Question There is only one endorsed and supported Kunena template

No-o-o-o ... *arrggghhh* ... it isn't appropriate to move this discussion to the "templates and design" category because it's a support issue. :pinch: Am I the only one who sees it this way?

Oh, I give up! :side: You do what you think is best.

I was only trying to decrease the number of complaints from novice and/or beginner users who think that it's safe to use the default, default_gray, default_green and default_red templates (that are included with the installation kit) when we all know that it isn't safe to use them ... unless you really, really, really know what you're doing. I'm sorry, I'll bite my tongue from now on. :blush:

It's not a support question and the support category isn't for this kind of question.

In the Kunena 1.5.4 Readme , there is an information about templates which are deprecated in Kunena 1.5, but I think the users doesn't read this doc.

I hope this end this useless discussion.
Xillibit has full power on this board as moderator assigned by the dev team, to create, edit and sticky topics as he sees fit.

Although we value our users opinion, we don't value public scorn of the moderators work. Period.

If you feel something can be done better, please adress the moderator author by PM, if you still feel things are not done as best as possible, please adress the issue with the dev team, BUT ALWAYS ON PRIVATE.

Your actions, only seems adressed to get you attention, or minify moderators work, still haven't decided...

That said, I hope you keep your interest in kunena project, and we value the help you give our users, and your effors in documentation. Thanks Sozzled.

You know, when I first started this discussion topic, way back in the days of K 1.5.4, I hoped to draw the developers', moderators' and users' attention to the massive source of confusion surrounding the inclusion of a number of outdated (or "deprecated" - which now seems to be the more fashionable term) templates.

I also hoped that this discussion might be given some degree of prominence, by being made "sticky".

I was wrong on both counts. The confusion continues. The warnings not to use the unsupported templates are not given due prominence.

Even with the latest version K 1.5.9 - which is still in test - the old Fireboard-style templates are still being shipped. Even if you delete the directories - default_gray, default_green and default_red - the installation of the latest release restores those directories! The only saving grace is that the Kunena Configuration setting does not allow you to use the outdated default template!

I write now as a result of seeing a several user problems in recent days that have resulted from people who still believe that the default_gray, default_green or default_red templates work (or, more to the point, that they will receive support if they employ these templates)! What must we do to raise an awareness of the ongoing problem?

I read today that, when users install K 1.6 the old templates will not be installed. But the even better news is that for users who upgrade from K 1.5.x, these outdated templates will also be removed. That is great news! :woohoo: However, K 1.6 is still a few weeks away and, in the meantime, the problem continues to linger without a solution.

May I gently suggest again that this discussion topic be made "sticky"? I disagree that this discussion has been "useless" as was suggested a while ago. The fact that this topic has been viewed over 600 times must surely indicate otherwise, mustn't it? :dry:

Thank you

sozz

Now that the topic is back in 'Recent Discussions' I might give an insight on WHY it is not recommended...

The old templates contains a lot of code inside them (the important backend code).
It's not a good solution, but thats the way things were done back then (in lots of applications).

Example on templates where kunena <= 1.5:
With Kunena 1.6 (and probably 2.0) this changes, so the backend code will not be in the templates.

Example on next generation templates:
(Both is not real code)

As you see, the old approach have given the templates a huge overhead, meaning a lot of complexity.

It have almost been impossible to go through all 1300 lines of mixed php frontend-code, backend-code and joomla-code, to verify the integrity of the templates.
(this is needed if they should become supported, due to checking for security holes, missing/non-working features, etc).

This will change in the future, so the templates will only have minimal php code, but all the html code only.

That will in return make it much more easy to develop custom templates and maintaining them.
In the long run this hopefully means more templates for Kunena.

(Please correct me if Im wrong)

G'day, LittleJohn. You are quite correct. We both understand the reasons why it was not possible to thoroughly overhaul the old Fireboard-style templates. No-one disputes those facts. What is in dispute is how this outstanding legacy continues to manifest itself in this forum and ways to alleviate the situation.

My intention was to raise user awareness of the situation and I deliberately chose the subject wording to highlight the facts. I recommended that the subject be placed in the Support category and that it be made "sticky" to serve as a constant warning to those who may be tempted to use the obsolete templates until a permanent solution could be implemented.

The moderators responded by making an attempt to discourage users from using the outdated templates; the "official" (?) topic appears in the Support category as "Use template default_ex for decrease the problems with Kunena". In its original form the wording was watered-down to such an extent that it effectively said: "we're not telling you not to use this product but there's a possibility that it might not operate as extpected". In the meantime, my thoughts have remained buried under a mountain of topics in the General Talk about Kunena category.

I still feel that the current "sticky" topic distils the message to such extent that people still fail to notice it. Perhaps, if a stronger warning was issued, we may not see the number of requests for support help. These matters are ancient history now and I gave up arguing about the details a long time ago. Today, I simply want to bring this matter back to the fore of public attention in whatever helpful way that I can.

You will note that, in my first message, I included the following:

In future releases of Kunena there will be a major overhaul of the entire templating system and, in the next release, the defective default_gray, default_green and default_red templates will not be included with the installation kit.

That was written 5½ months ago and the defective templates are still shipping with the current release of Kunena. It is true that the next major version of Kunena (K 1.6) will fix this problem once and for all but, until that happens, people continue to believe that they can use the old templates and expect support for them. We need to remind people that the problem is still there and that they should be given appropriate, clear and unambiguous advice:

There is only one endorsed and supported Kunena template ... default_ex