Beta 2 Feedback
I just wanted to give some feedback by letting everyone know what I think about Elkarte. Please keep in mind, this is the first time I've actually installed Elkarte. I can't say I'm that familair with SMF or it's forks anymore, as I don't use it or recommend it to my clients. I use so many different web applications that I just can't keep track of them all, and what does what. So If I overlook something, I apologize.
The thing I like most about Elkarte is the SPEED. I noticed that the perceived speed is the faster than any forum software I have ever used(just triumphed xenforo & nodebb). The thing I really appreciate, is the consistency of speed between a public live environment and an empty local installation. The speeds are pretty much the same. I'm suspicious of software that doesn't have consistent speeds, because it makes me feel like I might run into issues as the forum grows. Elkarte is even faster than SMF, so you guys did something right.
Other than that, I noticed likes, mentions, HTML5, and responsive design, which are all great, but pretty much standard nowadays.
Something I see missing is Microdata. Any reason you've chosen not to add this?
I also just noticed this: "You have an active admin session in place. We recommend to end this session once you have finished your administrative tasks.". This is kinda cool, and appreciative since it involved security. Although, I wonder is it really necessary? Does it really improve security to end the admin session? I still like it though, and tells me that Elkarte is serious about security.
Some of the woes I found about Elkarte is the non-cosmetic hover effects. There shouldn't be any, but I've already mentioned this across SMF & it's forks until I'm blue in the face. It doesn't seem to do much, as most user's prefer it.
I also not fond of the "core features" of the admin section. It's a waste of space, as those features should be moved elsewhere. SMF 2.1 has done this already, and it's better IMO.
Other than that there isn't much to say. I only spent about 15 minutes with it though. I like Elkarte(and the community better), but if I go into layout & design, this post would come out negative, so I'll keep those opinions to myself.
Good job guys.
Re: Beta 2 Feedback
Reply #5 –
Xarcell, hiver effects are a-okay if they're mibile-friendly and they contribute in decluttering the screen to make it easier to find important areas.
I'm excited to find someone who's interested in perceived speed. Would you be so kind as to test Wedge and compare its local and remote perceived speeds to SMF and elkarte? I still think it's the fastest of the three on the frontend, but Arantor did many things to the back end where I'm not sure they slowed it down or not. Then recently I managed to gain some speed in the back end and I think it's getting good now. But because my server is currently underperforming, I don't know if it's my fault or something else.
Anyway, I'd be thrilled to see independent reviews about that. I think the fight between E and W could get cordially iiiinteresting. :-D
Re: Beta 2 Feedback
Reply #8 –
I always post the errors on github.
I did get it working, and I think Elkarte is faster. I mean, at times I thought Wedge was slightly faster, but there were times it was definitely slower(2-3 second page loads). I wasn't sure what was going on with that, so I made sure I changed the jQuery fetch to local instead of Google CDN(in case it was my internet), but the inconsistencies were still there. Elkarte loaded at the same fast speed everytime.
I compared Elkarte & Wedge yslow statistics. Wedge blows Elkarte away in that department. So I can't figure out why it seems slower at times. I give you two thumbs up for minimized HTTP requests and excellent caching tough. It's hands down the best I've seen for a feature packed web application. In fact, I showed the stats to a friend without telling him what it was. He thought it was some new bare bones CMS or something, and was surprised when I told him it was a feature rich forum.
I got a pretty bad headache right now, but later tonight or tomorrow, and gonna reboot my PC and compare speeds again.