| Author |
 Topic  |
|
HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
 Posted - 21 July 2005 : 12:06:29
|
I would just like to say that I am appalled at the state of most mods currently available for Snitz, I have just setup a new Snitz forum and added half a dozen MOds (my first in some time), 70-80% of them do not work due to poor installation instructions and bad or db specific code.
rant over< |
|
|
rpainter
Junior Member
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 12:11:13
|
HuwR,
I would have to agree with you. Most of the MODs that I've installed, have not worked by just following the instructions. I do thank the people that make the MODs, because Lord knows I do not have that ability. But, we do need better instructions on installing them.< |
Rusty Painter
Learn to Cook REAL BBQ
SCBBQtalk.com
Monkey Boy's BBQ Sauce
|
 |
|
|
sr_erick
Senior Member
USA
1318 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 12:13:08
|
Here's my rant..
Maybe it's time to consider adding mods to the base code to avoid these situations? People can only do so much when there is no standard way of doing things. I have yet to see a write up on the proper procedures for creating, submitting, and supporting a mod. There has to be some standardization for things to work.
Rant over...< |
Erick
Snowmobile Fanatics
|
|
|
|
Shaggy
Support Moderator
Ireland
6780 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 12:32:44
|
Have to say, personally, apart from a minor few mods, the only problems I've ever had installing mods has been due to more than one mod requiring changes to the same section of code and, now that I'm familiar with the base code, it isn't really an issue any more. And the small number of mods that I have had problems following the instructions for have largely been due to the fact that the mod author's first language wasn't English.
One of the biggest gripes I have when it comes to mod authoring is when a mod adds a new function that does exactly the same thing as, or could easily be substituted with, an existing function in the base code or when the authors don't adhere to the overall design of Snitz and hardcode in their own styles, etc..
Having released a few, small mods myself and customised 2 Snitz forums to hell, I do appreciate the work that goes into these things and do not wish to appear ungrateful but, as Erick points out, some sort of standardisation would go a long way towards helping new mod authors and installers get started with Snitz. How about (and I think this may have been suggested before, a long time ago) a mod review panel, a team of members to review every mod posted in the Mod W/Code and write back to the author with recommendations/suggestions for changes to the mod to make it more compatible with Snitz or changes to the readme to make it easier to follow, etc.?
< |
 Search is your friend
“I was having a mildly paranoid day, mostly due to the
fact that the mad priest lady from over the river had
taken to nailing weasels to my front door again.” |
|
|
|
rpainter
Junior Member
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 12:41:37
|
| I think that a review panel would be an excellent idea. I seem to remember another forum package that I reviewed a long time ago before deciding on Snitz. On their board, all MODs were first reviewed by a team, before they were available to the general public. I think that this makes a lot of sense, and would free up the people that can make MODs to make even better ones and not having to spend all of their time answering questions.< |
Rusty Painter
Learn to Cook REAL BBQ
SCBBQtalk.com
Monkey Boy's BBQ Sauce
|
|
|
|
MarkJH
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1722 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 12:45:57
|
I think another problem is a majority of MOD writers have moved on from Snitz and they're not around to update or help out here with any problems.
quote:
Maybe it's time to consider adding mods to the base code to avoid these situations?
v5?  < |
Bandlink.net - http://www.bandlink.net/
Bandlink Music Forums - http://www.bandlink.net/forum/ |
|
|
|
Shaggy
Support Moderator
Ireland
6780 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 12:47:54
|
What I was thinking was keeping the mod w/code forum as it is whereby anybody can post and download a mod but, once a mod has been reviewed by the panel and all recommended changes made, it is given "official" Snitz approval with an indication of the forum version(s) that approval applies to. Preventing people from downloading mods that are pending review might deter new mod authors from getting involved and slow the development of the forums.
< |
Search is your friend
“I was having a mildly paranoid day, mostly due to the
fact that the mad priest lady from over the river had
taken to nailing weasels to my front door again.” |
Edited by - Shaggy on 21 July 2005 12:49:36 |
|
|
|
HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 13:15:24
|
quote:
Originally posted by sr_erick
Here's my rant..
Maybe it's time to consider adding mods to the base code to avoid these situations? People can only do so much when there is no standard way of doing things. I have yet to see a write up on the proper procedures for creating, submitting, and supporting a mod. There has to be some standardization for things to work.
Rant over...
There is a perfectly standard way of doing stuff, what I am talking about is sloppy code,missing instructions, database incompatability etc,not the fact that I may have to put the code on a different line, I wouldn't have wanted any of these mods in my own forums so wouldn't even consider them for addition to a base snitz< |
|
|
|
D3mon
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1685 Posts |
|
|
dabugster
Junior Member
USA
168 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 14:01:37
|
I have to agree with the jist of this post.
I tried to make a forum from scratch and i end up fixxing and tinkering more than setting up the form.
I have not done this as much asping as some of you, in fact i have only ever made one mod and that was just at the request of a friend of mine and he and i are the only ones using it so i didn't really have to think about the read-me file that much.
The more i learn about asp code, the more i understand it , so there are a few mods that i can look and see the problem and go in a tinker it out. But most of the time i end up emailing Huw, or someone with similar expeirience, for some help.
I may be speaking out of turn here, but maybe it is time for someone with good asp knowledge to decifer some of these more popularly installed mods and go over it with the authors and re-release them with all the bugs fixed.
Thats just my two cents anyway.
< |
|
|
|
ruirib
Snitz Forums Admin
Portugal
26364 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 14:36:05
|
| I never worked much with mods until recently and I can see HuwR's point. There are mods that are professionally documented, and their installation, even if giving a bit of work sometimes, is rather uneventful. There are others, however, where I found clear mistakes in the instructions and only my adequate knowledge of the code allowed me to avoid problems.< |
Snitz 3.4 Readme | Like the support? Support Snitz too |
|
|
|
laser
Advanced Member
Australia
3859 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 17:35:24
|
Welcome to our world Huw 
I think it's past the time where the Snitz dev team should "certify" MODs - especially those that "will never" be added to the base code.
Honestly, for me the line is pretty blurred between basecode & a proper forum. When I'm creating a new site there is a list of MODs that I install by default even before the site gets online.
The MOD quality has been questionable for as long as I've been here. I'm pretty handy with code & db design but some MODs I have backed away from. Others I've been dying to install, but they just don't work.
The only two solutions I can see are :
- certify the better MODs as "approved by Snitz" when they have been reviewed by a developer (and you might have "Access only" MODs, etc...)
- completely change the Snitz model so that MODs can be added without any code modifications.< |
|
|
|
-gary
Development Team Member
406 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 18:29:07
|
The problem I see for myself and a few others is that there is no beta forum to post mods in. Anything I do, I try to test on my own forum, but getting feedback from users is sometimes impossible and catching every possible nuance is impossible. Yet, everything is thrown into the mod forum and it's open season to anyone to implement it.
I would suggest a tested and approved forum with posting restricted to moderators. Mods can be posted for testing and approval in the current forum. Once a mod has been verified to be up to some sort of standard by a selected group/individual, then only will it be posted to the approved forum. I wouldn't move the post either since there's a lot of revision conversation that won't be relevant after this discussion. Not that this would make anything better than what's available currently, but at least everything in the approved forum would be up to spec and users could install with confidence. The key to this is posting what is acceptable and standard along with examples of things like documentation. A mod kit if you will.
Like they say, the difference between a $30 programmer and a $100 programmer is the quality of the documentation, not the code.
No point in beating the "Snitz needs more standard mods" drum since the "I don't see a need for it so it won't be included despite the overwhelming calls from the user base for it" argument will always end the conversation.
That's my 2 cents, expecting change.< |
KawiForums.com
 |
|
|
|
HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 18:59:37
|
quote:
Like they say, the difference between a $30 programmer and a $100 programmer is the quality of the documentation, not the code.
Not true at all, good code does not require documenting.< |
|
|
|
-gary
Development Team Member
406 Posts |
|
|
rpainter
Junior Member
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - 21 July 2005 : 22:42:22
|
quote:
Originally posted by HuwR
Not true at all, good code does not require documenting.
I'm going to have to disagree with that. I'm sure that every person that has posted a MOD has had "good code" in their own eyes. None of them posted what they thought was crappy code. Therefore "good" is in the eyes of the beholder, and everything should be documented.
I think that I am an excellent system administrator, but how far would I get if the last guy who was "good" never documented anything about the network that I inherited?< |
Rusty Painter
Learn to Cook REAL BBQ
SCBBQtalk.com
Monkey Boy's BBQ Sauce
|
|
|
|
Topic |
|
Rant about MODS
