SMF very slow at development. Dying Slowly

Is it just me, or is SMF is very slow in development? SMF 2.0 has been stuck in beta/rc for ages. Its very sad to see because SMF has alot of potential. Believe it or not but 2.0 was released on April of 2007. Exactly 4 years ago. Thats a very LONG time, its not even funny anymore.

Look at XenForo, it took them only a year to get out of beta, and have a stable release... and its only a team of 2 people.

SMF may have problems, but its not a big enough excuse to be in beta for 4 years.

 

Maybe the Xenforo developers were paid, as such got paid whenever they worked on it, etc.

Being that SMF is free, the chances of the developers being paid are pretty slim, so maybe they are just too busy to develop it, but I do agree 4 years is a long time.

 

I see what you are saying, but still 4 years? They could have at least took 2 1/2 years, but 4 is just too much.

 

I totally agree. I was a member at SMF forum and it had problems from the top down. They need to do all there subscribers and customers a favor and get it updated.

 

Additionally, it's been in development since 2005... Wasn't XenForo built in just 12 months?

 

Yes just 12 months, and a team of two.. SMF shouldnt have a excuse.

 

Again the difference is that XF could pay themselves, where as SMF is free, but they do still need more developers (phpBB is going a similar way but that's another discussion all together)

If you were developing SMF for free, and then someone offered you a highly paid 12 month full time contract, which one would you focus on more?

 

Nobody offered the SMF team any contacts. Their website has banner ads so in a sense they are getting paid. Even if they weren't, the first MyBB did not take six years to build.

 

Interesting, looks like I'm not the only person who thought exactly this. SMF is nice, but the development process is long.

 

Agreed. MyBB is an great example. And Im sure they also get donations

True.. very long indeed.

 

Yeah the development is slow, but you can't blame them for having a life. But you can blame them for banning team members (Nao). Money is a powerful motivator. Btw, did you already heard about Wedge? Wedge is a SMF fork, developed by those who have been betrayed by the SMF team. I left SMF too a week ago and I dropped my mod position, but it was one of the best things I've ever done. I moved to MyBB

 

Yea, you did a great thing by switching to MyBB.. and the smf fork "Wedge" looks pretty interesting although I see that its paid so that might be a downside to people who use SMF since its free. Of course people have lives, but thats not an excuse to start something, and have people supporting you, and then not getting things done. Dosent work that way.

 

Thanks, I like MyBB But where did you see Wedge is paid?

 

The Sidebar.

 

Ooh there Haha, I'll contact Nao to change it, as it's free But Wedge sounds interesting idd, only I've never seen it.

 

So Nao, is the ex staff from SMF? Why did he get banned? Anyways I see potential in Wedge, Nao should try to get some developers to join and then maybe they can really do something with the project.

 

Yeah, but why he was getting banned I don't know anymore. I had access to the teamboard, but since I moved to MyBB I can't check it anymore. But I do know that he didn't do anything wrong. The team just betrayed him. One of the founders was banned too, but I don't know the reason for that too

 

Are you serious? They banned a founder as well as a staff.. thats sad. My guess is that they were speaking out and voicing their concerns. Banning staff obviously wont get them anywhere. Sad.

 

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I decided to convert to MyBB.

 

I would switch also.. I really hope SMF gets things together and back on track. I remember when it was doing great.