Xenforo Centralized Addon area for PURCHASES

[MapleOne]

I have only been using Xenforo for a short while but there is one thing that strikes me odd.

Free addons can be downloaded right via Xenforro

Paid ones usually take you to another web site where you have to register and in some instances punch in your Xenforo token to validate.

I have to say that I struggle on some of these forums, especially the ones in different languages and having to remember addresses, passwords, and checking my validation several times can get quite tiresome. Am at the point now where I mostly don't even check addons anymore that take me away from the central Xenforo site. The latest one to do this is Footer Pro and again I have to do go through the process. So for now I am going to stick with the current version I have, I am happy with how it turned out.

All that said...

Is there no way Xenforo could somehow make a download section where authors get paid when we purchase an addon without us having to visit multiple websites. Some of them are more than complicated. The boards are heavily modified and finding my way around the resource sections can be a struggle.

My idea would be like an app store of some kind where all sales would go into a central wallet, that wallet would have my credit card and I could just click to pay. That wallet would track the authors fees and pay them accordingly.

Or there could be another author that could centralize a similar system with an addon that becomes like a webstore where authors could dopwnload there resources and we could pay at one destination.

The only option I would like to say is an automated subscription or a manual one for the paid addons. Personally I like to see if there are any changes worth upgrading for or if I can wait another year. Quite honestly my charges for addons are getting a bit out of hand now and the yearly renewals for me are only going to get renewed if I deem them necessary or if they have something new to add.

A centralized place for addons could also fight against the nulled community, if the addons check back to a valid account for the addon store. That is beyond my scope but I imagine that it is withing the ability of some of the coders to do.

 

[Old Nick]

I completely understand your annoyance.
I uploaded Footer Pro to my forum hoping it would reduce the spread to nulled communities, but it had no effect, the latest version this morning is already on a nulled forum.

I therefore understand your annoyance and you should understand that of those who see their work stolen, because I consider free add-ons to be stolen when they are offered elsewhere without the consent of their author.

The worst part is that the screenshots I use to illustrate my add-ons are posted on nulled forums with watermarks as if to protect them... even though it's already stolen! Nothing annoys me anymore.

And still I only have a few, some see their hundreds of add-ons, free and paid, offered on these ****ty communities!

By uploading the addons to my forum I wasn't looking to gain some sort of virtual traffic with members who only register to download and won't participate but to protect my work, which isn't really one but rather a passion.

So it was not effective what I did but on the other hand with the low number of subscribers I know who downloaded my last 2 add-ons to propose them on his nulled community, but what to do? I'm no further ahead...

I have to say that I struggle on some of these forums, especially the ones in different languages and having to remember addresses, passwords, and checking my validation several times can get quite tiresome.

It's nothing compared to the hours of coding that are stolen in seconds.
Moreover, it seems difficult to me to get lost on a XenForo forum, they all work the same way, everything is everywhere in the same place.
And remembering the passwords should not be exaggerated, no one remembers their hundreds of passwords, it is the browser that does it.
As for the license verification, this is done once a year at worst or automatically at best.

So I tell you again I understand your annoyance and I had the same a while ago but now that I am, humbly, on the other side of the barrier I try to defend myself... Without convincing result unfortunately.

So for the free add-ons they will probably stay on XenForo but as I said in my resources the XF 2.3 versions will be accessible via subscription on my forum, if I can't do anything against the thieves I might as well make them pay a small amount.

It's unfortunately always like that in this damn life! Good people pay for stupid ********...

A centralized place for addons could also fight against the nulled community

It wouldn't change anything... This morning I was still hoping but this afternoon I'm already convinced that nothing is possible against these scrapings...

 

[MapleOne]

It wouldn't change anything... This morning I was still hoping but this afternoon I'm already convinced that nothing is possible against these scrapings...

And that is what needs to be fixed, maybe something that checks back for every paid addon to see if it has a valid token.

I think authors deserve payment but the cat and mouse game that is currently being played is at the expense of the end user, making it more difficult to find what we need.


As far as you saying all Xenforo sites look and operate the same way, I recently purchased two addons from two separate sites and had to update them numerous times as I worked with the authors. I was forever doing a search, select resources, scowering the recommended banners etc. As a new Xenforo user it could get quite overwhelming, checking tokens etc. In the end it's bound to affect sales and reduce income for everyone.

A central system coded to fight fraud would be the best idea.
Imagine if inside Xenforo it checks each addon to a token in the centralized store. If it is not valid the addon disables. It would force people to pay authors and the end users could pay in a couple of clicks.

 

[MapleOne]

@Nicolas FR your site is pretty standard and easy to navigate but even the discussions about the addon now get broken up into two topics. One on Xenforo and one on your forum. So you see centralizing would still be more streamlined when it comes to purchases.

 

[Old Nick]

When I see that Microsoft, with the colossal means at its disposal, has never succeeded in stemming pirated Windows, I wonder what XenForo could do.

For XenForo itself the best solution is XenForo Cloud (which Microsoft does with Office 360), this solution is 100% effective against piracy of their own product but also those of third-party developers. But they would probably lose too many self-hosted customers, me first, but only because I can't afford XF Cloud, otherwise I would have been one of their first customers.

@Nicolas FR your site is pretty standard and easy to navigate but even the discussions about the addon now get broken up into two topics. One on Xenforo and one on your forum. So you see centralizing would still be more streamlined when it comes to purchases.

You know where to post for support

 

[CedricV]

I understand where you come from, I too find it often complicated and am annoyed by the process it takes in order to purchase an add-on and after the purchase to keep track of it and download it when updates are available. But we need to understand that developers reserve the right to do so and think it's better to keep them on their forum/site.

Could XenForo perhaps provide a marketplace inside our admin control panel, where we can easily see the add-ons and themes and even purchase them. Installing would also be a positive turn around, instead of going to our file manager / cpanel or FTP.

 

[Old Nick]

Not for many customers. What about secure or airgapped networks where we have to self host certain applications? What about company policies which prohibit cloud usage?

Cloud can play a part but is not the solution as it only addresses a certain type of customer, not all.

Well the licenses could be for companies only, I don't think XenForo nulled communities are companies. Individuals would only have the choice of the Cloud. But again I don't know if it's economically viable, how many home users would turn their backs on XF if they only had the choice of the Cloud? Probably a lot.

 

[sbj]

You guys don't understand why this is done.

Besides the RM being underdeveloped for many years (no infrastructure to enable such a system), the problem is liability.

XF doesn't want to be liable when something happens (if the dev rips off his customers or customers share the addon with nulled sites etc.), then people will most likely go to XF to sort it out. And 99% will say "well, it is your platform, give my money back or compensate me or your platform offers addons which are coded badly, so our site got hacked" etc.

This is a huge undertaking. That is why XF just avoids all of these by forwarding it to 3rd party sites. This takes the burden away from them legally. Not to mention all the support hell for it would be insane.

Also the customers are all around the world. So which law is applied when?

 

[Deebs]

Well the licenses could be for companies only, I don't think XenForo nulled communities are companies. Individuals would only have the choice of the Cloud. But again I don't know if it's economically viable, how many home users would turn their backs on XF if they only had the choice of the Cloud? Probably a lot.

You are forgetting about bad actors that work for those companies. They could still download the software using the licence/entitlement and then give to a null site. It is impossible to stop. Just look at all the Windows Server MAK keys or ESXi keys leaked/hacked. Those companies generate billions in sales yet accept that they will lose sales to piracy and they cannot stop it. It is the same as flogging a dead horse.

 

[Old Nick]

This is not a reason to facilitate the nulled task. But you're right, there is no infallible parade.

 

[TPerry]

But again I don't know if it's economically viable, how many home users would turn their backs on XF if they only had the choice of the Cloud? Probably a lot.

Err... at bang for the buck (I'm paying around $17USD for 4vCPU/8GB RAM/160GB disk on a Hetzner VPS) I'd tell 'em to stick it where the sun don't shine in a heartbeat if tried to be forced into the cloud.