Matt

If we're doing infinite scrolling for topics then it makes sense to do the same for topic lists, which means that on several pages, the footer would not be accessible, but on other pages it would be. That's a poor experience IMO. Another option is to do it in a container, but that may be a bit odd too. We have discussed this internally for years but can't really come to a consensus on how to do it. Infinite scroll would solve a lot of problems too, especially in figuring out pagination which is quite complicated and expensive to do.

The one big barrier to this is that you may never see the footer of your site again, and that is an important area to a lot of customers.

We don't use AI on a wide scale like that, and I don't think AI is quite there yet. I use AI in a few ways, but you always have to check the output as it's often wrong, or uses method names, and database table columns that don't exist. I use Github Copilot which has access to our Github repository so it can learn about our code and make sensible suggestions from either prompts, or auto-complete, for example: CleanShot 2024-07-18 at 09.01.20.mp4 I sometimes use ChatGPT to avoid looking up syntax or functions and to avoid a bit of trial and error which probably saves 5-10 minutes on a bad day. These tools can help a little, but they don't really wholesale fix issues and find errors. I think that'll come eventually. During development of Invision Community 5, we have several safeguards in place to minimise bugs. Every single change is put into review via a pull request before it is merged into the development branch. The review has an automated PHP lint tool that checks for syntax issues and won't allow it to be merged if it contains them. We also do a human review on not only the code, but also the change to make sure it does what we wanted it to do. Some of these reviews go back and forth for weeks, others are merged quickly. That said, bugs are part of software development, that's why we have alpha and beta testing. The v3 to v4 transition was complicated as it was a complete rewrite from scratch, we had a much smaller development team and it took much longer than originally planned.

We're up to Alpha 4 over in the secret alpha testing club and things are progressing nicely. There's been a lot of improvements to the theme editor, and the text editor. We've made some improvements based on feedback to several areas including advertisements as well as fixed a ridiculous number of bugs. I think the alpha testers will agree that it's pretty stable now and closer to beta than a raw alpha. We'll be launching Alpha 5 tomorrow and this will be upgradable via the AdminCP. Internally, we're going to test a clone of this site and upgrade that to see how that goes. In the mean time, is there anyone else here that wants to join the alpha team? We're ready for more people if you are. Just let me know! If you're just curious, you can follow the releases and fixes here.

Changed Current Release to No

If you're basing this on the alpha, then just keep in mind it's alpha and we're still very much working on it.

Changed Current Release to No

Fully different Pages templates which are different, for different db/page apps Pages retains templates, so no problem there. Custom templates which are inserted into Head to keep things organized (ex: Prepid config, Google Admanager ad unit config settings... really long list, other overrides). Some apply to specific areas of the site only and can't show otherwise. Ex: {{if preg_match("/forums\/forum/", $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'])}} remove mark site read in breakcrumb You can do this via CSS. Insert custom menu items ONLY in the mobile menu (not desktop) The menu is the menu in v5, what do you need adding into the menu for small devices? Remove social links and inset fully customized footer CSS and custom template hooks Replace native search (and place in nav bar) on desktop with Google custom search box Either JS, or CSS and custom template hooks. Replace forum/topic dots with custom images we have (read, unread, etc.) Hide post counts in forums from being viewable Doable via CSS. Remove ads from specific forums (Google policy they can't be on Off Topic areas.... rick getting banned)... this like: {{if $category->_id == 139 && !in_array(member.member_group_id,array(24))}} What pages cannot accept ads? (Not a challenge, just curious). We also have this setting. Add non-IPB custom fields to profiles inn topics Would need to be a custom app, but possibly doable. Have ads shown to guests in some areas (but not members). Ex: {{if member.member_id == 0}} Already possible . Show ads after XX post, but only if the member has more than YY posts and only if the current page has ZZ posts. Ex: {{if (!member.member_id || (member.member_id && member.member_posts < 1000)) && ($postCount % 15 == 😎 && ($topic->posts - $postCount >= 9)}} Seems quite precise, what is your use-case for this? Many custom ads inserted into locations Custom template hooks are likely the answer.

It will be insert only via the template hooks, but you can use CSS and/or JS to remove parts of the DOM if you wanted to do that.

Speed, efficiency, reduced storage needs and no rebuilding as we now compile templates at the time we build a new version and store into a new /static/ directory which will not change for the lifespan of that version. The ability to edit core templates is probably a bad idea as it can break a lot of functionality. You can insert HTML before/inside before/after/ inside after via the template hook system as above. You can still add custom CSS and JS too.

Definitely doable. We have many, many clients that get millions of views a month, with thousands online during the day, and with thousands of posts every hour. Ouch. My observation is that XenForo seems to have an aging customer base, most of whom were successful 15 years ago and have seen their communities stagnate and slow to a trickle. They don't seem to attract professionals, or anyone serious about building a modern community.

We recently changed our pricing from 'pick what you want' to 'everything' for a few reasons. First, a forum-only community will not survive in 2024. Secondly, we want to strengthen the relationship between apps and that is impossible to do when an app may be missing. It sounds like XenForo is a great fit for you, so I wish you all the best!

No, we're running alpha testing via a focused group using our cloud platform while we work on our new build systems.

Hi AtomiCAST, I appreciate your question. Value is very subjective, but I can run through a few things in terms of what I think offers a lot of value. The first thing I want to address is that we do not see XenForo as a competitor. They are a legacy forum-only system that is looking very dated with a slow development process that took over three years to bring a new version to the market that largely catches up to where we were years ago. If you purchase a license with XenForo then you will get a forum system and that is that. You do not get a commerce store, a powerful CMS and database system, nor a gallery or community blogging tool. We are different. We do not base all our decisions around code and development, but rather our conversations with professional community management teams running large complex communities. We focus on bringing tools to the platform that people need. You only have to look through our news blogs to see our forward thinking with regards to managing communities. We have: Redefined what a community product should look like with a brand new interface. Built a brand new theme editing experience designed to reduce complexity and enable everyone to theme their community. Added a way to erase frustration and find answers quickly. Added a new way to identify and follow community experts and leaders for a better onboarding experience. Added a simple badge builder to empower all community owners to create custom badges and reactions. Added a way to assign individual topics to moderators and teams to help organise your forum and provide better service for members. A brand new lightweight and fast editor that actually works. Rebuilt tagging to bring content from all over the community into one place. Added a drag and drop WYSIWYG page builder tool with dozens of pre-built widgets and layouts. As you can see, these features are not based around technology, but based around people and community. When you look at XenForo's 2.3 feature list, it's things like OAuth, Stripe integration, developer tools, web hooks, etc. These are all much-needed (and we've had them for years) but how do these help you grow a community and help your community get the best from their time on the forum? I believe their next release is 3.0 and will just be a new theme and unlikely to launch in 2024, so when will you get new features? 2025, 2026, 2027? Or you can have an alpha release of Invision Community 5 right now with a full release later this year. The basic question being asked is "why aren't you as cheap as XenForo" and the question is simply that we do not want to be "cheap", we want to be good. We want to help your community succeed with forward thinking features, regular releases and daily communication. We will not abandon the software for years leaving your communities struggling and stagnating against newer more modern community platforms. We are constantly thinking about how to allow your members to get the most from your forum in the small pockets of time people have. Invision Community 5 being a mobile first product allows your members to check-in (or be pulled back with notifications) while in a line at that the store, or waiting in the car while your kids are at sports clubs. This is how people use your forum now. So in terms of value, and what we offer for the price is simple: We offer you a strong future and will work hard to support your community. If you want a cheap forum, and are happy with the stop-start-stop development of XenForo then that is totally fine too.

I've just tried a few tests on my iPhone on our site here. - Copying the link in the address bar and pasting into the editor: This works ✅ - Copying a link on link on the page, pasting into the editor: This works ✅ - Copying the link via the Share menu > copy: This does not work ❌ But this may be because the share menu offers multiple formats.

Only on cloud at the moment so we have a single stable hosting environment for the early rounds of testing. We also have access to databases, files and can easily mass deploy updates.

Exciting news! Alpha 2 has now been released, and it's now using our build system which means these installations are upgradable (hopefully 😬) and these are 'real' Invision Community 5 installations. I've sent out a bunch more alpha invites now that the initial round of testing has completed. 🎉

Changed Release Date to 06/27/2024

Changed Beta Release to Yes

👀 From the first commit (mostly v4 at that point) to the first real alpha: 2059 commits in just over a year.

ETA 2 minutes...