Suggestions for optimal Modification Management

[Gaskell]

Originally Posted by The Geek

Development

Harness some of the coders here to create the system. To do this project right, it will take ages for 1 person to do. Furthermore you wont get a fraction of the features implemented that coders and users want which will result in people whinging about it.
Sure there are security concerns - however a team working together can check one another's code and the whole thing doesn't have to go live until it gets an OK by vb staff

Sounds a good idea. Got all this unused potential here going to waste. The coders here code vB mods because they like the software. Why not let them put something back into it, at least on a small scale? Not a coder myself, but I would definately be up for some beta testing if this were to happen some time in the future.

The above points have probably already been said somewhere in a similar post on here by someone else

Originally Posted by The Geek

Filter system.

The current flow at .org is confusing. Modifications are grouped into a few odd categories (plug ins, extensions, etc...). I see the thought behind the concept - however users want to be able to group based on functionality, not on whether they need ftp access (remember that vB needs ftp access so at some point they had to use it!).
It makes sense to be able to filter a search (or just a regular listing) of modifications that meet a particular criteria. Some suggestions off the top of my head are:

* Requires vB file changes
* Requires vB template changes
* Contains additional files
* Contains additional templates
* Known to work with vB version x
* Has more than x Installs
* Adds functionality in x Areas (sounds odd, but kind of how the categories were group before: forumdisplay changes, user profile stuff, showthread stuff, etc...)

There are loads more, and certainly you wouldn't need them all, however it could prove VERY useful to coders AND users.

Shouldnt be too much hassle, even just an advanced search based on the tick-boxes on modification releases set as a link on Forums Index (for one approach)

Originally Posted by The Geek

Mini Bug tracker

I really do not feel that this would be overly difficult to implement, however it would clean things up dramatically. Allow people that have downloaded the modification to post in a bug tracker associated to that release.
This gives coders a one stop place to find, control and track bugs and the users a one stop place to see what issues are outstanding.
Leave discussion forums for troubleshooting and general discussion.

Another good suggestion. Would be canny, especially in "hot" releases where theres odd bugs in the middle of loads of "cool hack!" posts. Easier for coders to keep track of things they need to sort and to keep users up to date without spending ages looking for relevent posts

Originally Posted by The Geek

The coder/designer/project smilie system.

Allow users that downloaded (and hadn't uninstalled the system) to give the coder/project on its merits (kind of like a positive only rep system):

* Functionality
* Ease of use
* Features
* Support

Let the user give them a smilie if they feel it warrants it. For instance, the functionality was good so they get a smiley face there, but support was only mediocre so they get nothing there. No rating, no frowny smiles, only big grins (i.e. this project has over 50 functionality smilies). It could be a cool incentive system. Then again, I could have had too much crack with my Cheerios this morning. Regardless, look at some kind of a rating system.

At-a-glance feedback for coders and easier for users to see what mods people are happy with? Sounds a good-'un