YABB 1.4.1

[Lonestar]

Ive been waiting now for about 2 months for this supposed new upgrade from 1.3.1 to 1.4.1. While I wait i visit this forum in hopes for the update to be completed, so i can download a couple of files and install them with ease.

What i see right now, is 1.4.1 is available and still has problems. It has literally one post dedicated to all the fixes for the problems. So i would have to DL 1.4.1 then reopen each individual file and edit them as you have outlined.

I dont see how it makes this board better then others out there. Dont get me wrong I love YABB, but whats the point in downloading something im just going to have to spend hours on fixing after? Then i realized it might not even be working better then 1.3.1.

So whats the deal? 1.4.1 is worse then a previous version, a fix is promised but so far its me that will have to fix it.

When is it going to be a stable release? When are we going to be able to download a few files, run them and it works and not have to spend hours editing PHP files?

Im just curious. To me you shouldnt be touting 1.4.1 until you have fixes for them, since 1.3.1 is the better, stabler version it shld be touted, not the 1.4.1 upgrade since it will make life worse then the 1.3.1 one will.

Just my opinion, like i said i love YABB and respect what you all do here. I think its great you spend your free time giving something away for free for just a thank you from everyone. I respect you guys a whole lot. Just if you want to take that next giant step towards possibly making money off of this, i would suggest making sure you come out with stable versions of this board, so the user doesnt have to do too much. Users dont want to do anything, just upload and install. The harder you make it the harder it is to take this board seriously.

[sylvester]

There won't be a bug-free version , if you fix a bug, you get another bug, if you fix that another bug, you'll get another bug, etc......

[Mach8]

You might want to fix your avatar and sig

[Jeff Lewis]

Hehe Llama.

We said there would be an improvement on the speed of the BoardIndex, I know I didn't promise great new changes or anything.

If so, please do quote me. It was a bug fix package, no more no less.

We went through several beta tests and it came clean through those systems.

Find me a forum package that DOESN'T have bugs...

[Michael]

1.4.1 is worse then a previous version

And what makes you say this? Pretty much all the bugs in 1.4.1 were in previous versions, just not discovered yet.

It has literally one post dedicated to all the fixes for the problems.

Would you rather all the problems were scattered in posts all over the place? There will always be bugs, in everything you use. Do you give Microsoft this kind of hassle? Heh.

So i would have to DL 1.4.1 then reopen each individual file and edit them as you have outlined.

I believe the download packages will continue to be updated, but if little bugs are found after you install, you'll have to either modify the source by hand or grab the latest files.

To me you shouldnt be touting 1.4.1 until you have fixes for them, since 1.3.1 is the better, stabler version it shld be touted, not the 1.4.1 upgrade since it will make life worse then the 1.3.1 one will.

We're not touting anything. We released 1.4.1 with all the fixes possible. New ones continue to pop up and forever will. 1.4.1 is not any less stable than 1.3.1 and in fact fixes many problems from 1.3.1

Just if you want to take that next giant step towards possibly making money off of this, i would suggest making sure you come out with stable versions of this board, so the user doesnt have to do too much.

That's not a step and that's not the direction of this project. It's an open source community project, not a business.

Users dont want to do anything, just upload and install. The harder you make it the harder it is to take this board seriously.

Think about this a little more - when anybody releases software, there are always bugs. 99.9% of companies do NOT post information on bugs in their product and how to fix them, let alone continuously update their product and make it available for download. So, as you can see, your idea of what would make this more professional is very misguided.

[Mach8]

You have a complaint. So rather than whinging, why not be helpful about it and actively help us look for bugs and fix them?

YaBB SE is a community - it needs people to help it grow and succeed. If we all just download it and don't give back anything, it's not a very good situation. But we have mod writers, beta testers, support staff, etc - all helping make YaBB SE a more solid product.

We do our best to find bugs in the software, but obviously things will always slip through the net. This is the case with ANY product, otherwise we'd never have patches, service packs, bug fixes, would we? What a wonderful world that would be.

[Lonestar]

I do beleive i said i love this program and am happy you guys are doing this.

When i upgraded to 1.3.1 it was great. No really big bugs to worry about, same with 1.3.0

Then i saw 1.4.0, waited a day or two and within hours of release people had a list of bugs as long as the 1.3.1 bugs, but this one grew faster, and still grows today.

You may pick apart this post and find every sentence wrong all you like. 1.4.1 and 1.4.0 shouldnt have been released, im still using 1.3.1 due to fear of upgrading and ruining my board, having slower load times, broken PHP programming, and the other long list of problems. It seems like the board is not able to run with your download version, and I must go to support forum just to edit all the PHP pages to have it work properly.

I never said things are perfect, nor did i say no bugs exist. Sure bugs are always around, but its the sheer number, and danger of them that should be fixed ASAP.

From what ive read 1.4.1 is not able to run without first having to fix it. Most times when a version of something is released, it can atleast run without editing. After that is tiny bugs that if not fixed the board will still run alright.

When there is a bug fix, usually this fix is provided in a ZIP for download so people who use the program can easily unzip and overwrite, not go through pages of code and add/replace/edit stuff.

Simply put, have all the bugs you want but provide a friendly and easy way to provide the fixes for users that cant spend a day fixing the whole thing. We download programs for use on websites for the simple reason we dont know programming or dont have time, or just dont care too. The more you have to "add/edit/replace" in files in which a programming language not many understand, the less customers or free users your going to see.

Now, im done with this post and my rant. My simple request is that if their are major bugs, make us aware, provide a fix, and make it easy as possible even for those people who are almost computer illiterate.

I hang around alot of BB's, talk to alot of webdesigners and professionals in this E-world we live in, YABB has a good rep, but is starting to hit the downward spiral due to this "BUG ISSUE" that isnt clear to most people if they are fixed or not. SOme people find it even more annoying to have to surf through 3 different forums just to find the fixes, through the 100's of pages, just to fix something released broken.

Take this as you will, i support this community and project 100%. This is constructive critism, you may not like what you hear but this is the truth.

[Chris Cromer]

From what ive read 1.4.1 is not able to run without first having to fix it. Most times when a version of something is released, it can atleast run without editing. After that is tiny bugs that if not fixed the board will still run alright.

Those fixes are NOT required I have been able to run my 1.4.1 board without using any alterations to the 1.4.1 files whatsoever.

[Lonestar]

Just a little side note, i would be proud to help out this community as i have supported it for a long time now.

My only strong suites are probably beta tester, web designer, flash designer, java programming, and a slew of other website related stuff. I see alot of potential for this site not only as a BB but as a nice and friendly site to navigate. I do 2 projects for free currently, one being a gaming organization (which the pages will change drastically in days to come), and another is for a map editor for a game. I know what it takes to keep a site organized, and make life easy for the users, while keeping things up to date.

If you feel you need someone, who can do this for you, while providing you with the newest and best technologies for websites today feel free to drop me a line @ [email protected]

Beta testing is something id rather stay away from.

And please remember, constructive critism can only hurt those that dont heed it or atleast look at it with an open mind. Im not trying to insult or start flame wars, im here as a supporter voicing an opinion that many share and I feel if i dont say something, maybe nothing will be done about it.

Have a good day.

[Jeff Lewis]

Penaltybox.com is still running 1.3 with no problems

[Mach8]

My board's been working fine since 1.1.0 (1.0.0 only had a few problems which were mainly admin-side). My 1.4.1 board is very fast and has no visible problems. When people go there, they always comment on how fast it is.

[David]

I too never upgraded my boards to 1.4.0.  I waited for 1.4.1 mainly since the boardindex was slower.  Even though 1.4.1 had bugs after it was released they were all fixed in a timely manner and the download package has been updated I believe.  During a beta test there is no way we can find everything.  Bugs slip through as with almost any piece of software, Windows 98 and plenty of other software.  I however am not afraid of 1.4.1.  It is stable and fixes many isses in 1.4.0.  Make a backup and try it out.  It should work well for you.

[Compuart]

As a beta tester since version 1.4.0, I'm very surprised hearing this critisism. Of course I take it very serious, but I disagree on a lot of points. You suggest the way bugs are being fixed has become worse. I think it has become more transparant and therefor may look worse. Users now don't have to wait untill a new release is out, but can (if they want and if they are really bothered with a specific bug) get rid of bugs before a new release.

Then i saw 1.4.0, waited a day or two and within hours of release people had a list of bugs as long as the 1.3.1 bugs, but this one grew faster, and still grows today.

Don't forget the user base of YaBB SE has been growing rapidly, so has the chance of a user finding a bug. I think quantity of bugs doesn't say anything about quality.

You may pick apart this post and find every sentence wrong all you like.

As you can see, I'd love to

1.4.1 and 1.4.0 shouldnt have been released, im still using 1.3.1 due to fear of upgrading and ruining my board, having slower load times, broken PHP programming, and the other long list of problems. It seems like the board is not able to run with your download version, and I must go to support forum just to edit all the PHP pages to have it work properly.

As far as I know, the only thing that has not improved after release might be the boardindex.php (for some boards). There's no need of fear, especially since there's a whole community here supporting users if something might go wrong.

I never said things are perfect, nor did i say no bugs exist. Sure bugs are always around, but its the sheer number, and danger of them that should be fixed ASAP.

danger?? where?  
(imho there has never been a 'dangerous' version...)

From what ive read 1.4.1 is not able to run without first having to fix it.

That has never been true. Where did you read that?

When there is a bug fix, usually this fix is provided in a ZIP for download so people who use the program can easily unzip and overwrite, not go through pages of code and add/replace/edit stuff.

You told us yourself you wanted stable releases. We cannot provide stable releases if we would just fix bugs without testing the whole version again. That's why we release a stable version, look for more bugs (the ones mentioned in the sticky topic on the bug-board are all very tiny and insignificant) and providing bugfixes for people having specific problems with a functionality.

Simply put, have all the bugs you want but provide a friendly and easy way to provide the fixes for users that cant spend a day fixing the whole thing.

Tell me, where do we get a beta test team willing to test the whole release again just after finding a new tiny bug. And how about a mod-team that is always adopting their mods in order to keep up with the newest version in which yet another bug has been fixed. No offence, but releasing a new version just ain't worth it. Adding a zip that automatically fixes the latest bugs, suggests that the patched version will be stable, but it's not, cuz it's not tested yet.

We download programs for use on websites for the simple reason we dont know programming or dont have time, or just dont care too. The more you have to "add/edit/replace" in files in which a programming language not many understand, the less customers or free users your going to see.

Just take a look at the currently known bugs and tell me why you can't run a board without implementing these fixes.

SOme people find it even more annoying to have to surf through 3 different forums just to find the fixes, through the 100's of pages, just to fix something released broken.

There's one sticky topic on one forum which provides all fixes to known bugs. Every user can judge whether he/she needs a specific fix.

This is constructive critism, you may not like what you hear but this is the truth.

I'm always glad if someone is to the point and I can and will always learn from crisism. I do however disagree with your statements being 'the truth'.

[Spaceman-Spiff]

this topic is sorta pointless
if u, Lonestar, are a programmer u should know that any software this size will have bugs
if u think other softwares out there (non-opensource) dont have bugs, thats just because they dont tell u about the bugs

[Lonestar]

hummm i still see no real upgrade, im still on 1.3.1 and hoped these many months later a nice and easy 1.4.2 or something would be out. however i see nothing has been done to rectify this. Am i right in thinking the upgrade to 1.4.1 plus the fixes i must install will require only 15 minutes of my time? Or will it cost me much more time?

What about the compatibility with calendar, mute and other mods? Is it worth me even trying the upgrade? is 2.0.0 coming out soon? Is YABB Dead? Am i really alive? Is the world safe from insanity?