Chris,
I apologise for this then - it must be my Developer roots
coming through!
There are 2 reasons why I want to retire this module. The
first one is that due to recent (and this is why no mention has been made in the
past) changes in the DNN core it has rendered the HomePage module unstable. The
architecture of the HomePage module is to blame (and therefore me) - I am not
saying it is the Core's fault - but the fact is that due to the way it
manipulates roles it relies too heavily on the core. It is a technical reason -
the module was designed to try and be like MySpace originally, and it used to
make 1 role per user (like BizModule's Personal Page module does). This version
WAS stable but my customers did not want 1 role per user as it would not scale.
To get around this some complex role manipulation was done on the fly by the
Control Panel when the page is requested. This worked fine when it was released,
but it borrowed some code from the core (like the base for the Control Panel).
This means that every time a new version is released the HomePage module in
theory could be a security hole - especially due to the nature of
operation.
The second reason is cost. There is very little money in module development
and the more time and effort I spend on supporting a module the less development
I can do and the less sales I have. The harsh reality is that at some point the
cost of support beings to outweigh the sales, and then I either have to quit
module development or make some drastic cuts. I have identified the HomePage
module as being one such module - again, due to the architecure that requires
too much time and maintenance everytime a new core version is released.
I am sincerely sorry for this, and I appreicate and understand exactly what
you are saying. This is why I will quite happily refund anyone who believes they
are out of pocket because of the withdrawal of the HomePage module. I spend 90%
of my development time on the Events, Profile and Groups module, and yet I spend
90% of my support time on this one module. I have been meaning to make an
official announcement to explain these reasons in more detail, but I have
literally been working every single day (including the weekend) and have not had
time (ironically).
I thought the fairest way to solve the problem would be to make it
opensource so that people with time on their hands can try and get around the
problems I could not in the time that I am able to afford on it. All customers
still have the module as before and it can be developed further if there are
volounteers (I literally cannot afford to work on it any longer) .
I appreciate your comments and thoughts - let me know if you have any
suggestions or ideas please.