"None" oversight corrected ...
The "What's new" and search features work differently, and give a lead-in to the content which is quite useful. I'll let you all test drive it nearer the time. The XF developers are also creating a proprietary search application for big boards (
millions of posts) that should offer almost instant addition of new posts so there won't be the current delays (
and server resource peaks) that we have with Sphinx updating itself every 15 mins/1 hour.
The layout is visually much simpler so the "look" might seem a little sparse at first in comparison with the current theme, but you quickly get used to it and the de-cluttering is actually quite refreshing. We'll have some previews to make sure we've got the key items covered, and I'll post some how-to videos for the key functions.
The "Friends" feature is different to - you "follow" someone instead. You then have a "news feed" which shows you what the people you follow are posting, and (I'll have to double-check) I think you can get notifications and status updates about them too.
Status updates in the homepage side-bar should be easy to replicate (although I think you'll need to visit someone's profile page to make a comment, so it will work a little differently).
The editor in the new software is simpler too but adding pictures to your posts is simplicity itself -
take a look at the video.
Block forums is a feature that currently isn't built-in to the new software, but has been requested and it may be added into the core on the next update due in a few weeks. If not, there are a couple of add-ons that should allow us to replicate it.
Cheers,
Shaun
