I've always kept NextGEN installed, but usually deactivated. It's so big & complex; they have 'some' docs & help, but with something like this the documentation-effort would have to be quite heroic, just to be 'barely adequate'.

So it's been hard for me to commit to NextGEN. Too much the blind leading the blind.

Even now, with Photocrati in charge, the NextGEN doc-page starts with a disclaimer:

We’re in the process of re-writing and re-organizing NextGEN Gallery’s documentation. If you discover broken links, or have suggestions for documentation, please contact us.

At least they're up-front about it .... and "character" does count for a lot. But still ...
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So of course, I didn't lose anything, in the v2.0 debacle, since my site is not integrated with NG, and my Media are strictly WordPress-default. In fact, I activated NG_v2.0 when it updated here recently, just to look at the UI a little, see how it was evolving. I left it on for a few days, with several dozen plugins active, 5 times that inactive, and a goofy homemade theme .... and nary a sign of anything amiss. (Localhost.)

In my book, "intangibles" loom large. They can be very hard to know; we can go a long time, having little clue to the intangibles of important actors on our stage. Something like the problems NG is having with their new release, gives us a valuable window into just what the people behind the product are made of ... what kind of intangibles they have.

The response from individuals & the company is very encouraging. It makes me feel much more 'willing' about NextGEN, to see its people take a helluva licking, and keep on ticking faithful & good-natured.

I'll have to go peruse those 'Under Construction' docs for awhile; reactivate my v2.0, and play with it a bit more.