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This is an interesting thread. I'll just think out loud as well.... :)
Discerning the new from the old is a huge headache. And trying to do so retroactively is nigh impossible with a project like Xoops. I've seen some nice changes lately though that would be great to see made official and required.
Module logos. There was a discussion on changing the logo colors from yellow to blue. It's so simple but also amazingly effective! You KNOW that module works with the BLUE version of XOOPS (and possibly earlier versions which should be listed in a section on compatibility). We should change the logo color every major release.
Module and theme lists. Each new release there is a flurry of activity as people try to figure out compatibility. Can we require that modules/themes need to be re-released each major update if they want to be added to the compatible list? If something works with BLUE XOOPS and has its logo updated and code checked by the module dev, it gets re-released and added to the BLUE list. Even if nothing was added/changed, this lets users know that it should be compatible.
Over time, lists would be compiled so that users of legacy versions of XOOPS would know what works on their install.
This approach has the nice side effect of letting people know which modules have been abandoned.... One of the biggest hassles for users of XOOPS is trying to figure out whether a module is still being maintained or not. Module developers could also see what modules need to be adopted to continue development.
Starting fresh.I see some projects create a whole new forum section, news section, download section, etc with new releases. This works well since users KNOW that stuff in the most recent branch of the forums is applicable to the current version. But it also fragments the development process and old topics keep reopening as new people reinvent the wheel. You lose historical perspective when you start fresh with each new version.
I'd like to extend a big thank you to the site maintainers. They have a thankless job trying to organize literally mountains of information. While us users can filter most content based on date to determine relevance, there is a lot that is still useful that is years old -- fixing white pages, embedding html in a XOOPS site, creating custom blocks, etc....
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