First Impression

It is horrible!

elaborate...

I know it is Alpha; however, if this is what it is going to be, it is horrible.  At least we will still have Dolphin Classic.

 lets hope they stick by what they said and keep on developing it and don't get lost in Dolphin U

I think that all the modules is not there yet.... wait for the beta! I can't wait to finally a complete version of Dolphin U

Damn, figures it would come out the day i go on vacation for a week.

Now something to do when I get back!

if they add all the modules and better template then it will look good..i guess

Where can I see it? Is it viewable for advanced yet? 

http://www.boonex.com/n/dolphin-u-alpha-5-public-preview

I like it. I am just looking for the video module.

There is no video module. No photos module, no groups, no forums, no sounds, no files, no sites, ect, ect, ect.

What you see is pretty much about all your going to get. Boonex intends to let developers provide the modules for this version. Which i think is a big mistake. It means that with dozens of possible photo modules all handling photos and albums in there own way there is likely to be a lot of incompatibilities with other modules that may want to try and import photos. Photos is just one example.

Unless of course those modules are all going to be developed within the next few weeks. I don't think so.

I don't know about this. I think this may end up being a problem. Guess we will have to wait and see.

I thought boonex was going to build their own modules and lease them out for around $50 per module to add onto the core version as we need them.

even if so they will need to give the core away for free. free as in no branding or removable for free... because as it stands now the core is useless.. 

if dolphin U comes without module ..then i  guess user have to spend 400 to 500 usd more to complete whole wesbite..

I cant imagine that on release, it will not include photos, videos, files etc... as these are all 'core' modules needed to make the other modules work properly.

Without at least these, it will be only half a platform.

Im sure the current release demo is stripped right back, although the included modules are not the best to demo with...

first impr. clean and and has some nice features.

When I first saw it two months ago, I was nearly speechless.  I still am.

Maybe it is 'that different' to Dclassic (7) that it needs to be viewed outside of comparison.

It looks designed to be more like an app to me than a website, which could have its advantages in some areas. 

If module development is a widely covered as D7 is, then Im sure it will be down to the users imagination in how to build a site, rather than what it does out of the box that will make it stand out over using D7.

Looks interesting so far, need to see more media integration really before being able to get to grips with how it 'flows' as a user...

That is my point also. I think that less is better and then you can deside how to build up your site from scratch.
It all depends what kind of site you wanna create...
A view basic mods and keep the license pricing low.
As for what you get now there is no way in H..l that i would pay $300 and up

First when I saw it online, I thought it's just wrong link or something. Then I've got it installed on my server and saw the same. I don't see design/functionality yet, there are some bugs, nothing to test for now, really. Hope it will get better.

Is there a full privacy option? I don't want anyone except my real friends to see me. Especially my employer. I want my boss to be on the same site without us ever running into each other. This is just an example.

It looks like I designed it.. and that's not a good thing.

I think it suggests good potential. But if you are right and he will be stripped of all core modules then what is the license that covers the update for life? I seem to have read by Andrew Boon stating that the license was valid for d7 d8. He did not say half valid.

In these circumstances, what would be the advantage of d7 compared to those who do not have license? it does not make much sense ....

- I wouldn't look too much into the visual design aspect. Default template is intentionally very simple. We expect to ship at least one extra template ourselves, and a lot more to come from other developers.

- As for photos/videos/etc - we do plan an "Albums" module. 

- Dolphin U will not require a paid license. Some of our modules, however, will be only available for a fee (not the ones you see in the alpha). If you hold a current Dolphin Classic license, you'd be able to download our paid modules free of charge. 

I don't want to download Dolphin U just to try it out and be disappointed.

Is there a test site?

Edit:
Answer to my question:

http://ci.boonex.com/dolphin/

Soon as I seen it, I instantly made an acct to test for one thing, REAL TIME COMMENTS.

Its just so disappointing...we're going into 2015, and users will still have to press refresh to get updates...its pretty much worthless, no matter how pretty you make it, or what neat features it has...whats the f*cking point in creating a new "social" network when being "social" revolves around the communication between the users, which is still bullshit?  You're basically trying to sell us a bugatti with a damn steam engine still in it.  Again, we're going into 2015...and I haven't heard any talks about D9/DBZ (dragon ball fan) so Im guessing this is suppose to last us at least another 2-3 years before the next version of Dolphin.  With that being said, we're suppose to wait until 2017-2018, or maybe even later, so we can get what we should've had in 2012, REAL TIME COMMENTS?

Before I delete DU out of mind permanently, I'd like to ask you Andrew, are you going to implement REAL TIME COMMENTS & NOTIFICATIONS by the time you release the official beta? 

Can i ask a couple of serious questions

1. What on earth is it supposed to be ? It feels lonely and i lost interest in 30 seconds and it is nothing like a social network

2. Who would use it as normal everyday people definately would not ? (I had trouble after i registered on what to do, why do i need to create a person ?)

3. What are the notes for ? its the same as your timeline ? Its a social network, if i want to write a note i have "Notes" app on my phone

4. The Timeline looks a jumbled up mess,  and the reason facebook does so well is the comments are shown where these are hidden and yet again a right mess and unreadable.

A social network is about interaction (or am i missing something) but Dolphin U fails miserably in every aspect, even the basics of comments and replying.

I really think Boonex have lost the plot, you have Dolphin 7 which costs $399+ with all the modules, or Dolphin U with no modules and i am assuming to get it like Dolphin 7 would be $399+. Can someone please tell me why i would want this, as a pretty savvy geek i think it is the most obscure program i have ever seen.

I know it is in Beta but from what i have seen i will not be using and sticking to d7 which is BETA

Hey i just a comment on one of my comments WHOO HOO i got excited as i received an email but when i clicked i was shown this

Notice: Undefined index: cmt_author_id in /home/ciboonex/public_html/dolphin/template/scripts/BxBaseCmts.php on line 157 Notice: Undefined index: cmt_author_id in /home/ciboonex/public_html/dolphin/template/scripts/BxBaseCmts.php on line 176 Notice: Undefined index: cmt_id in /home/ciboonex/public_html/dolphin/template/scripts/BxBaseCmts.php on line 382 Fatal error: Call to a member function getVoteObject() on a non-object in /home/ciboonex/public_html/dolphin/template/scripts/BxBaseCmtsServices.php on line 25

If you want real time comments, then you probably need chat or messenger or shoutbox, I don't think that comments are good for real time updates since it is usually has hierarchical structure. If you still need it, then comments system can be substituted with other comments system like facebook comments or discus, it can be done either in D71 Classic or D.U.

This is just a base, which is build using modern technologies and targeted for mobile devices.

As it is now it can be used for some small sites like blogging or for collaborative communication (thanks to the new messaging module - Conversations) or just a simple site used as business card using page and menu builder.

When more modules will be available - it can be used for more different purposes.

It is much more customisable while using very similar structure to Dolphin Classic (7.1) - each page, each form, every menu is customisable via Studio.

Also it should be much more easy for developers to build new modules, cloning such modules like Notes (Blogs) or Persons(Profiles) for some other or similar purposes is really really easy.

I LOVE it!

The possibilities are endless and the flow of the page creator/editor. You guys are just freaking brilliant. The ability to do seo, image placement, the layout! 

Finally something that looks the same on all devices.

Being more than 50% of my users are mobile.

It's something new and exciting to me, what is all the bitching about!!?

 Alex, thanks for the response & confirmation that there is NO PLAN whatsoever to implement real time comments & notifications.

Chat, shoutbox, messenger is already in D7/DC, so why am I still "bitching" about real time comments?  Because that doesn't fix the main issue!  Users want INSTANT communication, this is what "hooks" them and causes more interaction between them, this is where Facebook RULES at.  We (all dolphin webmasters) are fighting an uphill battle trying to get users to leave facebook and take an interest in our projects/sites. 

To put it in another perspective, if Im in a band, and I take pics & videos of me on tour, post them on a dolphin site, how am I to know when someone has left me a comment or some feedback?  The only way is for me to continually to check every single day.  Considering most dolphin sites are small, and dont have much interaction going on, sooner than later, Im going to get tired of checking for NOTHING, and will stop checking and go back to facebook.  This is the magic of their "like" button & real time comment system.  Im INSTANTLY notified, and more than likely provoke an INSTANT response & engage others who like or find interest in my content that I've shared.  I really dont understand how you guys dont see or understand that, its truly amazing.

Suggesting to use chat, shoutbox or messenger has nothing to do with user engagement pertaining to CONTENT that I share.  It will be pretty freaking retarded to post a video, pic, blog, ect., then leave there and chat about it in the chat?  If thats the case, why did you guys build a comment system for those modules in the 1st place?  That doesnt make sense, and is ass backwards really.
Comments for those modules are severely lacking, Im just asking for you guys to beef it up.  Im BEGGING for Real Time Comments & updates, HL is asking for a great file manager...just "listen" to us, these request are only going to IMPROVE your product greatly, and all parties will benefit, boonex, webmasters, module developers & most importantly OUR USERS...without them, everything else is pointless!  

Facebook comments is "ok" but I dont think non facebook users can use that, so its a poor solution.  Discus is barely "ok", it provides real time comments, but is very basic and doesnt provide notifications.  To give users more options & power, what I had in mind was something more advanced, for example, tinymce 4 + real time comments & updates + responsive file manager.  That will put ALL dolphin sites on an even playing field, perhaps it actually may put the ball in our court and give our sites that "extra edge" it needs to be a serious competitor.

So why leave a lambo (facebook) to test drive what looks like a bugatti, but has a 4 cylinder under its hood?  Sure, we may get users to come to our sites with "good seo" and other tactics, but there is NOTHING there to keep them COMING BACK for MORE once they leave, and this is where "most" dolphin sites suffers at, regardless of niche.  So can you please explain (in newbie terms) why you dont think comments are good for real time updates cause of its hierarchial structure when facebook has proven that real time comments & notification are GREAT?

 I want to LOVE it too, I really do Newt.  But thats the thing, it will only "look" great on all mobile devices, which I do give them credit for, its a big step in the right direction, but...its like what I was saying, a bugatti with a 4 cylinder, which just can not compete with v6's-v12's.  "Looks" is only part of the "ingredient", but functionality is the main ingredient...that will trigger real user engagement.  Facebook doesn't look all that great, but they have that main ingredient.

If we're going to race, I'll gladly take a beat up & dented (or just plain ugly looking) vehicle which has a v-12 in it, versus the pretty shinny new car with only a 4 cylinder under the hood, I'll lap it, win every single race, every single time.  You cant come to a gun fight with pebbles & darts. 

Can they throw in a cool text editor so that users can upload their own images, write in diff languages etc...?

I like the simple interface with mobile friendly without changing the entire layout of a website.

 RE:

 I expect it's because DU is not something you can build a real website with anytime soon.  It will be years before that happens.  In my opinion Boonex unveiled DU way, way too soon.  DU is not really Dolphin.  It's something else.  As I pointed out to them in the private preview, they should have called it something else... mainly so everyone doesn't compare it so closely with D7.  At least Andrew understood that the D7 product should continue, however Boonex needs to start giving D7 more attention.  It's been over a year since the D7 product line has seen an update, and that's just plain unacceptable.

What is it that you find new and exciting about DU?   Is it the excessively dumbed down look and feel?   Maybe it's having a 17" wide mobile app on your desktop screen.  I've been staring at my test install for two months now, trying very hard to like something about it, but I just can't.  Maybe after it evolves for a few years, it might be something worth looking at, but for now my opinion is that Boonex has missed the mark in an extraordinarily big way.  Yeah.... maybe it's the most efficient and brilliant php coding the world has ever seen.  Big deal.... what can you do with it?

Boonex can say all day long that's it's just an Alpha and only a base product, but the brutal truth is, it is currently absolutely useless as a platform to build any type of website.  My saying that, is not meant to undermine the product itself, or any of the people working on it.  It's just that the product is not ready for prime time, and it should never have been introduced in it's present state.  Sure, if all you want to do is build a site where people post to a timeline what they had for lunch, pictures of their drinks, DU might suffice, but for anything beyond that, you'll need to stay with D7.  Speaking of which, we could sure use a damn update.

Like they say, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.  That is something Boonex should be worried about right about now. 

 RE:

 This is truly a monumental occasion.... I'll let you figure out why.

P.S.  Congratulations on making a three word post.  There may be hope for you yet.

It is probably not a good thing to release Alpha code to the general public.

HL, I love you too. 

Useless, Uninspiring, Unwanted, Underdeveloped, Unimpressive, Uninteresting, nUgatory, lUdicrous, mUndane, dUmb, awfUl...

I dont understand where Dolphin is going after seeing this preview really...just another competitor to Joomla, Drupal and Wordpress with more focus is on organisations, notes etc? I like that there is features taken from Facebook and it is many more features there that you can copy.

I think Boonex lost their community/social user focus and try to compete on several cms markets where Dolphin not have a strong position like the big tree ones.

Question is why should I buy/use Dolphin U expensive when I can get Joomla 3.+ now for free with some extra paid addons (excellent social user profiling system like EasySocial, JoomSocial, CommunityBuilder etc..) + templates that are far ahead of what Dolphin U can do as a cms system right now?

 hi..will dolphin U comes with default blog, forum, file and chat module..or atleast blog module..?? 

For me Boonex has to completely rething its core business. I think Dolphin "Classic" need a big improvement (core and module functions and integrations, more speed, responsive functions, MORE UPDATES, etc) and Dolphin U has good features but without appeal. We do not know what it is. A CMS like Joomla, Wordpress or Drupal? A community system (without community features)? A white label software that you can use for nothing? Maybe we need a response about that. Ok, it is a different product than Dolphin "Classic", but I do not understand for what can I use it!

And we want to talk about the licenses? Why I need to buy a Standard license if I can download, use, and update Dolphin Classic without it?
With Standard license you can: Remove "Powered by" link. WHAT?!?! I spend 399 australian dollars to remove a powered by link? With Standard license you can also: Post comments, post job offers, post in forums, send private messages to other members, "plus" posts of other members. Are you kidding me?!?!? I think Boonex need to rethink licenses.

Ok, with actual licenses you can download Dolphin U and all "premium" modules developed by Boonex for free. But as I told before, at this moment (3 years of development!) it does not have appeal and I do not know for what can I use it!

 RE

 Did you read the entire Blog? It looks as though have not.

http://www.boonex.com/notes/category/development

Please everyone that does not fully understand, re read some important post thoroughly. 

Could you please point to something more specific?  That just took me to a list of previously posted articles and many don't even pertain to Dolphin U.

Newton27 probably is talking about this post: http://www.boonex.com/n/dolphin-u-and-dolphin-classic

Does anyone remember "Poseidon/Trident"?

 Trident? ISA/PCI videocards maker in 90th? :)

I think many forget what is an Alpha version, and it is perhaps worth remembering. I even read that earlier version of Alpha Beta coincides with what has nothing to do.

What is an Alpha version? This is not a finished version. In general, the Alpha version allows you to test an unfinalized to detect major problems very quickly project, even if the version covers only a small part of the project. Thus, it is common to see Alpha versions of video games, so developers are not blocked by a problem which dates back to the beginnings of development. This allows us to rewrite some parts of the main quest. In other words, the Alpha release is a non-complete and is useful to give a taste, but determining what could be a problem for developers.

But you forget that it is necessary. If you say too early, it's because you did not understand that.

What did you expect? A clone of Facebook completely finished?

Some contradict without even realizing it. They say it is very difficult to pull people off of Facebook, but you sincerely believe that you will dislodge them using the same weapons and the same arguments?

We should not try to fight Facebook, but just play on another field, just more interesting, mainly on content and not on the container.

An example. Facebook says 80 million of their accounts are false.

If you make a site with only 10,000 false or better yet not at all, you're likely to win market share.

So the cms, he must be fast, adaptive, efficient, scalable and simple for users.

I think this will be the case. The rest of the work is up to us to do so.

So maybe you should focus on the essentials and suggest a constructive way rather than criticizing while block. Also open our eyes to see the work already done and also think about giving them a good reason to work, because to read you, they may leave six months on vacation.

Maybe I need to tell exactly why I am not happy about Dolphin U and how it is developed. We need to go back to 2008, when I join Boonex community. At that period Boonex was working on a framework called Poseidon (aka Trident). In the same year Andrew Boon announced Dolphin 7 and he tell to boonex community that "Dolphin 7 will be a bridge between Dolphin 6 and Dolphin 8". And it had to be "an attempt to create something very close to Dolphin 8 in a nutshell, while the core will be the only thing changing with the introduction of Poseidon". Dolphin 7 was published in 2009 and had to be supported for about 3 years before switching to Dolphin 8, with updates every 6-9 months. Development of Poseidon (aka Trident) was abandoned in next years (I do not know if parts of it are inside Dolphin U), and about 3 years ago Boonex started officially the development of Dolphin 8. After years of development of Dolphin 8 and years of development of Poseidon, what have we? An almost abandoned Dolphin 7 (over a year without released updates is too much, I hope there will be one before the end of this year) and a too long developed Dolphin U which has become a "total new product" compared to Dolphin 7.

What is the real problem? Now Dolphin U is supposed to be an "all in one" product, but without modules/extensions. It has good features (how many times I have to tell that I do not know!) but it needs to be supported by developers. Without them this product is almost nothing, like an empty box that you have to fill, but you have nothing to put in it. I currently have read almost exclusively opinions of developers are not very happy with Dolphin U.

I am now thinking like a new customer. I would use a very basic CMS (Dolphin U) for my projects? Probably not. 

At this moment only Boonex tell us that it will be "universal" and "unlimited". Ok, it is an alpha, but we know the basic package (at the moment 14 modules) and its "style" (I call it "mobile style" and I do not like it for a desktop big screen). Only users with license can download all Boonex "premium" modules for free. It will be truly universal and unlimited only if the developers will think to earn from the creation of new modules for it.

Notes: I like many functions of Dolphin U, I do not like front-end aspect (maybe many parts will be modified). And about extensions, Andrew Boon what do you think about "lite" modules free to download? Like your future "premium" modules but with only basic features.

Yes, maybe Andrew Boon should be more specific and clear if Dolphin U will be able to do what Dolphin 7 under license. And make it clear what he will do without a license. Still, I was pleasantly surprised to see that already a module for coverage profile is functional. I also like the possibility to see the avatar in full with one click. With the new messaging thread, this is already 3 modules 3 modules that you must buy if you use Dolphin 7.

For large screens I agree, but it's hard to find a good compromise between a screen of 4.5 inches and 22 and I think we focus on small screens. With the spread of 4G they will become even more numerous.

 Nah, the way things are going, people will be walking around with telephones with 22 inch screens.