Custom Service Resource Area?

[Sheldon]

I think it would be good to add an area in the resource manager for this.

At least that would give members the options to see what work has been done, if any, and any type of review.

I looked at this post from @xIsabel38 , http://xenforo.com/community/threads/developer-review-divisionbyzero.67858/ and then searched the "Third Party Service Offers"... and came up with nothing started by @DivisionByZero

I realize it will never stop all people from doing the same type of thing, but with this area, maybe members could look there first. But with an area added, the review could be posted there and easily accessible for all, instead of Off-Topic where it is likely to get pushed down the listing considerably.

Maybe doing this method, and anyone wanting custom work is approached by someone not in that particular area could have them post there first, so at least that have a chance to leave a legitimate review (if work has been done) ..... (and a chance for the person to reply to the review)

Yes, their might be some reviews that are "fake or stretched stories" as well, I suppose that might be the major downfall, but the same thing happens at times with add-ons as well.

Either way, just trying to see if anything can be done for the end-user experience regarding custom work.

 

[Paul B]

Having the ability to rate and review third party providers has been discussed internally.

 

[xIsabel38]

I couldn't agree more @Sheldon. Hopefully those internal talks will lead to something.

 

[The Sandman]

Unfortunately, "... has been discussed internally" sounds to me like it's been considered and passed on. If this is the case, I'd be happy to provide a venue for rating and reviewing third party providers at Admin Extra. We can start with a regular forum for it and convert over to XenReviews as soon as it's available. I'm an investor in XenReviews and I doubt that the beta releases are too far off.

 

[Paul B]

Unfortunately, "... has been discussed internally" sounds to me like it's been considered and passed on.

Not at all.
No decision has been made either way yet.

 

[wedgar]

As a new-comer, this would be a very handy feature. Our forum has three add-ons. We'd like to add more as time goes on.

I think @Sheldon's suggestion would make it easier to more easily determine who or who not to work with.

It would reward the good developers and also 'reward' the bad developers.

 

[xIsabel38]

@wedgar myself and @Sheldon just had a conversation about "recommended guys" and I can tell you, stick to them. Seriously. If you're looking for work to be performed by others then check the resource manager and make sure they have other work done. People like Sheldon here and others are truly worth waiting for because they will do it right the first time, without screwing you over.

If you do get approached by someone that you can't seem to find much info about, get past experience and make sure they have something to show you as a portfolio or whatnot.

 

[Sheldon]

Before it goes any further... this certainly wasn't a thread to advertise myself or any other users. I'm just tired of seeing decent people get a bone because of a few rogue members that don't do what is agreed upon, or end up with the member not being able to do the task at hand. It's terrible it happens, and it's even worse when it happens with $ involved.

I just wanted to see some type of help offered to those searching for custom development. I realize in the end, it is the person requesting that does make the decision, regardless... just wanting them to have as much info as possible on who they may be hiring out development to.

 

[wedgar]

Yep. When I was checking which add-ons we were thinking of, I checked references in the Resource section to see what other users had to say about reliability of the add-on, the update information and how responsive the developer was in relation to questions or issues.

Based on @xlsabel38 's experience, if I didn't see any info, I'd ask for references from the developer to communicate with about my issues. Ideally, there would be some well-known members from this community on the reference list.

 

[Sheldon]

Is this still under consideration, or have the talks died? Just curious...

 

[DirtRider]

Well I must admit I could really see a big plus in having and area like this. As I am a new XF owner it was hard trying to sort out who is who here. If we had such an area I could have just popped in there and did research and just maybe I would have found what I was looking for much easer

 

[The Dark Wizard]

This would certainly be welcomed. It would be nice to be able to review a coder with out having to make a thread in Off-Topic that just gets washed away.

 

[Adam Howard]

I support this idea.