Where vB is going wrong

[bobad]

Maybe all forum users should view this before posting here. :cheeky:

Forum Etiquette

[smacklan]

Originally Posted by Mark.B

I've learned as much as I physically can. I have to work for a living and I don't have the time to learn everything I'd need to know. Running my forum takes several hours a day as it is. There just isn't enough time.

I know the feeling...I work a RL job as well and my online site takes up way too much time also. But I found that I could get it done quicker the less dependent I was on others...that and I got tired of the condescending attitudes as well.

[Princeton]

Originally Posted by smacklan

Wow...and he purports to be a Christian...yeh.

I thought the same thing when I read that post.

Freaking rediculous ... why is he worried that others may pay for a similar addon?

[back to topic]

[HBRadio]

I agree, vB doesn't provide a lot of hands-on support; they just treat you like you know a lot about their software, and I don't.. this is just my opinion.

[Lizard King]

Originally Posted by HBRadio

I agree, vB doesn't provide a lot of hands-on support; they just treat you like you know a lot about their software, and I don't.. this is just my opinion.

What ? Jellsoft has one of the best support team. What do you expect ? Do you expect support team to teach you how to read , readme.txt or installation instructions ?

[Borgs8472]

Originally Posted by Mark.B

However, whenever we ask for these hacks to be ported, we are met with responses such as 'tell your members to get real and deal with it' or 'tell them to do without and get a life'....either that or we're totally ignored time after time.

Just to chip in, I am firmly in the 'tell your members to get real...' camp on this issue.

The statement that 'most 3.0 hacks will eventually by ported' statement was frankly wrong. You have to sort out porting the major hacks before upgrading, not after.

This means service requests.

Originally Posted by HBRadio

I agree, vB doesn't provide a lot of hands-on support; they just treat you like you know a lot about their software, and I don't.. this is just my opinion.

vBulletin is very simple to setup if you read the install docs. They don't support the mods and hacks, because they'd have to pay someone to do said support, which would drive up the price of their product quite a bit.

Originally Posted by HBRadio

I agree, vB doesn't provide a lot of hands-on support; they just treat you like you know a lot about their software, and I don't.. this is just my opinion.

this site is dedicated to Hacks and coding... if you don't know this environment, you can find a coder that will help you to deal with this. vbulletin.com is the official site where all clients can have support...

the difference between the two is that ALL clients are at the same level on vb.com, because Jelsoft is dealing with all clients... on vb.org, all members are on different levels because we have coders that participate, and clients/regular users that have requests for tools they will not be able to write from themselves...

if you evaluate that you are on the same level as the coder, then you have to face the situation where you will be talked to the same way as you'd be a coder... if you don't understand this, ask for help... nobody will drag you to the bottom of your life if you are not a coder...

and as said before, vBulletin is a paid software that is a bit complicated to code in, because it is programming, not playing... if you are not fluent with codes, you will face a lot of difficulties to deal with our codes... that's why you find complicated to install hacks that you don't know nothing about...

[Reeve of shinra]

I think that some restructing could really help.

Again, I really think the hack database can help.
- Interface for mod developers to post their hacks
- Allow users to post add ons
- Tips / Tricks/ customizations and FAQ section
- Bug tracker to make life easier

On the forums, ... there needs to be a seperate place where people unfamiliar to coding can post help requests. Either help in fixing something, help in installing it, or even just help in modifying a function to add a little something. Yeah, maybe one of the existing forums can serve this function but there really needs to be that dividing line between "release - no chat" and "general questions on it".

[Tony G]

Hmm, well, this place isn't exactly "unfriendly". I just see people getting tired of answering the same questions over and over, and especially when their support is completly free of charge, I don't see why they have to hide behind a smiley face. Because if they do this, a particular member will never learn to search before asking.

And frankly, this place is not what it was a few years ago. There are far less supporters, far less hack makers, so what's this going to result in? Requests for hacks not being fuffiled. Some are too big or complicated for some coders, others have lives etc. You need to understand that.

And as a few people have said, most unfriendliness comes from members basically teasing and flaming people who post things in the wrong forum. And it's never one member, sometimes it can be a whole page thread with "zomg idiot posting wrong thread I HATE YOU" and so forth. That really has to stop and I have told members several times to cut that out. There's only so much I can do in that situation.

What I'm going to end this with is - never complain about a free service. It will never be perfect, but it's still decent. Be patient, and people will respond. Bump responsibly, too. If nobody answers your support thread - it's not that people are ignorning you, it's that they might not know how to solve a problem. Not everyone here knows every nook and cranny of vB.