v6 Phoenix: A Holiday Surprise

[Matej]

As we find our way towards the end the year

we have a few things we'd love to share.

We've been working real hard, so come be our guest, 

v6 Alpha is here let's give it a test!

 

Announcing ProBoards v6: Support Forum Alpha 1

We know you've been patiently waiting for your first taste of ProBoards v6, and we're happy to provide you a small Christmas present.

As of this moment you can go to your profile here on ProBoards Support and try out some fresh v6 goodness in our ProBoards v6 Support Forum Alpha 1. Exact steps to take will be listed below. For now here are the highlights of what you need to know:

• This is an open Alpha. Expect bugs to be present! Most functionality is working, but there are some things that are not completed, or are just completely broken.

• The alpha is only available on the ProBoards Support forum. No other forum can access any of the updates at this time.

• This is not the final version of v6, this is an open Alpha test as a gift to all of you patient people!

• We would absolutely LOVE your feedback. Further information about this is lower down in this post!

• We plan to keep this Alpha test open for about two weeks, with an estimated ending January 8th. The ending may be sooner or later, depending on how testing goes. We make no promises about how long v6 will be available.

Responsive design

ProBoards v6, codename Phoenix, brings a completely new dynamic to our forums; a uniform theme across mobile and desktop devices. As our focus was making mobile themes as useful as possible, please try to use the forum on your mobile device as well. While the desktop version has the same utility as before, the much smaller screen required an incredible amount of research to make it the best it can be, and we still have more work to do.

How to access the ProBoards v6 Support Forum Alpha

1) Go to your profile page

2) Click the Groups tab

3) Click "Join Group" next to the "v6 Alpha Tester" group

4) In your Profile Settings, change your Theme to "v6 Alpha"

5) Enjoy your first proper taste of v6!

Providing feedback

We are excited to receive your feedback! After you have joined the v6 Alpha group, you will gain access to some hidden boards that we will use for the duration of testing. To provide feedback regarding the v6 Alpha please go to the Alpha 1 Feedback board and follow the feedback template. Responses that do not use the feedback template or incorrectly fill out the feedback template will be discarded. Please follow the guidelines and make sure you create your own thread so that everyone can appropriately review the feedback provided.

Once this Alpha has concluded we will be asking participants to fill out a survey. We will use this to learn more about your experience with v6: what you liked, what you didn't, and how we can improve.

Trying out Phoenix and decided you really like an aspect? Hate it? Wish it was different? Maybe there’s an aspect of the alpha that you just don’t understand? Please let us know! We can only make changes when we hear about them, so any constructive feedback is welcome.

Key features

There’s way too many changes and updates to list, so we’ll keep it brief with some highlights that you should absolutely check out:

• It’s responsive! Use the forum on your phone or tablet without any loss of functionality, or just resize your browser to see the forum change in front of you!

• The sidebars. Click on your avatar in the top left corner, or the lovingly called “hamburger” menu, to see the side menus.

• The new and updated floating WYSIWYG. Create a new thread, respond to a post, or write a PM and see the brand new and updated WYSIWYG! You never have to leave the page you were on, just keep browsing, and reading all while you are composing a post!

• Check out your profile - add a cover image, or update your status!

• Check out the FAB (Floating Action Button) in many areas of the forum, that we previously discussed here (http://support.proboards.com/thread/625383/)

Known issues and broken functionality

As this is an early version of v6, there are some things that are simply not yet done, have major problems, or might just not display correctly.

Among them are the following:

• PMing a user from their profile will not work.

• PMing a user from a post will not work.

• Issues with displaying very long thread titles in the latest post column. Long thread titles are... long.

• Issues displaying time, where it should show a very short text, instead displays a very long date/time text.

• Notification choices in profiles are very incomplete.

• Plugins don’t work. Putting it plainly, the plugins are currently loaded in the wrong order and thus completely non-functional. You will notice many errors if you check the console log of your browser, but this should not be a cause for concern, just be aware that any custom functionality on ProBoards Support right now is not working.

• Info center avatars are huge. We know. They won’t stay that big.

• Known issues with latest iOS release on the iPad and iPad Pro, specifically with the floating WYSIWYG.

Future testing

Moving forward we expect to do more public releases in a manner similar to this event. If you miss the opportunity to try out v6 now, expect to see something similar later in Q1 2018, with additional refinements and changes.

Frequently asked questions

• How do I access the alpha?

  • Refer to the guide above for detailed instructions.

• How do I leave the alpha?

  • Go to edit your own profile and change the theme to anything other than the v6 Alpha theme

• I really don’t like this one thing! Please change it!

  • We would love to hear more from you and investigate, as we too would love a very nice experience for all of our users. Please fill out a feedback form in the Alpha 1 Feedback board as per the guidelines. We will review every single accurately submitted post.

• This one feature I'm trying to use is broken!
  • Unfortunately, not everything is functional in the current version of v6. Feel free to let us know about the issue, but we will not be fixing non-critical issues during the course of this test.

• Why did you remove _____ feature?

  • Most likely the feature was not removed, it is just not displayed by default. It can likely be added in the future with template editing. There might also still be features missing that we have not yet implemented.

• How do I provide feedback?

  • To provide feedback, please check out the Alpha 1 Feedback board. 

• Is this the final version?
  • No. This is the first public alpha version. Many things are still bound to change before the final release.

• When will v6 release?
  • When it's ready.

• Can I test v6 on my own forum?
  • Not at this stage. We will be announcing further tests in the near future. Check back regularly for updates!

• This is so overwhelming! I'm worried about _________! 
  • Don't worry! When the time comes for us to launch v6, you won't have to switch right away (in fact, we give you 18 months after we launch!). Also, we have the best Support Team on the planet! We'll be here to answer all of your questions and help make the transition as smooth as possible. Our plan is to provide the best possible transition for both forum owners and forum users. Stay tuned for more information in the future!

---

We hope you enjoy playing around with version 6 and we look forward to many more adventures in the realm of forums in the coming year.
We wish you all happy holidays and a fantastic 2018!

- The ProBoards Team

[Kami]

A holiday surprise indeed! How exciting!

[moonbeam]

This is awesome! I'm trying it on my phone right now. I love the emoji selection!

[Jaguar]

I've got to test everything out now. You know it's Christmas and I've got plans for a family get together, and I can't cancel on them to play with this. UGH!

[Zachary Guerrero]

Dec 22, 2017 16:53:53 GMT -8 Jaguar said:

I've got to test everything out now. You know it's Christmas and I've got plans for a family get together, and I can't cancel on them to play with this. UGH!

 I mean, you COULD but it's probably not the best of ideas. 

[Jaguar]

It's so different, but geez this is so exciting, and yeah I can clearly see why the old themes won't work on V6 but that's no bother to me.

I love puzzles, and V6 is a puzzle.

[Zachary Guerrero]

Jaguar  oh yea there is a LOT that is different. luckily it won't be one of those 3D puzzles or one of these guys.  Have fun! and enjoy the Alpha!

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

I really appreciate this gift. As someone very trepidatious about v6, I'm happy to be able to finally see exactly what the changes will be and how different it will look and function from v5.

It's definitely a new world and look for ProBoards. I can understand the length of time it takes to arrive at the final product.

Thanks for the well timed sneak peek!

[Tressa]

Really enjoying the chance to try out the Alpha. Something else I'd love to see is how the new custom page will work. A custom home page is important on our forum.

[Jaguar]

It's weird going from a V5 Forum to V6 Alpha Support, kinda twilight like. 

[₪» ⅀ ƪ Ƒ «₪]

What a great surprise!

My worry is the customization. For example, my site has its own unique sidetables, hand-coded miniprofiles that are VERY different from the default, profiles that were completely gutted and coded from the ground up, board and thread lists that are vastly different from the default, PM pages that were deconstructed and made to look like they're written in ink on scrolls...
basically, my site's customization is very, drastically different from the defaults. Will I still be able to keep all of this customization? I understand I will likely need to recode it, that is not my question, it's just will I still be able to have such a customized theme?
-crosses fingers nervously-

I am also, admittedly, worried about plugins. I have 67 plugins and my site relies on them very, very heavily. I know in previous times, when asked this question, I was told that authors are in charge of updating their plugins and if they don't, someone else will have to make a duplicate plugin. My problem is.. all of the plugin creators seem gone. It doesn't seem like there's anyone really left to help make duplicate plugins? Let alone how many will need to be done! If hundreds of plugins break and none of the authors fix them, it's not like 1 little coder can handle making comparable plugins. I am so worried. I've spent 4 years & 9 months working on my site and the prospect of it being ruined by its dependent plugins breaking.. oh gosh, I can't describe the anxiety there. Is there anything in place to help with this issue? Any reassurance or plan you guys have if this happens?
My personal site aside, I can't imagine plugins no longer working would be good for the brand in general. It would be a complete massacre and I don't want to see people leaving proboards over it, because I have used proboards since 2006 and refuse to use any other host. I would freakin' hate having to learn a new host lol. I'm worried that the lack of plugin authors is going to be the slow end to this amazing host-- maybe people can be hired specifically to make proboards plugins? Like 1 new employee with your company whose only job is plugin maintenance / creation? Having volunteers puts so much reliance on people who are doing it for free and therefore might leave at any time, much like we're seeing now, I think. The method of using only volunteers is just falling apart and I feel like there is SO much dependent on those unpaid folks. If they all leave and there's no more plugins, site owners aren't gonna stick around long, right? I don't know. I can only speak to my own decade experience, I may be wrong and I hope I am. I don't want to lose proboards as a whole. I also don't want to lose plugins. That would force me to move hosts and.. blech, I never want to have to do that, I've tried other hosts and they all suck xD

EDIT: Is there any chance the ability to add & switch between joined accounts will be implemented in forums.net? Basically the way that native proboards allows you to switch between your accounts instead of having to log out & in? I know those of us who use forums.net for roleplaying have requested this and it was mentioned a long time ago that it may be brought back in someday-- and then later after that, it was said that when it comes back may be due to V6. So this is me asking if that is planned or not

[Matej]

Dec 22, 2017 17:49:34 GMT -8 ₪» ⅀ ƪ Ƒ «₪ said:

What a great surprise!

My worry is the customization. For example, my site has its own unique sidetables, hand-coded miniprofiles that are VERY different from the default, profiles that were completely gutted and coded from the ground up, board and thread lists that are vastly different from the default, PM pages that were deconstructed and made to look like they're written in ink on scrolls...
basically, my site's customization is very, drastically different from the defaults. Will I still be able to keep all of this customization? I understand I will likely need to recode it, that is not my question, it's just will I still be able to have such a customized theme?
-crosses fingers nervously-

I am also, admittedly, worried about plugins. I have 67 plugins and my site relies on them very, very heavily. I know in previous times, when asked this question, I was told that authors are in charge of updating their plugins and if they don't, someone else will have to make a duplicate plugin. My problem is.. all of the plugin creators seem gone. It doesn't seem like there's anyone really left to help make duplicate plugins? Let alone how many will need to be done! If hundreds of plugins break and none of the authors fix them, it's not like 1 little coder can handle making comparable plugins. I am so worried. I've spent 4 years & 9 months working on my site and the prospect of it being ruined by its dependent plugins breaking.. oh gosh, I can't describe the anxiety there. Is there anything in place to help with this issue? Any reassurance or plan you guys have if this happens?

You can still customize themes heavily. In fact, you'll be able to customize them far more, with many more changes. One example of that is the dropdown menus - in v5 you have to stick them to a very specific position and they retain a very specific look.

In v6? Apply the menu to any element you want, whatsoever! Just add the correct class name to it and the menu will pop out from there.

On top of that, all customizations you do, will apply across both mobile and desktop versions - because there are no different versions anymore!

Regarding plugins:
With the changes coming to plugins, a lot of the features will either no longer be needed, will not need to be updated at all (since some plugins will continue to work regardless), or will need just minor updates.
In our experience there will always be people interested in making plugins. Even to this day, new plugins are submitted to the library almost daily and people are still learning to make more. We will do our absolute best to support the plugin community and we plan to contribute some plugins of our own as well.

After v6 launches (not yet announced), there will be at least 18 months of time available before you have to switch to v6. There should be plenty of time available in that period for both you, plugin and theme authors to learn, adjust and release new plugins, themes and modifications, with the full support of our team.

There's no need to worry at all; we want you to be successful! Your success is our success - and it is also the entire guiding force behind v6 - how do we make it as easy as possible for YOU succeed. When a forum is active, productive and intuitive to use, we believe it will be far easier for you to focus on the actual managing of the forum and keeping interactions going, rather than worrying about plugins.

No matter what happens, rest assured that we will be here, as we have always been, and we will support you in your success for as long as you remain our customer and more than that, we are happy to call you part of our family.

[₪» ⅀ ƪ Ƒ «₪]

Thank you so much for your response, Matej! I feel very reassured. I've been nervous about this since V6 was first announced so long ago, so it is very nice to feel more assured now. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain so thoroughly and kindly, I have felt quite brushed-off in the past and I am very grateful for your customer service!

As you might have missed it, I did add a last edit to my previous post if you don't mind reading that over? If the answer is no, that's alright, I just figured I would ask since we are closer to V6 than we once were :)

[Matej]

Dec 22, 2017 17:49:34 GMT -8 ₪» ⅀ ƪ Ƒ «₪ said:

EDIT: Is there any chance the ability to add & switch between joined accounts will be implemented in forums.net? Basically the way that native proboards allows you to switch between your accounts instead of having to log out & in? I know those of us who use forums.net for roleplaying have requested this and it was mentioned a long time ago that it may be brought back in someday-- and then later after that, it was said that when it comes back may be due to V6. So this is me asking if that is planned or not

Right now this feature is not on our roadmap unfortunately. While I personally would love to see this to come to fruition, it is not something that we can currently focus on. We appreciate the suggestion and we will certainly keep this in mind for future iterations.

[₪» ⅀ ƪ Ƒ «₪]

Dec 22, 2017 18:11:46 GMT -8 Matej said:

Dec 22, 2017 17:49:34 GMT -8 ₪» ⅀ ƪ Ƒ «₪ said:

EDIT: Is there any chance the ability to add & switch between joined accounts will be implemented in forums.net? Basically the way that native proboards allows you to switch between your accounts instead of having to log out & in? I know those of us who use forums.net for roleplaying have requested this and it was mentioned a long time ago that it may be brought back in someday-- and then later after that, it was said that when it comes back may be due to V6. So this is me asking if that is planned or not

Right now this feature is not on our roadmap unfortunately. While I personally would love to see this to come to fruition, it is not something that we can currently focus on. We appreciate the suggestion and we will certainly keep this in mind for future iterations.

Thank you for your answer :)