Questions to the whole community, but especially to coders

[kall]

Originally Posted by peterska2

An install click and a kind word are enough to keep me happy.

Ditto to that!

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by kall

Ditto to that!

Tritto.

[Zachariah]

Originally Posted by Tim Skellett

My question is, what is it exactly you coders want from people like me?

So, how can I and others like me make this site better? What exactly is wanted or expected of us?

Do not feel bad.

Everyone wants something different I guess.

I enjoy what people can do with things I make. There are many valuable ideas that spawn from feedback of people that put the code into operation. I do not see a value myself on making a product for someone to turn around and insult them for their lack of talent.

Every person has skills in their own fields I do not see a problem. This site is for owners of vBulletin to customize their site.

I was on this site for 2 years before I did much of anything.

[JD45]

I personally like to give feedback where credit is due and always click the install button. Its the little things that go a long way.

[Mosh]

Clicking on Install and a thank you is all I would like, it gives me a feeling of a job well done.

That and if there are support questions for my modifications, the person gives as much detail to the problem as possible, more info = quicker and more accurate support.

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by jdsinclair

Clicking on Install and a thank you is all I would like, it gives me a feeling of a job well done.

That and if there are support questions for my modifications, the person gives as much detail to the problem as possible, more info = quicker and more accurate support.

Ditto to that. The number of times you see a post that just says "It doesn't work", no other clue ......

[Eikinskjaldi]

Originally Posted by Paul M

Ditto to that. The number of times you see a post that just says "It doesn't work", no other clue ......

Aye, that much dreaded "Help me" with no idea on how to help them or whats wrong. Though like many of the others a click on the install and a smile go a long way, I have yet to use a copyright on any published work here, but that would be nice if it was kept.

[orban]

Originally Posted by Paul M

Ditto to that. The number of times you see a post that just says "It doesn't work", no other clue ......

I don't see a problem with this. Just make a copy and paste ready asking for more information. If they want help they'll come back if not they won't.

Originally Posted by Tim Skellett

So, how can I and others like me make this site better? What exactly is wanted or expected of us?

I don't care if you click install or not or if you credit me or say thanks to me

I only contributed one extension so far which proofed to be very useful for me so I thought "why not share it". I'm trying to support it.

I am generally a bit offended by the addons/ext/hacks here who start their post with a two site long essay on how to click install, vote for HotM, credit, thank, donate, whatever. This should be a free place where the content is the focus not the people who contribute. I got a lot of ideas for hacks here and generally modifiy things before they actually go on my installation and I'm glad if it's just a product.xml or a code bit which I can use how I want.

I think the most important things you can do is:
1. Install it on your installation and report if it works (especially useful if you use a lot of other addons/ext/hacks).
2. If it fails report back with a full list of installed addons/ext/hacks, vB version, OS, and so on, so I can try to find out what's wrong.
3. Give suggestions what to improve and/or ask what it is about and what exactly it does. It's often when you write something for your own it might be a mystery for you what it actually does. I'm also a bit suprises by the lack of documentation here, I'd expect at last a basic explanation how your addon/ext/hack works! I can check the source code but I guess you can not, so you're basically at the coder's mercy, he can do with you want he wants. So don't hesitate to ask questions if you're not sure about something!

Went a bit off-topic here but it's what I wanted to say for a long time

[amykhar]

The one thing I like to see non-coders do is to answer help questions that they can. If somebody asks how to do something basic with a mod, and you know the answer, jump in and help out EVERYBODY can contribute something. It doesn't have to be in code writing.

Answer questions in General Vbulletin Questions too. People need help with basic, built-in vbulletin functionality from time to time.

[CyberRanger]

Originally Posted by amykhar

The one thing I like to see non-coders do is to answer help questions that they can. If somebody asks how to do something basic with a mod, and you know the answer, jump in and help out EVERYBODY can contribute something. It doesn't have to be in code writing.

Ditto to that! I've found it very helpful when folks familiar with my mods help provide basic support. That frees me to help with the tougher issues. As far as what I want, the install button does it for me too. I code mainly for myself and I'm happy to see when it helps others.