Is IPB4 stable enough yet?

[Pescao6]

If anyone can provide me with a link of where the latest news on IPB4 are being posted, that would be awesome.

In general terms, right now I'm just wondering if IPB4 is stable enough to use it live.

I know it still have some bugs, but I noticed it's live here.

If I were to use it live right now, does anyone have any idea of what would be the worse that could happen?

PS: I'm talking about a hypothetical new forum. Not planning to upgrade an existing one at this time.

[Feneroin]

No, it's still in beta so it's still not stable until at least RC version or Final.

And a blog topic about latest beta is here:

[The Jimmo]

Any good programmer will tell you no, don't use a beta code set in production.

[Makoto]

Well, setting up a new forum isn't likely to cause any huge issues. But it's still beta and unsupported. Upgrading a production forum to a beta release can definitely be dangerous, you run the risk of permanently corrupting data at the least. Running beta software can also be seen as an increased security vulnerability.

I probably wouldn't set up a new forum with IP.Board 3.4 at this point if you're intending on upgrading when IP.Board 4 is released, but if you can I would try and hold off a bit longer for at least the RC releases before setting up your new forum. This is still beta, there are still bugs and things can break between releases.

[The Jimmo]

Any good programmer will tell you no, don't use a beta code set in production.

​Adding some footnotes... That's not to say you couldn't download it, get familiar with it and start your plans (these are good ideas). Just would highly not suggest doing anything production wise.

[Midnight Modding]

IIRC, IPS stopped calling any versions RC anymore, so at some point a beta is probably stable enough, but I don't think this one is.

[LuckyRiver]

Depending on your need and whether or not it's a new site or not. I would'nt go ahead if it is still beta 1 but beta4 is a much step further. And knowing it's still beta release at its 4th release and starting a new site,

I couldn't wait longer than go ahead of installing it but only IP Board and Calendar. As other mentionned, admin console layout has changed and new cool features are added. It took me a while but once you get used to it, it's hard to go back to old version. I did try upgrading an old version to new beta. It works quite well but it's only a tiny site so I did not encounter much problems.

For a brand new site in my case, I want to avoid going the hassles of upgrading path. I did not want to upgrade later from an installation of 3.4.7 version. Yet as a developer, it helped me to readjust my code with some major changes such as database field names modifications like the ones I encountered  which I believe it was not there at earlier beta ou pre-release versions. Still better at final versions, but saying how stable it's can only be told by IPS but as a client, so far, it runs pretty smooth for me.

And yes, it does break my code on authentication type as IPS introduces display name / email authentication. But it's something useful as nowadays email is pretty unique to use.

But unless I'm wrong, I believe IPS advises not to install it using live site, so do it at your own risk.

/LR

[CheersnGears]

Depends on your timeline.... if you just want to get it set up from scratch and start tinkering with stuff for an April or May go-live, you're probably safe to start now. Don't upgrade an existing board with it. 

[kotaco]

My live community is very stable on the latest version. Getting to that point was a bit rough though.

[Gnuru]

I converted v3.4 to v4.b4 on a subdomain for testing. It works almost 90%: some fields are not beeing converted (e.g. Q&A answers, captcha key) and registration process of new members alwas need admin approval. Small bugs but huge effects on member engagement.

But: it's pretty cool and I also cannot wait to upgrade. Actually I will probably get rid of wordpress for the blog and use pages instead.