Perch V4 (and future) Megathread

  • justanotherdave have a look at HTTPS://expressionengine.com


    craft was born out of expression engine when it was a commercial CMS it’s now gone open source with a flourishing and good quality plug in community. I have tried both but EE is a better fit for my needs and I found the tag logic easier to understand . Also has a Fully featured e-commerce plugin as well as a cheaper alternative.

    Thanks, it looks good I might have to give it go. Would the commerce solution you mentioned be the CartThrob Add-on?


    I've always been a bit apprehensive of using open source when it comes to a CMS, as with no money changing hands they tend to get forgotten about when the developers lose interest and move onto something else. That's one of the reasons I went with Perch, which is kind of ironic given the circumstances.

  • expressionengine has been around longer than perch I believe, it started as pmachine and went at one point "enterprise" at over $299 a license (this was a good few years ago). It was sold to one of its major plugin developers a while after that who made it free/open source reckoning the paid plugin architecture would support its future development.

    Carthrob is the major e-comm solution but there is a simpler recent addition https://expressionengine.com/add-ons/reinos-simple-store which looks like it has potential. Most of the plugins are top notch and never had an issue with any.

  • I am sorry your so easily offended others seem to find it worth discussing.


    there really is a lot more important things in the world to be “ offended “ by than a discussion on viable alternatives to a failing CMS. Lastly I believe I just responded to someone’s question i did not steer the thread this way.

  • I am sorry your so easily offended others seem to find it worth discussing.


    there really is a lot more important things in the world to be “ offended “ by than a discussion on viable alternatives to a failing CMS. Lastly I believe I just responded to someone’s question i did not steer the thread this way.

    That may be so but there is a time and a place, particularly when opinions expressed; aren't shared unanimously.

  • The direction this thread is taking seems to be born from the frustration of no communication from Perch.

    I can only say, list your grievances; not as alternative solutions but rather have them directly related to the Perch CMS, because this is a Perch forum and not everyone is affected by a specific issue.

  • I can only say, list your grievances; not as alternative solutions but rather have them directly related to the Perch CMS, because this is a Perch forum and not everyone is affected by a specific issue.

    Have we not listed very many specific grievances? There are grievances galore but there hasn't been much of a response has there. We've been banging our heads against a brick wall for a long time now and this thread is the consequence of that.


    And yes, not everyone is affected by a specific issue. But by that same rationale, not everyone is opposed to discussing alternatives to Perch. This is a community forum so the community guides the discussions. Though it's a bit grandiose to put it in such terms, you of course have the right to complain about the content of posts.


    It is also my forlorn hope that the current owners are still observing this thread and might be stirred to action. If this thread becomes inactive surely that's worse?

  • It is also my forlorn hope that the current owners are still observing this thread and might be stirred to action. If this thread becomes inactive surely that's worse?

    It is my hope as well.


    I have put in major hours working on templates and as is the situation; I believe PHP 8 compatibility is assured, which was my primary concern but I understand and agree that so long as a product, e.g., Perch Apps still exist, they should be wholly supported, so in saying that I would like to know about specific issues because threads become lost very easily and this thread is about Perch' future.

  • If you think it’s bad here you should check out the Slack channel.


    yes this thread is about Perch’s future that’s why people are discussing alternatives precisely because many believe it does not have one or at least a viable one despite all the suggestions and ideas provided in good faith on the first 10+ pages.


    Nothing should be wholly supported blindly, support is earned and the new owners have done nothing to earn that support

  • Absolutely. It's astonishing that so many have held on for so long. Goes to show how much people want/wanted Perch to work.


    The thread going a bit off the rails isn't the community's fault.

    I was actually referring to developer support of applications, not end user support.


    In any case, I still don't believe it is clear, what the actual problems are.


    May I suggest to the developers, that there be separate threads in relation to apps, since it would seem that most of the noise in this forum is generated as a result of those.

  • Hello all. Just a message from the director I've been asked to pass along to all of you.



    Your patience is appreciated. I am checking the forum at least once a day to approve posts and delete spam, so if you do need anything feel free to tag myself or Will B and we can pass feedback along where necessary.

  • I don't think it is appropriate, and may be considered offensive; particularly considering that the post itself is about the Perch CMS.

    I think you have a point to say that discussing alternatives is perhaps is better on another post/thread.


    However to state that it is not appropriate to discuss alternatives to Perch simply because this is the ‘Perch’ forum is strange. It’s a public forum about Perch. Everyone on here are developers, who use Perch to develop websites.


    While I personally don't agree with perhaps the tone and aggressiveness of some comments, for many (myself included) Perch is not currently meeting their needs, and that is after a very long period of time waiting. Hence the discussion of alternatives.


    I've talked on WordPress forums about preferring Perch, I've seen intense discussions of pros and cons of alternative CMS’s on many other individual CMS forums. No one there thought it shouldn't be discussed.


    It could be worse… we could all just leave the forum and Perch and not come back. The fact we are discussing alternatives here, means Perch is still figuring in our calculations.

  • Actually another seven or so days and I will be out of here having transferred all my unused licenses and I will have completed a migration of all my remaining sites to Expressionengine. That will have included the transfer of over 300 blog posts across four sites (by hand) and conversion of the sites to ee code and templating and the transfer of all site images and content for the sites with and without blogs. All done at no charge to clients because I believe it's in their and my best interests.


    So presuming I have no issues with the transferring of remaining currently active licenses I will be out of here by next weekend and probably silent before then.

    It's been fascinating and one thing I can say with confidence, no other CMS has provided me with this level of entertainment before, and it's a real pity the director who dealt with the license transfers pretty much by return once he got involved has not infused his support staff with the same ethos. The end of a chapter I guess.