Where vB is going wrong

[southernlady]

If you don't get reply for 3 months, that should tell you not to depend upon that hack's originator.

It would be different if the coder in question was ignoring the thread but that coder IS answering other questions on the thread.

It's a hack that I really would like to have but I'll be the first to admit, I AM NOT a coder...that's why I come HERE. Like Paul mentioned earlier in the thread, he's codes but doesn't design, I design but don't code. Liz

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by southernlady

It would be different if the coder in question was ignoring the thread but that coder IS answering other questions on the thread.

You are correct - I ammend my post to reflect the instance of 1 post in a long thread. I do see that very often. I see it in my forum. In an active forum, I do not see any way, short of paying people to monitor every thread, to ensure every individual post is replied to. But again, most of this has to do with folks donating their 'hack'. I know on my forums I'm definitely not an expert in every subject / topic so I significantly depend upon moderators to answer questions/reply. My forum is relatively low volume. In a high volume forum this will be a significant problem short of paying people to 'police' threads to ensure every post is replied to. I hesitate to use the term 'impossible', which is why I say you'd have to pay someone (or more than 1 person) to 'police' every thread at last daily.

[Code Monkey]

Originally Posted by southernlady

It would be different if the coder in question was ignoring the thread but that coder IS answering other questions on the thread.

It's a hack that I really would like to have but I'll be the first to admit, I AM NOT a coder...that's why I come HERE. Like Paul mentioned earlier in the thread, he's codes but doesn't design, I design but don't code. Liz

Many coders will not respond if they don't see that you have clicked the install button.

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by JumpD

Many coders will not respond if they don't see that you have clicked the install button.

I recently downloaded a hack and installed it. I tested it and it didn't work. As I read back through the thread others had the same problem I di and no response from the coder. So - I uninstalled it. I didn't click the install button because it didn't work.

However, my point remains - These are Free Hacks. I have no real complaint if no one answers because I have no $ investment.

[southernlady]

Many coders will not respond if they don't see that you have clicked the install button.

And what if you have? And are still ignored? Liz

[Cap'n Steve]

Originally Posted by gavinzac

to scope out potential new features? the code is just HOW we get the new features. code for code's sake would be pretty dilly. if he sees ebux or something and thinks, wow that be great for the forum, THEN the code guy comes in.

That's fine if you have the code guy asking the questions, but that's not what people are complaining about. If you're the one asking for support for a hack, you should probably be the person who installed vBulletin or at least knows their way around administering it.

[Freesteyelz]

There seem to be two discussions here. Allow me to explain...

If I release a mod to the public (2 so far :classic: ) I'll support it the best that I can. I feel that I have an obligation to those who use it. It is not only my mod but my reputation on the line.

The threads in the question forums I'll sift through and answer the ones I think will work. I've only been a part of the vB community for two months and it would be quite irresponsible of me if I send someone on a wrong path just because I wanted to help but had nothing to back it up. Mistakes will happen of course but that's life. So if I reply to to a thread I'll go back with intent until the problem has been resolved or if I run out of suggestions.

There are many who'll search and try to find the answers on their own before asking their question(s). There are those who are not as resourceful and will ask immediately. My guess is that many contributers are turned off by the latter group.

I strongly believe in the "pay it forward" concept in that if you've received help then you help others. As huge as this community is with all of the personalities I think overall the people here practice that concept. They seem to enjoy what they do and are happy to help. Their time is on a voluntary basis and that says a lot. I think there's a good thing going on here and I'm glad to be a part of it.

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by southernlady

And then there is the flip side where I read the entire thread of a coder's install trying to find the answer, not once but 5 times, making sure I didn't miss it. Posted a question about why part of the code didn't work the way it was suppose to work and have yet to get an answer. My post is still being ignored over 3 months later. Yet, at the same time, that coder has answered over 10 more pages since.

To be fair, that will always happen if a thread is busy, it's easy to miss questions, esp if you have been away for a week, and no one is ever going to go back 10 pages to see if they missed a question three months ago.

[Darat]

I've probably mentioned this before but I think part of the reason some newbies find it hard to find the required answers is how long some threads become and especially because the same thread will cover different versions of the same hack - so an earlier bug may have been fixed in a later version but you have to read through all of the thread to work that out. (I've done this myself - read through a long thread, missed one particular post that addressed the problem I had and have to be pointed back to the original answer - that's not laziness it's just in an 18 page thread you do tend to miss things!)

I suggested it before but perhaps allow the hack poster to mark posts as "answered" or somehow otherwise collapse all the responses to previous versions.

Or perhaps have it so that each new version of a hack starts a new "sub thread"? That way people only need to read through the content that is relevant to the current release?

[imported_infitech]

Originally Posted by Darat

I've probably mentioned this before but I think part of the reason some newbies find it hard to find the required answers is how long some threads become and especially because the same thread will cover different versions of the same hack - so an earlier bug may have been fixed in a later version but you have to read through all of the thread to work that out. (I've done this myself - read through a long thread, missed one particular post that addressed the problem I had and have to be pointed back to the original answer - that's not laziness it's just in an 18 page thread you do tend to miss things!)

I suggested it before but perhaps allow the hack poster to mark posts as "answered" or somehow otherwise collapse all the responses to previous versions.

Or perhaps have it so that each new version of a hack starts a new "sub thread"? That way people only need to read through the content that is relevant to the current release?

This is so true. Long story short and to sum it up, we all agree there needs to be a better system here. More admins and mods perhaps. There MUST be something done. I'm 1000% sure we all agree.