Mods hosted on xenforo.com - Free or Paid ?

vijayninel

Active member
Hi,

I know its very early days for asking this but I have learned that modifications for the xenforo software will be hosted right here on xenforo.com unlike in vBulletin where the mods are hosted separately on another site (vbulletin.org)

So I was wondering if the mods hosted here will be all compulsorily free like in vBulletin or will they all be paid or a mix of both.

I think that if xenforo really wants to grow then all the mods hosted here should be compulsorily free like on vb.org because in addition to paying for the forum software paying for so many mods becomes too much for most forum owners.

The free mods hosted in vb.org is one of the primary reasons for the huge success of vBulletin and inability of IPB to compete with vB. Without all the great free mods, styles, graphic packs etc hosted on vB.org vBulletin would never have been so successful and attractive as it has been.

So any light upon this aspect from the developers of xenforo will be welcome.

Thanks. :)
 
If you spend your time and energy making something awesome then why not get paid for it? - look at vbSEO...

However, whether they will be allowed to host it here... not sure
 
I would think that if it's a paid mod, the coders would host it on their own sites, since they'll have the means with which to accept payment.
However, free mods will have a section on this site to be posted in.
 
I don't think it makes sense for us to be hosting paid mods, unless we got into the app store sort of thing, which really isn't feasible (at least in the short term).
 

IMO they will only accept free stuff here. For paid stuff, developper generally have their own website.
And having paid mods there would mean having a payment platform and so on, not sure Kier and Mike have time to spend on this.

But when you come to think at it the idea is not that bad, what about an XenForo Appstore like we have for the iPhone or the Android Phone ?! :D
 
I would like to see free offerings from coders, and at the same time I understand why some will charge for their work. Hopefully it will be a mix of both. :)
 
I'm pretty sure that the administrators would want to give the developers freedom to make their own decision. I know if I made a mod which took a lot of my time and effort, it's only natural that I would want to make some money and sell it for a reasonable price. In the end, it's always up to the customer if they want to buy it.

However, I think that only 'established' developers should be allowed to use this function. There's no point in everyone selling their modifications, so maybe first timers have to release their modifications for free until they're released a certain point where they're renowned enough to start making some money from the mods that they've created.
 
Unlike some other sites, I am sort of hoping that "lite" mods won't be permitted, as they're only made for advertising reasons. I don't find that within the spirit of the community.
 
Unlike some other sites, I am sort of hoping that "lite" mods won't be permitted, as they're only made for advertising reasons. I don't find that within the spirit of the community.

But it's a kind of way of letting users test the software.

It's sometimes hard for developpers of mods to earn money and it does become understandable as the users have already the forum to pay :D
 
Personally I think that the functionality of vB.org is indeed what made vB a success.

IMO Free mods should be the only mods allowed on this website, with maybe the option to "donate" to a coder if you think that they deserve something for their time spent.

As for paid modifications, they should be held elsewhere such as on the creator's site.
 
I'm pretty sure that the administrators would want to give the developers freedom to make their own decision. I know if I made a mod which took a lot of my time and effort, it's only natural that I would want to make some money and sell it for a reasonable price. In the end, it's always up to the customer if they want to buy it.

However, I think that only 'established' developers should be allowed to use this function. There's no point in everyone selling their modifications, so maybe first timers have to release their modifications for free until they're released a certain point where they're renowned enough to start making some money from the mods that they've created.

I think that would be pretty hard to manage - the other option would be for someone to set up a seperate mod community that allows users to submit and sell their mods.

This is how themeforest started, and their guidelines/standard are pretty high.
 
Unlike some other sites, I am sort of hoping that "lite" mods won't be permitted, as they're only made for advertising reasons. I don't find that within the spirit of the community.

Well it is just that advertising but then a lot of users will just use the lite version for life... I don't see anything wrong with it personally... as MtoR said it is a decent trial bases...

Otherwise they could just create a full app but then sell a pro version... what is wrong with someone charging more for the extra option?
 
But it's a kind of way of letting users test the software.

It's sometimes hard for developpers of mods to earn money and it does become understandable as the users have already the forum to pay :D

I disagree, a company selling paid mods can offer a free lite version on their site. It doesn't "have" to go through a third party.
The only reason for modders to release a lite version is to draw attention to their paid products. Otherwise they would have done it for free.
 
Well it is just that advertising but then a lot of users will just use the lite version for life... I don't see anything wrong with it personally... as MtoR said it is a decent trial bases...

Otherwise they could just create a full app but then sell a pro version... what is wrong with someone charging more for the extra option?

I did not say anything about it being right or wrong that they charge (more) for a paid version.
 
I disagree, a company selling paid mods can offer a free lite version on their site. It doesn't "have" to go through a third party.
The only reason for modders to release a lite version is to draw attention to their paid products. Otherwise they would have done it for free.
This is true. This is also why the 'lite' versions have features that developers think will attract a member into buying their products.
 
Thanks for the reply Mike. Good to know only free mods will be allowed here.

Regarding the lite mods - I myself use the lite mods and I think that they should be permitted even though they are an trial/advertisement because a lite mod is better than no mod at all.
 
I disagree, a company selling paid mods can offer a free lite version on their site. It doesn't "have" to go through a third party.
The only reason for modders to release a lite version is to draw attention to their paid products. Otherwise they would have done it for free.

Yes you are right, the company could provide the lite version on their site but then how do you let a company being known if it doesn't have a place like it has when it releases the lite version ?

Perhaps having a sort of new paid mods advertise subforum ? Otherwise you "Cuts the herbs below the feet" (it's the translation of the french proverb "Couper l'herbe sous les pieds") to the creation of such companies :)

Anyway I would say as a sort of conclusion : "We shall see", lets let Kier and Mike manage their baby and do it their own way and we always can adapt ourselves :)
 
This is how I do it.

I make 15 products, 5 of them are paid, and fully featured.
10 of them are small but fully featured, and free for download. No lite version.
The free ones are spread, and the paid ones are kept for those who need it and want to pay for it.
The free ones that are fully featured create word of mouth and build reputation.

Offer 5 free styles, fully featured, have a service to create a custom style, which costs quite a bit of money for the hours it takes and exclusivity.
But I don't think a "lite" version of the unique style is suitable to help spam it. The quality of the fully featured free styles will do that.

Just a few examples.

But if i want to advertise my paid products or styles, I will pay for an advertising spot.
 
While I can get behind the "we don't host paid mods" thing, please for the love of all that is holy don't be overly strict about discussion of paid mods.

Users want to know about paid mods, people who are going to make paid mods won't do so more easily just because discussion of them is allowed (an App Store type thing would, however, bring an increase in paid mods being released that might not otherwise be paid), and needlessly hindering users who want to know about them / developers who want to tell people about them will just mean people do what my company does atm; dance on the fine line of what's acceptable and not.
 
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