Hi Garzarath

I have been playing with Zoo from YooTheme on a updated client Joomla 1.5 site (currently still in development) which I'm converting to J 1.7 and removing K2 from as I just can't wait any longer and don't have the time to hack and molest the code to make K2 work

With Zoo you can pay for 'app bundles' that add some functionality/layouts for example 'blogs' etc BUT like all powerful CCK or Joomla components it has a learning curve. 

The other alternative is seblod which I have dabbled with but found Zoo more my style... Like many people here I loved K2 but it just isn't keeping up with movement... I understood the original "We won't support J1.6 because J1.7 is out in a few months" comment from Fotis, however it has just gone on so long now that sounds like a painful excuse for "We got you hooked but we can't be bothered to support you because we have money to make on our other modules etc..."

 

Garzarath said:

Hi Chris,



What alternative to K2 are you using or going to use?



Thanks

Like Chris, I'm stuck with projects under development that will have to be finished under J1.7, and now we're moving all of our new clients to Zoo. They're cleanly coded and (relatively) easy to modify to suit specific client needs, but I also have to say Zoo support and documentation lacks a bit... it's much easier to find answers in the K2 forums.

 

In order to develop sites more complex than Joomla offers out of the box, I'm more than willing to pay a small licensing fee even if it's a largely community driven project – if for no other reason than to incentivize timely updates and maintenance schedules. I like the whole idea of open source development, but this is exactly the problem with the model... we, as developers, make decisions about which tools to standardize on, and we look bad when the tools don't keep up with the platform.

 

I'm not intending this as a rant, I just hate going to the client on an upgrade path and having to explain that half of the work we did will have to be un/redone because certain tools aren't keeping up. And like Chris, I'd probably have a slightly different reaction if the K2 leaders were regularly updating us with the status of the project...

I feel your pain Mick. That just happened to us. (See post from me on page 16.) Like many clients it takes forever to get anything done. When we first engaged the client, we praised K2 a lot and suggested we use it for their project since it was going to be under 1.5. The site was started, stopped, stalled and back in progress. Then the clients decided that before launch it would be better to convert to 1.7. They had been updating the site for a while and had 40-50 items in K2. Now what? Tell them K2 isn't keeping up after we spoke so highly of it? Tell them they now have to learn another system when they spent the past several months using and learning K2. Quite a mess. I opted to give the conversion a go using K2 2.5 and J1.7. It went OK for the most part, but of course I am nervous that issues will crop up and without regular updates to K2, I will be forced to solve all the problems myself. Seems to me like K2 might be better off letting its community update and maintain it. Anyway, from this point forward I am heeding the advice of Chris. I will vet my choices of software better and think about the long term (Zoo, Sebold) ................but I think everyone here expected more. Joomlaworks has been around for a while and up until this issue with K2 seemed like they were in it to win it. How can your component be voted best new extension and then you don't keep it up? Makes no sense. Health issues aside, the crew at Joomlaworks should at the very least be keeping its users in the loop.

Agreed

Dan Riefstahl said:
I feel your pain Mick. That just happened to us. (See post from me on page 16.) Like many clients it takes forever to get anything done. When we first engaged the client, we praised K2 a lot and suggested we use it for their project since it was going to be under 1.5. The site was started, stopped, stalled and back in progress. Then the clients decided that before launch it would be better to convert to 1.7. They had been updating the site for a while and had 40-50 items in K2. Now what? Tell them K2 isn't keeping up after we spoke so highly of it? Tell them they now have to learn another system when they spent the past several months using and learning K2. Quite a mess. I opted to give the conversion a go using K2 2.5 and J1.7. It went OK for the most part, but of course I am nervous that issues will crop up and without regular updates to K2, I will be forced to solve all the problems myself. Seems to me like K2 might be better off letting its community update and maintain it. Anyway, from this point forward I am heeding the advice of Chris. I will vet my choices of software better and think about the long term (Zoo, Sebold) ................but I think everyone here expected more. Joomlaworks has been around for a while and up until this issue with K2 seemed like they were in it to win it. How can your component be voted best new extension and then you don't keep it up? Makes no sense. Health issues aside, the crew at Joomlaworks should at the very least be keeping its users in the loop.

I have to say I am not surprised that the K2 team is non-existent in giving us an update. My experience with this team has proven time and time again that they act more like small children and are not responsible enough to have taken on this large of a project. Like Chris I am done with these childish games and will also be looking to the future where I only support developers that act mature enough to backup their code and not ignore the community that made them what they are. It will be a cold day in hell before I ever use a Joomla Works product again. Hmmm Joomla Works... That sounds like the crap that Microsoft put out "Microsoft Works" and both have proven that they DON'T work!

From Twitter @joomlaworks - Exciting next week for K2 as in… new K2 out & new getk2.org out! Woohoo!I really don't understand why the user base here has been ignored and kept in the dark. What was once an essential install for me has become something I'm desperate never to use again.For me a free K2 with paid add-ons would have made a decent business plan for Joomlaworks and something I would probably have bought into. Now I won't touch it with a barge pole.

Ya its truly good news for all K2 lovers, New version for K2 and new getk2.org coming soon! check out its pre-release info here : community.getk2.org/profiles/blogs/new-version-for-k2-and-new-getk2-org-coming-soon

A ton of thanks K2 team... waiting for the release date.

Well let's hope it really is a case of good things come to those that wait!