Upgrading TAZ to XF 2.1

R0binHood · Oct 6, 2019

Dear Diary,

It's now day 69 after the start of this thread.

I did begin this journal entry to vent and complain. But now all I can bring myself to say is...

...nice

You get a reprieve this time TAZ, until tomorrow!

fixer · Oct 6, 2019

vBulletin 5 is starting to look like an option

ok no... no it’s not

fixer · Oct 6, 2019

R0binHood ....

Alex. · Oct 9, 2019

Zager and Evans had an excellent song about waiting and the future back in the day.

haqzore · Oct 9, 2019

Could always just wait for 2.2?

zappaDPJ · Oct 9, 2019

haqzore said:
Could always just wait for 2.2?

Hmmm, Patch 2.2 "a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule."

zappaDPJ · Oct 9, 2019

^If you think I've lost my marbles then you should probably try reading more of those papery things with words in print. I think we used to call them books

R0binHood · Oct 9, 2019

zappaDPJ said:
^If you think I've lost my marbles then you should probably try reading more of those papery things with words in print. I think we used to call them books

I think I've got a couple of them in use to prop up my monitors by a few inches! Very useful items indeed.

sbjsbj · Oct 9, 2019

All jokes and puns aside, I think it is a shame for an admin forum to be that late.

XF 1.5 was released in July 2015.
XF 2.0 was released in September 2017.
XF 2.1 was releaded in November 2018.

And by the look of it we will see XF 2.2 soon.

And yet an admin forum, which mainly is specialized in the forum scene, is still on a version from 4 years ago (main version, not minor).

It is nice and good to be able to criticize forum software companies on this website. But on the other side one should also be able to criticize oneself...

The irony...

The state of this forum's software version is a mirror to what's happening around us in the world wide web. Forums are years behind the current ongoings...

zappaDPJ · Oct 9, 2019

sbjsbj said:
All jokes and puns aside, I think it is a shame for an admin forum to be that late.

It is a valid observation but I would counter that with a number of points which I'd argue are equally valid.

TAZ runs on a huge number of add-ons, many of which we have come to rely on for the day to running of the forum. Most Xenforo owners will be fully aware of the difficulty that presents when upgrading past 1.x.

We have a custom theme to replace. That requires a lot of work which is being undertaken in the developer's free time.

The forum as it is, is secure and functional. While that remains the case there is no urgent reason to update. That said I hope we will be able to upgrade sooner rather than later.

Kevin · Oct 9, 2019

Maybe it's all just a really big promotional ploy; when vB.org gets updated to the current version of vB, and everybody gets excited & talking about it, TAZ will steal their thunder by announcing that they've updated to the current version of XF.

R0binHood · Oct 9, 2019

sbjsbj said:
It is nice and good to be able to criticize forum software companies on this website. But on the other side one should also be able to criticize oneself...

If the software we criticise progressed faster we wouldn't be criticising it (as often) and the enhanced features would have encouraged more sites to upgrade in a more timely manner.

zappaDPJ said:
The forum as it is, is secure and functional. While that remains the case there is no urgent reason to update.

Indeed, while it will be lovely to get a fresh new face to TAZ, upgraded editor and what not, if anything arguably my mobile experience will be worse as pushover is gone and I no longer get mobile notifications on iOS as there's no replacement for XF2.

sbjsbj · Oct 9, 2019

zappaDPJ said:
TAZ runs on a huge number of add-ons, many of which we have come to rely on for the day to running of the forum. Most Xenforo owners will be fully aware of the difficulty that presents when upgrading past 1.x.

Well, that point is just an excuse at this point. Not 2 days, weeks or months has past... 2 years. Are you gonna tell me TAZ has been preparing for 2 years for the update? No, just be frank. You were lazy, you didn't care and since the news 2 more months has past.

On which addons are we waiting then? Don't talk in vaguely phrases and act like TAZ is heavily in need of addons, if you are not providing precise information. I cannot read minds, so you guys should tell us on what we are waiting. So maybe we can understand the waiting. Most of them Russ already uninstalled anyway, did we see any outburst or confusion from the users? I bet most didn't even notice it.

It is one thing to be late and being lazy, but it is another thing acting like a real politician and hiding behind lame excuses. Sorry, to use such words like this but I don't like to be fooled.

zappaDPJ said:
We have a custom theme to replace. That requires a lot of work which is being undertaken in the developer's free time.

2 years past.
Just go with the default theme, if that holds you back...
Like literally you had 2 years to prepare a theme (if that is really that important for you guys). What an excuse... Be a man and say that you were lazy.

zappaDPJ said:
The forum as it is, is secure and functional. While that remains the case there is no urgent reason to update. That said I hope we will be able to upgrade sooner rather than later.

XF 2.1 is also secure and functional. What is the point? That 1.5.x version is more secure and functional?
1.5 is officially not supported anymore btw...

Of course there is no urgent reason to update. I could live with this version for multiple more years.
The point is not that it is urgent or not. The point is, that for a website which deals with administration and forums, it is a pretty embarrassing showcase. An admin forum which can't administrate itself... Are you catching the irony?

R0binHood said:
If the software we criticise progressed faster we wouldn't be criticising it (as often) and the enhanced features would have encouraged more sites to upgrade in a more timely manner.

That is a valid point however it is still a shame for an admin forum to be that slow. Other websites may have a reason not to upgrade to the latest version as your point is valid. However for an admin forum this is not valid as it should be a bit ahead of the curve. I mean there was plenty of time to do so.

Just admit they were lazy or didn't care.

Not that I care if this website is on the newest shiniest version or not. But since I like to be fair, and I often criticize other things, I think I owe it to my imaginary sense of justice to also criticize the platform which we use to criticize other platforms.

zappaDPJ · Oct 9, 2019

sbjsbj said:
Well, that point is just an excuse at this point. Not 2 days, weeks or months has past... 2 years. Are you gonna tell me TAZ has been preparing for 2 years for the update? No, just be frank. You were lazy, you didn't care and since the news 2 more months has past.

On which addons are we waiting then? Don't talk

sbjsbj said:

Most of them Russ already uninstalled anyway, did we see any outburst or confusion from the users? I bet most didn't even notice it.

Click to expand...

in vaguely phrases and act like TAZ is heavily in need of addons, if you are not providing precise information. I cannot read minds, so you guys should tell us on what we are waiting. So maybe we can understand the waiting. Most of them Russ already uninstalled anyway, did we see any outburst or confusion from the users? I bet most didn't even notice it.

It is one thing to be late and being lazy, but it is another thing acting like a real politician and hiding behind lame excuses. Sorry, to use such words like this but I don't like to be fooled.

2 years past.
Just go with the default theme, if that holds you back...
Like literally you had 2 years to prepare a theme (if that is really that important for you guys). What an excuse... Be a man and say that you were lazy.

XF 2.1 is also secure and functional. What is the point? That 1.5.x version is more secure and functional?
1.5 is officially not supported anymore btw...

Of course there is no urgent reason to update. I could live with this version for multiple more years.
The point is not that it is urgent or not. The point is, that for a website which deals with administration and forums, it is a pretty embarrassing showcase. An admin forum which can't administrate itself... Are you catching the irony?

That is a valid point however it is still a shame for an admin forum to be that slow. Other websites may have a reason not to upgrade to the latest version as your point is valid. However for an admin forum this is not valid as it should be a bit ahead of the curve. I mean there was plenty of time to do so.

Just admit they were lazy or didn't care.

Not that I care if this website is on the newest shiniest version or not. But since I like to be fair, and I often criticize other things, I think I owe it to my imaginary sense of justice to also criticize the platform which we use to criticize other platforms.

You are of course entitled to your opinion. Whether you chose to believe what I or any other member of staff has to say is entirely up to you but I don't feel the need to qualify or justify anything I've already said. I've personally learnt the hard way not to rush into upgrading unless it's absolutely necessary i.e. to maintain security.

There are a couple of things I will comment on.

sbjsbj said:
Most of them Russ already uninstalled anyway, did we see any outburst or confusion from the users? I bet most didn't even notice it.

And yet we are still running 63 add-ons.

sbjsbj said:
Be a man and say that you were lazy.

I am a man the last time I checked but it's the first time in 60 years of life I've been called lazy. I actually quite like the sound of that, perhaps it's time I took a rest

sbjsbj · Oct 9, 2019

I also want to comment on one thing.

zappaDPJ said:
I am a man the last time I checked but it's the first time in 60 years of life I've been called lazy. I actually quite like the sound of that, perhaps it's time I took a rest

With "you" I didn't mean the actual you specifically as a person.
.

I meant it in a general way of speaking. Sorry if it looked like I meant you.

Steve · Oct 10, 2019

Everything here is done on free time and as it stands everyone that is able to do the upgrade has been BUSY with real life priorities unlike what you say as being lazy which is basically a kick in the balls to those of us handling this.

sbjsbj · Oct 10, 2019

I have no problem with anyone of you and I cannot look behind the curtains.

I just owe it to myself to criticize the progress as I often criticize other platforms. I cannot make an exception for the platform I am currently in.

You guys had 2 years of time as stated, not 2 months. The "we were busy" line can be said for some weeks or months, but you had 2 years time to prepare.

I am not sure if my statement is a kick in the balls, but I guess it better be a kick to somewhere as better sooner than later?

You are not re-writing the software. If in the first stages some stuff is missing, I am sure nobody will care.

The announcement stated that "you were getting close". That was 2 months ago... Not sure how more close you can get but I believe the benefit of the doubt is already used up. You had enough time, I think it is fair to criticize whoever is responsible for it.

\o/ · Oct 10, 2019

sbjsbj said:
I think it is fair to criticize whoever is responsible for it.

What exactly makes someone from TAZ responsible to cater your wishes for a forum software that still gets security patches every now and then? Do you pay for that?

sbjsbj · Oct 10, 2019

\o/ said:
What exactly makes someone from TAZ responsible to cater your wishes for a forum software that still gets security patches every now and then? Do you pay for that?

See:

sbjsbj said:
Not that I care if this website is on the newest shiniest version or not. But since I like to be fair, and I often criticize other things, I think I owe it to my imaginary sense of justice to also criticize the platform which we use to criticize other platforms.

That's it. For all I know TAZ can stay on this version forever, I couldn't care less. I just want to be fair.

If we, as admins, criticize social media, forum software, users, Google, etc. etc., then we also should be fair enough to criticize ourselves, if it is the right time.

And as a member of this forum, I think it is time to criticize this forum. This forum is a forum for admins, with mostly for forum admins. So it is pathetic that a forum which serves admins, that it can't administrate itself and is behind the curve for that long time.

But nobody is responsible to cater my wish, did I say otherwise? No. I am just expressing my mind, I thought this is what we do on forums...

Russ · Oct 10, 2019

Expressing your opinion about the matter is fine, I'll express mine. You're coming off as if we owe you an upgrade to 2.x, it's really weird.

So we're fair, announcement specific for @sbjsb : the site remain on 1.5 for the foreseeable future. I hope you find this announcement fair.

For anyone else curious about the upgrade, I'm still handling most of the upgrade and have been busier on XF work than I ever have been. My paying clients at Pixel Exit will take priority over a site I volunteer at anyday. TAZ has been on XF1 for years, a few more weeks won't hurt.

Upgrading TAZ to XF 2.1

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