SammyS

Exactly.
It has become nearly just as easy as Windows. You can install Linux just as easily and quicker than you install Windows. It is now possible to play games on Steam without knowing how to configure anything. I watch Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Starz, and YouTube with any web browser. In 2021, LibreOffice now has more options than Microsoft Office and allows me to open, edit, save, and print any document made on Windows, Apple, or Linux. I can work from home using Linux, making video calls, and attending meetings.   I also bank online, trade, invest, sell, and buy things while on Linux. Connect devices using "plug and play," WiFi, or Bluetooth. Install and update nearly any app, including the whole OS; without knowing how to use the terminal, just point and click.
No blue screen of death. No sudden system freezes. No viruses (although you can install an anti-virus if it gives you peace of mind, I still do). No hanging system resources. No sudden reboots. No long waiting load times. It does not matter if you are using the newest computer or a computer 10+ years old; it will run Linux.
And if, by some random chance, you do install a lousy program, it does not take your whole system with it (unlike Windows). That is the big problem with Microsoft Windows. The countless computers I fixed for family and friends often resulted from something small, trivial, and seemingly unimportant, unintentionally interacting with everything else, causing a world of problems in Microsoft Windows. But not in Linux.
Linux is so helpful, powerful, flexible, and adaptable most of The Internet, nearly every website you visit and use today is hosted on Linux, including here, Invision. And if you are reading this on an Android phone, Congratulations, you are already using Linux (Android is a modified Linux distribution).
Lastly, the cost to use and install Linux? $0.00. It is free. No subscription fees. No renewal cost. No activation. It is open-source. Anyone, even YOU (reader, whoever you are), can download and install Linux.

Seconded - we really really really need the mobile side speeding up ASAP

What about SEO? There will soon be ranking factors in June that the forum software is currently failing - especially speed on mobile.
Will we see an announcement in our client area / ACP when the new version is available? I haven't seen anything.

Could you also re-design the gallery app to look modern and in time with this era..
I like that IPS is now focusing on modernising the look and feel of the suite to compete with what's already out there.
Please modernise the gallery app to look clean, professional and trendy with full exif support.
Thanks 
 

 

Are those... RULES I SEE?!?!
Just 100 more to go and that automation will be chef's kiss. 

I really like the idea, great tool for user engagement. 
Surely we need to play with it to configure it as needed - every community is different.
But overall: Well done, great idea 💡👍 

I was thinking how and where do I store member's badge for my still in progress poker game, I guess I know now!
So many possibilities to award member with badge earned to show off advancement by designing game rules to obtain them besides getting the ones from forum legacy.
My work in progress of achievement in pic shows earning a nice Third of a Kind badge, I can't wait to call REST API to persist achievements!  
Kudos to the team to make this happen.

This. As I want to give trophies a sense of uncertainty because I think it feel more rewarding when you get something it wasnt expected

I love this feature,  I hope see it grow.
And congrats to Jordan, no doubts invision needed someone like you! 

- I also want to second the question for manual achievements
- Is it possible that multiple points currencies are implemented? - we can have different counts for gallery, forums, etc.

Can these points be used to cash in a prize or rewards from the Ecommerce? If the user had racked up 200 points then they can redeem a thing from the product page for free. 

Very cool stuff, does this work with database record items too? 
And a suggestion, the current rank display should contain a link to the profile.
 

Can there please, please, please be a page like the leader board that can show of who has the most points (user and groups) and be highlighted. Can you please, please, please also set time limits! To be able to reset the points once a year, or monthly, etc. I love this whole concept and you’re on to a winner!

A nap is always welcome.

Man, I’m still lunching. I have no idea! TOO SOON to even think about it. Go sleep! 😆

Hey I know a guy! @Mark, this might be of interest.

With Native mobile, web push... IPS is on the modern need trend way, but still pending the UI clunky and use of space in mobile issues... And yes, I have hope again! 
Oh forgot mention... The Editor too

Thanks! Now I have hope again!

This is a great blog post.  
I do think clients should think strategically about what role they'd like have in their community, how it's perceived by the community, and how that role can evolve (or not evolve!) over time. 
I like the point about Titles and language choices.  How you couch your titles, ranks, and phrases - calling visitors as "friends" or yourself as "Community Leader," for example - can make a difference in how those users perceive their relationship to the rest of the community. 
 

Hey there. I'm sorry you're feeling frustrated. If it's any consolation, my forum is also self-hosted - which means I won't gain access to Zapier as well. I know this is a point of contention right now so I feel your pain.
I'd like to share that I offered to write this blog post. My Invision Community team isn't using me as a scapegoat or hiding behind me to share this news. 🙏  Trust me when I say we've talked a lot (I mean a LOT) about the pros and cons of Zapier. We want to give you guys the absolute best service. That's where the dissonance presents itself - I know many self-hosted clients feel this decision is not the best for the overall community. 
I'm not trying to distract from the topic at-hand. However, we have some really incredible implementations coming to Invision Community this year. One of the biggest is of course our gamification / points / achievements system. It's coming because we believe it's going to elevate our product, thus elevating everyones' communities. Right now, Zapier isn't one of those applications that can seamlessly be integrated and make all parties satisfied. I know, it sucks. I feel the sting, too. We all do, and there was no easy way to go about this. 
We also want to be more visible and transparent with you, which is why I commend @Matt for being honest and kindly agreeing that this is, in-part, a business decision (and it was difficult for us to make it, believe me). Being visible also means we open ourselves up to making mistakes. And because those mistakes are on the Internet (which is forever), we are held accountable, hence the justified outrage in our community. 
That does not mean we want to retreat.
It means we are practicing being vulnerable, and this is one of the hard parts of expressing that emotion as a company. Bottom line is: we care about all our clients: both cloud/enterprise and self-hosted. 
Please allow yourself some space to pause and hopefully rethink your decision to potentially leave Invision Community. We value you. We value everyone (I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true). Please allow us the opportunity to continue making improvements and we'll figure out a way to make things better. 🙏 
Love y'all. 

Yeah, I was very enthusiastic about this until I read that self-hosted clients like myself were left twisting in the wind on this. 😞
I, too, am concerned about a possible paradigm shift that would leave self-hosted clients more and more out in the cold.  Not that I distrust the cloud (for the most part), but I lease a VPS and I love having a VPS; I can run Invision, I can create test/developmental sites, I have root access and can experiment with other apps and platforms for resource management and other things.  I wouldn't have it any other way...and, to be quite honest (and no offense), with all of this taken into consideration it's currently cheaper than your services.
Now, I've been with Invision for 10+ years (since 2009) and there's a reason why I'm still here - I love the crew and the platform and have built my business (as well as my academic research) on it.  And while I have no plans to go anywhere, and I also remember Lindy saying somewhere that Invision has no plans to alter their availability to self-hosted customers, things like this do make me antsy.  At a time when I'm still building and soliciting clients, the thought of having to pack up and find somewhere else (even far into the future) almost makes me nauseous (you don't even wanna know the trials and tribulations I went through to finally arrive at a good VPS provider!!).
I understand that things evolve and change, but something as big as this in terms of trigger/action functionality for an Invision CMS?  Well, I don't get how you could simply leave us out and do truly hope that the "beta" release means at some point there will be some integration.  (NOTE: I can search the adminCP on my self-hosted install for "Zapier" and get one hit for [System] Community Enhancements, and when I follow that link there's nothing 🙃).  I'll be opinionated here and say that through my experience I believe that there are some things that simply shouldn't be left to third-party developers.  This is one of them.  So although I despise catchphrases and dogwhistle words with every fibre of my being, I'd love some "inclusivity" here.  There...look what you made me do! 😉

The more successful your customers are the more likely they will purchase additional products and services from your firm. This product could help many sites stick around for the long term or grow to a point that switching to your hosting platform is within their means. As customers many of us have invested thousands of dollars in your company by paying for self hosted licenses and renewals, maybe you could return the favor by investing in your customer's success. I would recommend making it available to self hosted customers with the understanding that they assume responsibility for all support and if they run it on underpowered servers they will experience suboptimal results. 
Right now we 'really' don't know how this product might enhance our communities. It will require lots of experimentation and sharing of what works or doesn't before the community will embrace the value of this new service. Maybe it will turn out this service holds great appeal to the vast majority of your customers or just a handful.  Limiting it's adoption will limit it's potential for attaining that "great appeal".

This would definitely be a good use for reaction -1.

Appreciate the intro, Matt! Really grateful to have joined the Invision team and am looking forward to working with the Invision Community. I know that sounds like a blanket statement, but I really do feel genuinely excited and fired up about it. This is my first week, but we've already had such great brainstorming sessions, ideas, things we want to implement and more. 
If anyone needs anything, please feel free to reach out to me! And don't be shy to say hi in the forums. 🙋‍♂️ 

Nice addition, looks really neat. I will renew my license next month. I hope your mobile app get some love too!

That's already the case:)

 
The ACP statistics have already a timeframe filter.