Joomla! 1.5 Beta-2 — The Developers' and Designers' Revolution!

[Ankabout]

If I were planning (which I am) to set up a website in the first week of August, what would your advice be, based on the following:

1. The website is going to be set up just so I have something on the domain name I bought. It will be some pictures, and basic information. VERY few people will visit it, but they will have the change to if they want. This is not a commercial site, and I will not depend on the stability of the site for anything.

2. Around November/December the site will start to get visitors, because it might become a bit more commercial, and I will start using the site for advertising of my activities. Until then it's just like an online information flyer. It will still not be a super important site, but it will get visitors that will visit for more than just "reading the flyer".


The questions is what version do I install? I am leaning towards installing the beta, and then using it for testing, thus also helping along the development of the final product. The standard answer however is to never install it on a live site.

Is there anyone that would shout at me to not even consider installing the beta version for this, or do you guys agree that it might be a better idea to jump the gun and install the beta?

[AmyStephen]

I am building two sites for a September go-live using Beta 2. Having said that, I also have programming assistance hired and ready to help me if I get into any trouble - I anticipate problems but, when problems come, I will not frantically be posting in the forums "Please! Help me! I'm LIVE!". I will pay a professional for help.

I simply cannot turn down those BEAUTIFUL SEF URLs and the MVC application architecture and the template overrides. I do not require very much additional functionality in terms of extensions and I have spent a great deal of time with v 1.5, and I love it.

BTW - Wilco *just* blogged good news on testing and thanks to PICnet for answering Wilco's call for help last month and providing development assistance (4 people) to the team.

So, as for me, I'm going for it!!! Thanks J! team! 
Amy

[Rogue4ngel]

Ah, a few brave souls to venture out to the bleeding edge.

I have a site for my HS alumni that has been in process for 3 years now, and just never quite gotten to the point of release.  I'm rejuvinating the project this year with Joomla.  It's been a long, drawn-out process, with a lot of work for no pay, and the code is old and worn.  A new Joomla face will do it some good.

I've got some php coding under my belt, and nothing like a little trial by fire to keep you on your toes (and get you intimately familar with the code).

It's not a vital work; perfect to get started with and see how things fly.

[pvh123]

Amy, Amy, you of all people who have been preaching not to build a production site with the beta (2 or not)

Be brave girl and I think you will manage. All the new stuff you are going to use is very exiting and I can understand the drive to do it.
I wish you lots of success and may be you should set up a thread of how you are going with the development. I would certainly be interested to follow that up and have comments if need be. Oh yes, also learn from it 

[AmyStephen]

Amy, Amy, you of all people who have been preaching not to build a production site with the beta (2 or not)

Be brave girl and I think you will manage. All the new stuff you are going to use is very exiting and I can understand the drive to do it.
I wish you lots of success and may be you should set up a thread of how you are going with the development. I would certainly be interested to follow that up and have comments if need be. Oh yes, also learn from it 

LOL!  I hate it when I get caught in my own trap! 

No - really, at this point, I don't preach against it. I say GO FOR IT - PROVIDED you are willing to take FULL RESPONSIBILITY. (To be on the safe side, it would be best to wait for release candidate, at minimum, of course.)

If you do go for it - the pressure is on you! I have taken precautions and I am willing to pay for professional developer help. My sites sit on an isolated server, I've got good infrastructure support. If there are problems, I will *not* blame the Joomla! project team. So, in reality, I'm not brave at all, I am actually chicken. I am mindful of the business risk, working to minimize impact, and willing to accept responsibility.

One site is nearly complete. I find Joomla! v 1.5 to be in very good shape. But, that's MY opinion, your experience and what you do with it may vary. RobInk will drive this baby to release candidate as soon as is humanly possible - the Q&T team has done an excellent job and the developers continue to submit fixes on a very regular basis. They are working and their efforts show.

@Rogue4ngel - you are also one who accepts responsibility for your choices and I think your example is *perfect* to give v 1.5 a go. If you need lots of extensions, you'll have more trouble, of course. But even then, you can find your way. We'll keep in touch!

Joomla! v 1.5 is getting very close,
Amy

[pvh123]

@Amy
I have done my share of testing so that makes J! 1.5 very much close to the heart.
My braveness at the moment lies in the conversion of 1.0 templates and anything involved. That is also interesting work and I am learning a lot.

Anyway, I would like to have a peek at the endprduct when it is out if the isolated area.

[Asphyx]

Do as I say....not as I do?

LOL

I will re-iterate it is probably not a good idea to use the beta on a live site.
If you are comfortable with using Joomla for a long time this might not be as big a problem as we make it out to be.

Newbies should simply not attempt this. If this is your first site with Joomla then stick with the stable for now. It's hard enough to get your head around doing things the Joomla way as a newbie to go around complicating the issue with potential bugs that may creep up in the beta.

I certainly wouldn't suggest anyone to go live with a site that was converted (upgraded) to 1.5 from 1.0X at this point. Better to wait until the stable is finished.

If you are simply going to park a domain using the beta then I suppose you will be ok. Just note that if there are any delays in making the stable that you have been warned not to use the beta as a live site and don't complain because you need a stable before it is actually ready.

I have found the beta to be quite stable but I hardly run the code through all it's paces on my test site.
And my live site is still using 1.0X and will continue to do so until the beta2 has turned to RC1 at minimum.

[AmyStephen]

Do as I say....not as I do?

No, do as you wish because it's a fantastic, free world. But, accept responsibility for your choices and don't hold anyone else accountable.

Waiting at least until RC 1 is wise. Waiting for the full release is wiser. Waiting a few months after going live is smart, too.

Whatever you want to do is fine. But, remember, in the end, it's your website and your responsibility.

HTH!
Amy

[pvh123]

Loads of wishdom going on in this thread , I like that 

[Rogue4ngel]

@Amy - I'm definitely looking forward to it.  Should be a fun ride... we can trade notes (you know, things that will make us cringe now, and laugh about later).

For myself, I want to get a jump start on things, and the site I'm working on gets very little traffic, yet enough so it will force me to make time for really getting my hands dirty.  First and foremost I need to design a template for it, so this will be some good experience.

It will be a good foundation for me, and give me some good experience to eventually help others do the same.

Geronimo!

[pe7er]

[MOD note: Offtopic post split to http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,189411.0.html ]

[feldon27]

That's ok and maybe you could also suggest something about security matters or that the 1.5 has a future... 1.0.x versions are at their last days... better support... and much more...

I am going to have a serious beef with Joomla if either of the following things stop in the next 18-24 months:
- 1.0.x support
- 1.0.x security releases

[Tonie]

The idea is to support 1.0.x for a year after 1.5 has been released.

[feldon27]

The idea is to support 1.0.x for a year after 1.5 has been released.

Very good to hear. Given my internal estimates (guesses?) about when Joomla 1.5 will hit, that lines up with my 18-24 months.

I would hope that if a security vulnerability is found in the 1.0.xx series and an easy fix is possible, that a patch will be made available, maybe in the form of an Add-on. vBulletin is now releasing security patches this way. They release an XML file.

I know my recent posts have probably been rather negative but I have a huge need for a mature Joomla to build websites on.

[Tonie]

Joomla 1.0.x is currently in maintenance mode. This means that only really big bugs and security fixes will be available in the future. There will definitely be a 1.0.13 though, the changelog.php in SVN has the current changes in it.

[admin365]

Thank you.！

[The One]

Can't wait for 1.5 final!

[.Joel]

It's a revolution alright, everyone is leaving!!!

Regards,

.Joel

[pvh123]

It's a revolution alright, everyone is leaving!!!

Care to elaborate on that?  For instance: who is "everyone" . And leaving what or who?

[JoeJoomla]

I'm still here... 

[infograf768]

Let's hope he/she does not elaborate... ROTFLOL