Alerts, conversations and mentions

[kawaii]

MyBB 1.10 will mark a very special milestone in the history of the software. In a series of minor reases (1.10.1, 1.10.3 etc...) we hope to add such features as built-in alerting and a replacement of the PM system with conversations similar to what you might find on sites such as Facebook or Twitter. A point of contention within the development team currently is whether or not to include a mentions feature (tied into alerts) directly into core of MyBB 1.10.

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We have 3 realistic options when handling this issue:

1. Include a full featured @mentions system within the core, and tie it into the alerts system
   
2. Create an 'official' plugin for @mentions, which is optional for forum owners to install and use
   
3. Develop the alerts system with a number of hooks, so that existing @mentions plugins can easily tie into it (though, this will happen anyway)
   

There are obvious advantages and disadvantages with all 3 choices. I will try to outline some of those here now:

• @mentions in the core are convenient, it's one less plugin for administrators to install
  
• There is less flexibility if @mentions are in the core, and administrators will likely have little control over the format or pattern that @mentions are triggered
  
• If you already use a @mentions plugin, then it is very likely that a core approach will break and invalidate your existing posts (however many thousands they might be), which could be something complicated to fix manually in the database
  
• There already exist 3 - 5 very good mentions plugins each with competing standards and different formats, MyBB should encourage developers to create addons for the software and inspire them to go about developing solutions in a variety of ways
  
• Forum administrators are given a greater level of control by using one of the existing plugins
  
• Creating an official plugin allows people to choose the kind of @mention formatting and pattern they want to use, instead of being forced into using a single standard
  

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Some existing mentions plugins which work perfectly:

DVZ Mentions
https://community.mybb.com/mods.php?action=view&pid=29

MentionMe
https://community.mybb.com/mods.php?action=view&pid=885

Automention
https://community.mybb.com/mods.php?action=view&pid=558

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A discussion by Wildcard, about what the best format for @mentioning a user could be:

https://community.mybb.com/thread-215417.html

[Eric]

Mentions just make sense being part of social platform. Not being a plugin means it's one less project to maintain (And potentially die, as the "official" merge system has), it'll just be another part of MyBB.

I think we should reserve "official plugins" for powerful things that we really want to push for use in MyBB like a blog, commerce system or wiki. These might be farther into the future, but not muddying the idea of "official plugins" for now will give them more validity later on.

[Devilshakerz]

There is less flexibility if @mentions are in the core, and administrators will likely have little control over the format or pattern that @mentions are triggered

Any core section attractive to 3rd party developers' attention should be prepared to be extended - mentions would likely be part of the main parser with an option to turn them off, so the feature can be handled by extensions.

If you already use a @mentions plugin, then it is very likely that a core approach will break and invalidate your existing posts (however many thousands they might be), which could be something complicated to fix manually in the database

If plugins can recognize and parse these patterns, it's feasible to replace them (one-time run).

There already exist 3 - 5 very good mentions plugins each with competing standards and different formats, MyBB should encourage developers to create addons for the software and inspire them to go about developing solutions in a variety of ways

Creating an official plugin allows people to choose the kind of @mention formatting and pattern they want to use, instead of being forced into using a single standard

MyBB should aim to be as flexible as possible (maintaining optimal performance) when it comes to extensions, but keeping the syntax consistent would make life easier for end-users.

Benefits of a @username (@username#uid) format:

• familiar to users of other forum and social media platforms,
  
• doesn't break with the user ID attached,
  
• the UID can be inserted automatically without changing the source code dramatically (friendly to WYSIWYG-less editing - like Markdown),
  
• contains all necessary data to display links without querying the database
  

Mentions are an often-used UX feature, just as alerts are, contributing to MyBB providing an acceptable platform out of the box.

[darkhorus]

I think either core or official plugin would work, though core would just make the most sense to me, seeing as how mentions are pretty basic funtionality these days, especially to go along with an alerts system. There could still be an on/off switch for them in the ACP.

[Serpius]

I think either core or official plugin would work, though core would just make the most sense to me, seeing as how mentions are pretty basic funtionality these days, especially to go along with an alerts system. There could still be an on/off switch for them in the ACP.

I second this.

From what I can see so far, the footprint of MyBB software is fairly small, so adding features/functions would not increase the footprint that much.

The main thing is to prioritize and determine which features/functions can be added without bloating MyBB.
If a feature/function causes MyBB to become too large, then that can be made into an official plugin.
Let the Admins decide if they really want that additional feature/function plugin for their website.

If there will be official plugins for MyBB, then the development team will have to determine who will be making those plugins and be maintaining them on a regular basis.
MyBB development team can pick a few good plugin developers from the userbase that frequents MyBB.

(Footprint = How much room it takes up on the server.)

[User 4384]

I don't mind if it's within the core (I rather prefer an official plugin), as it could be deactivated whenever I want from my ACP.

[andrewjs18]

I don't mind if it's within the core (I rather prefer an official plugin), as it could be deactivated whenever I want from my ACP.

there will probably be a setting to deactivate it regardless of how it's implemented.

[WallBB]

Include a full featured @mentions system within the core, and tie it into the alerts system

My vote goes to this ^^

My suggestion would be to have a radio button for enable/disable if users don't want to use mentions feature. But I feel this should be part of core.

[darkhorus]

My suggestion would be to have a radio button for enable/disable if users don't want to use mentions feature.

Or an option for users to select who can mention them: everyone, buddies only or no one.

[Omar G.]

Even with the merge system falling behind I believe "official" plugins to be worth of consideration.