BoonEx Turns 8. Happy Birthday!

“It’s not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better, the credit belongs to the man of the arena who’s face is marred by dust, sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who knows the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat”

Theodore Roosevelt

BoonEx Turns 8

Eight years of work, dreams, changes, surprises, disappointments, joy, glory, tears, praises, complaints, huge releases, losses and most importantly - 8 years of passion. BoonEx is changing the world, making it better, uniting people.

We did a lot of things wrong and a lot right. We always look for new ways, new solutions, new approaches. What works - stays, what doesn’t - gets scrapped. It’s a constant forward motion and a never-ending search.

Looking Forward

Same day, one year ago we had a huge launch. This year we’re trying to be a little more patient - not rushing things out of the door, BUT I am happy to tell you that this year is going to be even more revolutionary and exciting.

“8” is a symbol of new beginning, and this year we plan to come up with products and changes that would build the foundation for a new era of BoonEx development.

So, it looks like it’s time to reveal some plans...

Dolphin 6, Ray 3, Orca 2

ALL of our sea-creatures are going to be upgraded this year. The Dolphin roadmap is publicly available, so you can track what’s going on. This year we’re focusing on ‘quality’ upgrades, incrementally improving and polishing every feature. Ray is also being improved - all widgets are re-written under the Flash 9 platform and new features come aplenty. Orca 2 is being improved in both functionality and integration.

Additionally, we’re just about to launch a cPanel auto-installer, so that you can install Dolphin on your server with a few clicks right from your cPanel.

iPhone and Android Apps

BoonEx is all about innovation, so we couldn't just miss the iPhone and Android hype! Both the iPhone App and Android App for Dolphin are now under development and the iPhone App is due for release very soon.

The Next Big Thing

We’ve been keeping details about NBT under the table for some time - for a reason. The thing is that we take it VERY seriously. This is not just a product version upgrade or new widget...it is much, much more and what you read next will reveal a lot!

Boonex's best, most experienced developers have been working on NBT for a few years now. It was supposed to be called Shark, but we found that we had to re-work Shark and to do better. There’s still a lot of development going on with even the core architectural part, but we’re finally at that stage where we can reveal some details. I now believe that no one from all of our competition will be able to catch up.

First, let’s talk about WHY we need NBT at all...

Dolphin, Orca and Ray are great, but they all have some fundamental flaws that no version upgrade can solve. In fact, all comparable products from other vendors have the same problems, and none of them is any better in that respect.

We’ve been reading your forums posts, blogs and comments. We conducted extensive research, exploring the latest versions of Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, ExpressionEngine and others. Finally, we outlined a very ambitious plan... AND now we are working on it. We call it...



...and it is the core of Dolphin 8, Orca 8, Barracuda 8 and Shark 8.

Why would you want, say, Dolphin 8? How about...

- 100% separation of core and functional modules. Poseidon treats everything as a plugin. Blog, search form, photos browser, comments, video player, you name it. Upgrade, modify, delete, activate or add new plugins and your site is still rock-solid.

- Super-simple upgrades. Thanks to full separation of plugins and core, you can upgrade separate plugins selectively. Upgrade the core with minimal impact on plugins and with proper compatibility verification.

- Ecosystem. We have Unity, Expertzzz and a few 3d party partners that we’re getting together to develop modules for Poseidon. Unlike Dolphin 6 mods, Poseidon Plugins distribution and installation is very simple. Ever purchased music from iTunes? It’s THAT simple.

- Designed for colossal performance. Poseidon is intended for massive traffic loads. Not “adapted”, but developed from the ground up with millions of users in mind. This is what so many of you have written about and have waited for!

- Latest technology. While Dolphin 6 is a product of evolution, Poseidon is based on the latest and greatest web-development technologies, solutions and practices. Completely new design, thought-out user interface, superior site structure and an all-new approach for the admin interface.

- Stability and security. Again, thanks to separation of the core and plugins we are building a lot more stable and secure core.

- Better code. Poseidon development is heavily supervised to ensure highest programming standards.

- Openness. Poseidon is going to be released under an open-source license and will support 3-rd party modules/apps the same as native plugins. From the very beginning, Poseidon will support OpenSocial apps and will treat them as plugins. Plugins developed by Unity members or even your own team would all seamlessly become parts of your site.

- Top-notch templating and language systems.

- Simplified licensing. Poseidon-based products would have a lot less hassle in terms of licensing than the current version of Dolphin, Orca and Ray.

- Built-in Ray Widgets. All, and some new, Ray widgets are going to become Poseidon plugins, without the need to buy extra licenses and without separate installation.

and a lot more

Dolphin 6/Dolphin 8 Controversy. Migration issues. Mods. Now what? WTF!

I know that while many are going to get excited, some of you may have quite a few concerns. You developed, bought, installed mods. You re-designed your site. You finally have members adding-up and bang! - Poseidon.

No worries. We hear you. Dolphin 6.x will live on and will be developing up until Dolphin 7. Dolphin 7 would become a “bridge version”. The idea is to let you gradually upgrade your site step-by-step up until both Dolphin 7 and Dolphin 8 are ready for hassle-free upgrade without loss.

When and how much

First, we’ll be running private testing, then public testing. SmartPro customers, Unity Pundits, Moderators and Experts would have early access.

SmartPro customers would have free time-unlimited licenses.

The version with BoonEx links will be free. Links removal pricing will be announced later.

Thank You

Thank you to all loyal customers and supporters. You were patient and caring enough to stay with us, often in spite of huge shake-ups, delays and problems. You are the major driving force, and your support is the foundation of BoonEx success.

Thank you all not-so-loyal customers and competitors. Your critique, refunds, bashing, attacks and complaints made us stronger, more experienced and inventive. You’re the best source of our motivation.

Thank you developers, affiliates, web-masters, experts, moderators, pundits and contributors. You are turning BoonEx into a global community - a virtual eco-system that makes BoonEx a true “community software expert”.

Thank you BoonEx Team. You are the best.

8 - The New Beginning

So, 8 years behind. Versions “8” coming soon. We have high hopes and huge plans. The next year is the BoonEx year!