for things to be able to be turned on/off. To appease those who want the bloat and those who do not. To appease those like myself who desperately want your system to become more consistent, easier to use for the end user. To stop throwing convoluted errors at the users of our communities. To unify the 5 or 6 different login forms into one single login form that gets used everywhere--board offline, user does not have permission page, standard login, etc... redo the error system so that it does not merely say "you do not have access."

Tell them what they're trying to access, why its blocked. Say at the very least, "The administrator of this forum community has chosen to disable access to these features or x and x reasons. If you would like to contact your administrator about these you may do so with this contact form." The contact form sending PMs to the entire administrators enabled user group so that issues with the software can be addressed. If the system is down, email instead. Instead of throwing ungainly SQL errors at the user, say instead a simple html page that says "we're sorry for the inconvenience, the administrators have automatically been notified, until then go check out our main site." Or whatever the admin configures the error message to read to the user. Admin configurable error pages that are 100x times more friendly to the user. The simple refinements are needed. Badly.

I am ecstatic to see the software has received a full out security shakedown from a private firm and that there is improved security and sanitization going on in the backend to proactively try to stop the common forms of attacks. Cleaner code is always faster and that's always good for the communities running your software. I am ecstatic that you, and your company have decided to change the development process and include your customers more in the process. That is a wonderful position to take and I eagerly await what the result of these improvements may bring to the products you develop, the happiness of customers like myself. Changes are needed and I am glad to see them being made. But I feel no less strongly about my stance. Please do not misinterpret my topic here as a threat or displeasure to you as a company. If I were disenfranchised I would not take the time to reply and post such long feature suggestion threads. I care for the software and I think it's of an extremely high quality. I just want to see the improvements made. Much of the features, as I said, were refinements, not new features in the sense that they are completely new. Just improving what is already there.

The corporate blog will be for everything. Keep in mind our other products are developed by different people so it doesn't really impact the board or anything.

It is good news that the customers are being kept more involved. I'm glad to hear that. And thank you for making the necessary internal changes to allow these things to take place. I'm sure in the end it will result in a more streamlined company and happier customers. Possibly even increased sales. Who knows. But it's good to see changes being made.

[Charles]

Much of what you are saying is already in the works. We wanted to get 2.2 out with the lower-level items addressed so the user-level items you are referring to could be improved upon.

My best response is to give us a few weeks to outline the development series we have planned. I think you will be happy with what is coming out.

Side note: our technical support staff is looking forward to more helpful errors and reporting in the software as you are :)

[Keith J. Kacin]

The "Help" button at the top of IPB forums. That literally has not changed since v1.x.

That has actually been brought up, and these files were updated/rewritten a couple weeks ago. :)

Gallery will also have it's own help file included on install, same with Blog.

[MindTooth]

One question. Where is the Blog tab?

Birger :)

[Charles]

One question. Where is the Blog tab?

Birger :)

Should show up early next week :)

[MindTooth]

Thank you for the reply :D

Birger :)

[sparc]

This is somewhat off topic since it's addressing a specific comment as i'm not disappointed in IPB 2.2.........................

It is a hard line we must follow.

In this topic we have two pages of people saying that we did not add enough. In another topic in this very forum we were called bloatware. Which is it? Well neither really.

It is all down to what you are looking for in a product.

Some of our customers want fewer features or at least the ability to turn things off. Other customers want every feature ever imaginable. Again, we have to find that line.

Well, you could always release official IPS add-on packages to IPS Beyond without having to add it into the base install.

I'm pretty happy with the overall progress of IPB, but there are ways to accomodate the "bloatware" topic.

The new profile is growing on me, but I don't think it necessarily needs to be in the base install of IPB.

Anyways, it's something to keep in mind as more features are added into IPB.

[Lindy]

One of the goals for future versions is to ensure that unwanted features/components are completely disabled within the product - out of sight, out of mind. We get a lot of feedback in this regard... our enterprise customers generally strip out private messaging, calendar and other fluff items, while others want to just pack the features in there. A fair compromise is a way to turn such items completely on and off. If off, they will have no impact to the forum, you won't even know they exist. :)

[Antony]

One of the goals for future versions is to ensure that unwanted features/components are completely disabled within the product - out of sight, out of mind. We get a lot of feedback in this regard... our enterprise customers generally strip out private messaging, calendar and other fluff items, while others want to just pack the features in there. A fair compromise is a way to turn such items completely on and off. If off, they will have no impact to the forum, you won't even know they exist. :)

Lindy, I agree with what your saying, though I question the way you imply it's being done. In 3.0, I'd like to see things such as the calendar turned into a component. Even the PM system could really be a component. Then everything makes use of one framework and can as you say be turned easily on and off. That also means as a side effect, that if there was a bug or improvement to the calendar you could simply download a new calendar component as opposed to an entire new board.

[Quillz]

Lindy, I agree with what your saying, though I question the way you imply it's being done. In 3.0, I'd like to see things such as the calendar turned into a component. Even the PM system could really be a component. Then everything makes use of one framework and can as you say be turned easily on and off. That also means as a side effect, that if there was a bug or improvement to the calendar you could simply download a new calendar component as opposed to an entire new board.

I agree. I don't use the calendar at all on my board, and I would bet that a lot of people don't as well. It would be a great idea to move the PMs and calendar into the components system, and manage them all through the ACP.

[dg0896]

Guys, reading some of the first post, I think you're expecting too much. If they were to put in every single piece of script every license holder requested, what kind of software would we have? A very weird one, give them some credit, it's hard to make everone happy.:)