Tbqh I don't see the point in rep or like/thanks as a core feature. However, I would prefer like/thanks over rep.
Why have neutral or negative rep? What forum actually needs negative rep? That feature is so open to abuse. At least with "likes" or "thanks" you get only positive comments.
I also don't want to see mybb heading down the path of vb, adding hundreds of non-necessary features.
(2012-03-27, 11:50 AM)x-Treme Wrote: [ -> ]My only concern with adding these features is that in time to come, people will always want more.
Welcome to our world. We've made some unpopular decisions in the past to omit some features to stop MyBB encroaching community software; likes, statuses, comments, notifications et al are not necessary for forum software but can become essential to a community - this is when an Administrator needs to take the decision whether to look for a plugin or switch systems. Sometimes, that decision can lead to complete success - or total failure.
To be honest, we should have them all as plugins. It makes te most sense that way.
I propose that MyBB should have official modules (plugins) that can be added. They are maintained by the team but require less to be put into the core system.
What can't a plugin do that a core feature can? Adding more to the core just adds bloat. Unless its a feature 80%+ people want, it should be a plugin.
Should it be a feature that 80% of people want or 80% of your users want?
As a volunteer group it's hard keeping on top of our official releases never mind a set of complex, official plugins. I have MyNetwork and combined with MyBB they take up much of my free development time. Plugins are best left to the community IMO.
As for 2.0, we will be including some of these requested features but they will be made so that they can be completely taken off. Some of the features are inevitably intertwined to the future of forums.
(2012-03-27, 12:39 PM)Tomm M Wrote: [ -> ]Welcome to our world. We've made some unpopular decisions in the past to omit some features to stop MyBB encroaching community software; likes, statuses, comments, notifications et al are not necessary for forum software but can become essential to a community - this is when an Administrator needs to take the decision whether to look for a plugin or switch systems. Sometimes, that decision can lead to complete success - or total failure.
Disagree. You've seen how many people here have requested notifications, I really don't think it's because "Well Xenforo has it". I don't see many Xenforo fanboys here. Notifications is something that can seriously improve activity/daily posting. Are you telling me you want all of those users here who want this feature to switch to somewhere else, or pay for a plugin? I don't think that's what MyBB is about is it?
Whether we like it or not, the top three reasons why people will choose certain software is; how easy it is to use, does it have nice features and does it look nice. MyBB has nailed the "how easy is it to use" part perfectly, but we're definitely lacking in features and styles (though nice styles/themes are starting to become really popular now, Audentio, Codicious, Pixelmonkey etc). If I heard right, MyBB 2.0 is a completely new design which is good, and profiles will change completely yes?
I understand it's a volunteer group though - it must be pretty tough as I've seen some of the ridiculous suggestions already. We definitely need to stay original and I trust you guys to make that happen in 2.0
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Quote:Whether we like it or not, the top three reasons why people will choose certain software is; how easy it is to use, does it have nice features and does it look nice. MyBB has nailed the "how easy is it to use" part perfectly, but we're definitely lacking in features and styles (though nice styles/themes are starting to become really popular now, Audentio, Codicious, Pixelmonkey etc). If I heard right, MyBB 2.0 is a completely new design which is good, and profiles will change completely yes?
You're missing a vital reason for choosing forum software. How easy is it to extend? Because even the bloated VB is very popular because of all the mods available. Almost every decent forum has added customizations. MyBB is imho the simplest in terms of plugins that don't interfere with the core system making upgrades very easy and painless. I want an amazing base to work from and build upon. If I wanted every feature in the book as part of my forum package I'd go to VB which btw I had before I moved to MyBB. 90% of the bloat in VB I didn't need or want. It's what imho separated MyBB from the rest. Even when the selection of plugins was low I knew I could write plugins. Now a ton of authors exist along with many good 3rd party sites supporting the software.
I think MyBB is taking the right approach and will build in some new features but what is vital is keeping the software lean and efficient and extensible.
Quote:I understand it's a volunteer group though - it must be pretty tough as I've seen some of the ridiculous suggestions already. We definitely need to stay original and I trust you guys to make that happen in 2.0
And that's a real issue. If they build-in too much it will be time-consuming to maintain and likely have more bugs.
MyBB should be focusing on creating an amazing base that's simple to use and easily extends. That imho has been their formula to success.
(2012-03-27, 02:26 PM)Tomm M Wrote: [ -> ]Should it be a feature that 80% of people want or 80% of your users want?
As a volunteer group it's hard keeping on top of our official releases never mind a set of complex, official plugins. I have MyNetwork and combined with MyBB they take up much of my free development time. Plugins are best left to the community IMO.
As for 2.0, we will be including some of these requested features but they will be made so that they can be completely taken off. Some of the features are inevitably intertwined to the future of forums.
Yes, that why you'd increase the team size. Like how Pirata was solely focused on the Mod DB, assign a dev to a single plugin.
I agree with anyone who wants notifications. For example, over at Minecraftforums I have a few releases of maps. The threads are quite popular, but I don't want instant email notification on each, or my inbox fills. Its nice to login, see a nice shiny "5", click it and get a breakdown of the 4 replies, and a PM I got.
(2012-03-27, 03:35 PM)Tom K. Wrote: [ -> ]Yes, that why you'd increase the team size. Like how Pirata was solely focused on the Mod DB, assign a dev to a single plugin.
I don't see a difference between assigning a developer on the team to a single project and a developer choosing to create and maintain the project themselves. Except a nice shiny badge.
The new Mods Site will help developers collaborate much easier on plugins. We've tried an official 'Modifications Team' before and it failed. Epically.
But Labrocca how easy is it for new webmasters to extend/change their board? We see countless forums in the showcase section where they've downloaded a style and some plugins and have started advertising. That happens on every software, I used to be like that years ago. Eventually you learn but I do think there should be some compromise. Make sure it stays as it is, easy as pie to make it as original as you want it, but not so simple that those who can't do that have a horrible unoriginal board.
I suppose you can say if you're not committed enough to learn how to extend then you shouldn't run a board - but that shouldn't be the way. But I agree, if any of the features I'd want added as core directly affected the availability to make your board completely unique so easily, then I'd want the feature scrapped immediately.
Quote:The new Mods Site will help developers collaborate much easier on plugins. We've tried an official 'Modifications Team' before and it failed. Epically.
It's never easy to find long-term reliable developers. It's actually very difficult to find those rare people.
Quote:But Labrocca how easy is it for new webmasters to extend/change their board?
Very easy if you use MyBB.
Quote:I suppose you can say if you're not committed enough to learn how to extend then you shouldn't run a board
I think if you want every bell and whistle under the sun then maybe MyBB isn't for you. Every feature that's part of base adds to the learning curve as well. Simply because it's part of code base doesn't automatically mean it's understood by a new admin. When was the last time you looked at an admincp of VB? It's a mess. It should be a lesson on what MyBB should NOT do. The XenForo admincp is pretty good but reality is that they don't really have a ton of features in comparison to VB.
I still see people ask for plugins to add groups or other features that are part of default MyBB.
And I know notifications seems to be a hot button and I'm not against them being added to base. I just would not advise a new admin to enable it. Example is how negative reps are now allowed to be disabled and in all honesty most sites should disallow negs unless they run a marketplace or want users to flame each other.
Quote:But I agree, if any of the features I'd want added as core directly affected the availability to make your board completely unique so easily, then I'd want the feature scrapped immediately.
And there is that. Uniqueness can easily be lost. I find more and more VB board boring because they are not unique enough from each other. Sure design may be different but few are bothering now to have custom plugins to enhance their site. Addons and plugins that are built specific for a forum are a lot of what can make it a success. Example is the garage that pavemen runs. If some form of his plugin was part of base and 20 clones sites popped up he might not be as much of a success. Competitively you need some sort of edge.
I know new admins have limits but if they want to succeed they have to rely on a lot more than the software. Clicking install will not be enough no matter how many features are part of base package.
Nice convo btw.