A question for vB Coders
 

Hi All,

After 10 years using vBulletin and building forums I finally decided to get off of my rear, get involved, and start building mods and add-ons. Sometime this week I hope to release my first vB add-on to beta. To that end I have a question.

What are some of the best practices to follow when releasing a vB add-on?

Thanks in advance!

Pete

I would say-

Mark something you haven't tested for long as Beta

Include good documentation in a text file on how to use it

Include an option to disable the mod in the mod options. It should truly disable just about all code by putting everything in a conditional that only runs if enabled.

Whenever possible use one of the built-in error checks for each input field.

I like to have mods inside a folder, the folder inside a zip file, so I can just drag the folder out of the zip file after I've downloaded it.

Always use a custon naming scheme for your fields/tables in the database.

So you've made the best gallery mode ever? Don't call the table gallery, what if vBulletin adds a stock gallery feature? The user wont be able to upgrade.
What if you want to add a thread count to the user table? Dont call it threadcount or threads.

When we (GeekyDesigns) to stuff, we almost always try to use gd_name that way we shouldn't normally run into conflicts with name spaces.

Joe,

Thanks for your feedback and insight. Based on your last comment, I'm wondering if I made a mistake.

The add-on I'm about to release to beta is on the large side. It has a folder structure for the add-on to house class files, css files, images, cache files, etc. The primary php file itself resides in the forum root. Is that a no-no?

Thanks!

--------------- Added [DATE]1310589806[/DATE] at [TIME]1310589806[/TIME] ---------------

Thanks, Zachery. I did my best to try to avoid naming conflicts on all levels. I even did a fairly exhaustive search to make sure my main php file name has not been used by another add-on.

Cheers, and thanks for the input.

You can definitely put your main php file in the forum root. I'm not talking about after the files have been uploaded, I'm talking about when they are downloaded.

I prefer a structure like

ZIP File -> Name of Mod Folder -> UPLOAD -> All files and folders to upload relative to forum root
ZIP File -> Name of Mod Folder -> All XML and TXT files

It's not a requirement just my preference. Check out any of my mods if you want to see what I mean.

Anything inside the forum directory should be placed inside an 'upload' directory. That is pretty standard practice.

Other than that, I'm obviously a huge advocate of VDE to help organize in preparing that package and keeping updates consistent.

Okay, got it. Thanks, guys. Yes, I do have everything organized under an 'upload' folder.

Adrian, I started playing w/ VDE a while ago and love it. I will use it for all future releases.

Pete