Is This The End of 4Images ??

[Legendneo]

Hi

I have been using  4images from a long time and no doubt its one of the best available gallery scripts.
What I want to say is
1) From a long time there is no new version coming.
2) Mostly the mods are getting discussed again & again. No new mod that could make a major difference
3) 1.7 & 1.7.1 version don’t have much difference.

There was time when in few threads I saw the news of version 1.8 that was having few mods installed. What happen to that one??


Coppermine & Gallery the most powerful scripts have given there new versions and I am looking for the new version of 4images. It’s been more than a year there is not much coming from the DEVS.

At the moment, 4Images is the most inactive script among others.

I am just curious to know about the further development of this script.
Just few thoughts that I wanted to share.

[mawenzi]

At the moment, 4Images is the most inactive script among others.

... one post and then such opinion ... ?

No new mod that could make a major difference

... what MOD should make a major difference ... which you don't find here in the forum ... ?
... I think, if you want to have an important difference, then tune your script with MODs, templates and ... here from the forum ...
... and that is the great of 4images ...
... not any finished script that looks alike on each website ...

mawenzi

[edu]

Hi
At the moment, 4Images is the most inactive script among others.

I am just curious to know about the further development of this script.
Just few thoughts that I wanted to share.

You have reason, 4images 1.7 and 1.7.1 are the same thing.

This script has more than 3 years without any innovation . Yes, exist many mods, but I believe that it would be better to include them in a future version 2.0

I believe that Jan should inform a bit the users of the future of this great script.

Regards.

[mawenzi]

Yes, exist many mods, but I believe that it would be better to include them in a future version 2.0

... if you insert all MODs of the forum in your script, then it is still version 1.7/1.7.1 ... or call it then version 2.0 ... ?
... there was a version 1.8 of V@no ... but it was also only the version 1.7 with various MODs  ...
... I built into my version 1.7 over 100 MODs and own changes ... now I can call it ... version 1.9 ... ?
... MODs, templates, designs are not a question of the version number ...
... I think the change of the version number is a question of a fundamental script change ...
... now the question : what is to be changed fundamentally in the script ?

mawenzi

[Legendneo]

... one post and then such opinion ... ?

I have been using 4Images for more than one and half year. I just created this ID only to maike this post.

Why i would say 4Images as an inactive script? Let me just share few thoughts.

Coppermine introduces there new version 1.4.2 on 24th november and by that time there are around 3000 post in there forum for this release. (how many post users have made here during same time)

The new version of Menalto Gallery (G2) has brought the whole new makeover of the site and there has been around 60,000 post in their forum since G2 which is not that old.

This is what i call Active script. The no of users online at 4images and the other 2 scripts also tell the difference.

I just want to raise the issue here that 4images lack any new major update and the DEV should consider it. 4Images need some boast here to compete other scripts.

[V@no]

I understand you, Legendneo, and I agree with you but not intirely

Let me say what I think about it:

1) I have no idea how Coppermine development is going, so I wont argue on the comparation, but for me, 3000 posts in few month after releasing a new version could be:
- people showing their gratitude by saing "thank you" to the developers (less likely)
- people are complaing about the new problems/bugs, etc
so many posts on forum could not be used for "active script" definition
2) IMO having all the mods in one package does not make the software better then if you could add the packages you needed. One of the reasons for that is the perfomance. As you can imagine as more mods preinstalled as more perfomance lose it creates. And not everyone would need all the features in the first place.
3) In 4images case, no new version for long time is also means there are not so many bugs that would require update the version. And in PHP world new version means more headache for the site owners if they to upgrade the script, especialy if they did their own custom modifications.

[max.cady]

Hi legend,
I have tried coppermine and a few other galleries and I must say 4images is the best. What are you missing? You can implement all mods you need.

I think the rule should be "don't fix what ain't broken". Do you just need a new version number or is there anything you want to be changed? Or are you just too lazy to implement the mods by your own?

Personally I learned a lot by implementing the mods. Not only is the gallery great it also widened my php/html horizon due to the many options provided by the mods ... 

If you want a new version you need to say what you expect to be changed except the version number.

I am really not missing much with the present version. My suggestion for an improvement would be to switch the layout from pure tables to div's since this will be the future for layouts. But this is rather a layout thing and does not really affect the script.

[ch€ri{Bi}²]

Coppermine introduces there new version 1.4.2 on 24th november and by that time there are around 3000 post in there forum for this release. (how many post users have made here during same time)

The new version of Menalto Gallery (G2) has brought the whole new makeover of the site and there has been around 60,000 post in their forum since G2 which is not that old.

it seems you forgot something... happy people complain seldom !

IMO this kind of comparison (about the number of posts)  means 2 things :

• the users do not find in the script what they really wish
• the users do not find in the support center (  forum ) what they want

so if you use script in his initial version, it works very well for most of the users (even if sometimes we can find minor bugs...) .
I think the great force of 4images script precisely rests on its stability and its reliability...
thus I really do not see why it would be necessary to have new and others new versions if the very large majority of the users are satisfied of the current functionalities of script and the support brought by this forum.

Another thing : perhaps that you take this script for what it is not.
the user's needs are very different,  and 4images script cannot answer all the requests : that's why you can find many mods here...
BUT as you can read in the home page fo the script :

4images is a powerful web-based image gallery management system.

starting from this point, you can ask all that you want to 4images script, but the only thing guaranteed by the author is that it makes his initial job correctly : manage an image gallery.

if some users really want to have more features in their script, they can find here many mods to fully adapt the gallery to their own needs. then no mod can make the difference  because all the mods are optional 

I still search for the script which will make my coffee 

[Olphi]

I still search for the script which will make my coffee 

I'm also waiting....   

In my opinion it is simple, the version number is not the importent thing, it's the "up to date" thing.
In the web are lots of galleries, but if you look for a "all in one" solution, you are not the person who should design a website...   If you design e website, you can learn a lot and if you won't learn something, you have to pay for a "crack" and he do the whole job for you!
Finally I would say, the learning effect is an importent point of 4images and espacially the basement. You can implement the MOD's you need and not the other webspace filler things, which you never need!

Cheers from a Newbie   

[Legendneo]

I may not be able to epress myslef cleary. Giving comparidion b/w the scripts means that there are more users doing something activly in the forum.

@ cheribibi
I know exactly what 4images is. Thats the reason i m using it and i m VERY happy with this.
@ max.cady   & others

I am not complaining here that 4images is not bet or something. What i just want to say or ask is that, is there any new version is coming from the Devs ???
Or is that decidied that 4Images is in compleat form and the only possible addition towards the improvement of the script is Mods.
There is always a place for improvement. The DEV knows better. I am just curious to know.

[mantra]

At least we know we move to something,,,, but this it so slow..... to bad

[TheOracle]

I have read some of the threads in this topic and, if I may add, it is not quite the answers users should wonder about.

4images was first released as a basic photo-album on this site. Then, it has evolved gradually day-after-day. Then, more came in (generally speaking - no matter which sections on this forum).

Then, many more features were announced & published (and that includes 4images release version itself from the DEVs).

Meaning, the real questions to reflect on are the followings :

- Do we really need a new version release of 4images ?
- Do we require additional features as part of the core rather than using independant intergration of each MODs ?
- Will the current caching modulation handle all (or most of) the already published MODs on this forum (especially the quantity that has already been published) ?
- Will my users, on my site, wonder when the version number will change ?
- If there's a new version release involved, will it affect my templates and all the MODs I have intergrated already ?

There could be more questionnings involved but let's jump into the answers right away :

- No, we don't. Why ? Since 4images can already handle almost unlimited solutions from web programmers.
- Absolutely not. It will only slow up the script as the actual releases (and patching modifications) can already fit up into the current version (except for the exception of using mySQL 5 at the moment as I'm currently looking into that).
- Definitely not. It is good to admit that the current caching module is a pretty good one. Althought, if all these were intergrated as part of the core, it would really slow up the loadings.
- Some might, some might not. In a way, let's hope they don't. Why ? Well, it's simple. Some of them might even be using 4images and has just registered on your site for a specific reason. Meaning, this user will also know what "could" (not will but "could") happend if there's a new version of 4images involved since he could definitely read this thread as we speak.
- The official fact is here. Between 4images v1.7 and 4images v1.71, problems were discovered when 4images users tried to load their templates with 4images v1.71. In the end, all seemed to be corrected. Althought, one problem remains. Most of the published MODs are only meant (or has simply been programmed & tested) under 4images v1.7 release. Meaning, numerous users has recently reported that some of the MODs they've tried to intergrate were only working under 4images v1.7.

To conclude, if there was a new 4images version involved, what would be the next problems ?

- Will the MODs fully works under the new version ?
- Will all the patches I installed, from the Bug Fixes section of this forum, be intergrated / remained on the new version ? (Unlikely).

In the end, it would only result a fresh start of what has been already accomplished since the beginning.

So, I guess - the real question is : Would you be willing to make that sacrifice after what all users when through already in order to build their album ? And, if you were, how many would follow ? How many newbies looked forward to complete their site(s) for the first time ?

The latest 4images's version is currently v1.71 and should remained this way. It already gives us an opportunity to use it unlimitedly (or almost) and the way we, each, expected to own.

Since it's the case, we should take the advantage of what we currently have and go further rather than considering a new start. A great deal has been accomplished during the past few years (even if I was here for a whole year myself) and I must say that a huge difference were made since then.

Hopefully, you will all understand my personal point of vue.

Best regards & Merry Christmas to you all.

TheOracle.

[mawenzi]

very interesting statement ...
thanks and also for you a Merry Christmas

mawenzi

[TheOracle]

Thanks and a Merry Christmas to you, as well, mawenzi.

[max.cady]

How about implementing the MOD Batch copy/move/edit and the MOD Universal paging, i.e. replacing the current image.php and paging.php by the elaborated ones and call it 1.7.2?

Not that it would be really necessary but maybe this will make those users happy who expect a change in version numbers on a yearly basis (educated by microsoft & co.  )

Both mods are quite useful and some other mods require the new paging.php so it could be helpful if these changes would be standard?