I've decided to post new progress update for Misago 0.40 since previous one was almost half a year ago.

What is Misago 0.40?

Misago 0.40 is next feature release that will bring to Misago redesigned threads list, thread pages, posting and editing flows, messages editor, posts and attachments, permission system, moderation tools, message parser, read content tracker, forum search, account settings, users lists, profile pages and user signatures. It will also greatly raise number of plugin hooks available to the developers (85 at the time of writing).

It will also remove React.js from those pages, making them MUCH easier to customize for developers using Misago to run their communities.

When will Misago 0.40 be released?

Sometime in 2025. No promises or anything but judging by current pace, summer is most optimistic deadline, but I wouldn't be surprised if I miss it and only release after that.

What's the progress?

I am happy to report that work on the Misago 0.40 release has reached an important milestone today: it is now possible to start new threads, post replies and edit those replies. Currently those features are very basic, but they are an important foundation that I can now build on.

This is whats going to happen now: do few quick small cleanups and fixes in existing codebase, and then start filling in blanks.

What's done:

• New permissions system
• New messages parser
• New threads list
• New read tracker
• Basic start thread
• Basic reply to thread
• Basic edit post
• New categories list
• New account settings page

What’s left

• Threads features:
  • Attachments
  • Polls
  • UI for private thread members
  • Quoting
  • Message editor
  • Likes
  • Edits history
  • Selecting solutions
  • Moderation
• New forum search
  • Advanced search
  • Replaceable search backends
• Replace ranks with groups on users lists
• Redesign "active users" page
• New user profile pages
• User signatures
• Breadcrumbs
• Metatags for search engines and social sites

Speaking from knowledge of Misago's codebase, I am expecting first two positions on the list to make the 80% of work left to do.

Wrapping up

While scope of changes remains large, I am making a steady progress, constantly removing things from the todo list and while I am not happy with 0.40 taking so long to ship, I am optimistic that Misago's users will find all the improvements to the project making it worth the wait.

Cheers!

I am leaving this thread open for people to discuss. I will also post future small updates to whats happening in 0.40 here for those who don't want to follow GitHub and my Discord spam for news.

Just two screenshots of Misago 0.40 running this forums database:

Please note that thread view is still very much work in progress.

I was thinking about making those progress updates a quarterly thing, but I'll post an update on every large milestone instead.

Attachments update

95% of Misago's attachments feature has been rewritten from scratch for the 0.40 release. The remaining 5% consists of the old attachments model code, which served as the basis for the new model, and the attachments list in the admin panel, which was updated to work with the new model. But don't worry—your old attachment data will be automatically migrated to the new database table during the update.

New editor

The first step on the attachments journey is the message editor. Misago 0.40 completely transforms the posting experience, bringing it in line with popular forum solutions like Invision Community and XenForo. This includes a new attachments UI:

Uploaded files appear below the upload message:

A fallback upload method is available for users without JavaScript:

Misago 0.40 introduces a new syntax for embedding attachments in posts:

<attachment=readme.md:1215>

This new syntax is much clearer than the current one. It is also supported by the editing actions. The editor is also context-aware: pasting files into the text field or dragging them onto it will automatically insert <attachment> entries for those attachments. Deleting an attachment will also remove the correct <attachment> tag from the text field.

Attachments in posts

Embedded images are displayed in posts:

Regular files:

New in Misago 0.40: MP4 and WebM videos are now supported:

Please note that there is no video streaming feature in Misago 0.40. For large videos, users should upload files to a video site like YouTube or Vimeo, or use a plugin for a third-party service like CloudFront video streaming.

Embedded attachments are no longer displayed under the post's body, reducing clutter:

Posted media is now opened in a lightbox instead of a separate tab:

Attachments also have dedicated 'details' pages that do not require JavaScript to access:

Browsing your attachments

Forum members can now use the dedicated "Your Attachments" page in account settings to view (and delete) all their attachments and see how much attachment storage they have left for new files.

Attachment servers

Misago 0.40 introduces configurable attachment servers. These "servers" are functions that implement the attachment serving logic. For sites running behind NGINX, Misago includes the X-Accel-Redirect server, which uses NGINX's reverse proxy to serve attachments while keeping their /media/ locations hidden from the users, improving security. All misago-docker sites will use this feature once Misago 0.40 is released.