Posts by Iso

I’m in!

A small improvement but fixing the lack of support for <perch:help> tags within blog posts would be helpful for less tech savvy end clients. Notes before works but isn’t the same if you have to literally give them a step-by-step how-to… would certainly save a few phone calls/emails!

Quote from Gareth S

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the continued support and activity here!

Just as a quick update for you, all items up to my previous comment have been raised in our Perch meeting. We're currently working on a full delivery timeline for these items, and we'll share further updates as we have them, though rest assured our release for V4 by the end of June is still on track. I'll be continuing to pass your suggestions and requests onto the team.

Thanks again!

Gareth

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*starts pasting Perch regions into current site*

Quote from JayW

NOT copy Wordpress for anything!

I second this.... WP is a complete abomination no matter what aspect you look at

3.2 although very welcome, just addresses some urgent issues. I'll reserve judgement until we get eyes on V4 and the roadmap for first-party add-ons, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very much still a fan and want to see Perch continue (and have started tentatively integrating Perch into the site in progress).

There's some very good suggestions from the community being put forward in the mega thread for example.

I'd like to think I'd be in the position come July of thinking "well, I'm glad I stuck with it".

George G Do we have a timeframe on when to expect the old forum back online? It saves a lot of time as a quick reference tool (rather than relying on the old grey matter/sifting through old code)......

Quote from TheOldDesigner

Thank you, George G but this is just more platitudes and vague statements.

I think we all need some serious clarification from whoever you are so I will repeat my points

1. Who are the new Perch "Team" what experience do you bring to Perch and what is the (at least) basic Roadmap re future updates/versions and plugins?

2. What is the current status of the development cycle both of the core code and the plugins many rely on to empower Perch? I fail to believe you can not even have a basic idea on timescales, if you don't I'm afraid that tells us quite a lot.

3. What are the plans for future support, Slack/Forum/Discord peer support only or the Perch team as well, or maybe even paid support?

These are all basic questions in my opinion that need answering concisely, honestly and straight away. Of course you may disagree, that as the owner(s) is your right, we have the right to vote with our feet and wallets.

It's funny that my last post sat in "moderation" for a good few days, posting a screenshot on Twitter got it approved within minutes so maybe that's where we need to call you out!

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Very well put, as are all the other regular contributor's comments in this thread.

I'm currently redeveloping an existing Perch site for a client, and rather than using the Runway upgrade licence I have sat idle (bought for this purpose) to expand the possibilities of the site for my client, I have up to this point hard-coded literally everything. I never thought I would be having to leave my options open moving forward, and make a rod for my own back in the process, and yet here we are. However, I cannot risk putting all my egg's in Perch's nest should it prove to be a development dead end and thus leaving me with a nightmare further down the line for both myself and my client.

I'm reluctant to leave software I have/had faith in, and have enjoyed coding with, but am not unprepared to take a gamble on something new should I feel the willingness to support customers just isn't there. A case in point being ditching Adobe for Affinity after years of lack of support (harking back to the swallowing of Macromedia tbh) and their ever-escalating and inflexible charging model. Thankfully this has proved to be a winning move both from a cost and workflow point of view. I'm willing to sacrifice the ease of use of Perch moving forward if it ensures the longevity of my projects, even if a steep learning curve is involved.

Belts are tightening across all industries in the current climate, and I'm afraid to say people are liable to be a lot less tolerant when they don't receive at least some basic level of support and communication from the providers of the tools used in their businesses day-to-day. Surely taking an hour or two out as a team to assess the state of play and formulate a reasonable response outlining development plans and a rough timeline would go a long way to restore the faith of your dedicated users (and isn't too much to ask)?

None of the above looks particularly favourable for someone considering Perch for the first time and browsing the forum to "get a feel for it". I certainly couldn't in good conscience recommend Perch to anyone currently, which frankly saddens me. One of its key selling points to me early on was how quick Drew was to respond to queries, and the communities support for one another via the forums. It would be a shame to lose that for all involved.

This is great news for the community as I was dreading the prospect of having to go with a lesser alternative than my cms of choice.

Many thanks to Drew and Rachel for releasing that rare beast that is both a genuinely useful product that is also fun and intuitive to use. Wishing you guys all the best in your future endeavours, and to the new team and the keenly awaited V4! *dusts off several paused Perch projects*