On the perceived "lack of progress"

General Discussion
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I know there is a feeling with some people that because CP is not pushing regular updates to the CMS then the project has stalled. Maybe it’s even dead.

I just want to point out that “project” is a very broad term that covers a lot more than just core file updates. In fact the progress over the last year has been astounding for such a small group.

For example, we now have our own stable e-commerce platform (Classic Commerce), along with a CC website that has full documentation and 95 snippet examples. We also have an excellent stable SEO plugin (Classic SEO). Our members are regularly releasing more CP-specific plugins, and we have started to see CP themes being offered.

There are other plugins in the pipeline as “official” CP plugins (there was recent mention of forking CF7). And we now have an alpha version of a plugin directory that will make all these readily available.

These are not insignificant jobs. And, in my opinion, they are far more important to the long-term success of the project than introducing small changes to core to give the appearance of progress.

But, of course, if any users want to see a constant stream of core updates then WP might be a better fit. You will get so many changes it becomes a full-time job just keeping up with them. :grin:

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Great points.

I’d also like to add that actually taking part in a meaningful way is a great way to keep up with developments and progress.

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One thing I do not understand is how contradicting people can be.

On one side they want stability and on the other they expect bleeding-edge release cycles.

They don’t understand how exhausting it can be to chase bugs in core files in case you decide to go the manual route and get your hands dirty by reading file after file.

Personally I adore the sense of stability, robustness, and security ClassicPress offers me, let alone the feeling of knowing I can supply a patch and see it approved in a short period of time, assuming it meets the necessary criteria the dev team has set and would benefit the entire community by getting updated in frequent time spans.

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I think, that the one of the events, triggered uncertainty was WP security update to the 4.9.16, when CP didn’t released correspondingly (correct me, if I missed an update). If there wasn’t any fixes to port, the short announcement “CP is not affected to any bugs, fixed in the WP 4.9.16” can answer a lot of questions.

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I think there were updates to make, but it hasn’t been done.

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There are some very valid points being made here. As @stefanos82 says, CP is all about “stability, robustness, and security” - and also familiarity.

Core development and ecosystem development go hand-in-hand. One needs the other and that seems to be a concept that has escaped the folks over at WP. As @ozfiddler rightly points out, some great progress has been made in the plugin development area. And yes, there are firms plans to fork CF7 to become “Classic Form”.

One area I’m less happy about is themes and one of the goals I’d like to see for 2021 (which I will add here 2021 Goals/Projects - #2 by james when I’ve had more chance to think about it) is the development of a CP-specific theme that ships with the core (a CP version of Twenty Twenty-One if you like….only, much better). If anyone is interested in taking this on, please get in touch with @james or me.

The last point I would add is that it should always be remembered that CP is run entirely by volunteers, most (if not all) of whom also have busy day jobs.

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I could not have said it better myself :100:

Cheers @1stepforward :+1:

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What about a little automation with showing work being done on CP in GitHub on the homepage? Not many people will dig around to see if there’s any progress, so we can make it easier for them to see. Displaying a list of the latest commits from the GitHub repo would show real progress being made.

Something like this:

image
image1408×976 128 KB

Here’s the script’s repo:

Less work for everyone, once it’s set up.

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Which home page? If it’s the ClassicPress home page, I think no one will see it. And if they do, it’s not very readable or flattering. If it’s the GitHub project page, I’m all for that, but even fewer people will see it.
People perceive lack of progress, because that is reality. This year has been difficult, and not much happened in this project. That other stuff about plugins is external. We need more contributors, period.

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I like this, we can maybe find a way to fit it into the design :+1:

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I like it too. Especially if it can also show ClassicPress Plugins · GitHub and ClassicPress Research · GitHub

As I pointed out above, people who think “not much happened in this project” are not looking at the big picture.

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That is complete nonsense Joy. To dismiss all the work that’s been done on plugin development - and in other areas of the project - over the past 12 months as “other stuff” and “external” is, quite frankly, incredibly contemptuous and ignorant.

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Thanks for the name calling, for simply pointing out that the ClassicPress software itself did not have very many changes to it this year, and that is what people are looking at.
That “other stuff” doesn’t affect all users (none of it affects me or my clients, for instance).
I have a watch set on the CP GitHub, and I see the github-alerts channel in Slack, and there is nothing going on there, so I am not ignorant. As for contemptuous, I didn’t show any contempt for the “other stuff”, but it simply isn’t part of ClassicPress.

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I rest my case.

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We seem to have gone off track again, let’s focus on our goals for 2021 and how we can continue to showcase our progress going forward. In the new year we will have a kickoff meeting to discuss everything :slightly_smiling_face:

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