A small suggestion

[JD45]

Taken from this post: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...968#post977968

Obviously the coder(s) put that line of code in for a reason. To generate an 'installed' click instead of counting on the user to manually do it.

Why not consider this:

Take away the ability for users to manually hit the install/uninstall button. Have every hack that is created contain two lines of additional code. One to add to the install count when the hack is installed by the user and another to uninstall, when it is removed by the user.

Obviously this would have to be disclosed somewhere on VB.org like in a sticky or the FAQ so everyone is aware of it.

This would in fact IMO, help the coders by giving them a truer account of how many people in fact installed their hack as well as helping the installer with receiving the 'hack updated' emails.

Could be a win/win situation if handled properly.

[Paul M]

After the events of the last few days, I really can't see this ever happening.

Also, the system that was used to try and do this was unreliable at best, because it relied upon the user having a valid session with vb.org at the time - which was often not the case.

[hambil]

I think we should hook into the hack database like Windows does for updates. A single product could be written that acts a lot like Windows Automatic Update. The user could select "automatically update" or just get notifications when they log into their board, and click on the manual update button.

The product would check what other products and plugins they have installed, and report back to the hack database to check for updates and manage install counts.

The benifit to the user would be automatic security updates and hack updates. The benifit to the coder would be an accurate install count.

It could work over https and be as secure as we can make it. Only people who install the product would be reporting to the hack database, so it's completely opt-in.