Premium Modification Status & Support Subforums

[Erwin]

vBulletin.org (in conjunction with Jelsoft) is beta-testing a new service here at the moment:

Premium Modifications (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/forumdisplay.php?f=99) - Modifications that have support subforums hosted by vBulletin.org - these are still FREE Modifications provided by 3rd parties.

There are some Modifications (otherwise also known as "hacks" or "addons") which are more than just simple modifications to the vBulletin code - they add a whole new dimension to the software. There Modifications are so big that they have their own Modifications as well.

In the past, at vBulletin.org, these Modifications are restricted to having one thread dedicated to its support. This means that the thread ends up being hundreds of pages long and bug-fixes and Modifications to the Modification get lost in the multitude of posts.

A lot of times, the Modification author(s) start their own support website to cope with the questions and to provide better support. The problem with this is that these support websites are not official Jelsoft websites and thus are not linked to Jelsoft's licensing database - as such, there is no way of knowing if a person downloading the Modification is a licensed vBulletin owner - oftentimes the Modification author(s), in an attempt to ensure that legitimate vBulletin owners only have access, go through elaborate techniques to ensure the downloader is licensed.

We at vBulletin.org decided that what we can do is to offer certain selected Modifications the status of "Premium Modifications". Premium Modifications are offered their own special subforums right here at vBulletin.org, with bandwidth and space hosted by Jelsoft. The authors of the Modification will be given limited control over the threads in their Modification subforums. By doing this, we ensure that the vBulletin.org community gets the best support for these Modifications, and we provide the avenue for the authors to give this support in the optimal manner. This also ensures that the Modifications are located in the one place, and not strewn across the net. Also, licensed owners are happy that unlicensed pirates are not getting access to these Modifications.

What makes an Modification a Premium Modification? Well, the criteria is not fully established, but the main points are that the Modification is:

1. A Major Feature Addition
2. Has a Support Thread that has many pages (no set number for now, just LOTS)
3. Able to support its own Modifications
4. Would otherwise require a separate support website to provide adequate support

Modification authors will go into a special usergroup which allows them access to a private Premium Modification Authors Discussion forum. They will also become moderators of their own Modification subforum and will be able to delete posts, as well as close and manage threads.

At the moment, we are beta-testing this system with the UCS Store hack as the first Premium Modification to be hosted here.

Modification authors of large Modifications may PM either Xenon or myself to apply for Premium Modification status if they believe they qualify for such. We are keen to assist this community to continue to grow and provide the best support possible.

Happy New Year! :)

[AN-net]

Very cool Erwin, I believe this will surely help the community and make getting your answers quicker and more efficient;)

[Paul M]

Very nice idea ....... but the qualification seem a bit steep - 50 pages before it's even considered a premium ? - stuff can get lost in a thread long before it reaches such a huge size.

Will the number of installs also play a part, a hack with a lot of installs is bound to generate a lot of queries.

[Erwin]

Very nice idea ....... but the qualification seem a bit steep - 50 pages before it's even considered a premium ? - stuff can get lost in a thread long before it reaches such a huge size.

Will the number of installs also play a part, a hack with a lot of installs is bound to generate a lot of queries.
You're right - so I removed the actual number of pages. As long as there are "LOTS". ;)

[Incendium]

Great idea...looking forward to seeing this out of the beta stages :)

[Dan]

Great idea guys :D

[Xenon]

We still have to play around what hacks qualify and what not, but you can see, we have added Tigga's vBAdvanced to our premium section :)

[Tigga]

Woohooo! I'm the second one in there. :D

[Paul M]

Does the author have to apply - I can think of at least two hacks I have installed that ought to qualify. :)

[AN-net]

will hackers have to request their hack be added or will be eventually be added if it gets big enough?

[Xenon]

Authors have to request a Premium forum, as they have to spend time there as well ;)

[Reeve of shinra]

I thought the forum was for paid hacks for a second. Premium is a misleading term I think but overall it looks good.

[Tigga]

I thought the forum was for paid hacks for a second. Premium is a misleading term I think but overall it looks good.
Actually I thought something more along those lines at first as well.

[Tony G]

Does the author have to apply - I can think of at least two hacks I have installed that ought to qualify. :)
In the end, it's only if they want to offer support here.

This is a great idea, glad it went ahead.

[lasto]

yeah i thought premium meant payment = maybe it needs renaming or something as it is confusing.

Also good idea on the new section as well :)

[Erwin]

How does Premium mean Paid? :) Premium just means special, not commercial.

[Erwin]

I added this to the first post:

AddOn authors will go into a special usergroup which allows them access to a private Premium AddOn Staff Discussion forum. They will also become moderators of their own AddOn subforum and will be able to delete posts, as well as close and manage threads.

I also made it clear that Premium AddOns are Large AddOns hosted here, not Paid ones - they are still free.

[Brad]

I'm happy this came to be :)

[Skyline_GT]

very nice idea:D

[yinyang]

most excellent idea. i think you should change Premium to Unleaded. j/k

[heynurse]

Great idea, I'm sure this will help return vb.org to a one stop shop for vb hack info! I hope so anyway :)

[Marco van Herwaarden]

Call it Premium Support Addons, can't be much confusion about that then.

[deathemperor]

Brilliant idea, I was so tired of coming over the sites to get more support, now I don't need.

Good work.

[Paul M]

Why is it called addon's rather than hacks ?

[Link14716]

Why is it called addon's rather than hacks ?
The vB3 forum names doesn't even call them hacks, they call them modifications. It's just a word. ;)

[Revan]

4. Requires a separate support website to provide adequate supportMaybe Im misunderstanding the concept of this section, but isn't the point of this to avoid "branching out" to other sites which cannot control licence status like vBorg?
I would apply for this, because I feel my RPG qualifies in all other departments apart from the quoted point.

Besides, I don't feel like shelling out $160 for a forum simply for RPG, nor do I feel like creating a support part of my regular forum.
And this would also bring us back to the "unlicenced users gaining support".

Thirdly, if I merely put up a FAQ on my site with all the questions asked in the RPG thread, this would AGAIN bring us back to the unlicenced users gaining support, which I am strongly against.
That's why I never reply to support emails, nor answer PMs where the user has 0 posts.

So if I have misunderstood this requirement completely, please explain it to me :)


On a side note, I think the Premium Addons forum should only be visible to licenced members, if this is not already so. Which I have no way of knowing :p




//peace

[Polo]

Excellent Idea, this is just want vbulletin.org needed :)

[Paul M]

The vB3 forum names doesn't even call them hacks, they call them modifications. It's just a word. ;)It's a word that's already in use on the forum to mean something else (addition to existing hack), and it's just more confusing, we have hacks, modifications, and now addons (type 2) all meaning the same thing. Let's just stick to one name please. :)

[Brad]

It's a word that's already in use on the forum to mean something else (addition to existing hack), and it's just more confusing, we have hacks, modifications, and now addons (type 2) all meaning the same thing. Let's just stick to one name please. :)
Well we have been trying to move away from the word hack just because the word hack has been tainted by the media. Alot of filters block this site because of the use of the word hack, I know for a fact that the local college and highschool block vB.org because of that :(

[alkatraz]

Sounds like a great plan!

[Link14716]

Maybe Im misunderstanding the concept of this section, but isn't the point of this to avoid "branching out" to other sites which cannot control licence status like vBorg?
I would apply for this, because I feel my RPG qualifies in all other departments apart from the quoted point.

Besides, I don't feel like shelling out $160 for a forum simply for RPG, nor do I feel like creating a support part of my regular forum.
And this would also bring us back to the "unlicenced users gaining support".

Thirdly, if I merely put up a FAQ on my site with all the questions asked in the RPG thread, this would AGAIN bring us back to the unlicenced users gaining support, which I am strongly against.
That's why I never reply to support emails, nor answer PMs where the user has 0 posts.

So if I have misunderstood this requirement completely, please explain it to me :)


On a side note, I think the Premium Addons forum should only be visible to licenced members, if this is not already so. Which I have no way of knowing :p




//peace
Well, the hack threads aren't invisible to unlicensed, only code is. ;)

[Erwin]

More edits to 1st post:

1. Made it clear that the requirement is NOT that there is already a separate hack support site, but that one would otherwise be needed to provide support adequately.

2. Decided to keep things consistent and changed AddOns to Modifications as per forum names.

[Xenon]

:) @ Erwin :)

That's why I never reply to support emails, nor answer PMs where the user has 0 posts.
Unlicensed users cannot use PM's just fyi ;)

[deathemperor]

On a side note, I think the Premium Addons forum should only be visible to licenced members, if this is not already so. Which I have no way of knowing
well you can know it, by logging out of Vb.org and there you are unlicensed ^^

[Link14716]

well you can know it, by logging out of Vb.org and there you are unlicensed ^^
Well, I was too lazy to log out, so I just used a different browser. K-Melon. ;)

[Revan]

:) @ Erwin :)


Unlicensed users cannot use PM's just fyi ;)Haha ok :p
I still prefer them to post in the thread tho ;)

Well, I was too lazy to log out, so I just used a different browser. K-Melon. ;)Im too lazy to do even that! :p

[Xenon]

well, the premium forums have the same permission settings as the full releases forum, we might change it later, as said we are currently in BetaStage :)

[sabret00the]

oooh front page news, you gotta love it :)

congratulations both team GeekyDesigns and team vBadvanced.

[cyt0plas]

Personally, I don't like it. In general, I hate restrictions, opressive permissions, etc.

I work on vB at work, and was a pain (not a hassle, just a pain) getting added just so I could do the work I need to do.

Why not just mark in the forums if the user is registered, and let the author decide on a case-by-case basis? Plus, the community can help out too, should it wish.

It's not like a few unlicensed (pirate) users harms the mod authors, especially if there were a system in place that let the mod authors choose to simply ignore them.

[Xenon]

because this is an official support site here, and therefore just licensed users will get help.

[Link14716]

oooh front page news, you gotta love it :)

congratulations both team GeekyDesigns and team vBadvanced.
And now Revan. ;)

[Erwin]

Personally, I don't like it. In general, I hate restrictions, opressive permissions, etc.

I work on vB at work, and was a pain (not a hassle, just a pain) getting added just so I could do the work I need to do.

Why not just mark in the forums if the user is registered, and let the author decide on a case-by-case basis? Plus, the community can help out too, should it wish.

It's not like a few unlicensed (pirate) users harms the mod authors, especially if there were a system in place that let the mod authors choose to simply ignore them.
Mmm... this has been the case ever since vBulletin.com and vBulletin.org started. Nothing's changed.

[frage]

How does Premium mean Paid? ..

since many of german or austrian webmaster called their payment features *premium*

and so I'm also thought *premium* means payment = irrelevant for me ;)

and the rest:
a ranking for hacks ?

because vbulletin says : no support if you have hacks and otherwise *premium* hacks ?
:confused:

I using hacks if I would like to have them, if I realize the hack is from a good coder and xhtml
and if the coder give me support,

if not --the hack will be *premium* *hack of the month or of the year*

and the license:
every software could be used without any license,
every stylesheet, every (x)html code could be used by everyone
you know that -I know that

this prob wouldn't be resolved with a *premium* forum...

Ok it could be, that I can use more hacks, because now I can't while I'm a member of vb-gemany and can't lock in the member area here or of vb**.com

and Ok never ever I would like to surf all over the internet world to find a hack for vbulletin ;)
and that's why I'm using your board
if premium or not premium, this is not my prob, it's only yours (licence!;))
best regards
frage

[Link14716]

...what?

The premium forums are for support. You try giving support in a 100 page thread. ;)

[Xenon]

Frage: tut mir leid, aber so ganz hab ich jetzt ned verstanden, worauf du hinaus willst.

Du bist hier lizensiert und kommst damit auf alle bereiche von vb.org auf die auch ein vb.com user kommt.

die Premium Hack foren, sollen doch nur den support für solche hacks erleichtern, und den autoren gleichzeitig erlauben nur lizensierten usern (wie du einer bist) zu helfen.

Oder hab ich was jetzt falsch verstanden?

[frage]

Frage: tut mir leid, aber so ganz hab ich jetzt ned verstanden, worauf du hinaus willst.

Du bist hier lizensiert und kommst damit auf alle bereiche von vb.org auf die auch ein vb.com user kommt.

die Premium Hack foren, sollen doch nur den support f?r solche hacks erleichtern, und den autoren gleichzeitig erlauben nur lizensierten usern (wie du einer bist) zu helfen.

Oder hab ich was jetzt falsch verstanden?
gr?? Dich
(sch?n in vertrauter Sprache zu schreiben;)
bei vbindex stand dabei: mehr support gibt es f?r alle registrierten ..hier, ich klickte dies an, sollte mein vbulletinKundenpasswort und Kundennummer eingeben... jedes Mals stand dort: wrong password or username,
genauso geht es mir hier (http://www.vbulletin.com/members/membersupport.php)
also nahm und nehm ich an, dass es Unterschied macht wo mensch Kunde ist,
wenn dies mit diesem support Unterforum aufh?rt, dann bin ich gl?cklich,

schade finde ich, dass die Anzahl der threadseiten entscheidend ist , ob ein addon/hack aufgenommen wird, und nicht die Korrektheit des codes,
die Sicherheit der php Proggrammierung und die Validit?t des htmls.
also wieder Quantit?t gegen Qualit?t-schad.
-> weil Schutz der Lizenz kann mit so einem Unterforum ist meiner Meinung nach schlicht naiv.
wenn ich eine software haben will- bekomm ich sie,
dass ich dies nicht tu h?ngt mit dem support zusammen, die ein software Ersteller bietet,
bietet er keinen, ist ihm offenbar der Kunde egal,
und vbulletin bietet -ehrlich zugeb- verdammt guten support;I
mfg
frage

[Xenon]

bei vbindex stand dabei: mehr support gibt es f?r alle registrierten
vb index ist keine offizielle Jelsoft seite, dazu kann ich also nix sagen...

bei vb.com bzw vb-g.com is das ne andre sache, du hast immer nur zugriff auf einene von beiden bereichen, ka warum das so geregelt wurde, musst mal pogo fragen ;)

Unsere Auswahlkriterien sind ja noch nicht fest, wir schaun mal, inwieweit es so halt passt ;)

[frage]

..

bei vb.com bzw vb-g.com is das ne andre sache, du hast immer nur zugriff auf einene von beiden bereichen, ka warum das so geregelt wurde, musst mal pogo fragen ;)...

;)
offenbar gibt der nur membern *seiner* HP Auskunft;)

danke f?r die INFO

steht extrem irref?hrend bei der Anmeldung, dort steht mensch ist dann *?berall* member,

naja solang dies so geregelt ist seh ich keinen Vorteil f?r mich,
au?er dass ich addons (;)) jetzt in vielen Unterforen suchen muss-schad.

mfg
frage

[cinq]

last i checked, this was an english only board :p

Back to the topic, this move is a step in the right direction :)
And with the soon to be merger with vbTemplates, this is going to be a GREAT onestop resource site.

[Erwin]

Achtung baby. ;)

[Creative Suite]

Great idea :)

[Xenon]

@cinq: sorry, but it was easier that way to understand what frage wanted to say ;)

@frage: die unterforen sollen es nur einfacher machen, behaupte nicht, fragen und antworten in nem tausen seiten langen thread zu finden w?re einfacher als unterforen zu durchsuchen ^^

[red_baron2000]

Frage: tut mir leid, aber so ganz hab ich jetzt ned verstanden, worauf du hinaus willst.

Du bist hier lizensiert und kommst damit auf alle bereiche von vb.org auf die auch ein vb.com user kommt.

die Premium Hack foren, sollen doch nur den support f?r solche hacks erleichtern, und den autoren gleichzeitig erlauben nur lizensierten usern (wie du einer bist) zu helfen.

Oder hab ich was jetzt falsch verstanden?

i do not think you have missunderstand anything but it is just a free way of expression so to say..:)

[cinq]

Just pulling your leg, Stefan :D:p

[frage]

i do not think you have missunderstand anything but it is just a free way of expression so to say..:)

;)
beyond all question
steht au?er Frage
;)

Gr??e an *die Schweiz*
best regards to Swizerland

frage

[neocorteqz]

last i checked, this was an english only board :p

lmao. :p


I like this idea. Certainly make it a little easier on the Major Hacks.

[The Coldwood]

Very cool Erwin, I believe this will surely help the community and make getting your answers quicker and more efficient;)
I personally approve of this. However, a name change would be recommended, becuase I thought "Awww, great, now we have to pay for vB.org hacks, and soon vBt themes and hacks". Well, that's coool.

[Eagle Creek]

Very cool!

I will follow this thread for news!

[Xenon]

vBIndex and vBGarage have been added to the list of premium modifications.

We're glad to see, this is evolving very well :)

[Eagle Creek]

vBIndex and vBGarage have been added to the list of premium modifications.

We're glad to see, this is evolving very well :)
What is vBgarage :$?

[Dean C]

What is vBgarage :$?

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=63681

[Eagle Creek]

Thx!

[noppid]

WTG magnus! Congrats!

Thank you vb.org for your support!

This will surely improve every aspect of vBGarage support and development.

[cinq]

Hurray for vbGarage ! :D

[Inzagi]

This will surely improve every aspect of vBGarage support and development.


It was already a great hack, now it's even more secure and needs less server load I can say as beta tester and I am sure now that it even will get more feature like the multiple garage/gallerie thing.
It's definitely a hack worth the premium status as it might compete even with bigger Photo galleries in the future ;)

[Floris]

Nice addition to the vBulletin Resources web site. Hopefully this is a good step forward to get developers of addons to put more time and effort into their work, with that I mean quality. Optimized code, proper vbulletin integration, css, phrases, templates (xhtml) where needed and hopefully more written in the way vbulletin is coded. A good example for everybody else who wants to learn then ;)

Good luck with this testing project. And I am very happy to hear this is for free resources and that this site isn't turning more and more into a commercial market place for code hackers and scammers.

[Erwin]

Hacks hosted on this site will always be free. That's the Jelsoft position. :) It's a good one.

[Fat Burger]

Any chance the individual forums can have the installation instructions/files put in a sticky thread at the top? I noticed that at least sv1cec did that for the Advanced Warning System hack.

It's just nice to check out the forum, see a hack I've never heard of before, and then see a thread at the top explaining what it does and how to install it.

[Xenon]

theres always a link to the release thread in the description box :)

[sabret00the]

i noticed that it says in conjunction with Jelsoft, sorry to bring this up so late but i just wondered their role in all of this?

[Xenon]

their role was behind the scenes bringing this idea to life because of license questions and so on.

[sabret00the]

thanks Stefan :)

See that's what happens when theirs no new news, people keep going on and on about the old stuff, make something newsworthy happen :p

[Xenon]

well, there will be new news soon, but right now we don't have any ;)

[Tortikova]

Great idea

[nexialys]

... you really needed to bring this back to life, 2 years after it was started hey... come on, read the thread dates before posting in them...