Sitefinity 5 Release?

When is this going to be released? I thought I had seen somewhere that there was a target for end of February, but I could be mistaken.

Thanks,
Chris

Hey Chris,

Unofficial answer is perfectly fine, I just had understood it would be by the end of the month and I just needed to make sure I wasn't just pulling a date outta nowhere.

Thanks Gabe!

-Chris

Gabe,

Hey Larry,

Yesterday there was doubt about how much effort would be needed to overcome the issue the team discovered during final testing.  During the Q1 webinar we predicted a release during the last week of Feb. and yesterday the team was still working to make this happen.  

However, I was [rightfully] getting questions from customers about the 5.0 release and wanted to provide my own perspective.  I consider it unlikely that we'll manage to get this release out the door this week and I wanted to be transparent with this knowledge.

Gabe,

All I am saying is, when telerik realized yesterday that it wasn't going to make the release today, why didn't it tell us. I was waiting all morning for the release until I saw this post.

As things stand now, we still don't have any official word yet. Do you actually think this is acceptable? Is there anything stopping Management team from releasing a note?

I am a CMS developer and I develop applications for a lot of my clients using various CMS's like Umbraco, Orchard, Sitefinity and even DNN.

Depending upon their needs I show them either Umbraco/Orchard. Some of them really like sitefinity because it's very user friendly CMS. But it's impossible for me to recommend Sitefinity, if it's not stable/predictable and constantly misses deadlines.

For ex, Umbraco recently released v5 and they informed their customers every step of the way. They even created a page for it : http://umbraco.com/umbraco-5-status.aspx 

I felt really confident about and it's very easy to plan that way. I am not saying Umbraco v5 release was perfect. It had it's share of issues and everytime management jumped in, and told us what's happenning.

I just want Sitefinity Team to be more open with us.

@Telerik
Just wanted to know if the language files for the backend will be ready at the same time as 5.0 hits the download area.
Markus

Quite disappointing and unprofessional. It's the 4.0 and 4.1 releases all over again.

Testing is done a week before release. Good stuff.

Hey Viktor,

@Victor
Please Give Telerik some credit!
They do a lot of testing and the amount of scenarios an possible hick ups usually simply make it impossible to find every possible problem.
Take any big software firm and you will see the same. From Apple to Microsoft and any other vendor.

I for one am happy the found something and fix it before releasing. I hate bananna software that rips with the client.

@Liam
Yes comunication could be better.

Markus

I'd like to add that I agree with the comment about technical support. It is pretty sad that it takes me a whole 10 days to get one issue resolved.

Hey everyone,

I applaud Telerik for stepping back, assessing the issue and making the best determination on when to go live. We do not need another 4.0-type release. If Telerik were to not publish release dates, everyone would be upset. If they publish them and don't hit the target, everyone is upset. Sort of sucks to be a web application dev company, eh?

Please keep in mind the amount of work that goes into this product and the tight deadlines these people are on. If the release happens one week late, is it really a huge deal? I don't think so.

Greg

Hey Gabe,

Hi Gabe,

I like Telerik specifically for their customer support.

We here are dealing with many software (and hardware) companies, and good support is, sadly, an exception. Being a 7+ year Telerik customer, I must say that Telerik staff is amongst the most professional and honest support teams I am dealing with. Naturally, not everything is perfect, but I am neither.

Regards, Mikael

I have to agree it is nice that they do continual testing, but this is an ongoing issue. It is hard to believe that this issue pops up at the last minute after weeks of code freeze. I am not saying it didn't happen because I have seen it happen. I believe that 4.3 was delayed due to a problem with some obscure (outdated) operating system configuration. Would it possibly help during a code freeze to provide daily build/testing reports to the public? I am not sure what security issues may arise from that, but it would provide a layer of transparency to your customer base. I have learned after 4.2 that you never tell a client a release should be available on a certain date or a certain release will have their issue resolved. I generally tell them a release is scheduled 2-3 weeks from the date that sitefinity states. The reason is two fold. 1. It takes pressure off you when sitefinity has delays or a certain fix that is promised does not make it into the release. 2. It leaves a bad taste of the sitefinity product in the clients mouth when you tell them there are delays in the release or can't deliver on what is promised. it makes them feel better when a release is before they expected by a week or two. This is why I also do not tell clients that a certain upgrade or module or feature will be released in a certain version. I tell them it is a item that we will look into and let them know when it is available. I have to say I have probably been one of the loudest client screaming about failed releases or delayed dates (read my open letter to sitefinity www.sitefinity.com/.../an-open-letter-to-vassil-terziev-svetozar-georgiev-and-the-sitefinity-team.aspx). I am probably going to have to go to court over a project. Even after all that lessons learned and Sitefinity is still a superior product. Guys you do a good job, make a great product and I anxiously await the new release with baited breathe.

I've used Telerik products for years. I'm not at all suggesting their customer support people are unprofessional at all. I just think the response times are way too slow. That's all. 

Hello,

Thanks for your support, guys. We at the team appreciate it.

We are putting more efforts in testing more scenarios, so that you can upgrade or use Sitefinity 5.0 with its full potential. We are working around the clock in order to provide good experience to you. As Gabe stated yesterday, things look good, but we won't risk to release today before the weekend - we would like to have the chance to react immediately if something goes wrong and you need support. Early next week still stands on the table though. During the last 24 hours, no issues were discovered, however we do need some more time to verify all the scenarios on our checklists.

@Viktor - we realize that you've had some plans for testing and evaluating the product during the weekend, therefore we are going to send you the current build today, with a license unlocking all features. We'll send instructions over e-mail - the one you have provided in your Client.Net account. The build next week will have as little changes as possible compared to the current one.

@John - we are doing this practice, but we're sending such builds to people that expressed desire to help us with the testing, or trying out experimental features. If you wish, I'll add you to the list of people eligible to receive such builds.

Once again, thanks for your trust and patience. 

I don't have extensive experience with other commercial CMSes, but I would say Telerik are really good at customer support. I have had Radoslav helping me over the phone, over skype, custom builds, Tickets with code written for me, and all sorts. Telerik have gone the extra mile for us on many occasions, so as far as the  customer support goes, I am impressed. Yes I was a bit disheartened with all the bugs at the start and the performance. The bugs issue is almost gone now and the performance issue is getting there. I am much happier and looking forward to 5.1 where the decoupling happens. That will make Sitefinity lightening fast, and that is what I want to see. Best CMS by far.

Yes. Please add me to that list. I would love to test some of the new builds and features.

Hi Georgi,

Hi Georgi,

Is there a process for signing up to use/trial experimental builds?  I would be interested in signing up if that is possible.

Thanks,
Thomas

Hi,

John and Thomas - I've added you to the list. 
We are adding mainly partners, or people with a good experience in Sitefinity already, judging by their forum posts. 

Thanks for your interest, guys!

Hi Georgi,

I'm currently working on translation SF 4.4 into Slovak and Czech language. I have identified some issues with multilanguage UI in backend. Some of them already posted to PITS. Can me add also to the list, that can I begin my work on SF 5?

Regards

Pavol

Hi Pavol,

We'll send you an early build as well. I've added you the list. 

Regards,
Georgi
the Telerik team

Hi Georgi,

@Telerik
Any news? How about the language files (back-end) will they be ready?
Markus

Any chance I can be added to the list as well? We're getting ready to add a new site and would love to get a good start for this new project.

Me too,


i wait to beginn for a new website. And i will not start anymore with 4.4.

Hi guys,

We've have just released it. 
Thanks anyone for the great support. We appreciate it!

@Preetham and @Steven - I am adding you to the list. 
@Markus - It should be pretty soon.

@georgi
Thank's - I finaly can start my new project tomorrow.
And in about two weeks when the dust has settled (and the language files are available) I will start updating site like crazy.

Markus

Hello,

Great to hear SF 5 is out, can't wait to start using it.  Will the SDK for 5 be out today as well?

Hello Thomas,

We are currently working on it. The SDK is going to be released pretty soon as well.

Hello Georgi,
Do you guys have any documentation for Sitefinity 5.0 presently? We are planning to install it, so is there any change or I can just refer to 4.4?
Thank you.

Santosh: From what I have seen so far, the 4.4 documentation covers most of 5.0. I'm sure there is/will be additional documentation on the changes/improvements soon.

Hello Santosh,

Sitefinity 5 is the successor of Sitefinity 4.4, it uses the same core and architecture, so the current documentation is the actual one. Furthermore, most of the features that came in 5.0 are already documented.

Let me know if you need any specific information though.

@Dan - thanks for the input! :)

Kind regards,
Georgi
the Telerik team

Georgi,

If I am on Sitefinity 4.3.1885.0, can I wait until Sitefinity 5.0 SP1 or not? Do I have to upgrade to Sitefinity 5.0 first before being able to upgrade to the Service Packs? Also, when is SP1 planned for?
Many thanks,
Andrei

Hi Andrei,

I would recommend you to though Sitefinity 5.0 first, although SP1 should only bring fixes, rather than new featuers or database changes that require special upgrade scripts. 
SP1 is scheduled for the mid or the end of April - no specific date yet. 

Ok Georgi, thanks I will give it a go. There is a known issue with uploading documents in NLB environments at the moment with 5.0. That is not really acceptible for my customer. What are you doing about that? Also, when are you going to update the Roadmap? I am very curious about what is coming.
Many thanks,
Andrei

Hello Andrei,

The roadmap has just been published - http://www.sitefinity.com/web-content-management/roadmap.aspx 
We are working in a direction to a solution which will open many doors for us. We'll rework some of the services, and hopefully we will address the issue with 5.1. If this doesn't happen in 5.1, it will be soon after that.

I hope this helps. 

@Georgi
WOW - I love what I read in the roadmap. No new features just improvements.

Only one thing miss. Fixing all known bugs and long awaited small features.

Top of my mind
- emails send on forms to admin and form sender
- backend not switching languages according to frontend (if it still does in 5.0)
- Image Widget allows defining thumb and big image (Lightbox)
- Users can set margins to images again
- Radeditor adjustmants in backend also for GenericContent
- News Setting Pubish date
- Possibility to give images the same title/name without having to worrie to change the URL or loose one image.
- True multilingual support for images and docs (different images and docs)
- and lots more stoff on PITS
- Easy way to set thumb images for templates
- Group pages redirecting down the groups till they find a real page instead of redirecting to the first real page on same level
- Panelbar include in Navigation
- Page filter for pages waiting for approval
- Ability to set contentplaceholder names for Backend

But I understand everyone has his own priorities. I would not mind letting other ideas go first as long as there is an stong point on geting PITS up to date so we see only, compleded there :-)

Love Sitefinity, Thank's for the great work and SF is back to be the very best CMS out there (Usability wise its already 5 years ahead of others)

Markus

Hello Markus,

Thanks for the feedback. 

We are listing the major features/improvements for now. Fixing the bugs (or, the technical dept) goes always with the new stuff. Don't forget Service pack 1 - it will bring a lot of fixes on first place (April). Some of the improvements we do for 5.1 will actually fix issues as well. You may look on this like - fixing the cause, not the problem :). The situation with the small features is the same - you saw what we've done with the Breadcrumb for example. It wasn't part of the release notes but lot of people wanted it, so we've decided to implement it for you.

Thanks for the positive feedback once again. We are happy that you like the roadmap and the direction we're going in.

Sitefnity realeases are like x-mas for a child. Can't wait till they come and you can unwrap the present. Breadcrumbs is a great addition. Something so handy.

Looking forward to more great stuff to come.

Markus