Hello Everyone,
As you may have heard, we’ve recently released SocialEngine Unite beta. We’ve received great feedback from SE Cloud and SE PHP clients and we truly appreciate the time you’ve all taken to express your views and concerns. We would like to take this time to address the most frequently asked questions to alleviate any concerns about a path forward or our company.
Has SocialEngine been Sold?
Absolutely not. SocialEngine is still owned and operated by Webligo Developments. There are no plans to sell SocialEngine. Our roadmap for the SocialEngine brand with Unite at the forefront has us very excited for years to come.
If I Own a SocialEngine PHP License, will I be Required to Migrate to Unite?
No. SocialEngine Unite will be a choice and not a requirement.
Will SocialEngine PHP Sites Stop Working?
No. When SocialEngine Unite is launched for self hosted clients, there will be no change or impact on current SocialEngine PHP websites or licenses.
Can I Upgrade from SocialEngine PHP to SocialEngine Unite?
Yes! We’ll provide a free importer for SocialEngine PHP. This will allow those that want to upgrade to the SocialEngine Unite platform that option.
What if I have Third Party Plugins?
SocialEngine Unite has an API that experts can use to port their plugins or themes over to Unite should they choose. You could also use a hybrid of SE PHP and SocialEngine Unite should you choose.
Will I have to use the SaaS Version of SocialEngine Unite?
In the future we are planning to provide a downloadable version for those that want to self host.
If I Self-Host will I have to Pay any Monthly Fees?
Our goal is to make SocialEngine Unite affordable for everyone while balancing our company’s need for a more up to date business model. In order to provide continual updates and features, we will charge low monthly fees for any SocialEngine apps that you choose to use. Our current app fees range from $0-$4 monthly.
Do I have to Purchase Apps from SocialEngine?
No. Apps are optional and can be purchased from SocialEngine or from experts who sell them. You can also use SocialEngine Unite with no apps at all.
Will SocialEngine PHP Still be Sold and Maintained?
SocialEngine PHP has been our flagship product for several years. However, website trends and advances in technology required us to reassess the viability of staying with PHP and the Zend framework. We’ve determined that the best path forward is to retire SE PHP at the end of 2020. SocialEngine PHP will continue to be sold until SocialEngine Unite is released as a stable version for both SaaS and self hosted clients with a free import tool. We will continue to support and maintain SE PHP until it reaches EOL and is retired.
What Can I Expect if I Buy or Own a SocialEngine PHP?
If you own a SocialEngine PHP license or purchase one now, you will have access to Unite with some special credits. These credits will only be available to those that purchase before we launch the stable version.
What is the Path for SocialEngine Cloud Clients?
SocialEngine Unite will have an importer for SocialEngine Cloud. As soon as the importer is ready, you can start the migration process. We anticipate closing the SociaEngine Cloud platform by fourth quarter 2019 which should give plenty of time for migration of all SocialEngine Cloud sites.
I’m a third Party Expert, do I have to Know Node.js or React?
When dealing with the API you do not need to know Node.js. It can be developed and connected with any language. An example is our main website which has certain pages using PHP that we haven’t migrated over yet. For those pages we use the Unite API using PHP.
For developing apps, learning React is not required. You can use Vanilla Javascript if you want. We have support to connect to sources external from the core. This means that apps can technically be developed in any backend language.
We personally use React as it suits the nature of how a Social Network works where content needs to be split up into segments and those segments cannot harm another segment. In addition, since a social network is very dynamic in nature we wanted something that could update content dynamically and with ease. This is the main focus of React – to listen for any state changes and if a state has changed only that specific segment is updated and nothing else.
We understand the release of SocialEngine Unite impacts current clientele and experts and are doing our best to provide a path forward. Our next goals are:
- Release SocialEngine Unite SaaS stable with importer for SocialEngine Cloud sites.
- Release SocialEngine Unite self hosted with importer for SocialEngine PHP sites.
- Release app extensions for full featured blogs, forum, event, music, groups, pages, chat, video, and much more.
- Release additional apps with even more great features for our users!
- We’ve also got native mobile apps in our schedule!
Thank you for your continued support and feedback. Please feel free to post your thoughts and feedback at our community as we are always interested to hear from you.
With Great Appreciation,
James Clark, CEO, and the SocialEngine Team
