2 years ago? Try 6.

I can not tell you when people started leaving as I really did not start
paying attention until 3.8 went to 4.0 then i noticed a big change, and
lots of 4.0 coding complaints, still do. I could find a 3.8 coder/designer
just about at anyturn, now it is hard to find a coder for 4.0, and if you
do, then they are really expensive, and in the end...the code isnt the
same, the design just is not as cool as it was for 3.8...and I bet you
a number of people left around that time frame also...if VB lost support,
then this would have been the time to have lost the great number
of vb fans, and I could see people just moving on at this time...
design for v4.x just isnt cool for the most part...

Are you hitting <enter>
because you're worried
about falling off the edge
of the monitor?


;)

I'm moderately sure I've said this a few times in the past so I am repeating myself but Its always good to remind people how things work.

vBulletin.org, like all communities goes though cycles, there are ups and downs, new people in and old people out.

There have always been shifts in coders here, coders leaving vB.org (or vBulletin even) for their own reasons. Some of these reasons were dislike of jelsoft policy, or vB.org policy. But everytime someone leaves, one or two new people showup to start their own work.

My only gripe is with how people leave, not why. If you want to leave for whatever reason, you shouldn't punish the users who have supported you by removing your addons. It only hurts them.

The reason for the decline as a whole in vBulletin.org is a gimmie gimmie attitude many users today have. Users today demand, instead of ask. Instead of trying they expect everything to be done for them when it comes to modifications. In the past it was a two way system. The users today outnumber the coders by a long shot. vBulletin.org used to be about coders, getting together, talking about and dicussing modifications. How they could do x y and z, etc. In the years after the plugin system, this drasticly changed. Users no longer had to get dirty with php code. They could upload a file and be done. The forced learning was gone. Now anyone who could download a file could use an addon. Before the plugin system, you had to at least be willing to look, read, copy, and paste and follow the instructions to the last letter. Other addon authors would use others addons, find problems and report them (high querys, bad practices, etc).

As great as the plugin system and everything that came with it is, its also hurt the community as a whole.

Sorry for the rant.

I am glad to see that it is not only me who noticed the gimmie gimmie attitude many users have.

Just out of curiosity, when was the plugin system introduced in vb?

3.5

to the OP, I just answered your question about the facebook buttons ;)

No apology needed, much of what you ranted about I agree with. Todays members are vastly different to when I joined, and I know youve been here a few years longer.

I agree 100% with Zachery. Good assessment. It's just not the same as it once was.

The plugin system changed a lot. Good and Bad... ;)

I personally think the plugin system is better than sex! ;)

It does make everything a lot easier to code things for, but it also has made us lazy in some ways. More good than bad, though.