LiquidFractal

I said my assumption was that it wasn't their primary responsibility. Again, I'm no developer but I presumed that checking each and every single line of 3rd-party code for both code violations and safety would be unreasonable. Besides - there are (well, were) plenty of warnings for people who know how to read that 3rd-party apps/plugins aren't (well, weren't) IPS's responsibility. I realise that people who don't pay attention will still message, but I always thought those were easily dismissed (quite frankly, I think a potted email would have done the trick, which I've seen on umpteen million other websites in different contexts). In the end, though, I don't think anything can eliminate the question of vetting - whether Invision did it or a 3rd-party dev does it. Whether there's a Marketplace or not, it comes down to reputation and trust. And yes, I'd love to know some more (demographic) information about IPS that IPS will never give out. lol

OK...I guess you mean something different from "mods" than what I had in mind. 🙂 As for "safety," yeah, I was under the impression that the "caveat emptor" stipulation you had pretty much freed you up to check for code violations and that "safety" per se wasn't your primary concern.

How many devs have the time or are willing to go to the trouble to develop free/paid versions for each of their products? This would run @Adriano into the ground methinks.....

These are all pros though 😉....what are the cons you see?

I think this pretty much sums it up for me...although some smaller/beginning devs who may not be able to afford their own websites may fall off the map, and some devs may raise the prices of their apps in order to cover the costs of "going independent" with their own online presence. But maybe this will also help prune some of the apps out there that charge unrealistic renewal fees that aren't warranted by the nature of the app/what it offers....

I'm not sure what you mean here. As far as I know IPS never "validated" the "safety" of any third-party app; they only checked to make sure that devs weren't using existing code contra IPS rules. The "safety" of 3rd-party apps has never been Invision's responsibility (and for good reason!).

So unless I'm missing something, this means that if a developer doesn't have or is somehow unable to start their own independent website then they have no way to maintain their apps/plugins?

Really? I'm no expert but I find the last part of this sentence hard to believe given that there are many gaps in IPB functionality which necessitated the Marketplace community in the first place.

I know you're especially interested in new features for existing functionality, but in terms of new features within the suite itself? IP.Points: create customisable points economies (banks, "account," "credit") etc. integrate points with different apps: e.g., you can earn points when uploading content, posting in (specific) forums, prizes, quizzes, etc.; points or credit packages can be purchased in Store integrate with rules: email/PM member when they're low/out of points, they've been awarded points, etc. You get the idea.

Sure! I currently use Clubs (renamed "Spaces") for two broad branches of clientele: students and clients for whom I write documentation. For my students, I create private "Learning Spaces" with forums, a blog, and a media gallery. Because I discuss works of fiction and films with my students, this works very well as they can post essay topics and general questions and we can have online conversations about them between tutoring sessions (which is a big selling point). Moreover, they are required to work with films, so posting still shots in a media gallery allows us to have detailed discussions about how shots are framed, what metalanguage can be used to analyse the moment, and so forth. I'm also ramping up group tutoring options, and Clubs/Spaces are a natural for that All of my tutoring is online, so I don't know where I'd be without either Clubs or the Invision platform in general. 🙂 For my documentation clients, I use a Download center to hold versions of the projects we're working on. I don't use forums quite as often for many of these clients (as they prefer to work on Teams), but we do occasionally use them. Moreover, this allows me to group information on different clients in one place, and as a freelancer the Downloads component allows me to retain my ownership over the content I create until payment is received. I've also hosted academic reading groups who focus on specific philosophers or concepts, and, like tutoring, the Spaces come in very handy for holding conversations in between reading group meetings. I've also used them for philosophy courses I've given in the past here at the Melbourne School for Continental Philosophy as a useful complement.

I constantly use Clubs and absolutely rely on them for my business, as I create separate spaces for work with different clients - I think they're one of the greatest recent innovations in the Invision suite. 🙂 In terms of improvements: I hate to sound like I'm promoting something against a third-party developer, but I think a core incorporation of at least some of the functionality in the Improved Clubs Enhancements app should happen. There's lots of potential for growth in the Clubs concept!

Perhaps a selfish request (depending on how many other people have experienced this issue), but: any word on a fix for problems with large file uploads failing due to conflicts with https:// connections/SSL certificates? This said, I always look forward to Invision updates and the new functions! 🙂

I also took a brief look at Discourse, and they make self-hosting a mission and a half for a great many people (not supporting self-hosting on CPanel/DirectAdmin/Plesk? Really?). Thanks....interesting!

Yes, but there are people like me who have little use for browse bookmarks and prefer to keep things contained in the sties they visit. 😄 Instead of having to go into my browser's (sub)folders and delete/recreate bookmarks, I had envisioned something like being able to read a long thread, click a comment and "bookmark/re-bookmark" it so that I could progress through the debate/discussion. A further, non-related observation: if you talk to yourself while drunk you can still call it "social drinking" 🙂

Some random observations: This thread is a perfect case study of the necessity of forums (you could never have this conversation on social media like Facebook) I don't know if there's a third-party plugin for this, but how about a "thread bookmark" function? I just spent a fair bit of time re-reading posts only to later come across my own, which means I had already read much of that material yesterday. 😄 What if one could bookmark a specific response (I'm a fan of drag-and-drop, but keep it simple I guess) so that with lengthy debates/discussions like this one could jump straight to where one left off reading previously? I'm neither a developer nor an Invision employee, but I see this thread as a massive opportunity for a meeting of the minds re: productive change. Crisis as opportunity kinda thing.

@jesuralem makes a good point here @Matt, and it is industry standard to offer monthly (not that I'm suggesting this! lol) and bi-yearly as well as annual renewals. Some organisations (e.g. Adobe) even offer a slightly better rate for annual renewals up front. Hint, hint. 😉 😄

Ahh, cool. Now GET BACK TO WORK ON IT [cracks whip] 😄

There was a recent announcement that Zapier will be available for self-hosted customers as well. Just FYI. LOL....I was just asking because you said you were no longer going to support Gallery, and I assumed that LMS would be making some use of Gallery, seeing as (if I remember correctly) it involved Clubs, which in turn could involve Gallery. Not to mention (potentially) Blogs.

So is that it for the LMS project?

I'm certainly not trying to tell you what to do; I don't like price increases either, but taken in context it has been the first price increase for some time now. It's an old story; prices rise across the board while income typically doesn't. But this also tells me that Invision probably won't be increasing their prices for another long(ish?) while. Don't get me wrong - if there's another price increase in a year or three I will be having serious second thoughts, but that's not the impression I'm getting. You make a very good point re: devs, though. Leaving aside the fact that it's a decision every dev must make on their own: if they shed apps from their own websites, that will also limit the sorts of apps they can develop in the future. I do, also, take issue with the fact that this really was sprung on everybody without giving them time to adjust their finances - especially during a pandemic, and let's remember: many of us might have our businesses online, but that doesn't make them COVID-proof. And, like many others, I wonder about what the reality on the ground will be re: having a forum for first-response troubleshooting (I know several other sites do it, but how it actually plays out remains to be seen). I'm not planning to go anywhere anytime soon, and I'm still dedicated to the Invision platform (even if I can no longer afford the second license I was considering). But what worries me is how this price increase will reverberate through the Marketplace and influence the frequency and quality of developer projects. Over time one learns who the reliable developers are, and I for one see some legitimate grievances. And while Invision's software never personally struck me as much of a "hobbyist" platform, that market is there and obviously stands to be worst hit by such a sudden increase. As for the skyrocketing premium Support price....whoa. It seems like a very radical all-or-standard solution; what about a more tiered selection of Support options?

Heh...yeah, I think Jordan's job is much more difficult than it appears. He has to deal with complainers (including me, who really knows how to complain about select things when he feels it's warranted! 😄), and I bet has to repeat the same things over and over again in different ways so that people understand. The wonderful world of PR!

Except that there are those of us who rely on this functionality as part of our business structure, and not necessarily standalone blogs or galleries but as part of other modules such as Clubs.