I can't give an official answer on the release schedule for Elgg 1.7. There has been a feature freeze. A lot of bugs have been fixed but I think there are 1 or 2 outstanding bugs that need to be squashed.

If you'd like to start testing 1.7 (please not on a production site), you can grab the latest out of svn here: http://elgg.org/download/nightly/  (you want the one that doesn't have "core" in the file title)

The biggest show stopper right now is that the navigation for paged content is broken (one bug fix caused another bug).

The beta will when the bugs listed on trac are fixed.  I cannot and will not try to give an estimate of when final will come because it all depends on how the best test goes.  If you want a faster releases, test against nightly or svn and make good bug reports, including patches when you can.

I'd hope we all agree that there's no point in making a release if it's not ready and that a buggy release is worse than a delayed release...but if you need a release right now grab a nightly build from http://www.elgg.org/download/nightly/.  You can use the nightlies to test plugins.  I don't recommend running it on a production site unless you know what you're doing, though...

@Ron

Some/ most of your concerns problems should be posted elsewhere...;-)

"Now one of our sites in-waiting has been bomabard by porn. But in 1.6.1 we can't delete users, only ban them..."

---> We ourselves are working on a solution towards this..

"Site Access don't work properly in 1.6.1 and the developer seems to have disappeared.."

---> Yepperz.. Wade (ShellCode) *has disappeared.... ;-(

We delete the porn files, but the Activity still shows the porn topics. Bad for what's suppose to be a family-friendly site. [ figured that out, it was the user name that was dirty, changing it fixed that issue ].

---> "Family Friendly Site" ? same here.. as said before.. we use certain tech tricks to detect and block spammers.

We want admin group approval but have no idea if the plug-in will work with 1.7.

---> This should be do-able with any vers of Elgg... ;-O

I'm sorry, but I have to say this, considering that Elgg is free, and I would guess that 95% of the users here have not spent a penny other than time here, and definently not put any money in the pockets of the core crew or the developers. I have to say this, PATIENCE!!!

I see every day people damanding updates from people who are not obligated in any way to help anyone.

So, I will say it now.

Elgg core crew, you know who you are. Thank you,  for everything and please, do not rush a thing.

To all plugin developers

Thank you,  for everything and please, do not rush a thing.

To the permenant crew of site helpers and advisers, you know who you are,even my little buddy in Richmond

Thank you,  for everything and please, do not rush a thing.

And from me personally, this place is like the best University a person could want

Thanks Guys

Ade

Brett and Cash -- Thank you for the update. I understand. And I appreciate the advice to test out the build. We will do so on our production site and feedback. Last I heard there was going to be a Beta release and since I had not heard any more, I probed for input. Your responses are favorable.

Dhrup -- You said  <<some/ most of your concerns problems should be posted elsewhere.>> Not really. It doesn't make sense for us to test 1.6.1 any further since the current plugins may or my not work with 1.7. And since we are not going to release our sites under 1.6.1 and since 1.7 and the plugins go hand and hand;  until we see and test 1.7, we can't try/test any of the current plugins. And especially, we have no idea what features will or will not be included in the standard 1.7 - so we may or my not need a plugin in the first place. Our concerns may or may not be fixed by 1.7 - therefore all these issues have the same value. 

As for these issues

<< We ourselves are working on a solution towards this >>

Will the solution be available when 1.7 is released? Cost is not an issue. We can not have porn in our sites.

<<This should be do-able with any vers of Elgg...>>

I refer to both admin approval of User signups and groups. And yes, of course, it should be doable. There's Site Access for the the User admin, but the developer is gone - so although it's doable, will there be a functioning Site Access type script for 1.7? And, yes, we've seen a group approve plug-in that appears to work - but will it work for 1.7? Right now we are in limbo. When 1.7 comes out how long before the plugins follow? Months more? I'm not complaining, just trying to understanding so we can plan our business strategy. And no, we don't have time to write our own plug-ins. And yes, we will pay if required. But we need 1.7 first.

chambo67 -- I understand your point of view - but I live in a different world than yours. You say << I have to say this, PATIENCE!!! >>. I could have done that years ago, but life is passing us by as we speak. In my career I've seen hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of apps and companies come and go because they didn't keep up with the flow. Even here in elgg land, in my short few years hanging around, I've seen a number of goog people come and go. If my companies are going to put our trust in any application, patience is something we can't afford. We want elgg to live on. If it takes a little kick in the butt to get it done, I'm willing. It's worth the investment.

Pay attention to detail --but do -- RUSH. You'll understand what I'm talking about when you have a few more decades under your belts. Mark my words.

Ron

@Ron - I assume you meant to say you were going to test on your development site rather than production, right?

@Cash - Yep, that's what I meant. Thanks for heads-up. Long day yesterday. Eagerly looking forward to 1.7.

@Ron

(1)  http://community.elgg.org/mod/groups/topicposts.php?topic=406960&group_guid=52477
(2)  We *do write our own plugins / utilities
(3)  We *do *live via Elgg-based websites

;-O