New site needs add-ons. Build now in what version? Advice Please.

Permalink January 30, 2012 at 3:29 PM

Greetings,
My developer has posed this question to me regarding a new site I am having built:

"We have checked the new version (5.5.1) of concrete5 CMS but it doesn’t support the add-ons you mentioned. Please check the list of addons and the version they support:

Superfish add-on for drop down menus (+ $15)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.4.1

Slider add-on (+ $15)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.3.2

Ad Server add-on (+ $95)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.5

Social links - appear on every page (+ $20)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.4.1

Testimonials add-on (+ $15)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.5

E-commerce add-on (+ $125)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.5.0

PayPal Payments Pro (+ $25)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.4

Google Analytics code (+ $30)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.4.1

Blog page (+ $35)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.4.2

Breadcrumbs feature (Free)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.5

Newsletter (Free)
Note: Maximum compatibility concrete5.3

Under these circumstances, we think we shouldn’t work with Concrete5 ver 5.5.1. We have to go with a lower version and we feel that 5.3 will be suitable for our requirement. "

I would like to get this project moving now but am in a quandary of needing some functionality in the site that doesn't seem ready for the current version. Any advice would be appreciated.

VidalThemes replied on Jan 30, 2012 at 4:18 pm Permalink Reply

If I was in your position, I would probably go down the route of building the site on a version that I knew all my required add-on's would work on, simply because, although Concrete5 are reminding devs to update their themes and add-ons, this process takes time, so if you need to get up and running quickly I would go for what works now!

I would however set up a local dev environment, and place the latest version of Concrete5 on it, and as and when the add-ons you need become available, you can add to the test environment and when all are in place, you will then have an overview of whether its worth your while updating or sticking with your live setup as it is.

Thats my 2c.

Regards

frz replied on Jan 30, 2012 at 4:26 pm Permalink Reply

I would look at 5.4.2 as the earliest version you really want to use live at this point. Building a newsletter is pretty easy from scratch, and I believe there are a few slider add-ons.

You might want to shoot a pre-sales message to the add-on developers who aren't 5.5+ ready yet through the add-on page. Every request helps.

pvernaglia replied on Jan 30, 2012 at 4:29 pm Permalink Reply

Everything on your list should work with 5.4.2, most 5.3 things work fine in 5.4. Most will probably work with 5.5 too, but you would need to test them. I've found outside of Add Ons that have dashboard pages most have worked with just some minor cosmetic problems.