Many of my customers have complained about the administration functionality. Some have requested that I install a completely different system because of it.

1) The admin interface is confusing. I understand that the blocks/portal management is on the roadmap for 2.4, but what is it going to look like? My customers REALLY like the user-friendly administration of Joomla/Mambo. It's not necessarily that it's easier (from my perspective), but it's "pretty" and easier to navigate.

2) XOOPS standards don't require admin integration to the front-end. If an admin wants to update something in a module, they usually must leave the module and go to the admin interface > go to the module preferences or configuration > find the area that they want to modify > find the article or item to be updated > update. It is less confusing to administer directly from the front-end user interface (like in news or in .NET systems).

3) Too much developer control over the look and feel of modules and module administration. I would like to see a simple rating system that would show me how well a module is integrated into XOOPS and XOOPS standards, not just how popular it is. I'm suggesting something like a 0-5 rating or an A-F type rating system, with the preference on the 0-5 scale. The rating would be applied to both the front-end and the administration. The standards for each level would be set by the core team and EACH standard must be met for a module to achieve a level status. For example, a level 5 front-end would mean that it is completely integrated within the XOOPS environment and meets all XOOPS standards, including file layout and code reference. A level 4 might mean that the interface works well, but that file layouts don't conform or code references include deprecated code or are not as efficient as it could be.

4) The ability to store the latest version of a module on a XOOPS database. Ideally the admin could either check an individual module, selected modules, all modules as well as the system. Upon clicking the check for updates, the system would check (over web services?) for updates for each properly registered module. (Another thought... if web services are used, the system could check on its own and notify the admin with a flag or some other method.) The user could then click the update button to update/install the updated module (with the readme file displayed first). As it is now, I often have to search and compare each module individually. I'd much rather have the system notify me when updates are available and/or required.

These are just a few ideas. I'm sorry if any are duplicates. I looked through the requests and didn't find any like these.

Thanks,
Jeff

I agree, these sounds like good ideas to me!