Implement add-ons marketplace

[021]

At the moment, all add-ons are downloaded and installed by the user from the outside - it is high time for us to get rid of this process and introduce quality control of the products that developers implement on your platform.

This will solve several problems for customers:

1. Single implementation of add-on licensing. The user will no longer have to have a dozen accounts on the sites of different developers to have a license for several add-ons
2. Convenience and ease of installation. Customers will be delighted when they are given the opportunity to search for add-ons by keywords right in the control panel, watch their previews and install them in one click
3. By ensuring that paid add-ons are moderated, you will be able to guarantee their quality, which means that XenForo as a whole will work more stable

And for developers:

1. No market entry threshold. An add-on can become popular if it is simply useful. The developer does not need to advertise it and make sure that users who need this add-on see it.
2. No need to implement your own licensing system.

This may attract additional expenses, but this step will also attract additional income. In addition to attracting new customers through this implementation, you can enter a commission on paid add-ons in the form of 2.5%, for example, which will cover the cost of personnel who moderate the content and bring additional profit.

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Often such cool ideas remain unrealized for years, so if enough developers like @Xon @Siropu @DragonByte Tech @Ozzy47 @ThemeHouse get together, we can implement this task on our own.

 

[021]

Hello, @Brogan
Please explain why my suggestion was moved from the "Suggestions" category to the "Other Discussions and Feedback" category? My suggestion concerns functionality within XenForo itself.

 

[Chris D]

I can see the argument, but it isn’t really XF itself.

You’re asking for us to build an add-on marketplace. The sheer majority of that functionality is actually going to exist outside of the product; code on this website, payment systems, legal agreements, APIs, business decisions, staffing and resource implications.

The bits that involve XF itself as a product is useless without all of the above and also just a very small piece of the puzzle.

 

[021]

I can see the argument, but it isn’t really XF itself.

You’re asking for us to build an add-on marketplace. The sheer majority of that functionality is actually going to exist outside of the product; code on this website, payment systems, legal agreements, APIs, business decisions, staffing and resource implications.

The bits that involve XF itself as a product is useless without all of the above and also just a very small piece of the puzzle.

Thanks for the explanation, I agree with you)
Do we have a chance to get such an expansion of the ecosystem?

 

[MapleOne]

The resource or addon area of Xenforo is so nice but that's where everything stops.

Once you click the download link its a free for all with some shopping experiences being great while others are just for the pits.

I know the addon's are separate from Xenforo but I would love to see some consistency where there was a central payment system and you could download and pay with one link.

I'm not prepared to name names but some of the places I've gone to get addon's are so overly complex that even I get lost. I am pretty well versed in Xenforo but some of the outside shopping baskets and logins are really for the pits. Yes some of them are great as well but it seems like everytime I need a new addon I also need a new login or I have to figure out some antiquated shopping basket.

How nice would it be to have a central app like store where the addon author uploads the addon and we can order them and pay for them in the same place.

I am reminded of a song, but I guess sometimes you just have to vent.

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[CedricV]

A marketplace inside the ACP is what we need! This would likely involve loads of work, but we are lazy!

Pretty please @Chris D ?

 

[ge66]

No, just no!
That is not what xf should focus on.

Vote with your wallet, if you don't like something about some addons or their websites, tell them and if they won't fix it, don't buy from them.
And maybe sometimes think, do I really need this addon function.

And if it is a good addon you might have to pay for it by spending a little more time to aquire it, if you don't like that you can always develop a similar thing yourself, but I guess that would take a little longer.

 

[Arantor]

The main issue with selling them here is that it puts some direct liability onto XF Ltd to handle things, in terms of being responsible for handling things they’re not responsible for today. It would likely require the team taking on someone to do reviews of plugins so that they don’t find themselves liable for selling sub-par goods.

 

[MapleOne]

The main issue with selling them here is that it puts some direct liability onto XF Ltd to handle things, in terms of being responsible for handling things they’re not responsible for today. It would likely require the team taking on someone to do reviews of plugins so that they don’t find themselves liable for selling sub-par goods.

Not at all, a good TOS takes care of most everything.

Products would stay separate, even payment can stay separate, I am simply asking for the download button to take me to some universal page where I can download it after I make payment. The amount of clicks, loging in, registering, click this, click that is insane for some addons.

Some of these developers have customized their forums so much that I virtually get lost on checkout, whereas I just want to click download, give payment and move on. Why can the Xenforo download link not mandate to take you right to the shopping basket with pay and go.

Xenforo already does it right with their resources, the free addons just download, we now just need the paid ones to take you to a payment page and then download. Something central, some consistency of some type.

 

[Arantor]

It's not that simple, though, from a legal perspective. I wish it were but it really isn't.

The only way it can possibly work in that situation is that XF Ltd becomes the payment processor on behalf of the vendors, which brings in a whole raft of legal stuff about who is liable. I don't even mean in a 'if you use this and it breaks your site' liability but in terms of who is responsible for the payment and the money flowing. Which would become XF Ltd and under UK law, customers would have some legal rights to go after XF Ltd first, because that's how UK law works where they're based.

And that's before we talk about chargebacks and all that stuff. No, it's honestly better that if a vendor wants to sell, XF isn't involved because I guarantee you if they are involved it will be a blood bath. (Disclosure: I build e-commerce websites for small companies in the UK, including marketplace type services. Stripe Connect is very good but it's also a massive minefield for many of the people who just sell a few mods and aren't running a fully registered business entity for it.)

 

[Max Taxable]

And maybe sometimes think, do I really need this addon function.

This is the bullet point - people are in far too big of a hurry to pile on tons of add-ons. That impress zero of their members or potential members. Gadgets please only you. The members and visitors don't give a rat's ass about your bells and whistles.

 

[Forsaken]

It's not that simple, though, from a legal perspective. I wish it were but it really isn't.

The only way it can possibly work in that situation is that XF Ltd becomes the payment processor on behalf of the vendors, which brings in a whole raft of legal stuff about who is liable. I don't even mean in a 'if you use this and it breaks your site' liability but in terms of who is responsible for the payment and the money flowing. Which would become XF Ltd and under UK law, customers would have some legal rights to go after XF Ltd first, because that's how UK law works where they're based.

And that's before we talk about chargebacks and all that stuff. No, it's honestly better that if a vendor wants to sell, XF isn't involved because I guarantee you if they are involved it will be a blood bath. (Disclosure: I build e-commerce websites for small companies in the UK, including marketplace type services. Stripe Connect is very good but it's also a massive minefield for many of the people who just sell a few mods and aren't running a fully registered business entity for it.)

Even if they aren't legally liable, customers do not care who is liable and will lash out at whoever they feel like.

 

[Arantor]

There’s that too, and that would absolutely take away time from XF Ltd!