"Official Module Threads"

[Panther]

Would it make sense to create a sub-forum, or another category specifically for discussions on those modules in the Repository, and have one discussion thread dedicated for each module...?

I know people will still post in the "wrong place" when they have questions, but maybe by grouping them together, away from the discussions on new modules, or those being tested, it may help keep the clutter down and help folks find help on specific modules...?

Once a module gets released, the original thread can be locked and a new one started in the 'official' area... if someone accidentally starts a new thread, they can be referred to the official area and have that locked..

And in the description of each module, a "comment on this module here" link to the specific thread could be added (got that idea from the SMF forums add-ons area).

The same could be done for the templates too maybe....?

Anyways, just a thought...

[tomhung]

I personally feel that it is more important to separate the Unofficial Module. 

I would love it if there was a place where these modules were collected, versioned, and bugs listed.

I would like to know what is wrong with some of the modules that are not official. 

Is there a list of specifications that are required for a module to be listed as official?

This would help me see if there is a module that I can modify to satisfy my needs or clean up to become Official. 

I have asked for this about 5 times with no progress!....

[doc]

Hello,

well as far as I know, there is no list available showing all unofficial modules available in the forum.
A starting point could be the following thread.

Modules only posted in the forum are simply not stable or made for previous WB versions and are therefore not compatible with the latest WB version (e.g. due to database changes ...).
Most of this modules never reached a level to use it on production sides, as their developers simply stopped the support.

The normal way to release modules is to post it in the forum. The community tests them and after some bugfixes they will get released. Sometimes it happens, that no one posts to the module and it will move out of focus.

I think the poll module, and the yet another calendar script are the most complete one which are not released yet on the addons repository due to minor bugs or missing features. This would be some canditates to start with.

Regards Christian

[Panther]

Maybe there needs to be three sections?

1) General Discussions/Ideas/Stuff in Early Development - the general catch-all area
2) For Review - modules that are pre-release, a sort of final beta area before being added to the Repository
3) Official Release - discussions on further development, questions about using, and specifics on those modules in the repository.

[doc]

Hello,

yes, this would help to streamline the module development in a more transparent way.

Regards Christian

[kweitzel]

Hi Guys,

let me tell you about how we used to make it here, when I started:

We only had the forum. In the forum we used the Modules section for everything, which was not really the right way to do it, since you couldn't really distinguish the completed modules from the "RCs", "testcandidates" and so on ... That was when the decision was made to move the tested modules to the add-on repository, also because lot's of users asked for something like that. The forum thread was actually only meant for the module development and testing side of it.

Nowadays, nobody really seems to be interested in finishing the development of his/her modules anymore. Some are just dropped here and nobody picks them up. The used to be the idea to use the TRAC system for everybody who wanted to release the development of a module into the "wild". Personally I would like to see that, so people have a starting point, if they want to develop on a half ready module. Let's see, maybe this idea gets picked up again ...

cheers

Klaus

[tomhung]

i've been a module developer for a while now.  I personally think the TRAC system is crap.  I even hate it for the documentation project.  I think it is clunky and ugly. 

The problem I see is no one want to moderate this stuff.  There is little clean up of the forums.  People post general questions in the help / general info / wb2 sections.  There are many versions of the same module listed through the threads.  You can't search the forum for attached files.  Its hard to even find the unofficial modules on this page. 

Why can't there be a page or wiki that lets module developers organize their modules / change logs / to do list / etc.  This should also link to the forum threads about the modules.  But the code should be placed on the Work In Progress modules page.  There should be some tag associated to the modules so people can search. 

This discussion has been hashed and rehashed.  There have been a LARGE number of suggestions on the forum concerning this.  There has been no support from the brass of website baker.  No real effort to solve this problem.  This is frustrating. 

There are lots of people in this community that would donate time and energy to helping.  We have to have direction / buy in from the controllers of WB or it will be an unofficial rogue application like http://www.websitebakertemplates.com

Someone lay out a plan and get people started on this... We are way overdue!

G

BTW i volunteer myself for whatever is needed.

[doc]

@tomhung
Thanks for your offer. Will contact Ryan on that issue. I agree, we do need some more control of things here in the forum.

Regards Christian

[tomhung]

i personally think the forum is ok for the discussions, just not a good place to organize module development and try to keep current on unofficial module versions and bug fixes.  it talks lots of work.

G