Members Helping Members

[Wayne Luke]

Hello, I understand that some of you are frustrated and feel underappreciated. The staff here have taken notice and they are working feverishly to fix this. What I would like to do is relay some of the information to you as this is your community.

When this site was first conceived, the addon authors went out of their way to help others. They didn't look down on you if you didn't know PHP and thought that it was against the vBulletin philosophy to do so. vBulletin is created in a way where you do not need to know how to write PHP code or run a MySQL Query. A lot of functionality is geared towards non-technical people. Without specific numbers, I would say 30% of all new customers know little more than how to use a web browser on their computers.

In order to support these customers, this site needs to get back to a member-helping-members mentality. Taking your hacks commercial might help line your pockets but it doesn't help this community or anyone else. Now, don't get me wrong here... I understand the need to make a buck in the modern world. In a true community though people help others. Answer questions, provide articles and tutorials. Help each other. Who knows, but that person who knows absolutely no PHP code might be an awesome accountant or publicist that can help you down the road. Everyone is more than a handle and a userid. Likewise if you utilize an addon and find it useful then thank the author and click the install button. It is a nice courtesy. The mentality of coders vs. non-coders has to end.

Everyone with a vBulletin license has a right to be here. Taking your toys and storming out of the park is not the way to handle the situation. Discussing it like mature people is. I know that things move slowly on this site and there are many reasons for that. Hopefully that will change in the near future. There are several discussions going on now amongst the staff regarding this and other issues with the site. As more becomes known, we will pass the information on to you.

Up until now you haven't had an active role in developing this community. Currently the staff is being restructured with defined roles. This will also open up new staff positions. Once the new staff structure is in place, the different positions will act as liaisons to get work done on the site. This can include new styles, new functionality or redesigning existing functionality. Different projects will be outlines and individual projects will be worked on similar to an open source methodology with the sharing of ideas among peers.
So in short, I ask that you bear with the staff here for a while longer. They are striving to work in the community's best interest.

While I am at it, I would like to ask that those coders that have removed their modifications to please return them and stick with us a bit longer. With your cooperation, the summer of 2006 will see some changes on this site.

As more information becomes available it will be posted. In fact, I hope to have some information for you next week. Until then please work with the staff instead of against them. They want what is best for this site as much as you do.