Hack Version Compatibility

[Intex]

Just a suggestion . .

You always see a lot of people asking whether xxx hack is compatible with xxx version of vB. I know that the authors submitting the hacks develop and test them on a specific version and then release, but it's the subsequent releases of vB that it might not have been tested on where issues can occur.

I think it would be a good idea to include a multiple selection field or radio / checkboxes, which the authors can use to select what versions it's been tested and confirmed operational on, upon hack submission. They will also be able to update these version fields as others determine compatibility.

Additionally, if this field was set as a mandatory field, it would ensure that the authors also state what initial version there's was tested on, as you do get hacks released without any indication of the version it was developed for.

I believe this will save the author and the hacker time, based mainly on repetitive posting of the same questions / answers. It can also only help provide additional confidence to the hacker and subsequently more likely to install the hack.

Just a thought :).

[Dean C]

In general people develop modifications for their own board and release them on here to share with others. So chances are they're only going to have tested it on one version :)

[Intex]

Dean_C - thx. for the reply. Yes I understand that 'they' test it on one version, but what I'm saying is that as time progresses other versions of vB are released. Rather than potential installers wading through pages to see if someone has installed it sucessfully or not on a certain version, clearly showing what versions it will run on will help both them and the author.

A lot of time is spent by the authors answering repetitive questions, particularly this question. If you had the little selection box that shows which versions it runs on - it will save everybody time.

All the author has to do then once 'somebody else' has verified it works on a version (someone with good ruptation of course), is select the checkbox as well.

Like I said, it was just a thought anyway :).

[Dean C]

I see your point, i'm not dismissing it. I just can't see it working very well hehe :) We'll see what the higher powers say ;)

[Intex]

No problems :).

[Reeve of shinra]

What about letting the users (in addition to the author of the modification) tick off a version if they find its compatable with a certain version of vb.

[Intex]

Yeah, that's also another way to handle it.

[Xenon]

Well, actually that could be problematicall.

We often have already discussions in threads like: Hack works on 3.0.x
other user: nope it doesn't...

Actually it's up to the author to provide as much information about his release as he want to do.
So every Author has the possibility to add a "Confirmed to work on as well: 3.0.1, 3.0.2..."

I may want to add some little things to make such infos easier for the authors, but the general things will stay: the author is responsible.

[Intex]

Thanks for your input Xenon. Maybe authors should attach a poll to each hack so people can vote on whether it works or not on a particular version - joke :D.

I think anything that makes it easier for the author would be good, even if it just serves as a reminder to them that they need to specify what version(s) that hack works / tested with.

[Brad]

I like how mozilla dose it on the firefox update site, the code reads your browser for your version number then appends text to the release. In other words depending on the browser version you run an extention release will read 'this extention dose not work on your version' or 'this extention will work with your version'

We could apply this here as we already input versions in our profiles. When a user visit's a hack thread you could look to see if the vB version in their profile matches the one the author picks when he releases or edits the hack.

With some logic this could be extended to let the user know in advance if someone using the same version as them has gotton the hack to work. How about when someone replies to a thread their current version number is stored somewhere so this can be looked at later to look for matches between the browsing user and the ones that have already replied.

Just an idea..:)