By drupaloo-1 on

Wikipedia's definition of beta is:

"Beta" is a nickname for software which has passed the alpha testing stage of development and has been released to users for software testing before its official release. It is the prototype of the software that is released to the public. Beta testing allows the software to undergo usability testing with users who provide feedback, so that any malfunctions these users find in the software can be reported to the developers and fixed. Beta software can be unstable and could cause crashes or data loss.

Yet there are a number of beta modules that are tagged as Recommended for 6.x.

So there are beta modules, which by using this definition, could be unstable and could cause crashes or data loss, being recommended for 6.x.

Could some experts please comment on this?

I am confused about whether or not to use beta version modules on a production site....

Thanks ahead of time!

Comments

michelle’s picture

michelle
she/her
Primary language English
Location Wisconsin, USA
commented

It's a quirk of the way the releases are shown on the project page. If you have a module that doesn't have a full release on a Drupal core version and you want it to show on the project page, it ends up as being recommended because that's the only one there is.

Whether the module is safe to use really depends on the module and the mainatiner. If there's a module without a full release that is important to you, take a look at the issue queue. That will give you a good indication of how many outstanding bugs there are and how responsive the maintainer is to fixing them. You can also look at the commit log to see how often it's being updated to know if it's still in active development.

And, most importantly, read and heed any warnings on the project pages. I keep mine up to date so folks always know where my modules are in the development cycle and whether they are safe to use and I still get folks using them before they are ready and then complaining when there are bugs. :(

Michelle

coreyp_1’s picture

coreyp_1 commented

If it's any consolation, I just launched a LARGE website, and of the 54 contributed modules installed, 13 of them are not full version releases yet. 8 are betas, and 5 are release candidates.

In my case, experience helped me decide whether or not to use the beta and rc code, but looking at the issue queue, too, will give you an idea of what to expect with a module. There are some betas that I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole, and others that I readily use on production sites.

There may be some trial and error, but remember, you can always ask for people's opinions about specific modules in the forums (or, for that matter, in this thread).

-Corey

drupaloo-1’s picture

drupaloo-1 commented

Michelle and Corey thanks for your comments! :-)