Introduction

It's a month short of two whole years since the last version was released, but it's finally here: the new version of esoTalk!

This is essentially esoTalk 2.0, but since we never got to a stable release of 1.0, I'm just calling it "gamma" (as in alpha beta gamma.) I'm currently not providing any way to upgrade from any old versions of esoTalk to this version—sorry.

esoTalk requires PHP 5+ and MySQL 4+.

esoTalk 1.0.0g1 is beta software. It is unfinished, unstable, and buggy. Do NOT use it in a production environment.

So, what's new?

• Completely rewritten. esoTalk's code has been rewritten from scratch. Not a single line remains from the old version. The code structure is better and more extensible. All of the code is clean and commented.
• A new design. All aspects of esoTalk have been completely redesigned. The new default skin, Proto, is more modern and more customizable. It works on mobile browsers, too.
• Timeline view. Conversations take place over time, not pages. The conversation timeline view reflects this by listing posts in chronological order, loading more as you scroll, and providing a time-based navigation on the right.
• Channels. Tags didn't work. They required too much user input and moderation. Channels are similar to forums/sub-forums, but with a better and simpler implementation.
• Notifications. Each user is automatically notified of new posts in their starred or private conversations, or if they are mentioned or quoted in any posts, via a central notification system.
• Member Groups. esoTalk now supports custom member groups by default. The implementation is simple: a member can either be an Administrator, or can be assigned to zero or more member groups (which they gain the custom permissions of.)
• Member List. esoTalk includes a member list by default.
• A whole bunch of other stuff. There's too much to list here. Go and explore and find out the new stuff for yourself!

What's missing?

Compared to the previous version of esoTalk, this version is missing: Atom Feeds, XML Sitemaps, Emoticons, CAPTCHA, IE6/7 support, and the ability to upload plugins and skins from the administration interface. These things will be coming in future versions. (Apart from IE6 support. Screw IE6.)

Where can I download it?

Download esoTalk 1.0.0g1: http://get.esotalk.org
Contribute on GitHub: http://github.com/esotalk/esoTalk

Problems?

Chances are, you will encounter some pretty hideous bugs. I just came across one as I was writing this post! If you do, please file an issue report on GitHub.

See Also

• Info for Developers (Plugins, Skins, and Languages)
• The State of esoTalk: Roadmap on the esoTalk Blog

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This is so simple! It could be really considered as a social networking service. :)

I hope there will be emoticons soon.

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Find this post Meow I hope there will be emoticons soon.

Yeah it's coming soon, Toby just wanted to get this "gamma" beta version out and start building off it until it's finished.

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Well done Toby, I'd love to see how this develops further! Up to now you seem really commited and everyone likes a developer that has this quality.

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NICE !

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woohoo! this is awesome

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Thanks! Glad to hear all the positive feedback - it feels great to finally release it. :)

Find this post Meow I hope there will be emoticons soon.

Yep, as Henry said, soon.

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Find this post Meow I hope there will be emoticons soon.

I find that emoticons don't serve a purpose anymore. They where used when the internet was much much younger and didn't give a chance for the user to see the other user. Emoticons are really compromising the feelings of the individuals and pour them into stereotypical expressions that can't really express the emotion. Why have 2 bytes ( :) ) replaced by 150+ bytes () ?

Make them available as a plugin please. Don't put them in the core. (and please don't enable them in these forums, you remember what a circus the last forums where don't you ? :) )

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IE6/7 support ?
Forget it.

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NO MORE 6 ,
MAY BE 7

Find this post iugo IE6/7 support ?
Forget it.

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esoTalk is great!

Find this post Toby Thanks! Glad to hear all the positive feedback - it feels great to finally release it. :)

Yep, as Henry said, soon.

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Find this post petsagouris I find that emoticons don't serve a purpose anymore. They where used when the internet was much much younger and didn't give a chance for the user to see the other user. Emoticons are really compromising the feelings of the individuals and pour them into stereotypical expressions that can't really express the emotion. Why have 2 bytes ( :) ) replaced by 150+ bytes () ?

Make them available as a plugin please. Don't put them in the core. (and please don't enable them in these forums, you remember what a circus the last forums where don't you ? :) )

Emoticons will be a plugin, you can choose to enable or disable them on your forum.

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Amazing =)

…but… the user colours?

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Find this post Jedda Amazing =)

…but… the user colours?

That made esoTalk too colourful before.

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Find this post Jedda Amazing =)

…but… the user colours?

Yeah I miss the colors too. But there were consistency issues among skins and some other problems. Maybe it will come back as a plugin? Who knows. I do agree that the forum could use some more color, I kinda liked how it was in the previous version of esoTalk.

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Pretty much – colors were too ambiguous in terms of what skins they would work on, whether skins would have to define their own selection of colors (which was a lot of extra work if you were developing a skin), what would happen when the skin was changed. They feel like they should be an optional feature to me anyway. They would definitely make a good plugin in the future.

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good job man~ this project it so cool, i like it. i make this site soon

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great job!

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