IPS announces public v5 alpha. Anyone can register.

[joelr]

https://invisioncommunity.com/forums/topic/479299-alpha-preview-site-now-open/

For those of you who cannot access the topic, the link to the public alpha is here:
https://preview.invisionalpha5.com/

Some notable changes:
- Dark mode
- Much faster page loading
- Helpful and community experts in forums

 

[Matt M]

I came here to share the link and was beaten again.

Thanks for sharing, Joel!

 

[Smokey]

Looks really neat. Great work @Matt M !

 

[Tracy]

So far it's really nice looking. And it seems to be a LOT snappier than the older version from my quick playing around with it.

 

[joelr]

By the way, be sure to flip to the other theme, which features:
- Sidebar menu
- Compact replies
- Features first post

 

[Tracy]

Have already made one suggestion over there that I noticed during the sign up.
I honestly may have to go ahead and grab a copy of v5 when it comes out, even realizing that it will probably be the last that I can use.
So far, what little I've played with it, I'm liking it.

 

[Ryan Ashbrook]

So far it's really nice looking. And it seems to be a LOT snappier than the older version from my quick playing around with it.

A lot of optimizations were made that we wanted to do, but couldn't until now.

 

[Matt M]

A quick look at the Page Editor (blog coming next week)

https://preview.invisionalpha5.com/...at-the-page-editor-changes/?&do=getNewComment

 

[Ravenfreak]

This looks absolutely amazing, honestly I have to say it's miles better than Xenforo! Good work to all involved!

 

[Daniel-Monetize.info]

This looks absolutely amazing, honestly I have to say it's miles better than Xenforo! Good work to all involved!

Can you please elaborate it why you find it miles better than xenforo? To clarify, I'm an IPS user for like 15 years already yet I still like xenforo for its usability.

 

[Tracy]

Can you please elaborate it why you find it miles better than xenforo? To clarify, I'm an IPS user for like 15 years already yet I still like xenforo for its usability.

One sentence of 3 words for pages/articles type use.
Drag and drop.
No need to manually edit a template and figure out how to position your widgets or items.
If you watch that video you can see how much easier it is to do a page instead of having to do something like this after you create a forum node.

<xf:h1 hidden="true" />
<xf:css>
.bookmarkLink.button {
    display: none;
}
</xf:css>
<xf:widget key="portal_xfmg_images" />
<xf:widget key="ams_latest_articles_portal" />
<xf:widget key="portal_latest_threads" />
<xf:widget key="portal_latest_reviews" />
<xf:widget key="portal_latest_classifeds" />
<xf:widget key="portal_social_group_latest_threads" />
<xf:widget key="portal_social_groups_events" />


<xf:if is="!$xf.visitor.user_id">
<xf:sidebar><xf:widget key="portal_visitor_panel" /></xf:sidebar>
</xf:if>
<xf:sidebar><xf:widget key="portal_latest_posts" /></xf:sidebar>
<xf:sidebar><xf:widget key="portal_latest_resources" /></xf:sidebar>
<xf:sidebar><xf:widget key="portal_featured_links" /></xf:sidebar>
<xf:sidebar><xf:widget key="portal_group_events" /></xf:sidebar>
<xf:sidebar><xf:widget key="forum_overview_members_online" /></xf:sidebar>
<xf:sidebar><xf:widget key="member_wrapper_newest_members" /></xf:sidebar>

<xf:css>
.p-breadcrumbs {
display:none
}</xf:css>

 

[Cedric]

I can appreciate the drag and drop. This is what’s essential for us as builders.

Would however be really innovative if the end user/member could use the drag and drop feature to customize their experience, regardless how the admin sets it default.

 

[Tracy]

Would however be really innovative if the end user/member could use the drag and drop feature to customize their experience, regardless how the admin sets it default.

One step at a time. The ability is there in core (look Ma, no add-ons required). It just now presents itself how to implement it for users so that it doesn't totally trash out a theme/style.

 

[joelr]

I can appreciate the drag and drop. This is what’s essential for us as builders.

Would however be really innovative if the end user/member could use the drag and drop feature to customize their experience, regardless how the admin sets it default.

So, one thing that I've been thinking about is creating customized experiences for different user journeys. Users who return a lot and are major content creators need different tools and views than casual visitos or even new users.

Most IPS widgets do have at least a member group permission, so you can create customized experiences.

Even though on the surface your ask sounds good (give all the power to users!), the reality is that the majority of users won't customize anything. We like it, becsuse we are power users (and literally configure forums), but most users are not us. We need to provide our users with the right experience at the right time. It's more important than we aim to satisfy the first 95% rather than the last 5%, which by itself would be a massive lift.

 

[Smokey]

I'm liking what i'm seeing from ICS5 but sadly I don't have a project to utilize it on so it would be a waste to renew my license to get my hands on it.

 

[Matt M]

So, one thing that I've been thinking about is creating customized experiences for different user journeys. Users who return a lot and are major content creators need different tools and views than casual visitos or even new users.

Most IPS widgets do have at least a member group permission, so you can create customized experiences.

Even though on the surface your ask sounds good (give all the power to users!), the reality is that the majority of users won't customize anything. We like it, becsuse we are power users (and literally configure forums), but most users are not us. We need to provide our users with the right experience at the right time. It's more important than we aim to satisfy the first 95% rather than the last 5%, which by itself would be a massive lift.

Completely agree. Personally, I see no need for user configuration on those things. People just won't bother with it. It's hard enough to get people to visit, let alone spend a while moving blocks around. It's the same with themes that allow people to change the colours and images. You can do this with your phone because you spend hours on it daily, this is not true with forums.

Focus on building views based on your site needs and user journey and reduce the mental load of your members by making them create dashboards, etc.

 

[Tracy]

Is the site down now? Went to check it out and got a notice that the community was not available.

 

[Matt M]

It's baaaaaack.