Stable release update

[gtsteffaniak]

FileBrowser Quantum is still undergoing a lot of changes that I know will cause "breaking changes" in the future. So everyone using this version is a beta tester in many ways. That's not to mean the beta is unstable, so I wanted to post an update to clarify expectations.

I am trying not to advertise this fork anywhere until a stable version has been finalized. However, I still want more users that are proactive in opening issues and willing to understand they might notice issues. If you have a user base that needs a stable release, please do your best to set expectations as well. I think the progress on this fork has been exciting and I have many great plans for it to make it a rock solid application with all the features you could ask for. I hope everyone can understand it's still in beta and keep that in mind.

when will stable be ready?

A stable release is coming soon, definitely this year and probably in the next couple months.

what does stable mean?

Stable means a few things:

• Major features and functionality all exist and work as expected.
• A guarantee that updates don't cause problems and you can safely update without breaking changes between minor versions.
• Documentation and UI elements are accurate and full.

What's preventing a stable release?

There's a few big things that I need to do before it's ready for stable:

1. There will be a release changing the share/public url endpoints which may cause issues with existing share links, I'll do my best to keep it backwards compatible.
2. There's going to be a fantastic directory-level access control system that will be easy to use and configure. I want to spend time to perfect it so it works reliably even as you changes sources, source names, and modify or delete folders. There will not be regex like the og FileBrowser, it will be intuitive and clear what directories are covered by what rules.
3. Translations need work. As you've noticed, most of the new features are English only and this is because it makes things easier for me as I change this. But for a stable release this needs to be changed. I am going to add a wiki and process for translations to happen automatically and make it easy to contribute and update the translations.
4. One last area that needs updating: async jobs. Whether it's downloading, moving/copying files, or doing any action, I need to create a "jobs" framework. There will be a UI list of job history that can be viewed. That way, for example, when you download a file , the user will get an immediate feedback that the download is processing and can view the status as they wait. I feel that this is a requirement for stable, because it doesn't "feel" stable when a user needs to wait for the UI to finish do something.

Maybe that seems like a big list, but it's not. I know how I'm going to accomplish everything, but right now I'm focusing on filling out the loose ends of 0.7.x

Version Updates

Stable probably won't be a 0.7.x release like I thought. But that doesn't mean the timeline is pushed back, just that all my major releases will have a "theme". 0.7.x has a theme of authentication UI, and preview changes.

0.8.x will probably include share UI and API changes, and the access control system.

0.9.x will probably focus on the async jobs changes.

No solid timeline for much of this, it will be ready when it's ready. But I am glad I have a decent user base to test these features and provide feedback.

I hope you're enjoying it and I promise it will be more stable soon!! Stay tuned.

[adipeterca]

Just found out about the call for maintainers of the original filebrowser, which led me to find this fork. Great work is what I can say! Looking forward to a stable release and, until then, I'll try my best to help the community with testing these features and giving feedback. 🤗

[hiperkulet]

you've done a great job! I tested it and working fine with no issues so far.

[hiperkulet]

for the stable release, please consider adding information when a shared file or folder has been downloaded. thnx

[gtsteffaniak]

that will be coming as part of audit log / metrics feature, but I don't think that's a blocker for stable release.

[andrew-manger]

Happy to help with Portuguese translation! Also, has SSO support been considered?

[gtsteffaniak]

Appreciate any translation help -- see this wiki on how to add them. OIDC is a form of SSO already available, if you would like another single sign-on method, you can always raise an issue!