XenForo
 | |
| Developer(s) | XenForo Limited, Kier Darby, Mike Sullivan |
|---|---|
| Initial release | March 8, 2011 |
| Stable release | 1.3.1
|
| Written in | PHP |
| Operating system | Cross Platform |
| Platform | PHP / MySQL |
| Available in | Official support for English |
| Type | Forum software |
| License | Proprietary, commercial |
| Website | http://xenforo.com/ |
XenForo is a commercial Internet forum software package written in the PHP programming language using the Zend Framework. The software is developed by former vBulletin lead developers Kier Darby and Mike Sullivan. The first public beta release of XenForo was released in October 2010. XenForo 1.0.0 Stable was released on March 8, 2011.[1] XenForo has several SEO features built in. Its popularity is growing, according to feedback from various community forums and weblogs.[2]
Development
One of the developers of XenForo, Kier Darby originally served as a lead developer for the community platform vBulletin. The original owner of the software, Jelsoft, was acquired by the American new media company Internet Brands in 2007. Disagreements occurred between the lead developers and the new management over matters involving the next major release of vBulletin, version 4.0. While the team wished to make 4.0 a complete rewrite of the platform, Internet Brands insisted on using agile development atop the existing code instead. These internal conflicts resulted in most of the vBulletin developers stepping down from employment at Internet Brands in 2009. As part of a new team, Darby and other former vBulletin developers began work on a new platform known as XenForo.[3][4]
Internet Brands lawsuits
One day before the originally scheduled release for the first public beta of XenForo in October 2010, Internet Brands announced that it would file a lawsuit against the XenForo team in the UK, claiming; copyright infringement of property acquired by Internet Brands, that code in XenForo was refactored from vBulletin code, breach of contract, and engaging in unfair business practices.[4] Representatives also claimed that XenForo "unfairly stands on the shoulders of more than a decade of development", development which had become the property of Internet Brands through the acquisition. In November 2010, Internet Brands sued XenForo and Darby in California District Court in the United States, additionally claiming that Darby had not returned confidential information from Internet Brands regarding the vBulletin software, though failing to provide evidence to back this claim. The XenForo team has denied the claims made by Internet Brands in these lawsuits. Internet Brands also denied that the timing of the lawsuit was to coincide with the first public beta of the software.[5]
On February 7, 2011, Judge Manuel Real denied all three motions by XenForo and its developer Kier Darby, to dismiss the case on grounds of forum non conveniens, non-subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction in California arguing that the California lawsuit is duplicative of the UK action. On April 4, 2011, Judge Manuel Real granted a motion by XenForo to dismiss the 7th and 8th claims of the litigation which dealt with alleged violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and California Penal Code § 502[6]
On October 17, 2011, the plaintiff Internet Brands amended their complaint to alter several new allegations based on newly discovered information, and further added new individual defendants to the case, including developer Mike Sullivan and Business Manager Ashley Busby. The defendants' motion to dismiss this amended complaint was denied by the judge.
On January 4, 2012, Judge Manuel Real granted in part and denied in part the defendant's motion to dismiss claims in the amended complaint. The following claims were dismissed: "Violations of California Business and Professional Code", "Conspiracy" and "Violation with regards to RICO". All other claims, including "Violation of CFAA", which was initially denied by the same judge earlier in 2011, remain standing.
On March 26, 2012, the plaintiff cited their intention to issue a third amended complaint to alter claims against developer Mike Sullivan.
Settlement
On February 28, 2013, XenForo announced that the lawsuit had been settled between the parties in both the UK and the US. Although specific terms of the agreement are unclear due to its confidential nature, Internet Brands withdrew both the US and UK lawsuits.[7] As a "Thank you" to customers who patiently awaited the result of the lawsuit, XenForo announced that all license holders with a valid license from June 19, 2012 would receive an additional 255 days of support and download access.[8]
Release history
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Red | Pre-release beta versions |
| Green | Supported stable branch |
| Blue | Future versions |
| Version | Release date | Notable changes |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0 beta 1 [1] | October 5, 2010 | Initial pre-release |
| 1.0.0 beta 2 [2] | October 21, 2010 | |
| 1.0.0 beta 3 [3] | November 11, 2010 | |
| 1.0.0 beta 4 [4] | December 3, 2010 | |
| 1.0.0 beta 5 [5] | December 10, 2010 | |
| 1.0.0 beta 6 [6] | January 13, 2011 | |
| 1.0.0 beta RC1 [7] | January 20, 2011 | |
| 1.0.0 beta RC2 [8] | February 3, 2011 | |
| 1.0.0 beta RC3 [9] | February 22, 2011 | |
| 1.0.0 [10] | March 8, 2011 | 'Gold' release |
| 1.0.1 [11] | April 5, 2011 | |
| 1.0.2 [12] | May 25, 2011 | |
| 1.0.3 [13] | July 5, 2011 | |
| 1.0.4 [14] | July 12, 2011 | |
| 1.1.0 Beta 1 [15] | October 5, 2011 | |
| 1.1.0 Beta 2 [16] | October 7, 2011 | |
| 1.1.0 Beta 3 [17] | October 19, 2011 | |
| 1.1.0 Beta 4 [18] | October 27, 2011 | |
| 1.1.0 Beta 5 [19] | November 9, 2011 | |
| 1.1.0 Beta RC1 [20] | November 15, 2011 | |
| 1.1.0 [21] | November 22, 2011 | Topic prefixes, RTL, etc. |
| 1.1.1 [22] | December 13, 2011 | Minor bug fixes |
| 1.1.2 [23] | February 7, 2012 | Minor bug fixes |
| 1.1.3 [24] | June 19, 2012 | Minor bug fixes |
| 1.1.4 [25] | March 26, 2013 | Improved anti-spam functions, bug fixes |
| 1.1.5 [26] | May 21, 2013 | Minor bug fixes |
| 1.2.0 Beta 1 [27] | June 19, 2013 | First 1.2.0 Beta |
| 1.2.0 Beta 2 [28] | June 25, 2013 | Minor fixes |
| 1.2.0 Beta 3 [29] | June 25, 2013 | Phases fixed |
| 1.2.0 Beta 4 [30] | July 2, 2013 | fixing bugs, conflicts, and usability issues |
| 1.2.0 Beta 5 [31] | July 9, 2013 | fixing bugs, conflicts, and usability issues |
| 1.2.0 RC1 [32] | July 16, 2013 | Most bugs eliminated |
| 1.2.0 RC2 [33] | July 23, 2013 | This release addresses small bugs |
| 1.2.0 [34] | July 30, 2013 | Template Modification System,[9] Route Filters (Route Changing),[10] Post Edit History and Logging[11] |
| 1.2.1 [35] | August 20, 2013 | Minor fixes |
| 1.2.2 [36] | September 24, 2013 | Minor fixes |
| 1.2.3 [37] | November 5, 2013 | Minor fixes |
| 1.2.4 [38] | December 17, 2013 | Minor fixes |
| 1.2.5 [39] | February 12, 2014 | Minor fixes |
| 1.3.0 Beta 1 [40] | January 28, 2014 | First 1.3.0 Beta |
| 1.3.0 Beta 2 [41] | February 5, 2014 | Minor fixes |
| 1.3.0 Beta 3 [42] | February 12, 2014 | Minor fixes |
| 1.3.0 Beta 4 [43] | February 18, 2014 | Minor fixes |
| 1.3.0 RC1 [44] | February 25, 2014 | Most bugs eliminated |
| 1.3.0 RC2 [45] | March 4, 2014 | This release addresses small bugs |
| 1.3.0 [46] | March 11, 2014 | Custom BB codes, Google+/Twitter registration, user change logging, multi-quote, etc. |
| 1.3.1 [47] | April 8, 2014 | Minor fixes |
References
- ^ "Nearly There..." xenForo. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
- ^ Feedback from Xenforo blog
- ^ Metz, Cade. "vBulletin denies busting downloads in paid-up protester ban". The Register. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- ^ a b Metz, Cade. "vBulletin sues ex-devs over 'from scratch' competitor". The Register. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- ^ Metz, Cade. "Forumware giant vBulletin sues ex-devs (again)". The Register. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- ^ "A Statement Regarding the Current Litigation". XenForo. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
- ^ "Grace+Grace LLP Celebrates Dismissal of Internet Brands Litigations". Grace+Grace LLP. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
- ^ Darby, Kier. "Lawsuit Over...Next!". XenForo. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
- ^ "Template Modifications and Comparison". xenForo. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
- ^ "Route Filters". xenForo. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
- ^ "Post Edit History and Logging". xenForo. Retrieved April 11, 2013.