Thanks :)

Its great from an administrator standpoint, its horrible for the community at large.

When I started modding vBulletin in 02, I had to know how to do the following:
Edit html
Edit vBulletin php files
Debug my own html/php if I fubared an edit.
Run SQL queries.
Keep backups of my files/dbs before I started editing incase things went south.

If I knew how to use the tracker on vbulletin.com I would put in the suggestion the plugin and hooks system be dropped for the betterment of the modding community.

That was fine when there were fewer mods, but it made upgrading a royal pain. The one mod that makes full use of the products/plugins is probably the best mod that was ever written. You'd be surprised how many people still don't know about the Advanced Product Management mod. Everything is all in one place. That should be vb default as it would make getting around things a lot easier for the average user.
That will never happen. Everyone seems to be going in the plugin direction now.

I honestly believe there were more addons in the vB2 days due to less features. Sure upgrades weren't easy but it FORCED you to learn and understand what you were doing.

I must disagree. I well remember the days of having to edit files manually to accomplish the littlest thing. But this didn't teach me PHP or anything else.

When I heard vbulletin had a nice plugin system in place, I switched to it. True, that leaves vb.org with a lot of members like myself that can't code their way out of a paper bag. But I'm not sure that's such a terrible thing. I mean, what's wrong with a user base that's willing to spend money for the features they want?

Thats not the core idea behind this website. In the past even if it didnt teach you PHP, you were willing to TRY and get your hands dirty. The important point here is try. There were still lots of users who didnt learn php, I am more or less one of them. I did learn basics, how to troubleshoot errors, repair my mysql tables, run queries.

The plugin system is amazing, in almost every way for administrators and sites. Its bad for vbulletin.org though.

Given the total lack of hooks being added to new code these days, you may get your wish sooner than you think.

Favorite Hack:
Plug-in System / Hooks

Been in my profile since vb 3.5, and still is :)

I must agree with Zachery's point and also say that the decline of coders lies in the fact that most essential functions are already present in the default vBulletin product. This means that usually only specialized add-ons can be released and that not everyone is able to make use of that. This applies to the paid section as well. Before there used to be loads of request for a reasonable amount of money involved, which was beneficial for both sides. Now you rarely find such offers and it mostly consist of either very large projects (for which I don't usually have time) or smaller projects which are not worth the money that is offered. It's a shame but the plugin system really made people believe that coding is extremely simple and easy, so naturally, the actual price of your work went down as well. So coders leaving after this, is not really that surprising when you cannot make a living out of it.

I don't blame the plugin system at all, I love it, I blame today's society, thinking that the consumer can get everything for nothing nowdays.