Back in October I wrote that I would have to shut down Elevenfour's Package server since I didn't have a sustainable solution for what to do in the future. Except for maybe doing something that's financially nonsensical.
Enter VieCode Shop
Turns out: I did exactly this and bought the VieCode Shop since that comes with a package server.
A few days after I published the article I saw a job listing at my employers internal job board. Long story short: I got the job and that means that I have a little more money available so that I can do things like buying the VieCode Shop every now and then. For obvious reasons (inflation, good sense) I won't do this, though.
As the statistics show some of you have already found out how to get the new server into their ACP. If you still have the old package server, please make sure to remove that first. After that just install the new version of the package server plugin which will at the URL to your package server list. If you need help, I've written an article on Elevenfour's Documentation.
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Current Status
Currently I've only uploaded all plugins and the styles that didn't have color variations and/ or style options. That is because of one of the disadvantages of VieCode's package server compared to the one by MysteryCode: In order to properly work every variation would have to be it's own product. And that means neverending work (for me).
From what I've seen other designers who use the VieCode Shop include every variation in one single plugin. Which would mean:
- You cannot chose which variation you would like to not install.
- Updates for the style wouldn't work as intended.
And I can see why you would do this. But that's not how I have done this in the past and from what I've read some people rather appreciate my approach to this. But in the end: It's personal preference - as it often is.
What's next
Over the next days/ weeks/ months I will change the Elevenfour support guideline. Support for older WoltLab Suite versions will drop faster in the future. The plan is to drop support for old versions two months after I've updated all plugins and styles to be compatible with the new WoltLab Suite version.
To give you an example, let's assume the new WoltLab Suite version (in our example let's call it WoltLab Suite 5.6) would be released on 2023-01-16 and I would have released compatibility updates for all plugins and styles from me on 2023-01-17. Then this would mean that on 2023-03-17 you would only get updates and support for the versions that are compatible with WoltLab Suite 5.6 and WoltLab Suite 5.5 would no longer be supported by me.
What happens to the styles that aren't available yet
Honestly, I really don't know. I have no idea how I would approach this in the future, yet.
And WoltLab Suite 6.0?
It's a little too early for my liking to talk about that but I think that some of my plugins and styles could be released for WoltLab Suite 6.0. But as I said it's too early. We'll see what the first beta brings. What I can tell you is that every style I've created is 100 % incompatible.
Please keep an eye out for future announcements. I might have forgotten some things or maybe I'd have better ideas in the future. For now: If you have been, thank you for reading.