VB Portals?

[Pilot]

Anyone you provide a product or service to is a customer, whether they pay for it or not. Right now the site does not make future "users/customers/whatever" feel welcome. Which is unusual for this sort of software really.

[ToraTora!]

it is a hack. Not a form of software, nor vbulletin wrapped up in a nutshell. The primary key word here is "hack" which is non supported by vbulletin, and obviously by a few people that do not understand the ultimate goal of "customer" satisfaction, which in essence, is exactly what wa is trying to provide, if people would get off his back.

There used to be a saying that went a little something like this:

"patience is a virtue"

My sympathy for those who knew about the project months ago, but did nothing to pitch in any help, or support of the idea, falls short of basic caring. Now, in turn, the attitude that was displayed by those who chose not to help, which is one of sour grapes, and a array of fingerpointing at the people who are "contributing members" is the basic turntail analogy of "its not fair" or the timeless one of "i did nothing to help in this product, i did nothing to even show any interest to this project, but now that it is being offered to those who did, I want a piece of it, and if i cannot get it, than i am going to piss and moan, +++++ and complain that the people who are involved with the project, are nothing but opportunists waving the golden chalice of consumer wants and needs for profits over our heads" argument, which is nothing but falsification and fabrications of those who figure the world owes them more than what they put into it.

Remember, it is a hack. A very detailed, highly complicated, and very involved hack. Also keep in mind, wa is not making any money off this either, because some of those who downloaded the origional portal system, took it and ran. Now, basically what i gather from some of the negative comments in this thread, and really what basically is being conveyed here , is that wa should once again, after dumping months and months of work into this thing, give it away once again, to those who feel that his hard work does not deserve a contribution, a donation, or any volunteer work of any kind.
Well, lucky for you, the dontations, and monetary contributions are just a option at this time, which also means the hack will not cost you a nickle.
What may happen, (and I wouldnt blame him one bit if he did) in the future, if this type of behavior displayed prominantly continues, is that the hack will be for sale only, and than those who +++++ed and complained this whole time about having to pay to be a "contributing member" might actually have a valid argument to hold over his head when and if he ever decided to release another version. Rite now, the arguments that are presented are complete bs, and unwarrented

Of course, that is just my opinon, and not of the vportal site development crew, or of jellsoft/vbulletin.

[centris]

Up until the post by WaJones I thought this thread was a half decent debate with several members putting their points across in a well-mannered and hopefully constructive way.

I never intended it to become a personal attack on any one member but now I feel I am forced to state my own position regarding the issue.

Any post I made had nothing to do with money; I do not want something for nothing, as you seem to think. I also take offence that you seem to think I am some kind of under privileged person, what a patronising statement to make. I set up my own board on my host at my expense, the vB licence was at my expense, and the continuing updates, hacks etc and the vast amount of time I spend hopefully providing my members with a better board are all at my expense. I ask for nothing in return.

So what am I asking for; the opportunity to become involved, not to take a perfect hack and run, as you seem to think. Can I offer assistance in debugging NO I do not have the necessary skill level to do that but, I can work out what is wrong with my own installation and hopefully learn in the process, prior to commiting to my main board. All my problems with 2.01 were down to two things. (1) Typos in the scripts (mine) and the fact that somewhere in the scripts the portal is looking for the forum(s) folder, mine is in the forum folder.

I got 2.01 to run last night for the first time and I take some satisfaction that with my level of knowledge I got it up and running at all. So maybe, just maybe I could answer some of the dumb questions I asked at vbPortals to those who are in the same position allowing those members who are doing the development work to get on with developing the hack.

At no time or in any post did I ask for the release of the Lite version or VBPortal 3 to be released? I simply questioned the reasoning behind the contributing members area, and I also felt the hostility to newbies.

As for your comments ToraTora, I notice in your sig on the vBPortals site this statement: Founding Member, and C.E.O., of the highly privatized Pain in the Ass Club

I reckon your position as C.E.O. Is safe for another 3 years.

[ToraTora!]

well, im glad to see you actually took the time to visit the site for once.

also, my comments reflect mine, and mine only. I call them as i see them, and frankly, your "read what you are shoveling" line was nothing democratic, nor freindly as you so state as your plea of innocence because of me "picking" on you.

I did not ask for your financial statement either, because frankly i could care less.
None of us are millionares, and that is why i choose to back up those who work thier ass off to give something away that actually shows quality and craftsmanship even though the product was free.

Maybe you should of read my review of vportal in the reviews section, instead of reading my signature. You would of seen how far wa and josh have progressed that hack from the time i wrote that review.

also, if you are so interested in helping, why is it that the posts in here from josh reflect otherwise?
Badgering somebody to help is not a form of helping period.

[ToraTora!]

also, i noticed you said you got 2.01 running. well, did you contribute anything to the cause?

if not, than you prove my point, and the very same reason wa probably isnt that enthused about adding someone else to the mix of the contributing members area. After all, that is a old release, and most of the bugs, or problems have been either solved, documented, or just plain ignored because the problems are virtually non existant.

[centris]

You really are out of touch here,

also, I noticed you said you got 2.01 running. well, did you contribute anything to the cause

Yeh, I ran over and told everyone at vbportals - Sheesh. And as for being added to the list - I have never asked or wanted to be added I only commented on the Contributing member statements by others and gave my own opinion.

well, im glad to see you actually took the time to visit the site for once

You don't have a clue how often I visit the site, read the posts, do searches etc.

I did not ask for your financial statement either, because frankly i could care less

No you did not, but you use the same argument for wajones, I only tried to point out that we/most of us are in the same position.

also, if you are so interested in helping, why is it that the posts in here from josh reflect otherwise?

Don't have a clue what you mean here, I am not responsible for what Josh posts, and again you seem to think I am offering to help - I never said I was. I said the contributing member status precluded individuals including myself the opportunity to become involved, there is a difference in being involved at your own skill level and helping debug at the developmental level, which clearly I am in no position to do.

I do not see any point in continuing this thread as clearly we have differing opinions, problem is, I am talking about one thing and you are way off at a tangent talking about summit else.

[wajones]

Originally posted by centris
Up until the post by WaJones I thought this thread was a half decent debate with several members putting their points across in a well-mannered and hopefully constructive way.

Sorry, my post wan't meant to fire anyone up. Maybe that's why I almost failed public relations in college.

I never intended it to become a personal attack on any one member but now I feel I am forced to state my own position regarding the issue.

Any post I made had nothing to do with money; I do not want something for nothing, as you seem to think. I also take offence that you seem to think I am some kind of under privileged person, what a patronising statement to make. I set up my own board on my host at my expense, the vB licence was at my expense, and the continuing updates, hacks etc and the vast amount of time I spend hopefully providing my members with a better board are all at my expense. I ask for nothing in return.

I didn't intend my statement that you or anyone was a charity case. Just meant that I wasn't necessarily asking for money. Not that I would turn it down. This is an expensive hobby and I am retired and really am almost a charity case

So what am I asking for; the opportunity to become involved, not to take a perfect hack and run, as you seem to think. Can I offer assistance in debugging NO I do not have the necessary skill level to do that but, I can work out what is wrong with my own installation and hopefully learn in the process, prior to commiting to my main board. All my problems with 2.01 were down to two things. (1) Typos in the scripts (mine) and the fact that somewhere in the scripts the portal is looking for the forum(s) folder, mine is in the forum folder.
.

Everyone that has installed vbPortal 2.x has had problems and I just didn't want that to be the case with 3.0, If I went about it wrong, I guess I did can't do much about it now, but I didn't mean for it to cause hate and discontent.

Anyway 3.0 will be ready for beta 1 release in a few days I hope, it's not perfect, but it's still free.

After reading all of this stuff geeze... I must have slept in a little too long today...

Pilot, I know it may seem that over a phpportals we shun on the outsiders.. but we really don't. We would just like to see everyone that is interested in this hack.. to come join the community and get to know everyone. I know it may just be another board, that you register too and never or hardly ever visit till the hack is released, but... still be nice to join and ask questions, respond to posts.. etc. Just to get to know everyone. I have been around wa's site for awhile now, and I can tell you that I am Glad to have met everyone that I have come into contact with, either from phpportals or here. Outsiders are not bad.. it just seems that if you are over here on vb's site, asking for the release of phpportals (Which pilot bud, you didn't really.. you were just voicing some good's and bad's... and I guess.. did not really want this kind of feedback, but some positive feedback from other members that have not gone over there that much either). Sorry it turned out this way. Really I am. So outsiders are ok, but if you want to voice your opinion or praise it.. please do it over there... especially if you are praising it... cause I would think wa would love all that he can get..

centris, congrads on getting vb 2.0.1 installed and ready to rock... as you noticed there was a lot that needed to be changed to set it up properly, you will be happy to know it will be a lot easier in the final of 3.0...

As for you coming over and helping others... to me.. you really can't unless someone asks a question.. related to something you went through.. so no, you don't have to run right over there and say Hey I installed vbp2.0.1 who needs help, who has questions... kind of thing. Just glad to know that, now that you have installed it.. you can help if need be. But to tell ya the truth, a lot of the questions that have been asked have been answered throughout all of the threads on that board.

Btw.. for everyone to know.. wajones has actually spent some money just to make this a free hack to everyone.. hell even for getting rid of it to the masses in a way. I respect wajones for actually opening this up for everyone else to download. There has been a lot of great hacks that people have not released, because of the amount of time and energy put into them. So it is very cool to me to see that one of the best hacks around is being released to for everyone. I myself have not actually given any money to wajones yet... I have given hours and as much support as I could at time.. I mean yes, me like ToraTora.. and others can be an ass at times.. and just say.. search the forums... but we learn from the best.. lol But I plan to send a nice donation over, as soon as this winter comes and I get more money (less golf, and less outdoor activities means more money)

Well.. I would type more.. but no one wants to listen to me.. hehe..

that and I have a softball game...

[wajones]

I do want to make it clear that any comments made by others are their opinions and not necessarily mine. I do not support nor condone foul language or abusive remarks about anyone.

Debates are healthy, but no need to be get inflamatory or start degrading anyone.

[JoshFink]

Well, I think this thread is about over now..

All opinions reflected in these comments do not reflect the opinions of WA or PHPPortals.com or it's members.

Ok, now that the disclaimer is out of the way, I think some fundamental things should be covered.

Yes, I was directing my comments to the people who feel with vbPortal, or any other hack, that is their right to have it and be supported as much as they want. Hacks are a priveledge. If someone writes a hack and they feel they want to share it with the public, then you should feel lucky that they took their time and effort and decided to let you use it. They do not owe you anything, in fact, it is you that really owe them.

Sorry, for the tirade and this will probably be my last post in the thread. This subject as you can tell has hit a nerve with a lot of people and rightfully so.

Josh