Premium Modification Status & Support Subforums
 

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

Premium Modifications - 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! :)

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

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". ;)

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

Great idea guys :D

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 :)

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

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

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

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

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.

In the end, it's only if they want to offer support here.

This is a great idea, glad it went ahead.

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 :)

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

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.

I'm happy this came to be :)

very nice idea:D

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

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

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

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

Good work.

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. ;)

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

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

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 :(

Sounds like a great plan!

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

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.

:) @ Erwin :)

Unlicensed users cannot use PM's just fyi ;)

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. ;)

Haha ok :p
I still prefer them to post in the thread tho ;)

Im too lazy to do even that! :p

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 :)

oooh front page news, you gotta love it :)

congratulations both team GeekyDesigns and team vBadvanced.

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.

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