In Reply To:
I gave a lot of thought about using the stable Links SQL but it will have to be modified some and I don't want to take the time for me and the other people that will be working on the site to learn a product and modify it only to have to learn a new product and re-modify it.
Ok, I _REALLY_ need to clarify things here.
1) Back in June, I thought a new release was immenent, so I strongly suggested that people who had to make extensive modifications do so with 'caution' pending the new release.
2) Due to the long delays, I've changed that, to where setting up a site, getting the templates working, the look and feel, and doing mods to the basic .cgi files will not be "wasting" time.
3) What _would_ be something that has to be extensively redone in a new version, is the Users/permissions system, anything that made extensive use of the category build/stats system, and anything that was going to add in features similar to the new features coming, like the banners or integrated ratings/review. -- The reason is, that to strke off on your own, would mean most-likely incompatible code, re-inventing the wheel, and more difficulty upgrading to the new code than a "standard" site would have. Then, you'd (whomever) would be griping about "incompatibility" "importing data" etc. Things that are _not_ GT's fault, or responsibility at all.
4) I also said that programs that used the _DATABASE_ and hooked into the standard library routines would be un affected. What that means, is if you built a program like a newsletter, that added a few fields to the user database, made a few changes to the mailer program, and ran from a link in the admin (or was a callable subroutine from inside another module) would probably _STILL_ run after the next release! Why? Links SQL _DOESN'T_CARE_ about what a link record looks like, as long as the _required_ fields are there (ID, email, url, etc) so it can use them. If you have 200 extra fields, 35 extra tables, and 92 indexes, Links SQL will not care one iota!
So, rather than gripe, you _COULD_ be installing the 1.11 version, LEARNING the perl, SQL, and interactions of the database, designing your templates (the HARDEST PART of any site), and getting ready for an upgrade.
If you can't wait, then I'm sure Alex would agree with me -- PLEASE go look somewhere else. Install another, competing product, if you feel it will get you up and running now, _THEN_ 6 months down the road, come on back here, and drool over what you gave up, and the problems you have with each new upgrade, release, feature, hack, of the other programs.
While I might be putting Alex on the spot, there has been plenty of feedback from coders, designers and others on this forum (and in private email) about features, logic changes, code fixes, design suggestions, and more that are incorporated into the new links, to make upgrades, additions, mods, plugins, and anything you want to do -- easier.
By porting the logic of _all_ their programs into one central engine, and one unified inteface, the FRONT END start up time is lengthened, but the back end maintennance and upgrades are much, much shortened -- and easier!
If I had gone with one of the other products I'd be locked into a system that was not expandable, and one in which _I_ was the developer, designer, maintainer -- and that doesn't mean _job_security_ it means sluggish development, small problems becoming disasters, and no vacations for the next 20 years. Not a happy thought.
By going with a program that was in it's _FIRST_ 1.0 release, modular, cleanly designed, and obviously geared to maintainability and flexibility, I've ensured growth -- and retirement -- both.
You will not find a more involved, dedicated, and helpful user community, nor will you find over all a group of people who know as much about the program workings and perl/sql in one place. It's not any _ONE_ person, but a group effort -- a collective intelligence.
All that said, as soon as I get my hands on some beta code, I will have have a site up and running as well as possible. My server is not set up for "secure" access by anyone but me, so I probably won't be able to create a demo of all the features, but what can be exposed will, and I wll certainly comment on the code, and where changes will be -- and most importantly -- how to make new code that is compatible with the 1.11 version, and upgradeable to the next version. (Or, backwards compatible from the new version to 1.11 how ever you want to look at it.)
By posting weekly snapshots, GT has now involved the user community, and the feedback will help the program grow WITH us, not through us.
And to clarify -- everyone has said this is a _NEW_ product. It will not simply drop over the old version -- no matter how much time GT spends trying to make it do that. We all have too many mods on our sites. Even the changes to the database and categories will probably require _some_ downtime to implement (although I'd be pleasantly surprised if the new version created new tables out of the old data, or altered the old tables, and slipped right in....)
What _WILL_ happen, is you can set up the new program along side the old, get it working, set up all your new features, then late one night do a re-import of all your 1.11 data, rename a few subdirectories and you'll be live with the new site.
Painless? Probably not .... but We have all chosen GT programs in the past for a reason. With the new knowledge, the freedom to use DBI/SQL and some of the neat things they've learned over the past year, there is no reason to expect to be anything but totally impressed.
Are we all frustrated? Yes. But the Web is a new thing. I've always been hoping to have some code up and running by the end of September -- to catch the holiday traffic.
But, if your business depends on "timing" and you can really say you can chose a lesser product just to "time" your site, then you probably don't have an idea with the staying power necessary to survive in the new .COM world. If 1 or 2 months means "death" then you need to investigate your business plan more carefully.
I would have loved the code in June, a new release every month, and a stable, working suite of programs in place by September. But, my business will not live or die on a few months one way or the other -- if it did, I'd be in trouble all my life -- essentially living pay check to pay check, always at the whim of some "glitch" in the software, the net or the economy. No thanks!
Give me stable, long term, well thought out ANY DAY over the quick fix.
=~~ flame off.
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http://www.postcards.com/FAQ/LinkSQL/