Goodbye, XenForo!

Hello!

I regret to inform you that I'm quitting XenForo. This means:

• No more new features for add-ons
• No more new add-ons
• Prices for existing add-ons will drop
• Free add-ons will become paid or no longer available

The reason for this was the unprofessional behavior of the XenForo administration.

For the last 4 years I have been an active member of the XenForo community and one of the few developers who release major add-ons for this platform. During this time, I have encountered many times the speech freedom restriction on their community forum and, to put it mildly, strange decisions on the administration part. Yesterday I again encountered this behavior of the administration. In response to this post, I sent a joke about what we got a 100 character limit on reviews. It has been deleted, 3 times, in the Off-topic section, then I was banned in this section. My post does not violate the rules, I did not receive any verbal warnings or comments on these actions.

Over the past years, I have encountered:

Deleting positive reviews without notice or reason​

One of the most absurd cases that I encountered in this regard was when people who did not buy my products posted negative reviews, after which all reviews on my resource were deleted altogether. I turned to the Brogan and some reviews were restored. And then they were deleted again silently! Cause? "I don't know which reviews were valid and invalid" © Brogan. As usual, I was ignored.

Deleting posts that do not violate the rules​

At any time, you can fall into disfavor with the administration and your posts will be deleted quietly and without notification. If you pay attention to this, you will get a ban. The reddest flag you can see is unpredictable behavior.

No updates or roadmap​

The last update improving functionality was released 3 years(!) ago! During this time, the community has not even received a roadmap, and dissatisfaction with this situation, as always, is simply ignored by the developers. As a developer, I understand that it is possible to develop XenForo from scratch in such a time period and XF developers are simply not interested in developing their product.

Ignoring the community​

They implement less than 10 small suggestions per year (only 2 this year), with dozens of popular suggestions that have been around for over 5 years.
Any feedback and criticism are taken in a negative way.

Thanks to everyone who supporting my developments financially and morally! I hope our cooperation will continue in a friendlier environment!

---

Inappropriate behavior after a conflict​

I am updating the post on March 21, 2024, six months after the conflict...

Aug 31, 2023
My attempts to prove that there was no objective the rules violation
Banning my account and insults from the administration

March 21, 2024
Ridiculous attempt to remove a review on TrustPilot

🍿🍿🍿

 

[021]

Many thanks to those who support me with words in this situation ❤️

 

[hello2029]

Hello!

I regret to inform you that I'm quitting XenForo. This means:

• No more new features for add-ons
• No more new add-ons
• Prices for existing add-ons will drop
• Free add-ons will become paid or no longer available

The reason for this was the unprofessional behavior of the XenForo administration.

For the last 4 years I have been an active member of the XenForo community and one of the few developers who release major add-ons for this platform. During this time, I have encountered many times the speech freedom restriction on their community forum and, to put it mildly, strange decisions on the administration part. Yesterday I again encountered this behavior of the administration. In response to this post, I sent a joke about what we got a 100 character limit on reviews. It has been deleted, 3 times, in the Off-topic section, then I was banned in this section. My post does not violate the rules, I did not receive any verbal warnings or comments on these actions.

Over the past years, I have encountered:

Deleting positive reviews without notice or reason​

One of the most absurd cases that I encountered in this regard was when people who did not buy my products posted negative reviews, after which all reviews on my resource were deleted altogether. I turned to the Brogan and some reviews were restored. And then they were deleted again silently! Cause? "I don't know which reviews were valid and invalid" © Brogan. As usual, I was ignored.
View attachment 1423

Deleting posts that do not violate the rules​

At any time, you can fall into disfavor with the administration and your posts will be deleted quietly and without notification. If you pay attention to this, you will get a ban. The reddest flag you can see is unpredictable behavior.

No updates or roadmap​

The last update improving functionality was released 3 years(!) ago! During this time, the community has not even received a roadmap, and dissatisfaction with this situation, as always, is simply ignored by the developers. As a developer, I understand that it is possible to develop XenForo from scratch in such a time period and XF developers are simply not interested in developing their product.

Ignoring the community​

They implement less than 10 small suggestions per year (only 2 this year), with dozens of popular suggestions that have been around for over 5 years.
Any feedback and criticism are taken in a negative way.

Thanks to everyone who supporting my developments financially and morally! I hope our cooperation will continue in a friendlier environment!

I agree with your thoughts, but it's also saddening that you've decided to leave.

 

[021]

I agree with your thoughts, but it's also saddening that you've decided to leave.

Do you think it's time to release caps with the inscription "Make XenForo Great Again"? 😆

 

[hello2029]

Do you think it's time to release caps with the inscription "Make XenForo Great Again"? 😆

If I knew how to program, I would create a team to develop a better source code than Xenforo and provide it for free.

I would enable all programmers to develop the best possible applications and add-ons.

And I would take a 30% share of their add-on sales revenue.

I would support programmers to the fullest extent.

 

[021]

By the way, there is a cool free analogue of XenForo - Flarum

 

[gogo]

Do you think it's possible to develop a modern forum by you? I really like your products.

 

[Admin-Junkies.com]

Ha, I remember that. You released the AI add on and everyone was raging on this very innovative add on. Giving you bad reviews. I then tried my best to counter that and even reported the false reviews to Brogan.

I do agree with you and while it’s a shame, I did see this coming so it isn’t a surprise to me. That being said, you’re not the first and you definitely will not be the last.

I wish you the very best in future ventures. You’re a one of a kind developer and Xenforo has just made a significant loss.

 

[021]

Do you think it's possible to develop a modern forum by you?

Only with good funding. The problem here is timing. With a team of two or three people, a full-fledged forum engine can take from six months to a year.

I wish you the very best in future ventures. You’re a one of a kind developer and Xenforo has just made a significant loss.

Thank you very much. The support of my customers is very inspiring to me right now :3

 

[021]

Hahah 😆
I received an official response from XenForo

 

[Admin-Junkies.com]

Sounds like they just wanted to restrict you but fail to give an obvious and justified reason.

 

[021]

Sounds like they just wanted to restrict you but fail to give an obvious and justified reason.

It is obvious. This is so petty and funny that even I am ashamed of their behavior 😄

 

[zer0]

Understand how you feel and totally respect your decision. Just wondering, does this mean the chat system you've developed will also no longer receive any updates or support?

 

[021]

Understand how you feel and totally respect your decision. Just wondering, does this mean the chat system you've developed will also no longer receive any updates or support?

Support for my add-ons will be carried out at the highest level until the last client, even during the apocalypse) But there will be no new features and add-ons.

But it is also possible that I will add voices to the chat as last feature)

 

[Pacifiquateure]

I'm not developing an addon for XenForo but i admit having more or less the same thing as you...

I confirm that there is a big problem with the administration especially with Brogan who thinks he is a little above everyone. Is it arrogance from that? It is very likely.

A few years ago I expressed my dissatisfaction with a scammer who offered his development services. I received a warning, message deletions etc... Why? Because i was the only one complaining about it. Strangely, over time some addon developers also started complaining about it and the scammer was banned.

I'm mainly talking about Brogan, who is a real problem for XenForo. If you remove Brogan, do you have anything against XenForo? I do not think so.

You have all my support @021 , i hope that one day you will resume the development of XenForo addon because some of your addons are really great! (Maybe a little too great that it makes Brogan jealous who only knows how to do HTML/CSS).

 

[021]

A few years ago I expressed my dissatisfaction with a scammer who offered his development services. I received a warning, message deletions etc... Why? Because i was the only one complaining about it. Strangely, over time some addon developers also started complaining about it and the scammer was banned.

Oh lol I was also scammed out of $100 and the XenForo team said they figured it out but can't tell how :D I think I should mention this case on TrustPilot as well.

Maybe a little too great that it makes Brogan jealous who only knows how to do HTML/CSS

Hahah, I want him to read this. Seems like his ego can't handle this text 😆

 

[Pacifiquateure]

Oh lol I was also scammed out of $100 and the XenForo team said they figured it out but can't tell how :D I think I should mention this case on TrustPilot as well.

It is true that in the case where work has already been done, remuneration must be due at least. I totally agree with you, it's a scam.

Hahah, I want him to read this. Seems like his ego can't handle this text 😆

It's true! 😂

If you look closely, the only featured resources belong to Brogan except 1 but it's still part of the team.

At some point, the staff members will have to react. Since COVID, everything has gone downhill at XenForo. Lots of addon developers leaving, very few updates, few new addon developers, ...

Personally, i have never been disappointed with your addons, very good follow-up and fast. I would remain a customer with you despite this problem with XenForo.

 

[xoop]

It's a pity. Yes, the XenForo team is far from ideal, and there really is no new functionality. There is a period of stagnation. But whatever one may say, XenForo is the best forum CMS for today, now there is nothing better. Perhaps they will replace team members or see the need to move forward. In any case, this is their commercial business.

A very strange decision. It feels like you're just offended. But you have clients and admirers. Many of your addons are great. And have no analogues. Leave XenForo.com, stay on devsell.io. You have a base for development, your own platform and a minimum set of clients. It's a pity for clients to lose your addons, and it's stupid for you to lose this base. Stay on devsell.io and develop your addons on your platform.

 

[gogo]

I've finished 80% of my forum before putting it to public. But the development progress of Xenforo indeed worries me a bit. It seems stays unchanged for quite a few years... So before it's too late, I'm thinking whether I should change to another forum platform now.

I need a modern forum platform with mobile devices in mind (most people are using mobile devices nowadays). Yet I also like Xenforo's functionality especially those from various add-ons, like Aggregation Forums, Proxy Link Forum, Thread Filter, Grid Nodes, etc.

Only with good funding. The problem here is timing. With a team of two or three people, a full-fledged forum engine can take from six months to a year.


Thank you very much. The support of my customers is very inspiring to me right now :3

 

[akif]

It's very sad to hear this, you are the best developer I know, you inspired me to create a forum and the first steps to your plugins, thank you!