Thread

Dear EllisLab and Pro Network Members:

Shawn Maida (visualchefs, ee coder) and I are collaborating on a public document for the community that spells out to clients why they should update from EE1 to EE2. 

We were wondering if you had any insight as to reasons why the end user would want to update to EE 2 from EE 1.  Of course, we know that there are certain addons that are EE2 only, but are there any other reasons beyond that? Are there any performance, security, or stability benefits?

Thanks,

Ryan Battles

Great topic! And thanks in advance for working on this contribution.

I don’t have any hard data on why a client would want to upgrade from 1.x to 2.x. and would love to have a resource like this on hand.

Loosely, we’ve been using the reasoning as “sustainability/longevity”. As in, we’re going to need to upgrade (soonish) in order to use new features/add-ons/functionality. But that’s not a very compelling reason for a client.

The powers that be here have told me not to expect speed increases, so that is not a reason!

I suspect it is really a “foundational’ matter, that it is MUCH easier to build upon CodeIgniter for both the EE programmers and for those who produce add-ons.

Of course, as some have joked…...with a basis behind it….future users of EE are likely to spend a LOT more money in total than before due to the numbers and prices of add-ons! If we get luckly, CI will allow for some open-source and free and low cost ones though!

So, does this document assume that they should upgrade, and then make the case? Or, does it question whether they should?

It’s amazing how much of the web runs on almost ancient code…..but if it was put together decently in the first place (and EE was), then it can work for a long time.

Personally, I will upgrade when I have some time to squash any bugs that will likely crop up (add-ons, extensions, custom stuff we did, etc.).....but my reasoning will simply be that EE has made the decision that this is the future path…

I get much more excited by new built-in features and benefits…than by foundational stuff!

Well, ideally I wish that there was a reason for users to upgrade other than that it makes life easier for developers.  Of course, it also provides more work for us developers if we have a compelling reason to suggest to our clients that they upgrade. 

That being said, I don’t want to be grabbing at reasons that are inflated just to fulfill an agenda. I agree that EE 1.x is an excellent, stable product, and that is why no major reasons to update are jumping out at me right now.

no major reasons to update are jumping out at me right now

I agree with you there. If/when something like this - http://brandon-kelly.com/blog/custom-fields - ever gets implemented, I think that’ll swing it for me.

The overhauled SAEF will be very worthwhile too, though so far I’ve managed to do everything I want to do with the EE 1 SAEF combined with some creative workarounds and a small hack.

I choose to jump right into 2.0 during the beta phase. Being new to EE at the time I figured that it was better to start on the new system rather than the old as it will eventually be the only supported version. This has not been without it’s pain points, but the last couple of versions have been relatively stable from what I’ve seen. As for my clients most didn’t really care what version we have been on. For the ones that I built during the beta phase they were fully aware of the process and have supported it 100% & I have since updated them to the latest versions with no problems.

Are your clients using IE?