I've looked at a number of plugins and read what passes for instructions.
The majority have very poor instructions, and many just say "upload file X to the root".
Question: Why the root? What is the plugin directory for?
Question: Why one file, when most plugins have several files and folders?
Consider the newbie please and give clear, easy to follow instructions.
MyBB touts the ease of installing plugins; I have found it hard to figure out and am still struggling. I notice many similar comments in the plugin reviews.
most plugins are packaged in the appropriate file structure, so you only need to upload the one folder to your forum root and the folders/files end up in the appropriate place.
if they are s single file, then most of those say to upload to the plugins folder.
it is easy to install the majority of plugins in MyBB, that fact remains, regardless of an individual plugins instructions.
(2011-02-01, 05:35 AM)pavemen Wrote: [ -> ]most plugins are packaged in the appropriate file structure, so you only need to upload the one folder to your forum root and the folders/files end up in the appropriate place.
if they are s single file, then most of those say to upload to the plugins folder.
it is easy to install the majority of plugins in MyBB, that fact remains, regardless of an individual plugins instructions.
I did not know that. I always upload each file individually. o.o
Its not the plugin instruction which is bad. You just lack experience. After you'll upload a few you'll get it then
If you're fining it that difficult, try matt's plugin uploader plugin. It really is extremely simple though compared to other software (like phpBB)
The instructions are fine; once you get used to installing plugins, you won't even need instructions (for some plugins)
I'm not really sure how we can force people to write instructions that explain things in a certain way... if there's just one file in the package, it'll most likely go into the ./inc/plugins/ folder; it's a plugin, there's nowhere else it can go. Sometimes people will have an 'inc' folder as the first thing in the plugin package, you upload that to your root folder on your server, and everything will go to where it needs to go. Likewise, if there's an 'admin', 'inc' and maybe 'images' folder as the first things in the plugin package, you upload those 3 folders to your root folder on your server, and everything will go to where it needs to go. Uploading plugins on MyBB is straight forward, just upload files and activate, but we can't do anything about people writing unclear instructions that might confuse people.
(2011-02-01, 08:19 AM)Joshua Mayer Wrote: [ -> ]The instructions are fine; once you get used to installing plugins, you won't even need instructions (for some plugins)
Sorry but this is not helpful. Is MyBB an exclusive club? There will always be newbies like me who struggle, but replies like this make it sounds like MyBB doesn't care.
I like the software a lot, but if support answers are going to be like this, then its a waste of time.
I will say that I am seriously disapointed
.
(2011-02-01, 09:48 AM)MattRogowski Wrote: [ -> ]I'm not really sure how we can force people to write instructions that explain things in a certain way... if there's just one file in the package, it'll most likely go into the ./inc/plugins/ folder; it's a plugin, there's nowhere else it can go. Sometimes people will have an 'inc' folder as the first thing in the plugin package, you upload that to your root folder on your server, and everything will go to where it needs to go. Likewise, if there's an 'admin', 'inc' and maybe 'images' folder as the first things in the plugin package, you upload those 3 folders to your root folder on your server, and everything will go to where it needs to go. Uploading plugins on MyBB is straight forward, just upload files and activate, but we can't do anything about people writing unclear instructions that might confuse people.
Thanks for this. I know its hard to get developers to write proper instructions as they already know exactly what to do.
As for uploading INC folders as you say, I will give it a try, but what about those files already in the existing INC folder? Pardon my ignorance of this, I have no idea, which is why I have to ask.
Thank you
(2011-02-01, 07:09 AM)Nayar Wrote: [ -> ]Its not the plugin instruction which is bad. You just lack experience. After you'll upload a few you'll get it then
Isn't anyone here capable of being helpful rather than ....
I already said I'm a newbie (lack experience), and as I said in reply to another poster, there will always be newbies, at least if you want this nice piece of software to continue being successful. So, why is it so hard to be constructive and helpful, or would you rather us newbies took off somewhere else?
You could ask
support for plugins you have trouble getting to work.
Most plugins are pretty straight forward: copy the file(s) into inc/plugins/ and activate them in the AdminCP. Other plugins require files outside the plugin directory but then there will most likely be a step-by-step install instruction provided or the developer packaged the files in the same matter as MyBB does. In the latter case you just have to copy all folders/files in the zip into the MyBB root.
(2011-02-01, 11:36 AM)Aries-Belgium Wrote: [ -> ]You could ask support for plugins you have trouble getting to work.
Most plugins are pretty straight forward: copy the file(s) into inc/plugins/ and activate them in the AdminCP. Other plugins require files outside the plugin directory but then there will most likely be a step-by-step install instruction provided.
Thank you for that
Can I clarify? Many of the plugins I've looked have both folders as well as files. So are we saying upload both the folders and files into the plugin directory? This is why I have a lot of questions. Such things are not at all clear in most plugin instructions.