General I have noticed

[Jane]

Xenforo seems to be very popular. I did try a demo..I found the ACP confusing..and the same with Invision. Why do things have to be so complicated?

 

[Reverie]

Xenforo seems to be very popular. I did try a demo..I found the ACP confusing..and the same with Invision. Why do things have to be so complicated?

Xenforo can be a bit complicated compared to other ACP's, it really is about clicking the right thing. We were wanting to do more of a walk through of the ACP, but I just haven't had the time to do it myself yet. Invision back in the day wasn't bad, but unsure if it has changed and I haven't seen it lately.

Perhaps the developers don't realize that it is complicated.

 

[Al]

RTFM? https://xenforo.com/docs/xf2/

 

[Reverie]

RTFM? https://xenforo.com/docs/xf2/

I mean like a more simplified guide even. Topics here at Admin Junkies that users can go back and use and maybe be walked through more in a step by step manner.

 

[Al]

That would be really useful. But for anyone not knowing where to start the manual is as good a place as any.

And of course, if you’re looking for volunteers to assist in writing a xenForo how to guide, don’t look at me. 👀

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

With Invision, there is a TON of optional features and customizability. There was a learning curve at first but now I know it like the back of my hand

 

[Calamity]

Yeah I always found incision a little easier to navigate. A google search that pints to the Xenforo forum usually solves all my Xenforo questions. Only issues I’ve had is getting support customizing some features in the media gallery. Clickable stars that lead to the rating page, stars displaying on the thumbnail overall, and adjusting the default sort all seems to be uncommon requests.

 

[Arantor]

The main reason it’s more complex than, say, Jcink, is because it simply does more. There’s also some “getting used to it” factor - anything you’re familiar with will be easier than something you’re not.

 

[Cedric]

And don’t forget! We’re here if you run into trouble. 😄

 

[Darth Cognus]

The curse of having so many options in a graphical interface. It's a tall order to present anything like a xenforo scale control panel in a way that's coherent after you learn it, let alone it being intuitive at first sight. Perhaps there is room to grow but after crawling out of a moldy vbulletin hole in the past I found xenforo to be particularly refreshing. I'd chalk it down to learning curve here.

 

[AjayJunkies]

Yeah I do find the XenForo ACP a little annoying because templates, navigation, widgets, styles. I dont know I feel like I'm hopping all over the place and it should be more centralized in one location. Like why is there a place to edit the top navigation but if I want to edit the footer navigation I have to go edit a template code in page container? Its a bit messy.

 

[Cedric]

You get used to it though. I've been daily in the ACP of XenForo for the last year, and there's little I don't know. And there's always a search bar for easy navigating. I had troubles understanding how the permissions work in XenForo. Coming from Invision Community where those are much much more simpler. The XF's permission system is very powerful if you know how to use them. And I think it took me 10 months to get used to them, lol.

 

[AjayJunkies]

Yeah it's usable. search templates just solves all the problems pretty much

 

[Arantor]

Yeah I do find the XenForo ACP a little annoying because templates, navigation, widgets, styles. I dont know I feel like I'm hopping all over the place and it should be more centralized in one location. Like why is there a place to edit the top navigation but if I want to edit the footer navigation I have to go edit a template code in page container? Its a bit messy.

Answer: because the top nav is something people hit often and you’ll want to easily customise it as things evolve but the footer inevitably changes so rarely it wasn’t even worth building a good UI for it (and everyone wants something different anyway)

 

[Aussie]

You do get used to it but it can be over whelming to begin with, especially when you start looking at user groups and permissions in xenforo it can get super confusing for someone that hasn't dealt with that stuff before.

I have spent countless hours of trial and error, or reading up on the xenforo forums on how to do things...

 

[Tracy]

The XF's permission system is very powerful if you know how to use them. And I think it took me 10 months to get used to them, lol.

For most new users of XF.. this is the biggest issue. They try to force the user groups into what they are used to on their old system (standalone groups) and have great difficulty grasping the "stackable" use of groups in XF. That was one of my most frustrating parts of dealing with IPS. After I had gotten used to the flexibility of how XF did permissions, I felt REALLY limited by IPS.
With XF, you start with a base group of minimal permissions... then you add to that (based upon different groups) for what you want your users to have. And then you start stacking 'programatic promotions" on top of that and it's really easy to get confused.

 

[Cedric]

For most new users of XF.. this is the biggest issue. They try to force the user groups into what they are used to on their old system (standalone groups) and have great difficulty grasping the "stackable" use of groups in XF. That was one of my most frustrating parts of dealing with IPS. After I had gotten used to the flexibility of how XF did permissions, I felt REALLY limited by IPS.
With XF, you start with a base group of minimal permissions... then you add to that (based upon different groups) for what you want your users to have. And then you start stacking 'programatic promotions" on top of that and it's really easy to get confused.

Yep. It’s one of the advantages (one of the very few, lol). @Millie did a lot of work to the permissions and I kept breaking it until I finally figured it out. 🤣 Thought she was gonna fire me at some point. 🫢

 

[Empire]

I say the easiest ACP is from Invision, not saying that I'm used to it by any means with even years of looking at the system But its layout and setup are simple and right to the point, I never really had XF so no idea what ACP looks like ;P

But I don't stop there if it's going to be a nutshell OHhhhhhhhhhh I be having fun and break things

 

[Jane]

You get used to it though. I've been daily in the ACP of XenForo for the last year, and there's little I don't know. And there's always a search bar for easy navigating. I had troubles understanding how the permissions work in XenForo. Coming from Invision Community where those are much much more simpler. The XF's permission system is very powerful if you know how to use them. And I think it took me 10 months to get used to them, lol.

Ever tried phpBB? the permissions! gahhhh.🤬🤬🤬

 

[Cedric]

Ever tried phpBB? the permissions! gahhhh.🤬🤬🤬

Ah yes. From what I remember, it didn’t make much sense. But admittedly, it’s been a decade since I last used phpBB.