Are third-party addon developers killing XenForo?

[Mendalla]

I think the resources section here was kind of meant to be that but it's never been pushed or optimized as the "one place to look", like an OS app store would be. The only way to really do that would be to integrate it to the software in some way so that users would prefer apps delivered that way which would then give devs an incentive to use it. And I imagine that could be done in the cloud version, probably more effort needed in self-hosted. However, reality is what it is. I only use a few free add-ons myself and none are mission-critical so I don't feel the pain but I can see where the problems would be from not having that if you were running something bigger and more dependent on add-ons.

 

[Mr Lucky]

when it can simply be managed through a single officially sanctioned Xenforo processor/marketplace that both validates and authenticates addons had they chosen this direction instead.

This would be great, I’d happily pay a bit more if this existed, but I understand how complex that could get.

 

[Digital Doctor]

The biggest problem is any sort of lack of centralized management.

That was obvious in 2010.

Xenforo Inc. does not want to help any addon developers as they feel it gives them liability for addon misuse or addon abandonment. And there is some truth to it.

 

[Mr Lucky]

That was obvious in 2010.

Can you explain for those of us not here back then?

 

[Digital Doctor]

Can you explain for those of us not here back then?

Thread 'Hello Developers: What support do you need from Xenforo ? I want more from you and more of you !'

Apr 23, 2011

Honest suggestions please.

For fear of shy posters, I will accept Conversations ... and I will repost those anonymously.
I will also setup an anonymous email later.

• Digital Doctor
• Replies: 74
• Forum: Other XenForo discussions and feedback

• 

 

[Forsaken]

The biggest problem is any sort of lack of centralized management. For every addon you must go to the developers site, register, pass through the authentication check and then pay (or not) through that sites own processor. So if you want a dozen addons from different devs you need to manage a dozen more logins, etc.

It's painful and prohibitive for an average forum owner to have to go through all of that when it can simply be managed through a single officially sanctioned Xenforo processor/marketplace that both validates and authenticates addons had they chosen this direction instead.

The issue is that it is prohibitive for anyone trying to run a business to do so from a single thread per add-on.

Threads become a place for suggestions, place for bugs, a place for general chat, a place to show dissatisfaction, a place where they treat it as a private ticket, and a place for purchase dispute.

There are also issues around if you do not want to sell to certain users/regions, there are issues with handling and processing payments and refunds. These are somewhat solvable, but it becomes such a large under taking that it generally is not worth the headache for a small business/small platform like XenForo.

Can you explain for those of us not here back then?

The majority of people who responded in that thread were active resource providers at that time (most have moved on to other things and not because of XF itself). You'll notice most people had an issue with him trying to act as a spokesperson; at that point in time he was actively harassing developers which lead to us reaching out to Kier regarding his behavior.

There has been a request that it would be helpful for developers to get access to updates early on to provide feedback and to also allow them to prepare for major updates. This was a major issue that ThemeHouse/Audentio had, and a few large add-on makers.

 

[Mr Lucky]

You'll notice most people had an issue with him trying to act as a spokesperson;

Who is this mysterious “him” you refer to?

 

[Digital Doctor]

The issue is that it is prohibitive for anyone trying to run a business to do so from a single thread per add-on.

easily the resource manager can be tweaked to have a forum per addon.

there is a addon that does this exact thing.

 

[Digital Doctor]

which lead to us reaching out to Kier regarding his behavior.

lol

you contact Kier about me drumming up ideas about how to stimulate addon development ?
that's sad.

 

[Forsaken]

Who is this mysterious “him” you refer to?

Digital Doctor.

lol

you contact Kier about me drumming up ideas about how to stimulate addon development ?
that's sad.

No, because you continued to harass developers for most of a year or more, and people were fed up with dealing with you. Also was not just not me, and I was not the one who decided to contact Kier originally .