When IPS 5 comes out …

[opentype]

How fast will you switch? 

[Square Wheels]

I'll have to see how many apps won't work and how many more features they remove from self-hosted customers.

[Clover13]

I'm willing to upgrade fairly quickly if the functionality my communities need is there.  I do rely on a bunch of third party apps, so we'll have to see how the v5 framework looks and how easily (or at all) the devs can build similar functionality.  It's really unclear where the line in the sand is (at least to me) right now.  There are a bunch of greats devs in the community and I hope they're able to continue to build and extend desired functionality for Invision Community.

[GrantHorizons]

I am currently PLANNING a move of my very large and complex site to Invision, cloud version, and debating whether to start with a test move now, work with v4 to get as much as possible created / styled etc, and then upgrade asap to v5 and deal with the issues, then do the final move - or just wait for v5 and do the initial test move then. hmmmm...

[Clover13]

10 minutes ago, GrantHorizons said:

I am currently PLANNING a move of my very large and complex site to Invision, cloud version, and debating whether to start with a test move now, work with v4 to get as much as possible created / styled etc, and then upgrade asap to v5 and deal with the issues, then do the final move - or just wait for v5 and do the initial test move then. hmmmm...

Assuming by large and complex you aren't talking just data, but functionality and a bunch of custom functionality at that.  Also assuming you are on some other software as you are referring to creating/styling in v4 (i.e. you don't have any of that in a self hosted v4 that is moving to cloud).  Given the major version change and significant framework and codebase changes, and assuming your current site/software/server is suitable for the foreseeable future, if I were in your shoes I would wait for v5 and start fresh once it's well understood.  There aren't clear paths from v4 to v5 yet and for some things there may not be a path (there's always a path, it just might not be using Invision Community exclusively/directly).  It would be costly to convert complex facets of your site to v4 only to find it doesn't work in v5 and you'll have to eat that tech debt and do it over.  Just my .02! 🙂

[GrantHorizons]

Hi Clover13,

I hear you! Trouble is our site is ancient and having issues. And we have a slow winter season to get things done, and v5 is coming right in our busy season. 😞 never fails...

thanks, Grant

[Clover13]

5 minutes ago, GrantHorizons said:

Hi Clover13,

I hear you! Trouble is our site is ancient and having issues. And we have a slow winter season to get things done, and v5 is coming right in our busy season. 😞 never fails...

thanks, Grant

Well, ancient and issues leads me to be concerned about security first and compatibility/functionality second.  If you're in a bad spot, it might be worthwhile to give up some functionality to gain security and stability in v4.  If you can minimize the customization, then your path to v5 simplified.  If you can't and absolutely require the customization, then you may just have to eat the tech debt to convert twice.  No idea what state your site is in or what the risks vs revenue.  On the bright side, v4 will be around for awhile, so you could stay on it for some time.

[abobader]

2 hours ago, Square Wheels said:

I'll have to see how many apps won't work and how many more features they remove from self-hosted customers.

+1

 

[dismalbliss]

I have 2 communities. One is "dependent" on 3rd party apps/plugins and the other one isn't. I will probably upgrade the one that isn't right away, and then see if the 3rd party app devs are going to make their apps compatible with v5 or not.

[JoelR]

5 hours ago, GrantHorizons said:

I am currently PLANNING a move of my very large and complex site to Invision, cloud version, and debating whether to start with a test move now, work with v4 to get as much as possible created / styled etc, and then upgrade asap to v5 and deal with the issues, then do the final move - or just wait for v5 and do the initial test move then. hmmmm...

This is an interesting scenario and I wish you luck with your move.  Some thoughts: 

1. If you are converting to vanilla IPS, then it might be worthwhile to migrate to v4 immediately.  It's rock solid in terms of its stability, features, and most of all, the converter.  You're getting a very mature and developed version of v4.  

2. If you are looking to custom develop features to match existing features, then v5 might be a better starting point.  V5 is not far off, my personal guess is beta within 6 months.  

[JoelR]

8 hours ago, opentype said:

How fast will you switch? 

Thanks for starting this discussion @opentype.  Would love to hear your thoughts too! 

I have two communities: my primary one and Invisioneer.  They are two very different communities, which means my decision making is different for both.  

For Invisioneer, I'm purposely trying to keep it as vanilla as possible so I can intentionally upgrade to 5.0 as quickly as possible.  Part of my vision is to offer Invisioneer as a demo showcase of IPS, and hope other IPS admins can benefit from interacting with a real world case of 5.0. 

For my other community, it's highly mature and contingent upon some third party mods that impact revenue, so I would look to be methodical in upgrading.  There's no rush.  

One of the life lessons that I've learned the hard way was upgrading to 4.0.x AND using a lot of Marketplace mods was a bad mix.  I candidly still have a very bad taste in my mouth over the 4.0.x releases (anyone remember releases like 4.0.19.4??), where I genuinely think IPS could have done more robust testing before releasing.  It sounds like IPS is tightening up its architecture where it might be a more controlled core experience, but I also think that's at the expense of freedom of development. 

[JoelR]

7 hours ago, Square Wheels said:

I'll have to see how many apps won't work and how many more features they remove from self-hosted customers.

Not sure if IPS publicly clarified this, but they're done with their deprecations announcements. 

For anything that they want to remove, they've announced it. There are no more announcements. They purposely announced all deprecations before announcing news for v5.  You should view their deprecations announcements as final.  

[Steel Sparrow]

7 hours ago, JoelR said:

2. If you are looking to custom develop features to match existing features, then v5 might be a better starting point.  V5 is not far off, my personal guess is beta within 6 months. 

@JoelR One aspect of deciding to wait for IPS5 is the estimated time when IPS5 becomes mature (after all the initial bugs if any are ironed out, mods are updated and fully tested out). Would it be safe to say it would take a minimum of 6 months for IPS5 to become mature and deployment ready? 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Steel Sparrow

[ArashDev]

Currently, I'm uncertain about upgrading to IPS 5. I want to assess its new features, ensure compatibility with existing themes/apps, and observe community feedback for stability before making a decision

[IC Essentials]

17 hours ago, Square Wheels said:

I'll have to see how many apps won't work

No v4 app will work with v5!

Edited December 9, 2023 by IC Essentials

[dismalbliss]

1 hour ago, IC Essentials said:

No v4 app will work with v5!

But some are easily upgraded while others may be dead moving forward. I'm not a dev, but I was speaking to one who was very uncertain about his apps that relied heavily on hooks.

[JoelR]

5 hours ago, Steel Sparrow said:

@JoelR One aspect of deciding to wait for IPS5 is the estimated time when IPS5 becomes mature (after all the initial bugs if any are ironed out, mods are updated and fully tested out). Would it be safe to say it would take a minimum of 6 months for IPS5 to become mature and deployment ready? 

What's your threshold for mature and deployment?  

• In 6 months, we'll likely get Beta.  
• In 12 months, we'll likely get initial release.  

[Steel Sparrow]

2 hours ago, JoelR said:

What's your threshold for mature and deployment?  

• In 6 months, we'll likely get Beta.  
• In 12 months, we'll likely get initial release.  

So it looks like it's gonna be a phased migration window that starts in 6 months and picks up steam as IPS5 establishes itself from beta. Regarding the threshold for deployment, it's mostly stability and all mods working well (enough confidence that there won't be any major issue during the migration).  

[Toni]

I am currently building up my community in which I use IPS and due to how much work I will put into it being on v4 I will more than likely be ready to jump to 5 when that comes out pretty much straight away. 

Very much looking forward to the day we can upgrade!

[John Horton]

When the time comes I will email @opentype and ask him what to do 🙂

 

[Maxius]

I will wait until v5 comes out and initial bugs get resolved. I will wait and see which apps will be upgraded form v4. Then decide if there's a need for it at all.

A lot of depends on what will v5 will bring in Pages. I expect a lot from it and hope it will render a few plugins / apps obsolete.

[JoelR]

4 hours ago, Maxius said:

I will wait and see which apps will be upgraded form v4.

All of the apps will be available and upgraded from v4 to v5, but there may not be new or updated functionality in the beginning.  

[dismalbliss]

11 hours ago, JoelR said:

All of the apps will be available and upgraded from v4 to v5, but there may not be new or updated functionality in the beginning.  

I think he means 3rd party apps.

[V0RT3X]

Hope to get rid of v4 asap.

[GrantHorizons]

On 1/27/2024 at 6:10 AM, V0RT3X said:

Hope to get rid of v4 asap.

Why? Problems? OR just eager to upgrade?