I am pleased to be able to wish you all a Happy New Year!

We did not make it for an Alpha or Beta version of PHP-Fusion 8. This is sad, but it is also a "reality check", if you like. Our dependency on a few dedicated developers and their free time is unconditional and absolute. Is this a good thing? Yes and no. Yes, because we can be sure that we get quality code with focus on security. No, because more people can do more. The issue is "control". It is not that simple, guys.

What can we expect for 2013?

It may not be up to me to make promises for PHP-Fusion in 2013. I do know this though:

• We migrate the 8 site to a VPS during the first week of January (this will bring in some more serverside possibilities)
• From the 8 of January a new coding push is expected
• The Theme Competition will be announced and start before or around mid January

This is what I know today and what I am able to control.

Speech

On a more general approach I would like to see more involved people in development. As mentioned earlier, this is no easy task to control, but I figure we need to put the Team Leaders for Development and the Senior Developers back in a supervising role and have them check what others do with friendly, constructive corrections. Their knowledge must be spread to other community members and we need to build a broader developer base, both in regards to Themes and Core as well as Infusions. In short, we need to build our future.

Should we fail to do this as needed, PHP-Fusion will have no future. We can no longer depend on 2-3 people to do the job for 30-50.000 or more. You need to come forward, to show us and yourself that PHP-Fusion has a strong community of developers. Even if you are not a developer you may have ideas. You may spread PHP-Fusion among friends and colleagues.

Maybe I just need to become tougher. To demand more. To start sending angry PM's to people on diverse lists. To set up deadlines and to force coders to uphold them "or else!". Ban more members, denounce more sites for closure to their hosts and generally speaking, become a meaner person.

That is not my way. I believe in the Community. I believe that each one of you, taking the time to read this, have a genuine interest for PHP-Fusion and in helping us all to shape a better, richer CMS. That is my hope for PHP-Fusion. That is my wish for the Community. That is my goal as one of your leaders.

SCORE!

/Richard