Additional mod-description

[erlend_sh]

I read karlbenson's thread a while ago, where he was "giving away"/"passing on" his mods. Today I came up with an idea that I think would be a great addition to the SMF modifications directory, along with relieving the moderators and mod-makers of some tedious problems.

My idea is to simply add  an optional description to each mod:

"Open for take-over"
This would simply be PM-link that every mod-maker could choose to add to his mod. Its purpose is simple. Whenever a modmaker knows he cannot maintain one of his mods any longer, he will mark the mod as such. When someone comes by the page for this mod, the visitor will notice this notification. Whoever is interested could click this link and they would be redirected to a page explaining what a "take-over" involves. From there they can continue by sending an e-mail/PM to the mod-maker.

Ideally there would also be a "latest mods available for take-over"-list.

How you would like to handle the actual take-over (like A) keep the link for the old creator's mod and add a visible link to the continued work, or B) overwrite the original mod's page with the details and files of the new mod, with credits added to the former author(s)).

[Inside Sin]

Yeah, i hate to see a great mod left alone just because the owner has other things to do.

[karlbenson]

I do actually agree.

Personally with mods I'd like to see
- ability to co-author mods/work in teams
(if multiple people can update the same mod, then its less work, and its less of pain)
- easier transition
(although I expect its better for legal reasons and cleanliness to have a fresh customize page/topic)
I agree having a checkbox, to say "available to be taken over" would be nice.

Alternatively i could just add it to the description of all of my mods.

I also wouldn't mind boxes (hidden) to state that, you don't mind others taking over the mod should i disappear for an extended period of time.  So the mods become more community updated.

[erlend_sh]

I do actually agree.

Haha, can I take that as a hint to what you've felt about my suggestions in the past?

Personally with mods I'd like to see
- ability to co-author mods/work in teams
(if multiple people can update the same mod, then its less work, and its less of pain)
- easier transition
(although I expect its better for legal reasons and cleanliness to have a fresh customize page/topic)
I agree having a checkbox, to say "available to be taken over" would be nice.

Alternatively i could just add it to the description of all of my mods.

I also wouldn't mind boxes (hidden) to state that, you don't mind others taking over the mod should i disappear for an extended period of time.  So the mods become more community updated.

All good suggestions. I definately think most mod-makers should support at the very least the very basic updates to their mods, like updating it so that it says it's meant for the latest version in the installation, which confuses many low-tech users such as me, as we get very sceptical towards a "1.1.4" mod that we want to install on our "1.1.5" forum...

[karlbenson]

LOL.
I was actually going to post something myself soon on this.

[erlend_sh]

I guess now we just have to wait then...

Oh, and a Works with custom themes? would also be very nice!

[Eliana Tamerin]

Working with custom themes is subjective, because not all themes contain the same files. There are themes as "light" (in the sense of having custom files) as the Dziner themes (of which, some of the newer themes only have an index.template.php and a style.css to them). And there are themes that are "heavy" to the point where they nearly duplicate all of the common files (like Post, Display, BoardIndex, MessageIndex, Profile, Calendar, Memberlist, Login, Register, Settings, Recent, etc).

The only way to say for sure whether something will work on custom themes is for a mod that doesn't affect theme files at all, like the Auto Embed Video Clips mod. But those are not the norm, to be honest.

It's better to have the package parser built into the Mod site (as it is now) so that we can see what manual edits are necessary. And, actually, it'd be nice to have a well-publicized and very comprehensive explanation of how to install a mod, whether it will affect a custom theme (and how to check) and how to rectify that.

[erlend_sh]

And, actually, it'd be nice to have a well-publicized and very comprehensive explanation of how to install a mod, whether it will affect a custom theme (and how to check) and how to rectify that.

Very true. Thanks for the explanation Eliana, already know a lot more about how mods/themes work

[karlbenson]

.... a Works with custom themes? would also be very nice!

That would be pointless. 99.99% of mods require custom theme changes.
If you want to see whether it uses any, just see the edits for your version.