Mods and their installation instructions

[j1mmy]

Im quite new to vB and still getting used to it. There are others too like me among this forum. My suggestion is to mainly those who release modsfor vB. Majority of the Mod's instructions seem to be aimed at experience users and lack detail. Instructions like these are very difficult for newbies to follow. I think that vB is mainly know for its modding and other bits, becasue of this - instructions should be written starting from scratch explaining where everything goes etc. I think by outlining this kind of information in mods, it will reduce problems and people complaing that they cannot install it.

So i think its a good idea if vB encourages mod publishers to build on the instructions for newbies like myself and many others.

[Ziki]

The author decides if he wants to write it more detailed or hard to understand

[Ntfu2]

I think its a better idea for noobies to learn vBulletin better so you can understand the hard to follow instructions. Sometimes the hacks author may not speak english as his first language so easier to follow instructions arent easy for them to write Most hacks now are a simple upload or two of a .xml and maybe a template edit here and there.

It doesnt get much easier than that.

[Wired1]

Unfortunately, there are those who don't even know to save / download the XML file instead of opening it.

oy.

[j1mmy]

Originally Posted by ZIKI-SET

The author decides if he wants to write it more detailed or hard to understand

Well then it will decrease the 'installation count' becasue less people will be able to install it...

Originally Posted by Ntfu2

I think its a better idea for noobies to learn vBulletin better so you can understand the hard to follow instructions. Sometimes the hacks author may not speak english as his first language so easier to follow instructions arent easy for them to write Most hacks now are a simple upload or two of a .xml and maybe a template edit here and there.

It doesnt get much easier than that.

The only way you cant learn it, is by getting a good set of instructions a few times, and then next time you will know what to do without needing such a detialed set.

Originally Posted by Wired1

Unfortunately, there are those who don't even know to save / download the XML file instead of opening it.

oy.

They could open it and extract it to their computer.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

Originally Posted by Wired1

Unfortunately, there are those who don't even know to save / download the XML file instead of opening it.

oy.

If all coders would stick to our Rules/Guidelines, then this wouldn't be a problem since it would have been uploaded as a zip-file.

[Zachery]

Originally Posted by j1mmy

Well then it will decrease the 'installation count' becasue less people will be able to install it...




The only way you cant learn it, is by getting a good set of instructions a few times, and then next time you will know what to do without needing such a detialed set.



They could open it and extract it to their computer.

Install counts are not everyones life, I manage to write some fairly lack luster install instructions at times, but people do manage to figure it out eventually.

[kall]

Originally Posted by Ntfu2

I think its a better idea for noobies to learn vBulletin better so you can understand the hard to follow instructions. Sometimes the hacks author may not speak english as his first language so easier to follow instructions arent easy for them to write Most hacks now are a simple upload or two of a .xml and maybe a template edit here and there.

It doesnt get much easier than that.

I agree here. It shouldn't be the job of the coder to teach people the utter basics of vBulletin.

Besides, to say that the 'majority' of the Modifications here lack detailed install instructions is a bit of a misnomer. There may be a few, but most (that I have installed anyway) have step-by-step instructions.

It tends to save answering the same question multiple times in the thread if the instructions are clear.

[j1mmy]

Originally Posted by Zachery

Install counts are not everyones life, I manage to write some fairly lack luster install instructions at times, but people do manage to figure it out eventually.

Thats quite true. But when you say eventually, they have to go through posting messages asking questions before they even get it close to working. It should be set out stright forward from the very beginning.

Originally Posted by kall

I agree here. It shouldn't be the job of the coder to teach people the utter basics of vBulletin.

Besides, to say that the 'majority' of the Modifications here lack detailed install instructions is a bit of a misnomer. There may be a few, but most (that I have installed anyway) have step-by-step instructions.

It tends to save answering the same question multiple times in the thread if the instructions are clear.

I think the coder just needs to write the proper instructions once and use the same instructions for the rest of his mods. They are more or less likely to be the same installation procedure for the rest of this mods, if not he will just need to do a slight adjustment-it will save so much trouble.

[Freesteyelz]

Originally Posted by kall

It tends to save answering the same question multiple times in the thread if the instructions are clear.

Hehe. Well the flip-side of it is that if the instructions were clear enough, you wouldn't get the redundant questions on the how-to.