Dolphin 7 Timeline

Does anyone know the timeline Boonex is looking at to get a Final version of 7?

I have a site that needs to be out asap. I don't think Dolphin 6 has the look, feel, or features to make the site worthwhile. I do think 7 is exactly what I need, but I can't wait the amount of time I imagine it is going to take to get 7 done to launch my site.

My thought is to either have 6 running, and link to 7 as a preview of what the site will be soon, or look elsewhere for another program.

Oh, I know this isnt the right forum, but what ever happened to the Boonex Directory software?

Cory

I don't think anyone knows for sure, not even Boonex beta is something you can't rush and I don't expect them to rush it.

However I think the following link would give you a rough idea on how soon and how far we are from the actual release.

http://www.boonex.com/trac/dolphin/roadmap

Thats on to Boonex team, When they think its ready for it. 

Thats what I was afraid of. I am loving Dolphin 7, and I hate to ask this, but does anyone know of any other programs that are just as good? Just as good as 7

Or, what I would really like to do is for now use Dolphin 6, but let users check out what I would call a beta version of the site using 7. Are there any aspects of the database that could be shared between the 2 versions? If so, how? It would be nice to let registered members of the 6 version be able to see how their memberships would look in 7, but I have a feeling that is not going to be an easy thing to do. And I know I am going to get some "Why would you do that" comments, but I think 7 is a much better application that people will want to join. To me, the difference between 6 and 7 is like Windows 3.1 and Mac OSX, and I want my users to know they will eventually be getting the best version.

Cory

Yes there is a better one which is NING, go to http://www.ning.com and create your own network, if you think about to remove the ads and promotional links and point your domain instead of "subdomain.ning.com" this will cost you about $55 a month, same price that you have to pay for a good dedicated hosting. Installing boonex on a just a normal/shared cheap hosting account is pointless, it will be too slow when you get few more users.

I like boonex, but I am very impressed by the ning's way of managing/editing your network...very clever.

I would like to hear other's opinion here....

You have to host with them, that is not what most are looking for, they want their own website.

Thanks. I am actually looking for more of an open source solution to  have more control over. Ning sounds like something tat lives on their servers and you can change certain aspects to customize the look. The thing I like about Dolphin is that I can always have someone create a new module or extension to suite my needs.

I really like Dolphin, and want to use, I just need a solution asap, and I am afraid that 7 Final could be a ways off.

Cory

My opinion and advice is that you wait til the D7 is released.

D7 will kick Ning's butt in the long run, D7 for starters is open source and that being said really speaks for itself. Anything in the source can be changed, customized and re-written.

But what Ning is; it's a solution package which can hardly be changed to make it unique so no matter what your network is gonna be just like the rest of them however Dolphin you can do the opposite with.

dpi, I know how you feel and I can understand your urge for the final release of D7 but I'll tell you that it's better to wait til Dolphin 7.

I think at least 50% of us all dream of having the instant MySpace clone, having an instant social networking site that has millions of features and all the rest. However we want it now and we're not willing to wait and this being said I'm sure if Boonex hasn't shown or released the beta's to the public you would still be happily using D6 because you may not realise it now but you ONLY want it because you don't have it. :)

And in a lot of ways I can relate to you, so don't feel like I'm picking on ya! Because I want it now toooo! :D

Yeah. I have always known Dolphin was the best solution (I started using it years ago for a site I did) But I always felt as if there was something missing, and I finally think v7 has solved that.

Honestly, I don't want a myspace or facebook clone, and I hope the Boonex team is thinking beyond trying to do what those two have already done. I just want a system that users will say "wow", and seperate itself from the other clones out there. I am not trying to create the next myspace or facebook, those have already been done. My sites main focus is not the social networking aspect, that is just a bonus of being a member. The main focus is so much more.

I am pretty sure what I will be doing is starting with 6, and then when 7 comes out it will make the site that much better.I just have to get this site going asap.

Cory

DPI, you can always make use of the Dolphin 6 everything will be updated to D7 so will certainly not lose anything. I'm in the same situation actually, I was decided to hold of developing modules and creating themes but there are some things that you can do to make sure that when you can launch D7 it will start of the best it can.

You can try to create a custom theme based of the D7 beta theme as I don't think the theme will change much from now on, try and create a good attractive theme. Maybe learn how D7 works?? Learn how to create modules and theme maybe scrap up on your knowledge of Php, html and css. :)

There's a million and one things you can do while you wait.

You can do what I'm doing at the moment, I'm posing screenshots of D7 just to tease my users and get them excited and I'm also working on the site and the server itself to find ways of making it run better and more efficient.

Doing things such as these, this will really put your community ahead of other D7 communities out there!

Sorry guy's, but you will NOT be able to upgrade from Dolphin 6.x.x to Dolphin 7 .

After reading the advise offered by EwfsPrince in this post, I posted a blog asking for a definitive answer as to whether there would be any upgrade path.

The following comes directly from UnoBoonex - a.k.a. the "Big Cheese" ~ ; )

"upgrade script" from D6 to D7 is nearly impossible and won't happen. We will provide "data migration" tools to make sure you can convert most of your site content/profiles. Upgrading manually, with DIFFs is also way to difficult to even imagine. D7 has different modules structure, different folders structure, different DB structure, etc, etc, etc.

So ... the good news is that you won't lose everything since profiles and some other data can be transfered.

The bad news is that you *will* likely lose any mods, customizations, and data that cannot be migrated to the new format.

It wouldn't be advisable to begin a site with Dolphin 6.1.x and believe it can be upgraded. It can't.

Sorry if this bursts any bubbles, but this is important information to know before installing any older versions. 

Oh thanks for clearing that up, I understood not everything could be converted I just know since my site isn't modified that everything should be smoothed sailing for me (Hopefully) I forgot to clarify about the mods not being able to convert.

This being said if you have skills in PHP you can probably be able to do slight code adjustments to get mods etc working again, would require some effort on your behalf but it's very possible. Includes for class files etc would need to be changed and so forth and maybe variables but it is possible. ;)

What does the timeline show though, is that for the percentage complete on the proper version or just another beta?? Im trying to launch a site at the minute and i have currently got a countdown till the website is released but do you think the final will be released in days, weeks or months because to me 92% seems very close. I just want to make sure im not telling people that its launching in days if its going to be weeks, Does anyone have a guesstimate of when it will be launched?? Even a vague idea would help.

Thank You
Kieran

That's for the beta 2 release, don't expect the real deal for months now.

That timeline yopu see in trac is useless.  I think it's based on the number of open ticket vs. the total number of tickets.

im with you lightwolf. i wouldnt expect a RC1 until December '09 earliest Feb '10 latest. if you are holding off on any development, there are those of us who perceive Dolphin-v.6.1.4 - 6.1.6 to be as stable of a release that dolphin has been since its conception. I personally have been using boonex products since 2002, going on 8 years now. I came across dolphin shortly after that, when it was named Dolphin.

The timeline as houston states is inaccurate on trac. i do not thing we are really able to know exactly a release date, but i am sure that Andrew, will before long, entertain us with a new teaser, or moreover, a patch release 6.1.7. folks you have to be in for the long haul when dealing with development. understanding the boonex team is a small group of professionals, and just like us they have to go home from the office and take care of their families.

might have ran off kilter here, but wasnt trying to.best wishes to all and God Speed to all who are part of this community.

Regards,

DosDawg

NING eh?

well NING is nowhere near what Dolphin is, nor will they ever be near what Dolphin is. If you are happy with the ning environment, good luck with it, however, you should really take inventory of what you can do with dolphin, and what you can do with NING.

NING server admins can and have shut down sites for no other reason that overusage of resources. the ability to mask the domain has just recently been introduced. NING abolished all adult content or adult oriented websites ~ 8 months ago. You dont own the site when you host with NING, you are on their servers, and they are in control. compare this to as you say paying $55.00/month for VPS, where you would own the site, have the only access to the site/server and you would be in control. Ning does not provide this same set of features. Im not here to bash on NING, they have their own gig going, and for what it is, and for those who it serves the purpose, they are being utilized, but NING does not hold a candle to boonex Dolphin.

Regards,

When The Gig is UP

December 09 at the earliest!  - I sure hope that isn't true, though I know it might be true.  In my opinion the 6.1.5 and 6.1.6 upgrades were a waste of time.  6.1.4, for all its faults, was well understood - they should have stuck to the development schedule for D7 rather than splitting their installed base into so many different versions - maybe issued security patches for 6.1.4 only.    Yes, there will probably be more "teasers" - but I hope they don't do a 6.1.7.

Caltrade,

i know thats just my supposition, based on observations. I have been testing D7, and from all that they have added that does not function, and the limited number of programmers they have on staff, i would think we are looking at this amount of time. i can only hope that i am wrong. i too look forward to this release.

Regards,

DosDawg

I was worried it would be that long. But with the speed Beta 2 and 3 have come out (fixing a lot over Beta1 from what I have seen) it would be nice to see a Final version sooner. I realize these things take time, and I am impressed with what the Boonex team has done.