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1
Kainaij
Modules, themes, and hacks

  • 2006/1/7 0:00

  • Kainaij

  • Quite a regular

  • Posts: 256

  • Since: 2004/10/5


Tthis is the first post in quite a long time. I was delighted to here of a re-design in the works. My biggest gripe on the existing design is that as an existing user there wasn't much that caught my eye on the portal page. What brought me back the most was to see what new and exciting modules/hacks/and even themes I could uses to plug in to my site. I feel it is imperative to "feature" these aspects of the community. Not only for the end user, but to give the developers more of a spotlight when their efforts finally come to fruition.

Everyone knows how great XOOPS is and they will use it if it fits their needs, but what will keep me coming back is to see what new neat stuff developers have put together for general public usage. I do not want to disparage the current jobs that the current module and hack repository custodians are doing, but as it is now I find I have to “dig” into the site to find the new works of the developers. This is a sad state of affairs because when new add-ons come out it should be shouted from high atop the mountain, rather than being buried under it.
2
Clever
Re: Modules, themes, and hacks

  • 2006/1/7 0:34

  • Clever

  • Just popping in

  • Posts: 81

  • Since: 2004/4/24


I second that!
As a frequent visitor, my first thing to do on this site is to check for new modules, themes and hacks. There have been sadly very few new additions of late, probably due to a busy season.
I think that these items should be focused on heavily, as they show real growth when there are new additions every day or two. It's a great boost to old and new users alike - especially the complimentary comments that show the community spirit here.
That's not to say though, that other aspects of the site aren't just as important... there's so many things to check on while you are here that it's important not to lose sight of the fact that not everyone looks to these things first.
I remember being a new user, and found this site to be daunting at the time... lots of information, but it just seemed so... technical!
I know one of my frequent problems is that I can never tell what modules are compatible with which version of XOOPS until I actually go through the process of downloading it, uploading it, installing it...
Lookit me, getting all off topic! (my bad)
I think a spotlight on the 5-10 newest releases of each of these things on the main page would be a marvelous idea.
Just my 2 cents Canadain ...(well, $0.0171490 USD!)

Lisa
3
krauh
Re: Modules, themes, and hacks

  • 2006/1/8 1:31

  • krauh

  • Just popping in

  • Posts: 70

  • Since: 2005/2/25


compatability lists would be nice
xoops version/php version/etc
4
bluenova
Re: Modules, themes, and hacks

Quote:
I know one of my frequent problems is that I can never tell what modules are compatible with which version of XOOPS until I actually go through the process of downloading it, uploading it, installing it...

A new version of the module repository is being worked on at the moment to solve this issue.

I understand the comments about what the site is lacking, but don't see any comments about how it could be made better. All new modules and themes can be found by looking in the news section, including beta and RC releases which you won't find in the module repository. The news is also broadcast through RSS to all XOOPS sites, so when you are looking in your admin area, it only takes a couple of minutes to check the news page to see whats new.

How could we improve?
Quote:
This is a sad state of affairs because when new add-ons come out it should be shouted from high atop the mountain, rather than being buried under it.

Is it because news moves off the top page to quickly?
5
Kainaij
Re: Modules, themes, and hacks

  • 2006/1/20 18:56

  • Kainaij

  • Quite a regular

  • Posts: 256

  • Since: 2004/10/5


Quote:

bluenova wrote:
Quote:
I know one of my frequent problems is that I can never tell what modules are compatible with which version of XOOPS until I actually go through the process of downloading it, uploading it, installing it...

A new version of the module repository is being worked on at the moment to solve this issue.

I understand the comments about what the site is lacking, but don't see any comments about how it could be made better. All new modules and themes can be found by looking in the news section, including beta and RC releases which you won't find in the module repository. The news is also broadcast through RSS to all XOOPS sites, so when you are looking in your admin area, it only takes a couple of minutes to check the news page to see whats new.

How could we improve?
Quote:
This is a sad state of affairs because when new add-ons come out it should be shouted from high atop the mountain, rather than being buried under it.

Is it because news moves off the top page to quickly?


Quite the contrary, news flows through the front page slowly and erratically. You say that all the modules and themes can be found looking at the news section, I disagree. Themes maybe, but on many occasions modules have gone "unreported" in the news. It was my assumption as well before that the news "reported" everything. I was shocked to find that a couple modules that I had been waiting for had been released without my knowledge.

You want a suggestion? Replace the "module news" block on the front page with the "recent modules" block found in the module repository. I would rather know a little about all the new modules, than a lot about some (or most) of the new modules. This would go fo the themes and hacks as well.
6
JamesSAEP
Re: Modules, themes, and hacks

  • 2006/1/20 19:12

  • JamesSAEP

  • Just can't stay away

  • Posts: 732

  • Since: 2005/2/28


Yes, it is confusing for new members to figure out were things are. If you click on the Module Repository, you should be taken a place where the links to all the modules are.

Yes, modules are news worthy and can be have a write up there, but the actuall link to download it need to be in the Module Repository.

Take for example the current three modules on the front page of Xoops:

Google Maps
tplsadmin
netquery

Each of there has a download link barried in the story or comments on where to get it. If you look at the Module Repository, none of these are listed in the "Recent Modules" section.

The news moderator needs to enforce the creation/update of the Module Repository listings. If a module is barried in the News somewhere, how is a person supposed to find it if they don't know the name of what they are looking for.

Basically, somehow there needs to be a coordination between the News and Module Repository to ensure consistancy of data.
7
bluenova
Re: Modules, themes, and hacks

The problem is in the module repository we will only list stable, well tested versions of modules, but the news will contain beta's, RC's and even new projects.

Personally I think it would be good to enforce the use of dev.xoops.org for developing modules and to have a news feed to http://www.xoops.org from the project news on dev.xoops.org
8
RVirtue
Re: Modules, themes, and hacks

  • 2006/1/22 14:11

  • RVirtue

  • Quite a regular

  • Posts: 246

  • Since: 2004/8/4 9


Quote:

Beavis wrote:

Take for example the current three modules on the front page of Xoops:
Google Maps
tplsadmin
netquery

... The news moderator needs to enforce the creation/update of the Module Repository listings.


Quote:

bluenova wrote:

Personally I think it would be good to enforce the use of dev.xoops.org for developing modules ...


Actually, Dev.Xoops and the XOOPS Repository are two very different issues, at least from this author's perspective.

My Netquery module is included and listed on Dev.Xoops as you can see at http://dev.xoops.org/modules/xfmod/project/?mwr-netquery where I, as its author, am able to retain control over its versioning and the pointers to its mutiple download package options. Because no similar direct management control over versioning and download package links is available to the author under the XOOPS Repository, on the other hand, I've stayed away from that one.

Actually, that's not quite true. I did try it once, but asked for removal when my module's listing was altered without my knowledge and we couldn't seem to reach any compromise agreement on how such things should be done.
Regards,
Richard

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