Version 7.4

Version 7.4.0 was posted today. As you can see from the changes page, this version contains more security improvements for those running SSL/TLS, as well as several performance improvements.

Version 7.3.1. SSLv3 Fix.

Version 7.3.1 has been released; the most significant change is that the secure sockets code now defaults to TLS 1.0 rather than SSLv3. With the recent POODLE exploit, many browsers have begun removing support for SSLv3, and so if you're running your server encrypted, you'll want to update.

This version also incorporates the licensing changes discussed in the previous post. Essentially, if you had a license key valid for releases up to 2013 or later, you can use this version. If you've got an older license key, please contact us about upgrading.

Also, if you don't want to upgrade from an older version but still want to be able to use encrypted connections, you can think about proxying ProjectForum behind another web server.

Update and Support Policy

Effective immediately, the annual fees for software updates and support are being discontinued.

ProjectForum development has slowed significantly in recent years, and I don't expect that to drastically change over at least the next year.

This does not mean that ProjectForum will suddenly stop working, the software is being abandoned, that there will not be any more updates, or that you will not be able to get help. Some specifics:

Will future versions be available free to anyone? No, you'll still need to have purchased a license. Effective the next release, any "relatively current" (likely 2013 or later expiry date) license will work. If you have an older license, contact us for a (reduced price) upgrade.

Can new licenses still be purchased? Yes, same as always.

Can existing licenses be upgraded to a larger number of groups? Yes.

What about support? Existing support via email doesn't significantly change. There may be the odd time where there are some delays in responding to emails, e.g. around holidays.

Does this affect hosting? No, hosting doesn't rely on a license purchase.

Will future upgrades always be free? Not necessarily. If and when significant new sustained development is restarted, this policy may be revisited.

Will there be new features added in the future? I certainly expect so. There are a couple of things in the works now.

Version 7.3

Version 7.3 of both CourseForum and ProjectForum has been released.

This update focuses entirely on performance, and should particularly affect people who are running sites with very large groups/courses (i.e. large numbers of pages and/or attachments).

Note that this includes groups with large number of projects (even if each project has a reasonable number of pages or attachments), but doesn't impact sites where there are a large number of pages or attachments, but spread over different groups.

Thanks to our friends at Geometrica for their help tracking down some of these issues.

Version 7.2.3

Just a note that Version 7.2.3 (another small incremental update) has been released, and is now available for download and is running on our hosting sites. You can see the exact details on our changes page.

Upgrade to a ProjectForum Enterprise License

We've made some changes to our Enterprise license to make it even more accessible — and affordable!

Though generally used by larger ProjectForum sites, Enterprise licenses are now available for as few as 50 registered users (formerly the smallest was 150).

Why Enterprise?

Our Standard license, which you're probably familiar with, provides a fixed number of groups (wikis), with no limit on the number of users in each one.

Our Enterprise license flips this on its head, providing a fixed number of registered users, but an unlimited number of groups. So it's very well suited when you're using ProjectForum for many different things, and makes organizing large amounts of work easier.

Besides that, Enterprise gives you more control of who can do what where. You can specify who is allowed into each and every group and project. And even give different users different permissions for each forum (e.g. allow some users to read only).

Check out our Enterprise licensing page to explore all the differences between the Standard and Enterprise licenses.

Now starting at 50 users

Previously, the smallest Enterprise license that was available provided for 150 registered users (for $1000/yr).

We are now happy to be offering a 50 user Enterprise license at half the cost — only $500/yr.

How to upgrade

Check out our Enterprise licensing page to see if Enterprise is the right choice for you, and also to walk you through the technical steps needed to move from Standard to Enterprise.

Send us an email with the number of registered users you'd like for your new Enterprise license, and we'll get you a price quote.

Right now, we'll also give you 20% off if you're moving from a current Standard license to a new Enterprise license.

Finally, while all the above is for the downloaded versions of ProjectForum, if you're interested in a hosted version of Enterprise, let us know.

Version 7.2.2.

Just a quick note that Version 7.2.2 (an incremental update, primarily changes to the WYSIWYG editor library) has been released, and is now available for download and is running on our hosting sites.

ProjectForum and Mountain Lion

For Mac users who have upgraded to Mountain Lion, you've probably come across "Gatekeeper" if you've tried to download ProjectForum or most other software. You'll notice it by seeing this message:

"ProjectForum" can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.

The workaround whenever you see this is rather than double-clicking on it to launch it, do a control-click on the application's icon and choose Open from the menu. You then get an option about whether you want to run it or not.

You can also muck around in the "Security & Privacy" pane in System Preferences.

We're making the changes to prevent this annoying warning from coming up, but in the meantime also thought it would be a good time to revisit the minimum system requirements for CourseForum and ProjectForum.

Currently they'll run on systems as far back as the last patch to Tiger (10.4.11), released in November 2007. Given that Apple's official policy is to support the recent and previous OS version only (i.e. Lion and Mountain Lion) I think bumping our requirement forward a bit won't be too controversial.

While I don't think we want to be quite as agressive as Apple in this regard, if you are running a version of CourseForum or ProjectForum on a system running an OS older than Lion, please let us know ASAP what you're running on. Either send us email or post a comment here.

Version 7.2.1

We've just released ProjectForum and CourseForum version 7.2.1, which consists of mainly bug fixes. As usual, you can download via the website, and our hosting servers have been updated.

Price Slashed over 90% for 1 Group License

Today we're announcing a very dramatic change in pricing for our smaller ProjectForum licenses.

Effective immediately, the price for a single group Standard ProjectForum license, formerly $299, has been slashed over 90% to only $25. A single wiki, with the full ProjectForum feature set, including an unlimited number of users, for only $25.

We're also discontinuing the Basic license (which had a slightly reduced feature set, and sold for $99), because really, there's no point.

But why?

It's certainly not because we think the single group license is only worth $25, that's for sure. The reality is that most of our revenue comes from larger licenses, and many of those started out as single group licenses. As people used ProjectForum and better appreciated the value, they then upgraded to larger licenses to encompass new projects in their organization.

ProjectForum is already the easiest wiki software to get started with, but we know the price tag was scaring some people away at the start. We want people to really learn about and use ProjectForum, and if it makes sense, use it for new things in the future.

How does this affect existing users?

In the coming days, we'll be in touch with anyone who purchased a Basic or single group Standard license in the last couple of months, and offer them either a refund on the difference in price, or a free upgrade to a larger license. We'll also be in touch with current Basic license holders and offer them a free upgrade to a single group Standard license.

For users whose current single group licenses are expiring soon, the upgrade price will be $25. (This will also be the annual upgrade cost for new licenses).

Any restrictions?

Not really. And no, this isn't any sort of limited-time promotional price.

The one caveat is that this $25 single group Standard license is definitely intended as a "starter" license. Therefore, a limit of one single-group standard wiki license can be purchased for the same team, department or organization. Please contact us if you have any questions about this policy.