[BAILOPAN]

This was discussed yesterday in the Donor forums and on IRC - we're looking for ways to improve how people submit, download and search for SourceMod plugins.

Right now, the whole process is inlined into the discussion-based vBulletin UI. I don't think that's ideal, or user-friendly, though it makes support easy. EventScripts breaks away from this (http://addons.eventscripts.com/) though they use what appears to be a custom toolchain (I don't have time to write one - and I don't want to reinvent the wheel).

What I envision:

• People should get a much friendlier search and download user interface.
• People should be able to download all plugins as zip files.
• Plugin developers should be able to upload packages that get compiled and (re-)zipped on our webserver.
• AlliedModders should be able to upgrade and retheme vBulletin quickly, which we can't do since small changes break the plugin system.

One idea is to move off the forum-centric process. There's a system built explicitly for addon-based products called AMO, which powers these sites:

https://addons.mozilla.org/
http://activities.sugarlabs.org/

It might be worth trying this out. What do you think?

[DontWannaName]

vbulletin 4.0 is coming out and features a new theme system so I would put that off
Do you mean like adding a backend tags system so plugin authors can tag their plugins so more key words come up then just whats in the title as I am always trying to look for something but the title never equals to what im looking for

[XARIUS]

Being a Firefox user, I've obviously used the addons site, and I find it easy to use, and relatively easy to find the addons I'm looking for.

That being said, I think having a discussion area for each plugin is sort of what sets SM apart from ES. Yes, I realize ES also has community forums, but there's not always a topic for each plugin, and I feel that having one is a great way to keep an eye on the heartbeat/lifeline of the plugin itself.

I would assume that vB either:

• Has an API which can be used to create forum topics or:
• Can have forum topics easily created with a simple MySQL insert

I would say using the system you mention, while also keeping the community forum aspect automated/in-sync would be optimal.

We don't need the plugins attached to the forums, but maybe when the topic is created, a link to the addon itself could be inserted in the new topic when it's created, and discussion can continue forward from there.

X

[bobbobagan]

The eventscripts way works very well at the moment. It would be nice to see something similar for SourceMod.

The only problem with the links you have given Bailopan, is they hook directly into the program (eg you can't install a plugin to your home Firefox from your work). You have to remember that a majority of people only have FTP access, so I am not exactly sure how you would make this work for them... At some point the files would still need to be uploaded by FTP.

[devicenull]

Originally Posted by bobbobagan The eventscripts way works very well at the moment. It would be nice to see something similar for SourceMod. The only problem with the links you have given Bailopan, is they hook directly into the program (eg you can't install a plugin to your home Firefox from your work). You have to remember that a majority of people only have FTP access, so I am not exactly sure how you would make this work for them... At some point the files would still need to be uploaded by FTP.

This would likely just be a "Get Plugin" link. At some point in the future we may come up with a way to have a "install this to your server" button, but that would be a long way off.

[devicenull]

Originally Posted by XARIUS Being a Firefox user, I've obviously used the addons site, and I find it easy to use, and relatively easy to find the addons I'm looking for. That being said, I think having a discussion area for each plugin is sort of what sets SM apart from ES. Yes, I realize ES also has community forums, but there's not always a topic for each plugin, and I feel that having one is a great way to keep an eye on the heartbeat/lifeline of the plugin itself. I would assume that vB either: Has an API which can be used to create forum topics or: Can have forum topics easily created with a simple MySQL insert I would say using the system you mention, while also keeping the community forum aspect automated/in-sync would be optimal. We don't need the plugins attached to the forums, but maybe when the topic is created, a link to the addon itself could be inserted in the new topic when it's created, and discussion can continue forward from there. X

The problem I have with this is it easily gets outdated. Once you release a new version, all the previous comments are typically invalid. If we could create a topic per plugin version (then lock the old one), I feel this would work a lot better.

[MjrNuT]

Originally Posted by devicenull The problem I have with this is it easily gets outdated. Once you release a new version, all the previous comments are typically invalid. If we could create a topic per plugin version (then lock the old one), I feel this would work a lot better.

Agreed. Like note the previous as superceded. It is still linked to going forward for reference.

There are times where updates are made to a plugin and its more beneficial to revert to an earlier version (but lots of times it is lost) for the time being. Not saying its a reflection on the author, things change so much and ppl do their best to capture and implement....err, yeah, that's software for you.

+1 for that type of idea there devicenull.

I think someone mentioned elsewhere, but also it is useful for like prerequisites to be listed. Currently it's freeform for the author to stipulate them, but maybe there are enough instance now where checkboxes could be used (e.g., minimum SM version, minimum MM:S version, etc.). These I suspect would also be first level categories for tracking.

[devicenull]

Originally Posted by MjrNuT I think someone mentioned elsewhere, but also it is useful for like prerequisites to be listed. Currently it's freeform for the author to stipulate them, but maybe there are enough instance now where checkboxes could be used (e.g., minimum SM version, minimum MM:S version, etc.). These I suspect would also be first level categories for tracking.

It seems to have the concept of "products", so we could have a MMSource 1.7.x product, a Sourcemod 1.3.x product, etc.

It also has the concept of "collections", which is just a group of addons. Someone brought up in the other thread that it's difficult for people to tell what addons they should be using to replace, say Mani. We could easily have a "Mani Plugins" collection that provides all the "missing" features from Mani.

[BAILOPAN]

Yeah, I really like the idea of collections.

[Darkimmortal]

Whatever happens, it would probably be best to wait for the vBulletin 4.0 release first.