Farewell and What's Next For Flarum

Toby

Today it is with great sadness that I announce my departure from the Flarum project.

I started Flarum as an open-source project back in 2014. Since then it has grown into a mature product which provides a great deal of value to a lot of people. It has been an incredible experience to lead it on that journey, and I am so lucky to have been surrounded by such a phenomenal team and community.

Open-source is a great thing and I fully believe in its mission. But it does come with certain costs and challenges, and it’s not necessarily the right fit for everyone. It has been a difficult decision to make, but I feel it is time for me to move on and take a different approach to my work.

I have decided to switch my focus to building a new proprietary, premium forum software product, expanding on everything I have learned from making Flarum. It is in its early stages of development and I am excited to reveal more details later this year.

Don’t worry – Flarum isn’t going anywhere. Franz, Daniel, and the rest of the team remain more committed than ever to pushing it forward, and you will hear more about what they have in store below.

I would like to thank the whole team of past, present, and future for shaping Flarum into what it is today, and what it will become tomorrow. @Franz has been with me from the beginning and I have learned so much from him, both as a developer and as a human. @luceos has ensured the project is continually moving forward with his relentless enthusiasm and dedication. @jordanjay29 has demonstrated great leadership managing the community and moderation team, allowing us developers to focus. There are too many other names to mention individually, but I am so grateful for your generosity and I will miss working with you all.

And to the community – every member who has asked questions, suggested ideas, reported bugs, provided support, donated money, or simply downloaded and used Flarum – thank you. I am honoured that so many people have given Flarum this much love.

I will still be around the forum and Discord, so don’t be a stranger!

Love,
Toby

YusufYldrm

Toby I will be a follower of your future work. I would like to thank you for your support and work with Flarum.

Leanna

Sad

Toby look forward to

010101

Toby I get it. Open-source is amazing to a point, and necessary because without it the Internet wouldn't be as vibrant. But, I can understand the costs and challenges that come with it.

@Franz @luceos and everyone else involved, I hope Flarum truly does continue for a very long time. It's still the best, open-source, forum software out there. Perhaps once it is officially "stable" it will grow even more, then more premium extensions could be developed to help compensate developers' time.

MichaelBelgium

Wow this is shocking and surprising news. Didn't expect at all this could happen in the lifetime of flarum.

Toby And to the community – every member who has asked questions, suggested ideas, reported bugs, provided support, donated money, or simply downloaded and used Flarum – thank you.

No, thank you! You did an amazing job.

luceos

There are people you get to know, who stand up to act selflessly. Not just while doing good, but by doing great. I have had the honor of meeting a few of these and count you among them.

Our adventure together has been one of ups and downs, while building a product of groundbreaking innovation, technical excellence and ethics. To these you have been fundamental and it's with the greatest sorrow to see you depart.

Although matching your qualities will be a hard thing, I strongly believe we - as a community - have a decent grasp of what Flarum has to become and should be able to muster the manpower, perseverance and devotion to achieve that.

We wish you all the best and fortune with your endeavors. You will always be welcome, friend.

Turns towards the audience.

The news Toby shared with us came as a shock. We've taken some time to ourselves to consider our options and unanimously decided to step up our game. Since then, the Flarum team has been hard at work to grow the team and started outlining our future.

We understand that there has recently been a distinct lack of updates and assure you that we are working hard behind the scenes with beta 9 readied up for release. Upcoming announcements in the coming weeks/months will detail changes and plans in full.

theportablegeek

luceos Well said! Farewell @Toby you have helped to build something truly inspiring.

luceos

Dominion haven't forgotten any of you

Neither have I! Your presence is sorely missed. Thanks for stopping by. The following applies to you to:

luceos There are people you get to know, who stand up to act selflessly. Not just while doing good, but by doing great. I have had the honor of meeting a few of these and count you among them.

Hope the health issues are improving and that at some point we can see more of you again!

luceos

And so, after over 7 years on this community and almost 5 years of service, the era of Prosperous comes to an end.

I once said that

luceos There are people you get to know, who stand up to act selflessly. Not just while doing good, but by doing great. I have had the honor of meeting a few of these and count you among them.

And I count you as one of those people of greatness as well!

Your devotion to Flarum, knowing your availability was limited, has been a guiding star to me. Your continued moderation blessed us with a silent guardian, watching over our precious community. We've rejoiced together and also shared moments of greatest sadness. You stood by us, the project and me, and helped, supported in overcoming the difficulties we faced. I'm thankful for all you've done and I'm glad to have met you.

And honestly, I'm not sad, I'm actually very happy for you to be able to replace your position here with one that's paid. You absolutely deserve that.

Be happy, be safe and be @Prosperous 😉 Don't be a stranger!

katos

Such a shame to see you go. I wish you all the best for the future, and will absolutely check out your projects.

Keep in touch, and don’t be a stranger!

noelboss

We are just now looking for a place for our community and Flarum looks very promising. Thank you for all your investment. As a developer who‘s always been close to open source projects, I know maintaining and contributing to a growing project is a huge task! Thank you for the years you‘ve spent to contribute a great forum to the OS community!

glofix

Thank you for the hard work (and good sense) you put into such an excellent piece of software. Best of success with your new projects!

Nefarius

Thank you & farewell, best of luck with future projects 🙂

katos

010101 absolutely without a doubt Flarum shall continue to push boundaries and create the future of Forum software.
Whilst we’re all of course sad to see @Toby leave, it is in our interest to continue what he so elegantly started and we’re all heavily invested in the continued success of Flarum.

Awilum

sad to hear.
why do not choose for e.g. such business model for Flarum, as it is for Vanilla or Discourse ? Why ?

Franz

MichaelBelgium Didn't expect at all this could happen in the lifetime of flarum.

Neither did we. But I am glad and proud to say that we are making progress in ensuring Flarum's lifetime is no longer dependent on any one of us.

Toby You know this already. It is hard to see you go. It was a joy to work with you and get to know you. I am looking forward to see what you're cooking up in your secret cave. 😁

MichaelBelgium

Franz Neither did we. But I am glad and proud to say that we are making progress in ensuring Flarum's lifetime is no longer dependent on any one of us.

Yes, thats glad to hear! 👌

Ralkage

Just as I joined the squad you leave us 🙁 though I am sad, I am grateful to still be part of this adventure and you still being a part of this community regardless. You've given me so much and you probably never knew that. My adventures started 13 years ago on my very first forum that used Vbulletin as it's choice for forum software. I spent years trying to master it and tried creating my own add-ons but it always resulted in favor due to the lack of support from the community and it's add-on ecosystem. You gave me hope when I discovered Flarum 2 years ago and I gained more that I ever wanted, friends, an extending family, and an AMAZING community 🙂

I wish you the best in your new adventures and I know our paths will cross again one way or another.

Thank you for everything 🤗

datitisev

I wanted to write up something, but English is hard and I made it seemed like someone died 🤔.

Thank you for everything you have done for Flarum and allowing us to continue improving it.

I wish you good luck on your journey and your premium forum software in the future, @Toby. 🤗

xiaolongba

To comment something, i sign up one account especially. Anyway, @Toby Thanks for your contribution to FLARUM. also enjoy your new journey. I wish you can come back frequently.

Even though i dont familar with the development of FALRUM. But every guys for their contribution to the FLARUM, they are all my hero in my heart. This FLARUM is really nice.

jordanjay29

I first came to Flarum by happenstance almost 4 years ago now, and I can't help but imagine the last 4 years without this project in my life. @Toby, it's been a sincere honor to see you lead and grow this project from fragile betas into near-stable, and work with you on much of it. I can't wait to see what it is you create in the future, and I hope you'll visit us here from time to time. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors!

DamonHu

Special thanks to your contribution, flarum is a great software